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Linda Ronstadt, Live in Hollywood

Rhino released the full concert on YouTube, so do yourself a fever and watch it whlie it’s still available. Ronstadt filmed this concert for HBO around the time she released Mad Love.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Live from the Ryman, Vol. 2

Many of the tracks on this second edition of live recordings from the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville come from Weathervanes, probably Isbell’s best album since Southeastern. So I’m inclined to rank it favorably over the first volume.

Various Artists, Club Epic

This compilation of remixes has some top notch hits from the ’80s: “Fantastic Voyage” by Lakeside, “Saturday Love” by Cherrelle and Alexander O’Neal, “Lover Girl” by Teena Marie, to name a few. I didn’t realize how much I missed hearing these songs.

Painkiller, Samsara

Mick Harris has traded live drums for electronics on this album reuniting the former Napalm Death drummer with bassist Bill Laswell and saxophonist John Zorn. It’s no less frenetic and still mixes well with the wild abandon for which Painkiller is known.

Ray Chen, Player One

I can’t confess to being any sort of video game soundtrack listener, so those tracks which bookend this album are pretty much adornment for the Erich Korngold Violin Concerto, the crunchiest piece of repertoire I’ve heard Chen tackle so far.

Tim McGraw, Standing Room Only

I don’t mind that Tim McGraw engages in a bit of gay-baiting, and he doesn’t move in the same creative circles of Jason Isbell or Sturgill Simpson. But I have to admit Standing Room Only sounds like an album that could imagine a Venn diagram where McGraw, Isbell and Simpson intersect.

Marshall Crenshaw, Field Day

I hadn’t explored much of Crenshaw’s early albums till a number of them showed up at the thrift store. Now I understand how the press was flummoxed that Crenshaw just never stormed the charts.

These fourth quarter picks can be found in the Favorite Edition 2024 Year Final:

• Perfume, Nebula Romance: Zenpen

These fourth quarter picks can be found in the Favorite Edition 2024 Catalog:

• Princess Goes, Come of Age
• Shannon, Let the Music Play
• SZA, CTRL

Tags: jason isbell, linda ronstadt, marshall crenshaw, painkiller, picks, purchase log, ray chen, tim mcgraw, various artists