ALBUMS

• STEVE EARLE: THE LOW HIGHWAY: 2013:  4 1/2 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: My favorite Steve Earle album of this decade. Two of these songs appeared in the show Treme which Steve played in . Favorite songs-The Low Highway, Calico County, Burnin’ It Down, Pocketful of Rain, 21st Century Blues and Invisible.

• THE BAND: MUSIC FROM BIG PINK: 1968: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: One of the best albums of 1968- along with The White Album and The Kinks- The Village Green Preservation Society”- The Kinks album and this album do not seem to fit the times. Music From Big Pink and the follow up The Band “The Band” both seem made by musicians who are somehow disconnected from the world and I mean that in the best of ways- not following any trends. As far as favorite songs on this- all of them. Every music fan should own and listen often to the first two albums from The Band.

• CROWDED HOUSE: RECURRING DREAM: THE VERY  BEST OF CROWDED HOUSE: 1996: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: 70 minutes 11 seconds of pop perfection. 19 songs in total not a bad one on the set. I like my best ofs to go in chronological order -this one doesn’t- and for once it probably works out better like this. My favorite Crowded House song- and in my Top 20 songs of all time- Distant Sun.

• THE KINKS: SOMETHING ELSE: 1967: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: Like Bob Dylan and The Band no one told The Kinks what was going on in popular music in 1967- luckily for us. They would release one of their best albums in 1967 and their best album the next year. Favorites on this- David Watts, Death Of A Clown,  Love Me Till The Sun Shines, Afternoon Tea and the magnificently beautiful Waterloo Sunset one of the greatest pop songs ever written.

also listened to this weeks Celtic Crush with Larry Kirwan on The Loft.