If It's Too Loud...

Album of the Week : Artist : The Decemberists Album : I'll Be Your Girl Quick Description : New album from the veteran act. Why You Should Listen : It will likely be their most divisive listen since The Hazards of Love . Overall Thoughts : The Decemberists are a band that, at this point, are not putting out anything typical or predictable yet always sound like The Decemberists. This is always a difficult thing for bands to do, but Colin Meloy's songwriting always tends to have a poetic, theatrical flair, and the rest of the band fills in the musical gaps nicely. This is a good album, I think - there are moments of levity ("Everything is Awful"), moments to experiment ("Severed") and the result here is an album that will likely split the fanbase again. Especially after how gorgeous a return to form their previous effort was, it's both surprising and not surprising that we received this. Recommendation : Definitely the best of the week, but you ...

What a strange week this one is. Album of the Week : Artist : Steven Page Album : Heal Thyself Pt I: Instinct Quick Description : Latest solo album from the ex-Barenaked Ladies singer/songwriter. Why You Should Listen : Page always has a knack for a good melody, and this album is full of them. Overall Thoughts : I'm not sure Page will ever be able to shake the hows of his split with BNL (a drug arrest, lawsuits on royalties, and so on), but while Page One from nearly six years ago made a pretty good effort, this album, which has a bunch of songs that bits and pieces of have been floating around for ages, is a pretty solid unit on a whole. Songs like "Manchild" and "Linda Ronstadt in the 70s" feel like classic Page, and the rest shows a continuing evolution. I expected to enjoy this, but I didn't think it would be quite this good, so it's definitely worth a spot in your rotation this week. Recommendation : Best release of the week, you're ...