Weekend Music Roundup

The weekend is here, and the Roundup returns. I have been a little preoccupied lately trying to work from home and watch the squirt, so I apologize for missing the last few weeks. I also have not been listening to too much new stuff as I've taken this "stay at home" time to go digging through my own collection and listen to things that I haven't heard in a bit. These are some albums that I discovered over the past few months, a little bit of everything. Enjoy.

Bang - Death of a Country: This was a shelved LP from the Philly heavy psych band of the early '70s that released archivally in 2011 by the great Rise Above label. This is one of those bands that never got the credit they deserved, probably because they were ahead of their time. I'm so glad I came across this at the local shop, it's been on my list. Definitely one of the founding albums of the genre. 

The Wood Brothers - Kingdom in my Mind: The newest album from the Nashville via Boulder americana folk band is their eighth album. I was first introduced to this band with their second album, twelve years ago. While I really enjoyed that album, I somehow missed everything in between then and now. This has that Nashville country influenced sound blended in and reminds me a bit of Langhorne Slim, if only a little less energetic. A solid record, one fans of the genre will really enjoy.

Jaki Byard - There'll Be Some Changes Made: Released in '73, this is near the end of the jazz pianist's most active period of his career. A post-bop / hard-bop musician, he maintains that style at a time when others were experimenting beyond that. Being a huge fan of that jazz era, and of his work, I'm glad he didn't abandon it. Over the past few years, he's become one of my favorites and I always look for his stuff in all the shops I drop into. I was lucky to find an original copy of this on sale for a few dollars and of course snatched it up. "Lonely Town," "Blues Au Gratin," "Besame Mucho," and "Journey  / Night of Departure" are my personal favorites.

Kilo Kish - Redux: Released at the end of last year, this is the newest EP from the Brooklyn based electropop artist, who has been steadily releasing EPs since her her only full length album in 2016. These songs mix pretty solid electronic music with her R&B style vocals, but they have enough punch to transcend dance music and veer slightly into trip-hop. It reminds me a bit of Santigold, if not slightly more poppy. 

Eddie Money - Life For the Taking: Released in '78, one year after his break-out debut, this the second album from the NYC rocker. His sound was always very solidly FM rock radio, but he was a master of the genre. I was a fan of his during childhood and rediscovered his music about ten years ago. With his passing fresh on my mind, I picked up this album recently. It was missing from my collection and is another solid rock record. He's one of those artists who know what he was and didn't try to be anything other than that, and that's where his true cool comes from. 

The Tea Set - Back in Time for Tea: A newly released compilation of work from the short-lived UK post punk band from 78-80. A super curious album that seems to take as much from proto-punk bands like Deviants and Bonzo Dog Band, as they do from the contemporary sound that was emerging after punk's first big splash, Gang of Four comes to mind, though these guys are bit more psyche than that. "On Them," "Tri X Plan," and "South Pacific" are personal favorites on this quirk of an album.