Weekly Wrap-Up: 5/15/16

It’s a week of new releases! Infuse your playlists with some fresh tunes and make your friends jealous with your ability to always find the next cool act. How do you do it?

Folk Trio Lula Wiles Releases Video for “Sorrow Be The Bird”

Taking place exactly where you’d expect, the video for “Sorrow Be The Bird” by Lula Wiles is set in a bright woodland clearing, the sunglight beaming down on the group. Although outside, with trees extending into the distance, the video is intimate. The camera circles around Lula Wiles as the three exchange ethereal voices into the wilderness. The cozy playing is evenly measured out, as each instrument is equally important as the others – not even the fiddle overpowers here – allowing for comfortable listening. Their self-titled debut album is out May 27th.

Hip Hop Artist REKS Drops “The Recipe”

Rich in beats and lyrics, “The Recipe” listens like an old school hip-hop track. Refreshingly, REKS doesn’t shy away from intricate word play and lush sounds. The fact that it’s surprising to hear such a composition says quite a bit of some of the hip-hop released to mainstream ears, making “The Recipe” a tight track.

Big Big Buildings to Release New EP

This Thursday join Big Big Buildings at the ONCE Lounge as they celebrate the release of Sorry I AskedSorry I Asked is a quietly safe listen: it’s not too risky, and not boring. Opening track “Balloon” has a soft and twinkling build, until Adam McElreath comes in: his voice a little rough but not out of place. The rest of the EP falls somewhere in between “Balloon” and “Sorry I Asked” (which evokes a Fleet-Foxes-meets-Bon-Iver vibe), linked together by the gently tumbling notes of the guitar and a feeling of tenderness.

Catch Big Big Buildings on May 19th; the show starts at 8 PM, with locals Babydriver and Citrusphere sharing the bill.

The Hotelier To Release New Album 

Worcester rockers The Hotelier are set to release an album on May 27th. As a little treat before the big day, the group covered The Cure’s “Doing the Unstuck” as part of a compilation album tributing the iconic band. Very much in tune with The Cure’s style, The Hotelier emulates the frantic, raw emotions of the gothic group, invoking Robert Smith while sounding wholly other. Check it out here.

Sound of Boston Nominated for Best Local Blog

Thanks to all of you, we won WGBH’s Boston A-List “Best Local Blog” in 2014, and we’re proud to announce we’ve been nominated again this year. Help us take the lead by voting for us! Polls close June 12th.

Premiere: The Ladles EP by The Ladles

Concert Review: Sister Cities: Speedy Ortiz and Hop Along