Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts! A quiet week previews a new album by The Doobie Brothers, revisits the latest from one of TSD's favorite indie singer-songwriters, and so much more - plus a reminder of how you can help one of our favorite reissue labels, one that's been affected by the ongoing fires in California.

Doobie Brothers, Walk This Road (Rhino) (iTunes / Amazon)

The Doobie Brothers are giving a preview of their upcoming album of the same name (due on June 6 in all formats) by unveiling nearly a third of its 10 tracks on this new EP. The title track, co-written by returning member Michael McDonald and album producer John Shanks, is a gospel-flavored slice of soul with guest vocals from Mavis Staples. Tom Johnston joined Shanks to pen the contemporary country-styled "Call Me," while Shanks, McDonald, and Patrick Simmons contributed the evocative, haunting ode to "Lahaina," the Maui town which was devastated by the 2023 wildfires. Mick Fleetwood (whose restaurant in Lahaina was among the properties destroyed by the fires), Jake Shimabukuro, and Henry Kapono (of Cecilio and Kapono) all guest on the latter. Walk This Road is the Doobies' first album of original material with McDonald since 1980's One Step Closer, and is also the first album of original music to fully feature the line-up of McDonald, Johnston, Simmons, and John McFee.

Julian Velard, In the Middle of Something (Chloebro) (iTunes / Amazon / Bandcamp)

Now digitally available everywhere is last year's seventh studio album by the New York-born singer/songwriter/pianist, now living in Los Angeles. A breezy but powerful meditation on middle age, Velard's cockeyed songcraft pairs well with the production and engineering of Dave Way (who recorded and mixed Fiona Apple's last three albums, among others) and hits on both tender emotions of growing up and the sillier side of marriage and fatherhood (including "I Don't Know," "How Does It End" and "We Should Have An Affair," featuring Velard's wife Rachel as a duet partner and one of the funniest A-list musical/comedy cameos of recent note). Stream it or download it and you might even be spurred to pick up a copy on CD or vinyl, with liner notes written by TSD's own Mike Duquette.

Breakwater, Splashdown (Expanded Edition) (Arista/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon)

Spacey Philly funk-rock outfit Breakwater issued two albums in 1978 and 1980; the latter, Splashdown, is most notable among cratediggers for the track "Release the Beast," which was sampled by Daft Punk on 2005's "Robot Rock." Single versions of "Release the Beast," "Splashdown Time" and "Say You Love Me, Girl" are all bonus tracks.

Ernie Kovacs, Mayhem in the A.M.: The Lost Radio Comedy of Ernie Kovacs (Clown Jewels) (iTunes / Amazon)

Clown Jewels has collected a new disc of radio comedy from influential, pioneering, and altogether zany comedian Ernie Kovacs on Mayhem in the A.M.: The Lost Radio Comedy of Ernie Kovacs. Additionally, the label's YouTube channel has debuted the recently-discovered final episode of Kovacs' off-the-wall television game/panel show Take a Good Look. Expect much more to come from Clown Jewels and the Kovacs Estate!

Livingston Taylor and The BBC Concert Orchestra, Symphonic Steps (Big Round Records) (iTunes / Amazon)

Singer-songwriter Livingston Taylor recorded this set with conductor Bill Elliott and the BBC Concert Orchestra at the BBC's famed Maida Vale Studios. On this 11-track set fusing jazz, folk, and classical sensibilities,, Liv revisits such favorites as his own "I Will Be in Love with You," his brother James' "Carolina on My Mind," "Over the Rainbow," and "When Sunny Gets Blue." No CD or LP has been announced yet.

The Obi Strips, Sleeping Sundays (self-released) (iTunes / Amazon / Bandcamp)

Finally, we've got a fun little homebrew baroque/psychedelic-pop release coming to you from one of TSD's home bases in Queens. The Obi Strips - a name that will delight just about anyone who reads this site regularly - is a winning quartet comprised of singer/bassist Memo Salazar, guitarist Deena Patel, keyboardist Jesse Sklar and drummer Michelle Tsai, and Sleeping Sundays features their debut tunes "Sleeping Sun" and "A Month of Sundays." (Get it?)

And here's an assortment of others you might enjoy!

Hank Snow, You're Easy to Love (RCA Victor) (iTunes / Amazon)

Willie Bobo, Bobo (Columbia) (iTunes / Amazon)

Steve Wariner, Steve Wariner (RCA Victor) (iTunes / Amazon)

Zaca Creek, Zaca Creek (Columbia) (iTunes / Amazon)

Jo-El Sonnier, Have a Little Faith (RCA) (iTunes / Amazon)

Eddie London, Do It Right (RCA) (iTunes / Amazon)

Rob Crosby, Another Time and Place (Arista) (iTunes / Amazon)

Finally: help Omnivore rebuild. Among the countless folks who've been affected by the wildfires raging through Southern California are our friends at Omnivore Recordings. "Parts of Omnivore and our extended work family have sustained destruction and have been significantly displaced," the label announced in a recent e-mail to subscribers. While everyone is blessedly safe, ti's going to take time to rebuild at most, and at the very least keep up their robust release plans for the rest of the year (like the recently announced The Beckies Story or last year's collection of Dave Edmunds sides for the Swan Song label, which featured liner notes by our own Joe Marchese). Per their message, the best way to support them now is to pick up anything from their catalogue you might have been thinking about. We'll of course let our readers know any other aid efforts as we find them out. Thanks for reading, and as always, keep looking after each other - we're all we've got.