Mudhoney - Vanishing Point - Grouchy, funny, swaggering, veering wildly out of control... It must be a new Mudhoney record, and the world is a better place because it exists. This is a very direct outing with bright, punchy production and no time for much subtlety, which plays to Mudhoney's strengths. Much of the record displays a Stooges-style groove and singer Mark Arm is in fine form throughout. If you need a straight-ahead rock and roll album, look no further.
13th Floor Elevators - Easter Everywhere - Their debut record, The Psychedelic Sounds Of... is more well-known, but the follow-up release Easter Everywhere is the stronger of the two overall, even though there's not a song that reaches the heights of "You're Gonna Miss Me." Roky Erikson and company combine some wild psychedelia with quieter moments and come up with a winner, even doing a swirling cover of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue."
Clutch - Earth Rocker - Clutch are back, and they're revved up even more than usual. Album opener "Earth Rocker" is a paean to worshiping loud guitars and doing it live on stage, which is just a literal retelling of their career, which can now be measured in decades. Their last record was a bit slower and more subdued that one might've expected, but they're running on every last cylinder here; the tempos are quicker and the band is almost jumping out of the speakers. Whatever has Clutch so energized, let's hope they stick with it.
Soul Coughing - Ruby Vroom - Sometimes you just have to go back and hit play on Mike Doughty's first long player of "deep slacker jazz." You have to feel those crisp, mellow beats covered with samples both wacky and orchestral, all topped with Doughty's hyperliterate stream-of-consciousness raps. His is a voice so distinct that you could play thirty 90's records at the same time and still pick him out of the crowd. Songs like "True Dreams of Wichita" show an off-beat sensitivity, and for some premium brain-melting weirdness, give a listen to "Bus to Beelezebub," whose nonsensical lyrics rub shoulders with a looped sample of "Powerhouse," which most people know only as "that cartoon factory music."
Various Artists - Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era - In 1972, Jac Holzman (founder of Elektra Records) and Lenny Kaye (later a guitarist for Patti Smith) put together a double-LP collection of mid-1960's garage rock, which was later expanded to a four-cd set in 1998. The four-disc set is worth it, as it represents a nearly exhaustive account of the garage rock explosion of the 60's and contains the early seeds of punk rock. Sure, with four discs of material, there are some goofy novelty numbers, but the great-to-silly ratio is actually quite admirable in this collection.
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks - Some bands chase down sounds that are so unique that they become a genre unto themselves, like "Primus" and "Bjork." Van Morrison's record Astral Weeks just might qualify for the same recognition at the album level. Any classification you can think up will fall short of describing the music on display in these eight songs. It dips into soul, jazz, folk, and more, all mixed up with a mysterious and plaintive Celtic sensibility.
