Until the new album from the Initiative arrives later this year, we are fortunate to be treated to songs like Joe Mandica’s heart-tugging “Unexpectedly.”

Tony De Meur discusses the struggles he had in compiling the Fabulous Poodles’ new ‘Mirror Stars’ box set, and the possibility of a long-hoped-for reunion.

Refreshing and ultra-catchy, Vince Tomas’ “Anything and Everything” is the perfect summer song.

Included among the array of oddities on AM radio in 1968 was Four Jacks and a Jill’s inventive, weirdly archaic “Master Jack.”

Lounging between Chicago’s vintage poppier moments and the slicker stance they’d recently adopted, “Baby, What a Big Surprise” is the best of both worlds.

Keenly chiseled and immediately accessible, the Tol-Puddle Martyrs’ “One Drop In the Ocean” is a delightful slice of radio-friendly pop rock.

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.

Bart and the Bedazzled are like a cool combination of ’70s pop-singer Stephen Bishop and ’80s bands like the Style Council.

Simple, nuanced and damn near perfect, Judith Owen’s ‘RedisCOVERed’ meets and occasionally exceeds all expectations.