It’s a somewhat revamped Ronin, but Nik Bärtsch saw opportunity with those changes and exploited them. ‘Awase’ can move both your mind and your soul but the deceptively fresh approach it takes to get under the skin like that is the brilliance of Bärtsch and his Ronin quartet.

Aimee Mann angered some fans 10 years go by focusing on keyboard-equipped instruments for the electric guitar-free ‘@#%&*! Smilers.’ Not me.

To Mike Zito, ‘First Class Life’ is taking joy in the place he finds himself in. For the rest of us, it’s just first class blues.

Michael Franks’ ‘The Music In My Head’ continues his forty-five year tradition of delivering comfort music with intellect, wit and grace.

A newly unearthed demo reminds us of the genius of Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker, and what a huge loss we suffered with his death.

Golden Dawn Arkestra combines Sun Ra, psychedelia, Fela Kuti and Talking Heads’ ‘Remain in Light’-era sound, with a dash of disco and a bit of Flaming Lips-style spectacle.

GospelbeacH’s “Dreamin'” is Laurel Canyon all over again. And I love it.

Al Green’s return-to-form ‘Lay It Down’ arrived a decade ago this month with new hip-hop producers and a bevy of guest R&B singers – but it was no sell out.

Apart from his collaborator Arto Lindsay, Thiago Nassif’s ‘Três’ much unlike anything else you’re likely to hear from a very broadly defined pop realm that includes its rogue elements.

The underrated ‘Flavors of Entanglement,’ issued 10 years ago today, found Alanis Morissette in a moment of fearless introspection. Critics be damned.