Weekend Music Roundup

It's the weekend and it finally feels like Fall here in the Hudson Valley. The leaves are changing, the weather is crisp, and the tunes are turning toward melancholy. These are a few of my favorite things and so it's no surprise that many of the albums on this week's list tend to fit that theme. There's some new highly anticipated albums, some older albums that I'd been searching for, and a couple of curiosities that are well worth sharing. Enjoy.

Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell!: So last weekend, I mistakenly attributed my review of a Lana bootleg for a review of this, her fifth solo album since reinventing herself as Lana, but it still remains my favorite album from  the NYC native, L.A. transplant, artist since 2014's Ultraviolence.  It seems many of the tracks on the bootleg were rougher versions of songs on here (though some were apparently older songs). While I typically enjoy rough versions, there is something about the finished versions here that propel them to the next level. This is by far her most realized record and most sophisticated. Whereas on previous albums, she could sometimes sound like someone playing a part, this time around, it feels incredibly real. A true gem of an album!

Spiritualized - And Nothing Hurt: I'd been looking to find a copy of this for over a year, a copy that didn't cost a fortune, and I finally found one. I've been a Spiritualized fan for well over twenty years and it had been six years between releases before this came out last year. This is a masterpiece of an album that sees Jason Pierce at his vulnerable best. It doesn't have the bravado of Ladies and Gentleman, but a more mature sense of the same themes. "A Perfect Miracle," "Here It Comes (The Road) Let's Go," "On the Sunshine," "Damaged," and "The Prize" are all brilliant songs, as are pretty much all of the songs on here. A true triumph.

Lions and Ghosts - Velvet Kiss, Lick of the Lime: This 1987 debut from the L.A. jangle rock band was a recent find in the 5 for $20 bin at a recent record show. Of course, jangle rock is more associated with the U.K, but there were a few college radio bands here in the U.S. making that sound. Being from L.A., they are able to mix this sound with the drenched burnout sound of that town, which makes for a great mix. This was a nice find, and opens with the wonderful "Passion." Other favorite tunes include "Mary Goes Round," "Girl on a Swing,"  "Love and Kisses from the Gutter," and "Contradiction."

Cranes - Self-Non-Self: The 1989 debut EP from the UK goth band. I've been a following this band since their first album. They were scheduled to open for The Cure during the "Wish" tour when I was a soph in High School and I bought their album before the show. Sadly, they didn't make it to the Philly show, but I loved the album. I have a huge collection of their albums and singles on CD, but not this one. I was shocked to find a mint copy of this on vinyl, especially considering they were never popular in the U.S. and this was very limited even the U.K. This is more goth industrial than they were end up being, but it's amazing. Someone described it as Skinny Puppy with your child signing, and though that's not exactly true, but a good starting point.

Steve Walsh - Schemer-Dreamer: The first solo album released by the singer of Kansas came out in 1980. It would twenty years before he released another solo record, so for all intents and purposes, this is the only solo album from the peak of his career. It opens with the great title track that is near perfect hard blues rock, and from there continues it's straight forward sound, something that probably felt refreshing after a decade of prog rock albums. Though it certainly does have some prog elements, they are more window dressing than any type of focus. Along with the title track, "You Think You Got it Made," "Every Step of the Way," and "Wait Until Tomorrow" are solid songs. But the real star of this is the way over-the-top 80s cover art, which is narcissistically BRILLIANT!

The Divine Comedy - Office Politics: This is the 13th album from Irish art-pop band that first came to prominence during the Britpop era. Even in their heyday, Neil Hannon blended humor into songs that were constructed with the importance of Baroque sophistication. This is no different, he takes the subject of office life and pokes fun at it in a series of songs that mask the triviality of the words, though as with all humor, there is real statements hidden in the humor. The one drawback to this album is that it is simply too long. A single disc made up of the best tracks would have been fantastic, but with so much filler, it's hard to get through.