Blues

Here are my highlights in popular music from 2016. It includes records by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Bright Light Bright Light, David Bowie, Melanie C, Hikaru Utada, Beyoncé, and many more!

This film is a tale of love and a struggle against the odds, filled with amazing music.

NRBQ are every bit as adventurous as they were as a young bunch of guys playing around at the Adams home some 51 years ago, even though Terry Adams stands alone as the only band member spanning the timeline from then to now. How he’s been able to hang on to the energy and charming irreverence that permeates this box of collected performances (both studio and live in concert) is a testament to his continued enthusiasm and love of music.

Brownout finds the little nooks and crannies of the soulful and funky undercurrents in the heaviness of Black Sabbath songs and fleshes them out with some greasy horns, nearly hypnotic percussion, and much more psychedelic improv than you might think. If you love Black Sabbath, you will dig this unique covers album tremendously.

Here is a band in full control of their talent and musicianship that had four studio albums that time would ultimately call one of the most amazing beginnings of any band ever, comparable only to the thunderous Black Sabbath’s first four albums.

The Blue Poets bring together 1970s classic rock, modern alternative rock, and blues in their self-titled album.

From the sonic exuberance of “Dancin’ Fool” and “Tell Me You Love Me” to the funky dissonance of “You Are What You Is” and “Joe’s Garage” to the bathroom-humor excellence of “Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow” and “Titties and Beer,” this album will give you just as much of a “taste” for Frank Zappa’s music as his son’s "Zappa Plays Zappa" did for me some eight years ago.

Bonamassa and his band fire on all cylinders on this live 2-CD or 2-DVD set. Recorded, amazingly, at a single sold-out Los Angeles concert in 2015, the selections pay tribute to the three "Kings" of the blues: Freddie King, Albert King, and Bonamassa's mentor B.B. King.

'Come to Paradise' is an eclectic mix of styles, from African folk to American adult pop and contemporary jazz.

'What Happened, Miss Simone?' is a great documentary about an amazing woman that comes with a bonus CD containing some of her greatest songs.