ALBUMS

• LEONARD COHEN: YOU WANT IT DARKER: 2016: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: At the beginning of 2016 David Bowie released what would be his last album and died a couple days later. In October Leonard Cohen released You Want It Darker and died nineteen days later. In both cases- Bowie and Cohen they went out with outstanding albums- both dealing with death in a large way. Both men had been able to keep their health issues quiet- both knew they were dying. Both went out on top.

• ELVIS COSTELLO: ALMOST BLUE: 1981: 4 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: This album viewing it from today makes perfect sense when I look at EC’s 40 plus year career but at the time when I heard that the King of the New Wave was releasing a country album I thought it had to be a joke. EC went to Nashville and recorded country classics  from the likes of Hank, Merle, Ole George Jones, Gram Parsons- produced by George Jones producer Billy Sherrill who was something of a wild man- and lived to tell the tale. Not a bad album at all.