Weekend Music Roundup

It's Sunday again and time for a roundup of albums that intrigued me for one reason or the other during the past work week. As usual, old and new collide. Also, there's two albums on here that I've actually had for nearly a year, but heard with new ears of late. So, they've been included.

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory: Widely believed to be the bands best, this 1970 release sees the perfecting of the Creedence swamp rock sound. Though, I grew up hearing a lot of their songs on the radio, I've only recently listened to their albums. I got Green River about a year ago, and though I liked it, it didn't really stick. This one is slightly better and it's great classic rock, but for whatever reason, they still just sound like a lesser Traffic to my ears. Which, isn't to say is a bad thing. 

The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Who Killed Sgt. Pepper?: I've had this for a few weeks, but failed to list it here because the cover wasn't yet available. Given the title, I was pretty excited to hear this and went into it with much enthusiasm. Like some of their other works, it's a wild mess. But with any mess, some are more enjoyable than others. This is by far the weakest album of theirs I've heard, but there are still moments of worthiness...but only for fans.

Black Moth Super Rainbow - Eating Us: For the past several years, the Rainbow has been one of my favorite neo-psyche bands specializing in sunny weirdness. (Falling through a Field and Dandelion Gum are both gems). This fits right in. Perhaps more accessible than previous efforts, but not in a bad way, and without a bit of sacrificing their brand of crazy. Good stuff. 

The Beatles - Hot as Sun: The latest effort in the endless game of putting together the infamous "lost" Beatles album, this is a solid effort. There are many of such fictional albums that harken to the legend of a wiped pre-Abby Road Beatles album; taking demos, solo tracks and snippets and working them together into Side A and Side B. This one feels complete and believable. Had it been released like this, it would signaled an interesting turn for the Fab Four. 

P.O.S. - Never Better: This is one of those albums I mentioned at the top. I've had this about a year and enjoyed it from first listen, but it quickly got overshadowed by some other hip-hop that I got around the same time. I dug it out again this week and it sounded richer than I had remembered. Super smart, super tight, a good example of abstract indie-hop. 

Thurston Moore - trees outside the academy: I don't know why I waited so long to get this 2007 album, perhaps because that year was kind of Sonic Youth overload for me. But I admit to listening to S.Y. albums mainly for Thurston songs, and Thurston's '95 Psychic Hearts is a treasure. This is doesn't quite have that impact, probably only due to exposure, but it's a great album with some truly awesome Thurston tunes on it. 

The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters: Glasgow indie rockers' 2007 concept album of sorts. Oddly, what made this album interesting to me was the many layers within the songs...but the overall effect of those layers piled atop one another ultimately works against itself, blending some intricate work into blandness and creating an unfortunate mediocre rock sound. Still though, in the right mood, it's a decent listen. And if straight forward indie-emo rock is your thing, you'll love it. 

Massive Attack - Heliogoland: Once an important band in my life, I stopped paying attention at the turn of last decade. However, I was interested in this one once the collaborators were announced. Some paid off great. The Hope Sandovall song is amazing, but others, not so much. The Damon Albarn song is a good example of the whole album for me...it's beautiful, but sort of boring. That's how I felt about the album. Perhaps if I hadn't fed on their earlier material in my formative years, I would have found this more interesting. 

The Lennon Sisters - Let's Get Acquainted: The other of the albums I've had for some time and didn't fully appreciate until recently. These teen sisters were featured on the Lawrence Welk show in the late '50s and '60s. This is a collection of harmonized, big band tunes that on the surface should be terrible, but actually have a great early morning, waking up sound. Perhaps it the terrific nostalgia sound that appeals to me (or the fact the Welk is rumored to be my great-grandfather) but I've been listening to this album a lot. It's '50s television pop at its finest.

Lucero - Tennessee: This 2002 release is another solid alt country album from one of my favorite alt country acts. There is not a release of theirs that I haven't enjoyed. Get yerself a whiskey and give 'em a spin. You'll thank me for it.