I listen to a lot of new (to me) music, and sometimes I feel like telling people about things I like in case they might like them, too. That’s all this is. Every time I have four records I want to share, one of these is going up. Consider it my own mini version of Robert Christgau’s consumer guide.

• Terry Callier – “What Color Is Love” (1972)

This is the kind of record that’s called jazzy by people (like me!) who don’t really listen to much jazz, but it’s actually easy listening with a heavy dollop of bedroom eyes Chicago soul. The easy listening cliches are there in abundance – faux classical guitar, satiny smooth backup singers, dramatic strings – but these are elevated by Callier’s impassioned vocals and the crisp production of Charles Stepney. The opener “Dancing Girl” is so gentle that you barely notice how it rises in emotion and stakes until it’s caught you up in its whirlwind. And in the middle of all this AOR, there suddenly appears “You Goin’ Miss Your Candyman”, which is about as funky as a song can get – it’s no surprise Stepney went on to work with Earth, Wind & Fire.

• Bronski Beat – “The Age of Consent” (1984)

There was a recent trend on TikTok – I assume it’s passed by now, given the short attention spans on that app (okay, all apps) – where younger folks asked their parents (or grandparents, I guess) to dance the way they did in the ‘80s while Bronski Beat’s “Smalltown Boy” played. Besides seeing myself in some of those oldsters – and marvelling at how well a lot of them still moved – I was also reminded of what a great song it was. My cis male roommates and I didn’t see it as a tale of gay discovery – I’m not sure we were even paying attention to that element – and we mostly mocked Jimmy Sommerville’s falsetto, but we also rushed the dance floor when it came on at our local nightclub. The whole album is one banger after another, and I can only say that listening to it in my car instead of under a disco ball (which I absolutely need to invest in) was a massive error in judgement.

• Willie Nelson – “The Border” (2024)

Willie never had the most beautiful or dynamic voice, but it wasn’t really his calling card either. Rather, his stellar guitar playing and ear for a great song – both his own and others – has been the mark of his success, and neither have deserted him yet at age 91. The record is mostly a collection of songs that attest to the power of enduring love, but the highlights to these ears are the title track opener and the sentimental “Hank’s Guitar”. It’s been awhile since I listened to one of Willie’s albums, but this was a good reminder that he is one of the all-time greats, as well as a solid liberal elder statesman among country music’s conservative lunkheads.

• Norma Tanega – “Walkin’ My Cat Named Dog” (1966)

A smart and world-weary collection of eccentric folk pop with an opening track that will be instantly recognizable to fans of “What We Do In The Shadows”. Tanega didn’t often display much vocal range, but her soulful delivery always holds your attention. The more upbeat tunes stand out, in particular “Treat Me Right”. The title track was a top 40 hit in the musically weird year that was 1966 (and reached no. 3 in even weirder Canada, nestled in between songs from the-not-at-all-weird B.J. Thomas and the Righteous Brothers), and though she never had that kind of commercial success again, she continued to make music into her late 60s.