“Act Naturally” came, well, naturally for Ringo Starr. He had flirted with country music long before joining the Beatles.

The new album by Roberto Maria Zorzi, Michael Manring and Scott Amendola relentlessly delivers surprises with sounds heretofore unheard.

Emerging in an age when heavy rock was the happening thing, Unit 4 + 2’s self-titled 1969 album was unfairly deemed a dated anomaly.

It becomes obvious throughout ‘Moving Day’ that the Mark Wade Trio has played together for a while, as there is an unmistakable telepathy.

Others may dislike Machine Head’s latest outing, but I think it’s one of the most interesting records they’ve ever done.

A hidden gem, Robert Lamm’s Rhodes-driven “Bright Eyes” finally made it onto ‘Chicago VIII’ – but it took 27 years.

Robert Finley stopped to talk about different things but mostly, he just played, accompanied only by the rattling window unit.

‘The Remains’ documents the unstoppable exuberance of an exciting – and sadly short-lived – young band.

‘Invisible Threads’ offered me the first chance to listen to saxophonist and clarinet player John Surman in a long time – and all I can say is, “wow.”

Some might recognize a couple of the New Zealand garage-rock groups on ‘How Is the Air Up There?’ The rest may be new to most, like me.