Week of September 14 – 20, 2026
Sensory Dispensary
“The record you didn’t know you needed is what I am listening to in the other room.”
“The record you didn’t know you needed is what I am listening to in the other room.”
A light listening week for this last batch but some essentials showed up, as well as a newly released favorite.
My buddy Nick from High on Stress used to talk about Slim Dunlap, and I like The Replacements and Paul Westerberg so not sure why it took me so long to get to this. I liked it just fine and added it to the library so it will surface again.
I think Exile is, overall, the best work the Stones ever released, at least it’s the most satisfying for me to listen to. Some of my favorite songs of theirs may appear elsewhere but there are no misses here. Reading about the recording process, it’s a wonder it ever got made, but the results are incredible. There is a reason it’s my 9th most listened to album via my last.fm charts. Expect to see it often.
I like a lot of stuff by The Doors but they are a band begging for my own personal Build Your Own Best Of Playlist treatment. Some good stuff on this one. Gina must not have been around.
I have listened to this album hundreds of times but, remarkably, something different hits me every time. This listen, the acoustic McCartney tracks really stuck out and I really appreciated just how beautiful “I Will” and “Mother Nature’s Son” are, and how he continued to do that sort of thing so well throughout his solo career. “Golden Earth Girl”, “Winedark Open Sea”, “Too Much Rain”, etc.. are so reminiscent of these classics.
A new Warren Haynes release always makes me happy. This was captured live back in 2019 in Asheville with an orchestra, which makes for interesting arrangements. It’s an interesting song mix, maybe a bit more Dead than I would have chosen, but it’s a really enjoyable listen. I really like the version of “One” here.
I have heard some Eric Lindell stuff on the radio and in various mixes but haven’t really dug into any full albums. I found this to be a bit scattered, some a bit generic, some quite good, and the rest pleasant. Listenable but mostly unremarkable.
My favorite live band, known for their quintessential live album At Fillmore East, captured here from their 2003 Beacon Run. This is an outstanding collection of their late lineup at their best, their only live album to capture the incendiary guitar duo of Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes. This is just a fucking joy to listen to. Like any of their shows during that time, it’s a great mix of old favorites and choice later cuts. I’ve heard a hundred different versions of “Whipping Post” over the years, but this might just be my favorite.
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