With his first holiday-themed album, 2020's The Pianoman at Christmas, Jamie Cullum strikes a festive balance between swinging traditional pop and heartfelt singer/songwriter introspection. It's a balance the singer and pianist has been perfecting ever since breaking through in the early 2000s, moving between urbane re-interpretations of jazz standards and his own lyrical pop/rock originals. It's also a formula that has helped him remain a Top 20 chart regular in the U.K. with albums like 2014's Interlude and 2019's Taller. The Pianoman at Christmas makes the most of these skills as Cullum brings all of his varied experience to bear on a set of original holiday songs.

Merry Christmas was released in 1994, and 16 years later Mariah Carey delivers a sequel, appropriately titled Merry Christmas II You and also featuring the diva in a sexy little Santa suit. The similarities don’t end there, either: Mariah revives her original seasonal tune “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and often touches upon the classy, clean updated traditional vibe of her readings from the 1994 set. Underneath this surface, Merry Christmas II You has a different vibe than its predecessor, derived in large part from the numerous originals here.

With ’This (Is What I Wanted To Tell You)’ Lambchop continue to establish themselves as forerunners and innovators of what was once called Alt Country. Their sound has morphed to encompass multiple genres, blending folk songwriting with the tones of urban soul. Following on from the pioneering sounds of ‘Flotus' (2017), ’This (Is what I wanted to tell you)’ showcases Lambchop at a new peak in their career, whilst still retaining the ingredients of their classic albums. ’This’ is brimming with ideas, songs and hooks. A huge influence on the new direction is Matthew McCaughan (of Bon Iver and Hiss Golden Messenger), who produced and co-wrote large parts of the album together with Kurt Wagner.

Recorded live and mixed by none other than Brian Eno, 'The Surgeon…' is one of Fourth World inaugurator Hassell's most breathtaking full-lengths, capturing the physicality of his performance and matching his lopsided trumpet work with hypnotic synths and ghostly, muted percussion. If you've not jumped into his catalog before, this is the perfect starting point!

Produced by Sean Ono Lennon and mixed by Dave Fridmann (Beach House, Spoon, The Flaming Lips) , Temples fourth full-length album takes place in an impossibly utopic island dreamed up by the four band members. With its resplendent collage of psychedelia, krautrock and time-bending dream-pop, Exotico brings that world to life in crystalline detail, all while exploring an entire spectrum of existential themes: impermanence, mortality, our connection with nature and the wild immensity of the mind.

Erg sounds like a true blending of black metal hostility and post-metal worldbuilding, albeit one that’s presented in a predominantly post-black framework. The songs blur boundaries as they craft their atmospheric layers, providing the listener with a journey that’s both harsh and expressive. It’s an aggressive base that Agrypnia build upon, but they do so with melodic colour and well-structured texture. It’s a mood-rich album, with a few different flavours spread out across the tracks. Some of the music sounds quite earthy and stripped back, whereas at other times it can be more complex and sophisticated.

Incerto is the birth of an exciting new modern jazz ensemble featuring the remarkable trio from Suite for Piano (Brian Marsella, Jorge Roeder, Ches Smith) joined by the brilliant guitarist Julian Lage. A quartet capable of anything, this is the perfect group to realize Zorn’s quirky compositional twists and turns. The music is wildly varied—maddeningly complex, powerfully driving, heartbreakingly beautiful—and embraces complex meter changes, atonal melodies, unusual harmonies, and bizarre structural complexity. Inspired by Freud, Sartre, and the Uncertainty Principle, the music explores possibilities, probabilities, inevitabilities, and impossibilities.

FOGHAT continues to captivate fans of all ages because their music is timeless. They're still touring relentlessly and performing with an energy that keeps a youthful spirit alive, no matter how old they may be. On "SONIC MOJO," founding member and drummer Roger Earl is joined by guitarist, engineer, and co-producer Bryan Bassett (known for Wild Cherry and Molly Hatchet), bassist Rodney O’Quinn (from Pat Travers Band), and on lead vocals and guitar, Scott Holt (associated with Buddy Guy).

Blonde Redhead return with Sit Down for Dinner, their first album in seven years and debut for section1. Its title a nod to the often-sacred communal ritual of sharing a meal with those you love, this immersive, meticulously crafted album appropriately serves an expression of persistent togetherness, a testament to the unique internal logic Blonde Redhead have refined over their three-decade existence.

Avid Jazz continues with its Five Classic Album series with a re-mastered 2CD release from Dakota Staton complete with original artwork, liner notes and personnel details. “Late Late Show”; “Dynamic!”; “More Than The Most” “ Crazy He Calls Me” and “Time To Swing”.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dakota Staton attended the famed George Westinghouse High School, (alumni include pianist Ahmed Jamal, possibly at the same time!) and went on to study music before entering the music scene through that tried and tested, and very tough route, of the night club circuit. From a young age she was travelling around the country appearing in night clubs from Detroit to Indianapolis to Cleveland and to St. Louis and to Harlem in New York, where she was discovered by Capitol Records producer Dave Cavanaugh…

In between albums, Billie Eilish won two Oscars, a pair of Golden Globes, and a handful of Grammy Awards. What would typically be huge feats for regular folks has become the norm for the dynamic duo of Eilish and her brother, Finneas, but could they extend that success for another album cycle? For that third effort, Hit Me Hard and Soft, she didn't offer an advance single or major promotion, a move that might have been construed as getting ahead of any negative critical evaluation. And yet, it simply signaled a quiet confidence in the project, which is another home run. This pair can really do anything. A brisk ten songs, this is a "no skips" gem that is ideal for leaving on repeat and getting lost in the hazy, yearning snapshots of lust, longing, and heartbreak.

"Let it first be said that the title track of The Hypnogogue, the first new album from The Church in six years, is one of the most breath-taking singles they’ve released in years, a darkly psychedelic six minutes that slowly spirals into a menacing descent. That alone is reason to keep this one on your radar; the Australian neo-psych band have been going for over 40 years, with around a half dozen classic albums and zero bad ones, yet their ability to keep evolving and uncovering new aspects to their sound and approach only serves as a reminder of how vital they remain after four decades."

Structured like a religious mass, these seven lovely nocturnes take you to an otherworldly space of beauty and tenderness, unlike any other Zorn compositions you have ever heard. Gorgeous and restful music from a compositional seeker who continues to defy categorization, “Perchance to Dream…” is one of the most unusual and haunting collections in his catalog.