Music Library Catch-Up: AC/DC, Acetone, Aceyalone, Aesop Rock, Afghan Whigs, Akron/Family, American Music Club, Laurie Anderson

I mentioned last time that I have an unbelievable backlog of passed-over and recently added albums.  In the months since I have caught up, I've raided a few friends' collections and added ordinary purchases.  Plus I had a bunch that I missed the first time around through misclassification or fatigue and have subsequently listened to.  Anyway, I hit most of these albums a while back, but it's taking me a little while longer to find time to work on this project these days.  So these will be brief.

AC/DC - High Voltage (Australian Version) (1975), Let There Be Rock (1977), and Powerage (1978).  The latter two are pretty much my favorite AC/DC albums (along with Highway To Hell).  The former is ok, better than the US release of High Voltage but not quite as good as what the boys would do through the rest of the 70s.

Acetone - Acetone EP (1993), Cindy (1993), I Guess I Would EP (1995), Acetone (1997), and York Blvd. (2000).  This band was just plain extraordinary.  I regret that I only discovered them within the past few years when my friend gave me a copy of their 1996 album If You Only Knew.  I managed to get my hands on the rest of their output during 2010, and man, do they blow me away.  Psychedelic, countrified, poppy, soulful: these guys have influences from all over the map.  If they had hung in longer, they would have been as popular as, well, Yo La Tengo. A favorite is "Sundown" from Cindy, which rips off the distinctive guitar riff from Isaac Hayes's "Walk On By."  But all of these albums are just plain phenomenal.

Aceyalone - All Balls Don't Bounce (1995) and Magnificent City (2006).  All I had when I hit Aceyalone back in 1923 was a track from Grade A.  I'm glad I delved further!  Bounce is pretty excellent, and Magnificent, while not quite as good, has some amazing production from RJD2, including the track that provides the theme song to Mad Men.

Aesop Rock - Day Light EP (2002) and Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives EP (2005).  Good stuff.  I had a few Aesop Rock albums already, but these are interesting additions.

Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen (1993).  I wasn't that crazy about this album back in 1993, but it's grown on me a bit since then.  I'm still unsure as to why so many people love the hell out of it, but I do intend to read the 33 1/3 book at some point.

Akron/Family - S/T II: The Cosmic Birth And Journey of Shinju TNT (2011).  Newest release by one of my favorite current bands.  Is psychedelic as all-get-out.  Hasn't grabbed me as much as a few previous yet, but there's time.

American Music Club - Everclear (1991). Love me some Mark Eitzel and company.

Laurie Anderson - Live In New York (2002) and Homeland (2010).  As a demonstration of how long it's been since I caught up, you can read my reviews of these albums in the overview of Anderson's career I wrote for Dog Canyon back in July of last year.  Speedy, I am not.