Album Sweep: January 26, 2013 - Part Two...

Welcome back to part two of this week's "album sweep" where I sample the new records making their way on to the Top 200 Albums chart in Billboard magazine. You can check out part one by clicking here, and I've included links to buy anything that's available...

Coming in at #66 is the first collection of songs featured on the Golden Globe-winning HBO series Girls. The CD, Girls: Volume 1: Music From The HBO Original Series, includes tracks from fun (featuring star Lena Dunham's boyfriend Jack Antonoff), Grouplove, Icona Pop, and the lead-off track "Dancing On My Own" by Robyn (which I'm thrilled is getting the exposure it deserves)...

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Boston indie-rock band Guster debut at #70 with their Live Acoustic set. They have had three top-40 albums so far, with their previous Easy Wonderful reaching #22 in 2010...

The collection The Very Best Of Otis Redding, originally released in 1992, finally gets its first week on the big chart at #107. His iconic The Dock Of The Bay, released after his death in 1968, reached #4.

Christian electro-pop duo (that's genre-defining) Capital Kings debut at #141 with their self-titled debut set.

Another religious album, One Worship: Volume II, with various artists in the Contemporary Christian realm, jumps in at #150...

Bluegrass stars Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out come on at #161 with the Cracker Barrel exclusive CD Timeless Hits From The Past: Bluegrassed, and it's available on Amazon MP3 as well...

Blink-182's Tom DeLonge's side project Angels & Airwaves pop in at #178 with Stomping The Phantom Brake Pedal. In 2006, they took their 'debut' We Don't Need To Whisper to #4, and the new release is unusual in that it's a "double-EP", with two disc that total just over a half-hour of material, and only on iTunes or their website...

The final debut is another oddity in that it isn't for sale anymore. The French oldies label Charly had offered the 158-song collection for $5.99 at iTunes, but since has been pulled. Either it wasn't supposed to be offered in the States (it's a European-based label), or they were taking early advantage of the copyright expiration dilemma pending in America threatening to allow anyone to distribute older material without compensation. Either way, time is up on that train, or to put it better...

That does it for part two..out of these eight I would choose the Girls soundtrack, Guster, and Russell Moore albums first (you should really go all out for Otis' box set)....

I'll be back later with this week's "Robbed Hit". See you then!