Digital Roundup: 8/10/15

New this week in the Rhino Room at iTunes:

King Curtis, Instant Groove: The title of this instrumental album by one of the great saxophonists of both R&B and rock ‘n’ roll really couldn’t be more apropos: it truly is an instant groove from start to finish, with Curtis delivering covers of such classics as “Hey Joe,” “Wichita Lineman,” “The Weight,” “Little Green Apples,” “Somewhere” (from West Side Story), and “Hey Jude.”

King Curtis, Get Ready: Following a similar format to its predecessor, this album includes a number of covers, including “Get Ready,” “Bridge over Troubled Water,” “Something,” and “Let It Be,” but it also finds Curtis branching out and featuring more originals amongst the familiar favorites, including “Sugar Foot,” “Floatin’,” Soulin’,” “Teasin’,” and “Prominade.”

Nicolette Larson, In the Nick of Time: Larson’s sophomore release wasn’t as commercially successful as her debut, a failure which can be attributed predominantly to the absence of a top-10 hit: the only charting single from the album was “Let Me Go, Love,” a duet with Michael McDoinald which cracked the top 40 but stalled at #35. It’s a shame that America’s love affair with Larson proved to be a one-off, because In the Nick of Time is smooth late ‘70s pop goodness from start to finish, and although it may not feature a Neil Young composition, as Nicolette had with “Lotta Love,” it sounds just as good to our ears as her first album.