Album Sweep: June 23, 2012...

Yay, a new feature! (Like I have enough time lol)... Since a lot of good music misses the radio and the singles charts, I wanted to start a weekly recap of the new music hitting Billboard magazine's top Albums chart. You may find a little nugget of something you like, then go check it out at the record store (please), Amazonmp3 (there's a lot of good deals there), or the ITunes behemoth. And away we go...

Adele's 21 reclaims the top spot this week, as the highest debut belongs to country legend Alan Jackson, whose seventeenth studio album and first on his own label, Thirty Miles West,  comes on to the chart at #2...

The Beach Boys are back with the first album of new material in twenty years, and in doing so score their first top-10 record since 15 Big Ones in 1976, and their first top-5 record of new material since 1965's Summer Days (And Summer Nights!), the one with "California Girls" on it. Their latest is That's Why God Made the Radio, and thankfully it's Brian Wilson-centric (as opposed to Mike Love), and even has a track co-written by Jon Bon Jovi, while the title track was co-written by Wilson and Survivor's Jim Peterik...

Neil Young reunited with backing band Crazy Horse for the first time in almost a decade on Americana, featuring takes on folk, pop, and country standards, at #4...I admit, I like Neil's stuff, but this has "old man yellling at cloud" written all over it (to me)...

 Mississippi-born rapper and producer Big K.R.I.T. (Justin Scott) has built a rep on mixtapes, and his debut proper CD enters up at #5..

Former member of the No Limit rap act 504 Boyz, Curren$y (Shante Franklin), has his latest CD make the top-10 at #9. It has guest spots from R&B artists like Estelle and Marsha Ambrosius, as well as rappers Pharrell and Wiz Khalifa on The Stoned Immaculate...

The sixth top-10 debut this week is by folk-rock singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile, who had a fantastic single awhile ago with "The Story", and now has her biggest album success at #10 with the acclaimed Bear Creek...

Known for being the guitarist with the Eagles and on his own, Joe Walsh, like the Beach Boys, has his fist new-material album in 20 years made its debut this week, at #12, with Analog Man...

The film adaptation of the Broadway musical Rock Of Ages hit the theaters this weekend, and the soundtrack to the movie featuring Tom Cruise and Alec Baldwin singing 80s hairmetal songs jumps on the chart at #15...

Nickelodeon show Victorious, featuring actress/singer Victoria Justice, comes on at #18 with the soundtrack EP to the show Victorious 2.0...I guess I got to ask my niece about this...

Speaking of TV actresses who sing, One Tree Hill's Jana Kramer is forging a career in country music with her first self-titled album at #19...

Now for an album that's so far my favorite of the bunch - in fact I bought it on import a couple months ago. It's Scottish singer Emeli Sande' with Our Version Of Events, which has already placed four top-20 hits in England. It debuts in the US at #28...

R&B crooner Eric Benet is back at #32 with The One, which has already spun off the top-5 adult R&B hit "Real Love"...

Canadian garage-rock band the Japandroids (love the name) put their latest album up in the top-40 at #37 with Celebration Rock, and it's been getting a lot of critical buzz...

One rung below that at #38 is industrial-metal band Fear Factory with their eighth studio album, The Industrialist...

Punk-rock icon Patti Smith returns with her first album of new stuff in five years with Banga, in at #57...

Texas native Bryce Avary, who records under the moniker The Rocket Summer, takes his latest album, Life Will Write The Words, to #58..

The retro-roots rock band teh Black Crowes are on hiatus now, but its lead singer, Chris Robinson, debuts his side project the "Chris Robinson Brotherhood" at #63 with Big Moon Ritual...

And now on a completely different tip, electro-rave outfit the Knife Party from Australia put their "Rage Valley" EP in at #75..

Also from Australia, indie-rock act the Temper Trap hope to capitalize on the momentum of their enduring worldwide hit "Sweet Disposition" for their self-titled sophomore album at #83...

And at #84 is Swedish rockers the Hives with their ultra-cool new album, Lex Hives, at #84...