To quote Mark Twain, Israel Nash’s ‘Topaz’ is a “barrel of odds and ends,” spinning in a cosmic folky and sometimes soulful space.

The reflective “Smoke From the Chimney” is an advance single from the late Tony Joe White’s upcoming Dan Auerbach-produced album.

Fans should seek out “America” in its many official versions, just to hear how Yes’ cover of this Simon and Garfunkel classic has progressed over time.

“It’s a Sad Thing” is a crunchy new blues original by Boo Boo Davis and the ElectroBluesSociety.

Rather than trying to sound exactly like the inspiration, ‘Fanfare For the Uncommon Man: The Official Keith Emerson Tribute Concert’ takes a personal tack.

We’ve long known that guitar ace Wayne Krantz is really good, and now with ‘Music Room 1985’ we know that he was really good at the get-go.

A self-composed piece of straight-up hard rock, Richard Turgeon’s “Parasite” is recited in a stadium-sized leer that firmly pushes the point home.

Chicago reimagines a classic with a completely different tone and color, rather than merely rehashing a dime-a-dozen cover from the swing era.

Dan Wilson, Maximo Park, Benjamin Lazar Davis are part of the latest edition of Five for the Road, an occasional look at music that’s been in my car lately.

Metroluxe’s “Get Some” is the kind of thing that creates hope and a certainty that music will come back – live, kicking, and so so good.