Features / The Weekend Stream

Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts. A light release week combines three unlikely bedfellows: a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-inducted rapper, a classic pop crooner, and a hero of alternative rock.

Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (10th Anniversary Edition) (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope/UMe) (iTunes / Amazon)

Eminem’s eighth album from 2013 served as a sequel of sorts to his acclaimed third album from 2000 (which featured the rapper’s first Top 10 hit, “The Real Slim Shady,” and the unforgettable “Stan”). But if Mathers was afraid of diminishing returns, it wasn’t a problem, thanks to Top 10 hits “Berzerk,” the tongue-twisting “Rap God,” and the chart-topping “The Monster,” a second hit collaboration with singer Rihanna. This set – which features six bonus tracks from previous expansions as well as five instrumentals – was first released digitally back in November, but it’s also available physically this week, on two CDs or 4 LPs – so we’re highlighting them all here. (And that’s why there was no Release Round-Up yesterday!)

Andy Williams, You Lay So Easy on My Mind (Columbia) (iTunes / Amazon)

After a string of hit albums in which he interpreted Top 40 fare of every stripe, Andy Williams was feeling restless. In 1974, the venerable vocalist headed to Nashville, where he teamed with Columbia’s top country guru Billy Sherrill (Charlie Rich, Tammy Wynette, George Jones) for You Lay So Easy on My Mind. Williams’ soft, relaxed pipes proved a perfect match for Sherrill’s countrypolitan style as arranged by Bill McElhiney and Bergen White. They tackled Floyd Tillman’s country oldie “I Love You So Much It Hurts” as well as more recent tunes co-written by Sherrill (“Another Lonely Song,” “I Love My Friend,” “My Elusive Dreams,” “Cry Softly”) and popularized by his stable of artists. For good measure, Williams and Sherrill brought the Nashville sound to the Peter Allen/Jeff Barry hit for Olivia Newton-John “I Honestly Love You” and Jim Croce’s “I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song.” Andy earned AC hits with “Another Lonely Song” and “Cry Softly,” while the album did particularly well in the U.K., earning a Silver certification. It now follows 1975’s The Other Side of Me to digital services, and coincides with Real Gone Music’s new release of Andy’s When You Fall in Love: Lost Columbia Masters 1977-1982 on CD.

Birdfeeder, “So Triangular” (Soul Selects) (iTunes / Amazon)

We close this short week with a great new track: Birdfeeder is a supergroup comprised of our beloved Mark Mulcahy (Miracle Legion, Polaris) on vocals and drums and Chris Harford (Band of Changes, 3 Colors) on guitars and bass. (Kevin Salem of Dumptruck plays additional guitar and produces.) Their album Woodstock – named for the town the pair recorded in – will be out on April 12, and is comprised of an octet of songs Mulcahy and Harford wrote and demoed back in 1996. (Seven are new recordings, and one of the demos, “Super Diamondaire,” will be featured on the album.) “So Triangular” is another winning track for fans of Mulcahy and Harford both, and is accompanied by a video of excitable dogs.

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