Weekend Music Roundup

Welcome once again the roundup of music I've been playing recently. This weekend, there are lots of old albums that I've picked up over the past several months, some newly released and others much older than me. There's a couple of records on here that I'd been hunting for some time and was happy to have found. I'm happy to say that I don't think I'll ever stop exploring new sounds and hopefully you won't either, and hopefully my lists provide you with some things to explore. Enjoy.

Ultimate Spinach - Behold and See: The Boston psych band released two albums in '68, this being the second one. Though never achieving wide-spread acclaim in their time, they become one of the great lost bands of era and I'd been searching for either of their first two albums for quite some time and came across this one the other day. This is an absolutely brilliant record that blends the San Fran sound with the NYC sound of Velvet Underground to create something totally unique. 

John Lennon - Imagine (Raw Studio Mixes): This was one of a few Record Store Day releases that I was after this year, but failed to make it to my local shop before they sold out, and then didn't want to pay the secondary market prices that popped up after. I recently went to a shop that was closing one of their locations and everything was marked down 40%, and they had this, so I got a great deal. I've always loved Imagine and have owned it on CD for over twenty years, but when this was announced I knew I wanted it. Having heard a ton of John studio bootlegs, I was sure this would be wonderful, and no surprise it is. I like it a fraction better than the original release, simply for its purity. 

Death Hawks - Psychic Harmony: This is the fourth album from the Finish psych rock band, released earlier this year. This is one of those albums that can't seem to figure out what it wants to be. At times, it feels very solidly indie psych, but then it sort of warps into a indie dance record. Somehow I couldn't wrap my head around it properly. I didn't dislike it, but there were just too many moments where it left me tilting my head in confusion to say that I really enjoyed it. 

Kansas - Song for America: This is the second album from hard rock band, released in 1975. This has the classic hard rock feel that albums from the mid-70s had, pounding drums and great guitar riffs. Though frequently cataloged as a prog rock band, and there are certainly prog elements in the arrangements, they are not as proggy as some others, which probably contributed to their popularity. "Down the Road," "Lamplight Symphony," and "Lonely Street" are personal favorites on another solid record.  

Fats Navarro and Allen Eager - Saturday Night Swing Session: Recorded in the spring of 1947, and released later that year. This live session is a wonderful example of swing era jazz, with amazing bass and trumpet interchanges. I've been digging on Fats for a few years and this album really captures the magic of his playing. A nice album that really has that swing sound that gets your toes tapping.

Little Feat - Waiting for Columbus: It's rare that a live album is one of the more popular albums from a band, but that's the case for the L.A. southern rock band (just like Kiss Alive). This double record was released in '78, after their sixth album and spans their early career. Recorded over a stretch of 8 days the summer before, perhaps it's strength is that it's not a concert album in that sense, it's a collection of live tracks taken from more than one show. It's also worth mentioning that southern boogie rock is the kind of music that comes to life when it's played live, and that's what happens on this record. This is the perfect summertime, backyard BBQ jam album.