These are the tunes that I listened to this week. A couple of listens from thrift store bin diving and some albums I hadn’t heard recently. It was good to hear John Lennon again; good memories flooded my emotions. I can remember the day he died very clearly. Japandroids were also memory joggers, and seeing them live was incredible. They had so much energy and managed to get a big sound out of just two people, which was impressive. Amy Grant was another excellent live show, memorable because of my favourable review of the opener, Lincoln Brewster. I don’t have any hard copies of his tunes.

Joe Jackson – Night And Day

This album is a real stinker for me to listen to. I am sad to hear that a musician that I like endorses his right to smoke tobacco anytime and anywhere he likes. As a former smoker and a person with really crappy lungs because of my smoking, I am an ardent supporter of bans on smoking.

John Lennon – Mind Games

Mind Games is a good album that keeps on giving. It gave me an earworm this week. I really like the album and the warm fuzzy memories it evokes.

Japandroids – Post-Nothing

It has good energy; however, I love their live music better than vinyl.

Jim James – Eternally Even

Eternally Even was overdue for a sit down and listen session. It has held its magic very well.

THE HALF-CUBES – Pop Treasures

I’ll give a big shout-out to Big Stir Records for sending me this digital album. They are called Pop Treasures for a good reason. Pop Treasures is a double-album-length collection of covers of underground pop classics, many featuring guest shots from the original artists. The sequel to last year’s acclaimed album Pop Masters by The Flashcubes, this is half the ‘Cubes and twice the pop, including the indie hit single covers of The Rubinoos’ “The Girl” (featuring the Rubinoos’ Jon Rubin and Tommy Dunbar), “She’s So Young” (originally by The Pursuit Of Happiness and featuring TPOH frontman Moe Berg) and much, much more. I had the pleasure of catching TPOH live, but their music is good regardless of how it reaches your brain.

Various – Time/life Classic Rock 1964

I got these great road tunes for a buck at a thrift store.

Michael Jackson With The Jackson 5 – 14 Of Their Greatest Hits

Although I do acknowledge his talent, I’m not a big Michael Jackson fan; it’s just not my thing. For a dollar at a thrift store, I was willing to listen to it; yeah, it’s just not my thing.

Caity Gyorgy & Mark Limacher – You’re Alike, You Two

Caity and Mark have crafted an album with smooth jazz that is easy to listen to.

Amy Grant – House of Love

See details at the top of this page.

So, there we are. All the music is good, but some albums are better than others. I look forward to my musical journey next week, when we will have some Sting solo albums and an eclectic mix of new music and classics from the ’60s and ’70s.