Weekend Music Roundup!

The weekend has arrived and like clockwork, here are some more of my ramblings on recent albums that I've listened to. There is a new releases on here that I was very eager to hear, as well as some older albums that I just discovered. There's also an album that I've owned for over 20 years without even really knowing I owned it or that it existed. Hopefully there's something for you to discover. Enjoy.

The Claypool Lennon Delirium - South of Reality: The second album from the pairing of Les Claypool and Sean Lennon was released last month, three years after their first effort. I was really looking forward to this album. I absolutely love the first single, "Blood and Rockets." That song is a masterpiece of psychedelic art/prog rock. But as with the first album, I found that I loved all the songs Sean provides vocals, and was less attracted to the Les tunes. All in all, this is a really decent record that I can see why others will absolutely love. 

White Light - White Light: The one and only record from the psychedelic blues rock band was released in 1969. Heavily influenced by other bands of the time, including Velvet Underground, this reminds me of other obscure albums in the genre, such as The Deviants. This is guitar heavy psych rock that is mostly quite good. There are some weaker moments on the record, but they are few and far between. Some standouts for me are "Baby What You Want Me to Do," "Cold Shot," "I Couldn't Get High," "Always, Always," and their cover of "I'm Waiting for the Man."

Wes Montgomery - A Day in the Life: Released in '67, one year before he died, this is the jazz guitarist's interpretation of some popular tracks of the time, as well as some original compositions. Traditionally a Hard Bop artist, this is more of a smooth jazz record, and it's pretty much perfect smooth jazz. This has become on of my favorite Sunday morning albums. As I mentioned in a review a few weeks back, anything can be jazz and Wes, along with his talented band which included Herbie Hancock on piano, do a great job reinventing tracks like "Elanor Rigby" and the title track. Worth a listen, especially for people who think they don't like jazz. 

A Flock of Seagulls - A Flock of Seagulls: The 1982 debut from the Liverpool band is best known for the classic New Wave hit "I Ran" and Mike Score's legendary hair. I picked this up in the cheap bin because I read someone discussing how well it held up and because I love "I Ran". This is a quality New Wave record with lots of good songs, like "Messages" and "Modern Love is Automatic." It has an early Cure feel, but also feels like a precursor to the jangle pop that would dominate that area of the UK in the coming years.  

Elliot Maginot - Comrades: The second album from the Montreal singer songwriter is on the folky side of dream pop. There's an element in his work that reminds me of what I enjoyed about James Blunt's first album. I enjoyed this record as well, but as readers of the Roundup probably know by now, too many pop elements are not really my thing. All in all, a decent album and one that others will certainly enjoy more than me, simply do to taste. 

Pearl Jam - Merkinball: Released in '95 as a companion piece to the Mirrorball album they did with Neil Young, this is only two songs, yet categorized as an EP. It's also a CD that I've owned for nearly 25 years and was completely unaware that I owned it. I took this off the shelf, thinking it was Mirrorball and when I put it on, I was like "What is this?" The amazing thing is that these are two of the best songs I've ever heard from Pearl Jam. "I Got Id" may be their best song in my opinion. Now I'm more excited to listen to Mirrorball, which I also have owned for 25 years and probably have not listened to in 20.