If It's Too Loud...

This weekend marks the return of The Town and the City Festival on Friday and Saturday. The festival is spread throughout downtown Lowell, MA with many of the venues within a block or two of each other. The festival is always a well run great time with something for virtually every music fan. Here's a guide to what we consider to be the highlights, which include many of our favorite artists! Friday night features Sofia Talvik at Gallery Z. The singer-songwriter is on tour throughout the US all the way from Sweden, and has been a favorite of ours before we started If It's Too Loud... She'll be joined by Evan Goodrow and Frank Morey. Christ Church United features the legendary English singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock. Any time he plays in the area is an official Big Deal. You can tell The Town and the City know what they're doing since this is a return to the festival for him. He'll be joined by Syd Straw, making this a legendary bill in the making. If you're loo...

The Town and the City Festival continues to be one of the best smaller festivals in the northeast, and this year's line up is stellar. Held throughout Lowell, MA, this year's festival will be held April 26 and 27. In 2024, Robyn Hitchcock returns and we'll also get long standing indie rockers Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Americana artist Amythyst Kiah, Swedish singer-songwriter Sofia Talvik, and Boston indie pop sensations The Q-Tip Bandits. The festival also includes some of our absolute favorite local artists including Akrobatik, Burp, Colleen Green, Jen Kearney, Linnea's Garden, Muck & The Mires, One Fall, Orbit, Roger Miller, Sapling, Subpunch, The Chelsea Curve, The Shirt & Shoes, Tysk Tysk Task, and many, many more. And this is just the initial line up, with more to come in 2024! Two-day passes go on sale today at 10:00 am for the special low price of $45 until November 30. For more on The Town and the City Festival, check out the festival's website .

Artist : Sofia Talvik Album : Center of the Universe Quick Thoughts : We can't be objective about Sofia Talvik in these parts, but the good news is that we don't have to be. Center of the Universe is the latest album in a series of great, reliable folk records, and songs like "Too Many Churches" and "Two Thirds" present some of her best individual songs in a while. You can't go wrong with Sofia Talvik, and this is as great an entrypoint for her work as it is a wonderful addition to her already stellar catalog. Make sure you find time for it. Songs of Note : "Center of the Universe," "Two Thirds," "Meanwhile in Winnsboro," "Too Many Churches," "Broken" Artist : Beth Bombara Album : It All Goes Up Quick Thoughts : I hadn't heard of Beth Bombara before this August, and I need to say that this album was one of a few that blew my mind this month. There's a raw energy and sharp edge to this ro...

Photo by Jonas Westin We've become huge fans of Sweden's Sofia Talvik here at If It's Too Loud..., and one thing we look forward to every year is her Christmas single. This year's is "A Memory of Snow." It starts off as a very traditional folk song that sounds more Celtic than anything else. It's absolutely lovely, and it's the kind of holiday song that even those who hate holiday music can love. "A Memory of Snow" just feels like winter and evokes memories of staying inside cozy by a fire while it snows outside. And then the song changes to a more modern folk song while keeping the traditional base. It's the exact kind of song that has made us love the music of Sofia Talvik. You can listen to "A Memory of Snow" below. The song is available as a free download via Bandcamp . For more on Sofia Talvik, check out the artist's website .

Every time I hear new music from Sofia Talvik I'm amazed that a Swedish artists nails Americana so perfectly. In keeping with her tradition of giving her fans a new Christmas song for free each year, Talvik has released "Christmas Train." According to the song description on Bandcamp: " The new single ”Christmas Train” is a modern take on the Krampus story, (Santa’s evil counterpart that punishes rather than spreads joy and presents). In the form of a thundering train that will steal dreams, as well as lives away from everyone in its path."  The song combines the elements of more modern folk songs, while having some 1960's Nancy Sinatra style groove and still keeping the classic country train song feel. It's a really unique sound and, since it doesn't have even the slightest hint of jingle bells, it's a perfect Christmas song for anyone that hates Christmas music. You can listen to "Christmas Train" below. The song is currently av...

Some catch-up along with the new releases... Artist : The Wolff Sisters Album : Queendom of Nothing Quick Description : New album from a local favorite. Why You Should Listen : The Wolff Sisters should be huge. Overall Thoughts : We loved the debut album from The Wolff Sisters, Cahoon Hollow , and to say that this new album has been on our anticipated list for a while is an understatement. What I didn't expect was for this new record to be such a leap forward. There's no sophomore slump here: Queendom of Nothing is a gorgeous, confident record that improves on everything this band has already accomplished up to now, and, in a more just world, would propel them into greater stardom. For now, they'll have to remain our collective secret, but do not sleep on this. It's not only one of the best of the week... Recommendation : ...it's one of the best of the year. Artist : Sofia Talvik Album : Paws of a Bear Quick Description : Latest from the Americana-...

A solid week, given that it's the Thanksgiving holiday in the States... Artist : The Staves + yMusic Album : The Way is Read Quick Description : Hauntingly beautiful modern folk. Why You Should Listen : You like the idea of a combination of gorgeous strings and harmonic vocals. Overall Thoughts : I was into the previous Staves album because it felt like a strange modern folk record. Adding yMusic to the mix here gives The Staves some considerable attention-grabbing instrumentation to go with their already-haunting vocals. This is great in a way the Bjork or Sufjan records kind of aren’t, in that the weirdness is enhancing the experience as opposed to being the centerpiece, and the whole package feels a lot more modern and interesting as a result. I want to spend a lot more time with this, but this is absolutely the listen of the week for me. Recommendation : A must listen. Artist : Bjork Album : Utopia Quick Description : Latest from the Icelandic legend. Why You S...

I raved about Talvik's latest album a couple weeks ago, but I really didn't spend enough time on how much I like the title track. I don't always spend a lot of time on lyrics, and "Big Sky Country" is a really great story of the Scandinavian singer-songwriter's time spent touring the United States over almost sixteen months a few years back. I missed her on the tour (and I'm still kicking myself for it), but, especially when the general feeling toward describing America in general is negative in the standard non-country songwriting, it's interesting to hear a positive listen from an outsider perspective. I really like this song, I hope you give this and her album a shot.

Two Kickstarters for musical endeavors that may be of interest: A staple of early-1990s college radio as well as a staple of my mixtapes/CDs/Spotify playlists to this day, Toad the Wet Sprocket have been doing reunion tours for the last couple years, and have finally recorded a new album. They're running a Kickstarter to help push it out the door. I've heard at least one of the new songs live, and it felt like classic Toad to me, so the fact that we're getting new music from them over 15 years after they were done seemingly for good is getting Junior High Jeff ridiculously excited. I've already backed it, hopefully the new album measures up. Sofia Talvik is a Swedish singer-songwriter who specializes in folk and Americana-style music. Back in 2008 or so, when Amie Street was a thing, I tripped up on her release of her newest album at the time, Jonestown , and I instantly fell in love with the whole thing. I quickly sought out her back catalog, and I'...