Weekend Music Roundup

The weekend is here, and thanks to several days on the Cape with little work, I'm feeling pretty relaxed. I also had a long road trip and a digital input for listening to some new downloaded albums. Some of those are included here, and others will come soon. I've also included some recent vinyl purchases, and as usual, it's a splattering of different genres. All in all, I really enjoyed all of these records and think they are all worth checking out. Enjoy!

HUM - Inlet: The first album in 22 years from the post-hardcore, heavy shoegaze band is their fifth album. In the mid-90s, there was a time when I was really into their '95 record You'd Prefer an Astronaut. Listening to this album reminds me of why I was so into it. On the surface, this is a sludgy kind of shoegazer record, but underneath there are currents of a 90s indie sound that has disappeared. It's always nice when a band's comeback results in a stellar record that picks up right where they left off.

Chicano Batman - Invisible People: The new album from the psychedelic soul outfit out of L.A. is the band's fourth. While I've been aware of this band since their debut a decade ago, and have heard some of their stuff (and enjoyed it), this is the first album I plunged into. Psychedelic soul is hard genre, and because of it, there isn't a whole ton of it. It's even rarer when it's done right, and this one is definitely done right. This is one of those great west coast sunshine soul rock that is perfect for summer.

Vivian Girls - Vivian Girls: The lo-fi L.A. via Brooklyn female indie band's debut was released in 2008. I'd always meant to check it out, simply because their name is taken from Henry Darger's In the Realms of the Unreal. When the local record shops re-opened last week, I had $10 credit at the one and found a nice original vinyl copy of it, which was essentially free. It's a 20 minute record of lo-fi noise pop with fuzzy vocals and punk tempo. It's one of those light airy summer rock kind of records and I can see why it got a lot of buzz back in the day. Some solid tunes, but the album is the kind of album that just washes over you in a enjoyable haze.

Abner Jay - Man Walked on the Moon: Abner was one of those artists who remained unknown in their lifetime. He was a country folk artist from Georgia and in the last decade, Mississippi Records has been re-issuing his work and this is the newest one, which came out back in January. I've had the first compilation they did since it came out back in 2009 and absolutely love it. While very classic blues in a lot of ways, it's also very unique in an old timey way. "My Middle Name is the Blues," "I'm so Depressed," "Cocaine Blues," and "Love Wheel" are personal favorites of mine.

Groundhogs - Thank Christ for the Bomb: Released in 1970, this is the third album from the British Blues band fronted by T.S. McPhee. I bought this album when I was a sophomore in college, 25 years ago, and it has been a favorite of mine ever since the first listen. With the 50th anniversary, the album was re-released on vinyl and I picked up a copy. This album pushes the British Blues genre into a more psychedelic hard rock, as the previous year's Blues Obituary had done. This album is their most unique, most political, and downright burns from start to finish.

Charlie Parker - Volume III: This series of live recordings was released on the Everest label's Archive of Folk and Jazz series in the '70s. A few years ago, I found Volume IV and recently came across this volume, which may be a little better. Not recorded for an album, these performances capture Charlie's genius. It's a brief album, but doesn't lack substance. Usually albums in this series (of which there are other artists) aren't priced very high, so definitely grab them if you see them. Well worth the few dollars.