MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: EMILY BURGESS and the EMBURYS - NEVER-ENDING FLING

Here's album #2 for Peterborough's Burgess, after exiting the late 24th Street Wailers. A whiz guitar player, she's now developed a great big stew of roots and rock sounds, underpinned with groove and heart. Here she's joined by her traveling pals in the Emburys, as well as the talented folks from her other band, The Weber Brothers.

There is great warmth and soul in all these tracks, and an wonderful smoothness to the music and production. I hate making comparisons, but trying to define the sound is failing me, so think of this: That warm, somewhat bluesy but extremely catchy Fleetwood Mac sound on Christine McVie's songs. They could be touching or downright poppy, along with great playing, and that's what you get here.

There are tons of great moments, like the uplifting bridge on "Excuses," one of those big melodic moments you can feel in your chest when they arrive. The ragged-but-right harmonies throughout are endearing, friendly voices from a club in which you'd love to belong. That's another part of the great vibe here, this clubhouse of musicians crafting little jewels, some songs from Burgess, a trio from the Webers. On one of those, the whimsical "The Lion and the Lamb," drummer Marcus Browne takes the spotlight on lead vocals, a nice touch that again points out the collective work going on. Burgess and the Emburys have a busy month touring around Ontario, so take a well-deserved shopping break and check 'em out.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: COCO LOVE ALCORN - REBIRTH

Let's leave no doubt here. Coco Love Alcorn's voice is a majestic instrument, and she's equally adept at soul, r'n'b, jazz, pop, soul jams, wherever she travels. With just that voice, she's able to dig deep into your soul with one song, for instance the stirring, gospel-flavoured opener here "Rebirth."

So that's a given, the voice. What's even more stunning here is the lineup of personal and positive songs, a collection of inspiring messages, to herself mainly, but certainly for all of us. On the infectious "Ain't No Friend," she's speaking to that negative inner voice we all know so well: "Hey Mr. Self-doubt, you got a lot to say/but every word is getting in my way." The quiet piano number "I Forgive Myself," is as powerful a message as you'd get at any 12-step meeting, and I'm not being insincere. If your ears are open, there are some serious healing songs here.

Then go back to the voice, the songs, the great mix of fun and funk and anything goes, with all sorts of production ideas and insanely catchy tunes. It's just quirky enough, showcasing her distinct personality, musically and lyrically. Comparing herself to a sweet treat, "My Noughatty Centre" sees her describe her inner self as a warrior and a dancer who wants to make the world better, all over slow beats and layers of vocals.

Catch this dynamo back in her old Nova Scotia stomping grounds the next couple of nights, playing the Al Whittle Theatre in Wolfville Tuesday, Nov. 26, and The Carleton on Wednesday, the 27th in Halifax.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: SKYDIGGERS - LET'S GET FRIENDSHIP RIGHT

Faced with the loss of friends and a bunch of sadness to deal with, Skydiggers Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson started working on an album about the stages of grief. But then they flipped that on its head, instead coming up with this life-affirming collection. Friendship is the theme, how to nurture and cherish it, and it is offered up as one of the few truly important treasures with which we can be blessed.

And with that, the pair came up with this set of moving and warm songs, all of which uplift and bless the listener. Maize, with his slightly gruff and always charming voice, sounds absolutely sincere as he pays tribute to tremendous relationships. It's not maudlin or overtly personal, they don't name names, but you know how important these people are. "Five Cold Canadians" is what the band drinks, a brothers-and-sisters in arms song, the message being it was the best of times. "Always and Forever" is one of those songs that started as grief, but has become a monumental outpouring: "I will love you, always and forever."  The group takes a moment to groove as well, on the funky "Questions Of Love," that sees the subject "back on your feet, problems all behind you... you can face the world once more." The shortish (under 30 minutes) but emotionally packed collection ends with a cover of a Sinatra standard "It Was A Very Good Year," Maize proving himself a capable crooner and moody trumpet player as well.

The album is intimate throughout, made of echo and close-up instruments, spare but full. There are just four musicians here, Finlayson and Maize along with drummer Peter von Althen and band multi-instrumentalist Aaron Comeau. There are layers of sounds, but all there for a purpose, to help with the mood, rather than following a fad. If an album ever could be described as a close friend, this is it.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: MUSIC FROM SEASON 2 OF BIG LITTLE LIES

This soundtrack from the HBO series is actually an excellent mix tape of chill-out soul, both vintage and current. Big soul names from the past, including The Spinners, Brenton Wood and Anne Peebles mix with current faves Leon Bridges and the late, lamented Charles Bradley and a few little-known but fine new talents. Some left-field choices round this out to make it an excellent hour of cuts.

For the most part, these are obscure choices, the only hit being "I'll Be Around" by The Spinners. Well, the only original hit that is. There are a couple of very cool covers. Jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson contributes her brilliant version of Neil Young's "Harvest Moon," which reminds us that he can be an excellent lyricist when he's trying. Willie Nelson and his sister Paula deliver an excellent, laid-back duet on the old CCR number "Have You Ever Seen The Rain," and the stripped-down version of F. Mac's "Dreams" by POP ETC is another cool one. Newer names Elle King and Phoebe Killdeer fill out the track list, and this is certainly one of those rare soundtracks that works great from start to finish.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: DAVID BOWIE - CONVERSATION PIECE

If you've been watching those expensive, lavish vinyl box sets of Bowie demos from 1969 come out over the past few months, there's good news. Instead of having to shell out for the four different deluxe packages of 45's and LP's, you can get all those cuts on this five-CD box set. I guess that's a bit of bad news too, if you already shelled out the big bucks on the vinyl versions, only to find out months later there would be a more affordable way to get them.

If you're a Bowie fan, you'll find it hard not to want this. These are the demos and early versions of the songs that made up Bowie's first proper rock album from 1969, known at different times as David Bowie, Man Of Words/Man of Music, or Space Oddity.  For the box, there's also the original album proper, plus a brand-new remix of the album from original producer Tony Visconti. It also features a whole batch of songs that didn't make the album, and different productions and mixes of several others. It's as much as they could find of all the work Bowie did leading up to this important record.

As he began to shop his latest songs and sound around, must have felt he had a winner in his back pocket. There are a bunch of different takes of "Space Oddity" here as worked away on it, each time getting a couple of better ideas. Eventually he stumbled on the idea of using the Stylophone to get that weird noise as the rocket takes off, and it's obvious he has his hit. It wasn't overnight, Bowie had been recording since 1964, with little success, and he was still trying out a bunch of styles. He was working in partnership with guitarist John Hutchinson, who appears on several of the demos here, singing as well.

Even at their most basic, and in some cases, simplistic, hearing the demos now offers quite a surprise. Mostly it seems shocking that Bowie wasn't being swarmed by labels. These were really strong songs for someone in their early 20's, certainly different from the bulk of music around London then. They were folkie for sure, art school-fueled, and a good part weird. Songs such as "Angel Angel Grubby Face" are good examples of Bowie trying to be different. That's a good one, but "When I'm Five" was too much of a conceptual thing, song from the viewpoint of a four-your-old wanting to be just a bit older. The "Ching-a-Ling" song is much more successful as a playful number, and it's a shame that one fell by the wayside leading up to the final album.

The Space Oddity album (as everyone now calls it) wasn't very successful, and always seemed a little unwieldy and muddled. There are songs that you have to live with for awhile, including "Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud" and "Memory Of A Free Festival" that grow on you. Better yet is the new Visconti mix for 2019. I'm not a huge purist, and I think in this case his doctoring of the tapes is very much an improvement.  It's an exciting new mix for "Space Oddity," with drums loud up front and everything swirling a bit more. "Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed" has more frantic harmonica playing, almost manic, and more guitar too. It really rocks, and that's never been a common observation about this album. Bowie's vocal in "Letter To Hermione" is now much more present, and therefore more emotional and effective.

Then there is the elegant packaging and excellent art book that goes with the box, lots of photos, sleeves and tape boxes, etc. Yes, I know there's been so much Bowie coming out since he died, but it was planned by him before. It's pretty amazing there is this much material (5 CD's) to build around the release of one 50-year-old album. If they have more of these planned for each album's 50th, it's going to be amazing.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: MY BLACK RAM

Peter Hicks is the singer-songwriter fronting Fredericton's admired Sleepy Driver, but here he takes a holiday for a new project. Joined by a trio of indie-rock inspired friends, the new group takes Hicks' always-solid songs on a punchier path. With the songs short and sweet, My Black Ram puts the emphasis on fast impact, with guitar, synth, organ and piano providing the hit-and-run on cuts such as "Golden Era" and "Another Lover."

Hicks likes to write mystery-noir stories for Sleepy Driver, and some of that appears in My Black Ram, notably "Uh Huh" and "Lost That Feeling" in the middle of the nine-song set. Here, instead of letting the words control the mood, the band gets to add colours, from sweet to sinister, the latter song getting an especially dramatic groove. And just to prove its (almost) all about the instruments, a couple of keyboard-led instrumentals are featured as well.

The band is launching the album with a hometown show coming up this Saturday, Nov. 23. It's at the Capital Complex, 10 p.m., with Graeme Kennedy opening.

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: SIMPLE MINDS - 40: THE BEST OF 1979 - 2019

Hmm, three full CD's of Simple Minds? They have been around long enough for sure, this is a 40th anniversary collection, but let's face it, the heyday was firmly in the '80's. I was, however, pleasantly surprised how well the set held up over three hours.

I think what makes the group's output sound more fresh these days is the lasting popularity of EMD, and the renewed interest in vintage synths. Simple Minds were, if not pioneers in both, at least one of the most popular groups of those genres' first eras. Coming in at the end of the New Wave era, they helped popularize synth rock, and tracks such as "Promised You A Miracle" and "Waterfront" are certainly among the very top of that early '80's sound. There's lots to dive in to from that period here, including "Glittering Prize," "Love Song," and that exceptional instrumental, "Theme For Great Cities."

Then it all got weird for the band when they had a shocking North American hit with "Don't You (Forget About Me)." In that awkward position of having to choose between their core British audience and the newfound huge pop following, the group took the latter path, serving up similar-sounding hits "Sanctify Yourself," "Alive and Kicking," and "All The Things She Said." That lasted for a bit, but in a couple of years they were off the U.S. charts again, and back to being simply massive as home.

Wisely this doesn't go chronologically, but instead new, less familiar numbers such as "Honest Town," "Home" and "Cry" are spread throughout, to give them an honest shot at standing up. And they do really, the band has kept up the quality and Jim Kerr's always been a strong singer. There's certainly more to the band than its connection to The Breakfast Club, and this is a good way to dive in if you haven't paid much attention before.