Features / The Weekend Stream

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. An unexpected return from a ’90s one-hit wonder, a team-up of two pop queens, and plenty of odds and ends from 1976 will satisfy your Saturday.

Various Artists, One Night Only (Music from the Motion Picture) (Back Lot Music) (Apple / Amazon)

The new comedy from director Will Gluck (Easy A) involving a meet-cute on the one day non-marital sex is legal in a fictional America is getting decidedly mixed reviews. But there is a unanimously interesting tidbit for pop geeks: less than a month after returning to duet with Michelle Branch on a re-recording of “The Game of Love” (which frontman Gregg Alexander co-wrote), a brand-new song from New Radicals appears on the film’s abbreviated soundtrack. “One Night Only (Break Loose Break Free!)” features Alexander and longtime collaborators Danielle Brisebois and Nick Lashley in their first brand-new composition since the release of sole album Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too. (Every recording since has been a take on one of Alexander’s original songs.) The soundtrack also includes a new track from Brooklyn singer/songwriter King Princess (who acts in the film) and a score suite from HAIM bassist Este Haim and composer Christopher Stracey.

Ben Folds Five, “Philosophy (Shelved First Attempt)” (Capitol/UMe) (Apple / Amazon)

The second track to be released from the forthcoming Ben Folds Five deluxe reissue is an early, Stiff Johnson-produced take on one of the debut album’s eventual standouts, “Philosophy.”

The Presidents of The United States of America, The Presidents of The United States of America (31st Anniversary Deluxe Edition) (PUSA Music) (Apple / Amazon)

Elvis Costello isn’t the only one celebrating unusual anniversary years: Seattle alt-rockers The Presidents of the United States of America’s debut – a Top 10 long-player which spun off the rock radio hits “Peaches” and “Lump” – has been expanded with four bonus live tracks recorded in the wake of the album’s success.

Madonna & Kylie Minogue, Love Sensation EP (Warner) (Apple / Amazon)

The Queen of Pop’s Confessions II rollout rolls on with a new mix of the single “Love Sensation,” featuring new vocals from another pop deity, Kylie Minogue!

Brenda Lee, Coming On Strong / Johnny One Time / Brenda / Take Me Back (MCA Nashville)

Strong: Apple / Amazon
Johnny: Apple / Amazon
Brenda: Apple / Amazon
Take Me Back: Apple / Amazon

Four more new-to-digital albums by Brenda Lee showcase another side of the singer best known for “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” Includes the Top 10 country title tracks of 1966’s Coming on Strong and 1969’s Johnny One Time.

General Johnson, General Johnson (Arista) (Apple / Amazon)

Best known as the frontman for the Chairmen of the Board, General Johnson cut one solo album after his tenure on Holland-Dozier-Holland’s Invictus label, and it’s now available to stream. Includes the originals “All in the Family” and “Don’t Walk Away.”

Henry Mancini, Henry Mancini Conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in a Concert of Film Music (RCA Victor) (Apple / Amazon)

As its title indicates, this 1976 album, cut at Abbey Road, features lush arrangements of some of that decade’s best-known film music, including works by Nino Rota (The Godfather), John Williams (Earthquake, JAWS) and Mancini himself (The Great Waldo Pepper, The White Dawn).

Jim Reeves, A Touch of Velvet (Expanded Edition) (RCA/Legacy) (Apple / Amazon)

Another winner from Gentleman Jim – produced by Chet Atkins and vocally backed by the Anita Kerr Singers – 1962’s A Touch of Velvet yielded one of the last major hits in his lifetime: the No. 2 country/U.K. Top 10 smash “Welcome to My World.” An alternate take of the tune is one of two bonus tracks on this new digital expansion, put together with the help of SuperVisible Multi Media.

New Birth, The New Birth Disco (RCA Victor) (Apple / Amazon)

Consolidated under the aegis of doo-wop legend Harvey Fuqua (founder of The Moonglows and a key figure in Motown’s production history), the New Birth was formed from three groups including a smaller group of the same name, The Nite-Liters (of the proto-disco instrumental “K-Jee”) and Love, Peace & Happiness. Best known for their Top 10 R&B cover of Bobby Womack’s “I Can Understand It,” The New Birth Disco was a collection of seven cuts they’d released as either New Birth or The Nite-Liters, specially remixed for this album.

Professor and The Madman, Dreamworld (Fullertone) (Apple / Amazon)

An incredible mash of two well-regarded punk bands (singers/guitarists Alfie Agnew and Sean Elliott of D.I. and the rhythm section from The Damned – bassist Paul Gray and drummer Rat Scabies), Professor and The Madman have been performing together for a decade, but their fifth studio album is their first to be recorded together live-in-studio, making this one a truly special release.

Fania All-Stars, Bamboleo (Remastered 2026) (Fania/Craft Recordings) (Apple / Amazon)

A dazzling slice of ’80s salsa, with vocals from Celia Cruz, Willie Colon and Pete “El Conde” Rodriguez, this 1988 album features takes on four Gipsy Kings songs (including the scintillating title track) as well as covers of Sade’s “Smooth Operator” and Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing.”

Michael Wynn, God Has Blessed Our Hands (Buddah) (Apple / Amazon)

What seems like another solid, soulful disc of mid ’70s gospel (including a cover of Leon Russell’s “A Song for You”) takes on new meaning when you look at the liner notes: Michael Wynn (née Walker) is the brother of Philippé Wynne, one of the principal singers of Detroit soul legends The Spinners from 1972 to 1977. While he wasn’t involved creatively, there’s a lot of talent to go around in the family, as this LP indicates.

Chalino Sánchez, Homenaje al Pollero (feat. Los Guamúchileños) (Remastered 2026) (Craft Recordings) (Apple / Amazon)

Released in 1992 – the same year the “King of Corrido” met a tragic end, not unlike the Spanish-language balladry of violence he often sung about – Homenaje al Pollero is one of the last fascinating works from the Mexican singer.

The Sultan’s Caravan, Belly Dance to Great Navel Music (RCA Victor) (Apple / Amazon)

We close with a fun novelty from 1976: a collection of Middle Eastern-flavored studio instrumentals produced by trailblazing RCA producer Ethel Gabriel, who masterminded the “Living” record series (Living Strings, Living Voices, Living Brass – all light mood music for parties and casual happenings, serving a similar purpose to this LP).

WATCH THIS

The return of Sugar is still one of the more pleasing stories in alternative rock this year, and the band has commemorated the moment (ahead of their first tour across the U.S. in decades) with Changes: The Story of Sugar, a mini-documentary telling the story from Bob Mould, David Barbe and Malcolm Travis’ point of view, among others. (The doc includes footage from the band’s Webster Hall shows back in June, which Mike attended, though he’s thankfully not on camera, as far as we can tell.)

PASSINGS

He was born David Rivkin, but the world will forever know him as David Z (1948-2026) – and he was one of the key underrated architects of the Minneapolis sound. Before even Prince (who employed David’s brother Bobby as the drummer in The Revolution), David hit it big as a member of the disco group Lipps Inc., who scored big with the 1980 chart-topper “Funkytown.” He was never far from Prince’s orbit; most famously, in 1986, he helped a local group named Mazarati turn an acoustic blues demo the Purple One gave them into a scintillating, minimalist funk number. When Prince heard the results, he took it back for himself and made it even more minimal, resulting in the chart-topping smash “Kiss.” At Prince’s own Paisley Park studio, David Z produced another No. 1, the funk-pop classic “She Drives Me Crazy” by Fine Young Cannibals. May he be remembered as one of the last letters in Twin Cities funk.

A key figure in U.K. dance music whose passing occurred last month but was announced just yesterday, William Orbit (1956-2026) was a part of British dance and house projects Torch Song and Bassomatic but hit his stride in the ’90s as a remixer, becoming only the second (after Shep Pettibone) to tackle an official remix of a Prince single, the Batman cut “The Future.” In 1990, he was commissioned to create several mixes of Madonna’s “Justify My Love” – the genesis of a blossoming creative partnership that led to the pair collaborating closely on one of her greatest works: 1998’s dance-pop classic Ray of Light.

A comparatively unsung but towering figure in music, Vicki Wickham (1939-2026) started her career in her native England, serving as a producer on Ready Steady Go!, a British music program that put on live (not lip synced) performances by luminaries including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Dusty Springfield; Wickham would go on to manage Springfield, becoming a close friend and collaborator. (Wickham and Simon Napier-Bell set English lyrics to the Italian pop tune “Io che non vivo (senza te),” creating an international hit for Dusty with “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.”) Ready Steady Go! also did wonders for R&B music in England, putting on several Motown-centric episodes and putting Wickham in the path of another fateful collaborator: she convinced Patti LaBelle and The Blue Belles (Sarah Dash and Nona Hendryx) to transition from traditional girl-group R&B to funk and disco. The renamed Labelle would top the charts with “Lady Marmalade,” and Hendryx and Wickham would remain personally and professionally linked, a couple since 1971 and married since 2011.

Scottish rockers Trashcan Sinatras have maintained a cult following for their quirky, witty popcraft ever since the release of 1990 debut album Cake. This week, the band’s seventh album Ever the Optimist broke a decade-long silence from the Sinatras in the studio, but it also came ahead of some sad news: the passing of the band’s longtime rhythm guitarist, John Douglas (1963-2026).