Another week has passed by, and another selection of great music. This week is highlighted by a pair of Kansas songs and a new release from David Gilmour.

Mark Bacino – Top of the World

Joy Division – Closer

Kurt Kaiser – Master Designer

David Gilmour – Luck and Strange

Kansas – Song For America

Kansas -Point of Know Return

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Mark Bacino – Top of the World

This is a new record, and I’m still looking for something to jump out of it and inspire me. Other than my wall of writer’s block, there is nothing terrible about this recording. I’ll listen to it again.

I listened to it again.

Mark Bacino goes for several more spins around the digital turntable, and I am still waiting for inspiration to hit me. I like his new album, Top of the World, but have not been hit with a deep insight to write about it. I think it is good music, and it has intelligent lyrics. I lost the lyric sheet. Fortunately, Mark has a good voice, and his vocals do not get drowned out in a sea of overloaded instruments.

I listened to it yet again.

The first time I heard this, I thought Marks’s voice sounded like someone else; it turned out to be Harry Nillson. I don’t feel that Mark is trying to be a protege of Harry. I do get the feeling that it is a pair of New Yorkers making good music. Going in their own directions. Regardless, I think Mark Bacino has delivered a clever pop album, and I hope he sees my comparison to Harry Nillson as a compliment because I have enjoyed Nillson Schmillson for more years than I want to admit to, it turns out to be 53 years, and I feel Top of the World is stepping in that direction .

There are several stand-out tracks on Top of the World. The snappy opener, “Kaylee Hughes,” is a toe-tapping song that gives a great introduction to the album. “Why Does This Woman Love Me” is an honest question for me to ask. I wonder how my wife loves me? “I Like Wearing Clothes” is a humourous romp and another toe-tapper.

“How The Story Ends” is the track that most resembles Harry Nillson in my head. It is an excellent song from Mark with gentle instrumentation that carries the lyrics along and builds into charging crescendos of sound. I like it. And I like the whole album. Excuse me while I go and listen to Top of the World again. I’ll let you know in

Joy Division – Closer

Released two months after the suicide of the band’s lead singer and lyricist Ian Curtis, Closer seems darker and more mysterious than the band’s previous record, Unknow Pleasure. This perception is no doubt loaded because I got Unknown Pleasure first and listened to it significantly more often. I also like Closer and will have to give it more spins than the two I did today.

Kurt Kaiser – Master Designer

I got this in a box of records I purchased from Kijiji for a bargain price. There must have been close to 200 albums, and I am still inserting them alphabetically into the library as I listen to each of them. This record was also the first album in the letter K in the library. It is a nice, clean Muzak with competent piano playing and modest string sections. It is a decent album if I listen to it in that context.

David Gilmour – Luck and Strange

I am a fan of Pink Floyd, from their early albums to their solos. Luck and Strange is David’s fifth solo album, and after the first listen, I think it stacks up favourably with his earlier material. The hard copy is in the mail. Stay tuned for more info when the vinyl arrives.

Kansas – Song For America

Song For America is Kansas’s second album. It has an expansive prog/ rock feel and some heavier rock reminiscent of that era. Released in 1974, it was a minor hit when it was initially released and got middle-of-the-road reviews. Some liked it a lot, others not so much. To me, it is an album by a band that is still trying to find its sound and direction. They found that voice in the album Point of Know Return, released in 1977.

Kansas -Point of Know Return

Point of Know Return would be Kansas’ highest-charting album in the US and their most significant commercial success. Gone are the epic 10-minute prog tracks found on their early recordings in favour of mostly pop radio-friendly 3—to 4-minute songs. Point of Know Return also has one of their most recognized tracks, Dust In The Wind. I struggle to play Dust In The Wind on my guitar, but I love hearing it on my turntable.

I listened to several of this week’s albums more than once, which indicates how much I appreciated and enjoyed them. Happy listening, my friends.