Weekend Music Roundup

The weekend is here again and it brings a second straight weekend with nice weather, the kind of weather perfect for sitting back and listening to your fuzzy warbles. This week, in honor of the nice weather, I've decided to dedicate the entire list to music that goes with the sunshine. Some are new releases, others are somewhat recent, and others are old but new to my collection. Plenty of good stuff on here, so take some time to check out something new. Enjoy.

Astral Blue - Out of the Astral Blue: The second album from the Texas psychedelic band was released this spring. Blending prog and psychedelic folk, this was a nice surprise. Consisting of five longer songs, this was a delight of mind expansion music that sounds like prog inspired Grateful Dead. "Speak to the Lady," "Soft Earth," and "Moon Door" are my personal favorites.

Mystic Braves - Desert Island: Released in 2014, this is the second album from the L.A. psychedelic surf garage band. After loving their third album from 2015, I finally got my hands on this mod inspired gem. The band holds some similarities with The Growlers in their cinematic sound and tales of the psychedelic underworld and bit like The Last Shadow Puppets in it's ode to '60s secret agent lore.  "I Want You Back," "Burn Without a Heart," and title track are among my favorites on this great album.

Gliss - Strange Heaven: I've been a fan of the L.A. band since their 2006 debut. Since that noise rock delight, they've released three shoegaze albums which I also enjoyed, with the last one being three years ago. I was expecting this to be similar, but was pleasantly surprised to find a slight return to their noise rock roots. There are certainly shoegazer elements infused with the sound, creating something refreshing. "My Lie," "Ja Ja," and "Hold Your Breath" are my personal favorites.

Rolling Stones - Tattoo You: The Stones were still going strong as the '80s arrived. Released in '81, this was their second album of the decade, after the previous years' Emotional Rescue. It opens with perhaps one of the most memorable first tracks, "Start Me Up" and singles that the band has not abandoned their blues rock roots even as a disco beats infused their sound. I had always avoided their post-Goat's Head Soup work, but when I came across this for $1 at a Thrift shop the other week, I took a chance. Certainly not in the class of their early '70s work, this is still a very strong album that won't disappoint fans. At least, it didn't disappoint me. 

Belle and Sebastian - How to Solve our Human Problems: The second in a three EP series, this one is much better than the first. While it still engages in the dance pop feel of the first EP, there is more on this one to identify it with the bands quirkly roots. Having been a fan of this Glasgow band for the past 20 plus years, it's nice to see them return to the EP format that they did so well in the early days. "Show Me the Sun" and "I'll Be Your Pilot" are great tracks, and "Cornflakes" is the only song I could really do without.