Weekend Music Roundup

 

The weekend has arrived and as promised, I'm sharing my thoughts on a couple of new albums that I'd been looking forward to, as well as some older albums that I've that picked up over the past several weeks. The first two albums here are releases from two of my favorite artists of the past ten years and both live up to expectations. There's also a few nice discoveries and some things I'd been looking for. Hopefully there's something here that will make you all want to go exploring. Enjoy.

Lana Del Rey - Chemtrails Over the Country Club: The newest album from the queen of broken hearts is another sun soaked saga of sorrow. Her last album had been my favorite of the year it was released (as had Ultraviolence). So needless to say, my expectations for a new Lana album are always pretty high. I admit that upon first listen, I wasn't sure how I felt. There were certainly songs I loved, but I wasn't sure how I felt about the entire thing. On second listen, I fell in love a little bit and realized this one had the potential to grow on me the way NFR did. Now many listens in, I really love this album.

Ryley Walker - Course in Fable: This is the first solo album in a few years from the prolific songwriter who has done a bunch of collaborations recently, but not an album of his own until this. I've been a big fan since first hearing Primrose Green when it came out and have eagerly listened to each release since. I saw him play a few years ago and he was brilliant. He plays a free folk style rooted deep in Americana and has this 70s vibe to his music that speaks to my childhood. This is yet another solid addition to his incredible catalog. 

American Pleasure Club - Tour Tape: This mixtape comp was released in 2018 by the Baltimore indie band. It had been sitting in my folder of albums to listen to for ages and I finally got around to giving it a listen. This lo-fi indie pop, and the lo-fi aspect of it is what makes it interesting, lending a neo-psych sound to what otherwise would be pretty standard indie. There's a decent amount of mixtape montages on here, but the songs "All I Ever Wanted," "Attitude Pt. 2," "But Not Enough to Sleep Tonight," and "Together in the Big Black Car" are standouts. 

Swans - Feel Good Now: This live album was recorded in 1987 on the NYC bands' European tour. Their albums from this period are much more abrasive than their more well-known work of the past two decades, but the essence is the same. It straddles the line between experimental no-wave and post-rock. The intensity of this band is one of the things that attracts me, and is one of the reasons they've become one of the bands that I've fallen in love with over the past year. It's one of the elements of fate when you encounter a sound that illuminates your thoughts. It's all about finding something at the right time and place. 

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets - Shyga! the Sunlight Mound: This is the fourth album by the band from the Perth. This is heavy psych meets garage rock, and a pleasant surprise in my world. This is fast pace psychedellic rock as opposed to the slower heavier brand that dominates the genre. It definitely reminds me of King Gizzard in that way, but this is definitely less polished. I personally like the raw elements. "Sawtooth Monkfish," "Tally-Ho," "Mr. Prism," and "The Tale of Gurney Gridman" are personal favorites.

Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers - Bustin' Loose: The 1979 debut from D.C. go-go funk band is an album that had been on my wishlist for a long time. I learned about these guys from Wale who sampled them pretty heavily. This is soulful funk at it's best. Definitely a great party album, if we ever get back to a time when parties are a thing.