And like clockwork, three days after I got home I came down with a wicked respiratory infection that pretty much laid me out the whole week. Not the best week to listen to nothing but Les Rallizes Dénudés for my pounding head, but damn that band just gets larger and larger in my brain space. Next week I’ll get out some odds and ends live music before jumping into May which is going to essentially be a catch-up month of all the new music that’s come in. Consider this playlist then my respite from the searing leads of Mizutani and a brief preview of some of the music getting reviewed next month.

• Led Zeppelin – “Sick Again”
• Hawkwind – “There Is Still Danger There”
• Pat Metheny – Bright Size Life
• Gillan – “I’m Your Man”
• Lars Fredrik Frøslie – “Jakten På Det Kalydoniske Villsvin”
• Jeff Beck – “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”
• Brass Camel – “Pick Of The Litter”
• Marillion – “Bitter Suite”
• Bruford – “Hell’s Bells”
• Natural Information Society, Bitchin Bajas – “Clock No Clock”

Going light on the commentary this week so I can focus on getting more rest, but a few notes…the current run of Hawkwind albums sound so good I think it’s of a class of their early 70s run…I went on a bit of a jazz run thanks to a few Sea of Tranquility web shows, grabbing some ECM recordings from Pat Metheny and John Abercrombie (featured on last week’s playlist), and discovered Bruford’s incredible solo album with Allan Holdsworth on guitar…I also never owned Jeff Beck’s classic combo of Blow By Blow and Wired, and at $7 a piece I finally rectified that…I also decided to do some deep dives into bands I wasn’t familiar with, and grabbed the recent Gillan box set as well as a number of the deluxe reissues from Marillion…

Be safe, be good to each other. See you next week.