Music has always been linked with festivity, so it's not surprising that many people think of CDs when they're looking for gifts. But a record store can be a daunting place. If you're on the hunt, consider these choices by The Globe's music reviewers, Robert Everett-Green, James Adams, Carl Wilson, Mark Miller, Elissa Poole, Li Robbins and Brad Wheeler, made from a stack of recent discs we've been waiting till now to write about. POP Aphex Twin Drukqs
Richard D. James's magical tour of the electronic realm has driven him back to the piano, although he can't resist poking things into its insides. His rediscovery of John Cage's prepared piano is the surprise and charm of this double disc, in which hand-made sounds dispute ground and figure with synthetic ones. The best music happens when the organic and inorganic merge with terrifying ease, and in the ruined nocturnes played on what sounds like a neglected church-basement upright.-- R.E-G. Kristin Hersh Sunny Border Blue
"I don't judge people, I just watch till it's time to look away." Hersh, late of Throwing Muses, makes haunted songs from bleeding lyric fragments, wayward melodies and the hell-dark timbres that only hard experience can reveal. Her voice sounds scuffed by living, and she has no time to waste on prosaic explanations. There are puzzles here, all worth pondering till it's time to look away. Hersh wrote and performed every part of this disc, except for an intense cover version of Cats Stevens's Trouble. -- R.E-G. Various artists There Is No Eye: Music for Photographs
The title refers to the photographs of John Cohen, who since the early sixties has opened the shutter on some arresting images of roots-music heroes, such as Woody Guthrie, Muddy Waters, Bill Monroe and the young Bob Dylan. This album features rare and not-so-rare performances by each, along with some drop-dead tracks by Carter Stanley, Elizabeth Cotten and Roscoe Holcomb, whose lonely rendition of Man of Constant Sorrow restores the harsh desperation missing from the recent hit versions heard in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? -- R.E-G. Stereo Total Musique Automatique
Stereo Total's mission in the world is to make you feel like you're in an ideal Euro-disco, where everyone is too smart, cool and beautiful to worry about liking the right things. In this cabaret, as Joel Grey once said, everything is beautiful. Vintage synthesizers spiral under tart, poppy melodies, and lyrics that teach the meaning of inconsequence in French and German. Truth here lies on the shiny surface, although there's also a goofy warmth that makes this the album to play while you plug in the artificial Christmas tree and rip open the Cheezies. -- R.E-G. The Grateful Dead The Golden Road (1965-1973)
Fans of the Grateful Dead believe that when it comes to the band's musical output "too much of everything is just enough." Yet, even the most-diehard Deadhead will be given pause by these remastered versions of every LP recording the band did for Warner Bros., plus a two-CD set of stuff Jerry Garcia and friends recorded pre-Warner as the Warlocks. The official recordings are also augmented by previously unreleased studio cuts and live tracks as well as little-heard radio commercials. ($235.99)-- J.A. Brent Titcomb Beyond Appearances
One of the grand old men of seventies Canadian folk returns with a superb mix of new and old tunes, including a recasting of his hypno-classic, Tibetan Bells. -- J.A. Ray Materick The Songwriter
Another Canuck vet back in the singer-songwriter wars with 12 songs about women won and lost, roads travelled and moments cherished.-- J.A. Neko Case Canadian Amp
To tide fans over while she tours with the New Pornographers, indie torch-and-twang singer Neko Case offers a generously proportioned EP. In tribute to her Vancouver past, Case recorded Canadian tunes in her Chicago kitchen -- by Neil Young, Mike O'Neill (ex-Inbreds), Lisa Marr (ex-Cub) and Sook-Yin Lee (ex-MuchMusic) -- plus a Hank Williams song, an old murder ballad and two of her own knockouts. Lovely, though last year's Furnace Room Lullaby remains the best Case scenario.-- C.W. Julie Doiron Désormais
Ce charmant coeur is the lead track on this first French album by the former Eric's Trip bassist, and charm and heart are indeed its virtues. Doiron's tremulous voice takes getting used to, but her fragile melodies and melancholic optimism transcend lo-fi to cast a durable romantic glow.-- C.W. Chris Knight A Pretty Good Guy
In a year with no new Steve Earle album, you can get a fix from Knight, who works the same backwater-noir vein. Canada's Fred Eaglesmith co-wrote two of the disc's best tunes (the title track is also on Eaglesmith's great live album, Ralph's Last Show). It's all guns, Bibles, cops and beer with a twist of vulnerability -- unflinching, heartfelt reportage about people who sometimes seem to have no voice left but in songs like these.-- C.W. The Philadelphia Experiment The Philadelphia Experiment
Quick, name a single album you own that includes covers of Sun Ra, Marvin Gaye and Elton John. This tour into the cheesesteak soul of Philly is guided by drummer Ahmir Thompson (of the Roots), hard-bop bassist Christian McBride and composer-keyboardist Uri Caine. It's a laid-back, acid-Miles funk-up of the musical melting pot, one of the nerviest polyglot exercises since Lester Bowie died. This is why jazz is democracy's best noise.-- C.W. Prefuse 73 Vocal Studies and Uprock Narratives
Where others have dipped a toe this year, Atlanta producer Scott Herren goes surfing naked. Slicing hip-hop to shreds with a sawtooth wave-form, he gets a garbled kind of soul jazz that turns the spaces between stations on pop radio into an underground sound that is hyperkinetically fun. It sounds tricky now, but in five years it'll seem like the DNA code for half the hit parade. -- C.W. Rhonda Vincent The Storm Still Rages
Bluegrass is ascendant in tired Nashville, and if you're looking for the next step after O Brother, the pop 'grass of Alison Krauss or recent crossover discs by Patty Loveless and Dolly Parton, Rhonda Vincent's your gal. Her band is a virtuoso outfit, her material a superb selection of old and new, and her female-forward spunk the purist's alternative to the mainstream country righteous-babe trend (the Dixie Chicks et al).-- C.W. CLASSICAL Ben Heppner, London Symphony Orchestra Airs Français
Now that Heppner is everyone's choice for opera's powerhouse tenor roles, along comes an album that allows him to emphasize the more delicate side of his art. Merci, doux crépuscule (from Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust) shows off his elegant style and fine head-voice, and Nature immense (from the same work) finds both singer and orchestra trembling at the brink of the Romantic sublime. The album also includes seldom-heard arias by Massenet, Meyerbeer and Halévy, as well as Berlioz's rampageously idiosyncratic arrangement of La Marseillaise.-- R.E-G. Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo- soprano; Bengt Forsberg, piano; Nils-Erik Sparf, violin Mots d'amours Cecile Chaminade: Mélodies
Charm and competence are the most that the musical establishment has typically conceded to French pianist and composer Cecile Chaminade, but it's clear from this that she cultivated her "slight" territory with footnotable delicacy and finesse. These mélodies d'amours are amazingly airborne for one who may herself have never been in love (indeed Chaminade referred to herself as music's nun). Only one really hurts, and the vocal line simply sits on one pitch like a bird deprived of its song as the harmonies churn on underneath. Mezzo Anne Sofie von Otter's exuberant artistry has often redeemed material much less accomplished than this: Given Chaminade's nightingale melodies, she spins gold.-- E.P. The Hagen Quartet Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Six Haydn Quartets
We don't really need another recording of these string quartets, but it's always a pleasure to hear what the Hagen Quartet can do with something this familiar. Clarity and understatement are a good place to start with Mozart if you're a modern string quartet, and the Hagen takes those virtues to heart along with just enough provocation to move old phrases in new directions. Articulate inner voices, rhythmic poise and a blend that lets the harmonies speak do the rest. It's a little cool, but it lets you do your own thinking. -- E.P. Christoph Poppen, violin The Hilliard Ensemble Morimur J. S. Bach: Partita in D Minor BWV 1004 for solo Violin and selected Chorales
Whether or not J. S. Bach really embedded inaudible chorale melodies and numerological references in his sonatas and partitas for solo violin, the (oh so postmodern) musical realization of that theory makes strangely captivating listening.
The D Minor Partita is on the spot here, especially the famous Chaconne, which was probaby written as a musical epitaph or "tombeau" for Bach's first wife. Violinist Christoph Poppen presents two versions of the latter, once as is and once with hidden chorale fragments superimposed, these sung eloquently by the Hilliard Ensemble. One can't help suspecting any number of chorale tunes might work as well, but it's fascinating to hear theory put to the test -- even if Poppen's playing isn't as lithe as we'd wish. -- E.P. Joseph Petric, concert accordion J. S. Bach and C. P. E. Bach: Suites, Sonatas Airs and Dances
Joseph Petric's take on Johann Sebastian and his son Carl Philipp Emanuel is quite particular: That's an accordion we hear playing those 18th century keyboard sonatas! Pretend, if you must, that it's a chamber organ; admit, nonetheless, that Petric is quite expressive with his Bach, given his instrument's limitations. Petric makes the most of an upper register, by turns wistful and plaintive, and a pugnacious lower octave, and the dissonances of Bach-the-father's noble sarabandes crunch admirably. Even if we can't resist thinking "chanteuse" in Philipp Emanuel's adagios, the carnival wit of his allegros rings true. -- E.P. BLUES Byther Smith Smitty's Blues
Who would have thought the best Chicago blues album of the year would come from the Low Countries? Tired of waiting for his domestic label to record him, Smith took up an offer from Dutch label, Black & Tan. The cover of Otis Rush's So Many Roads, So Many Trains Alone makes this a CD worth tracking down. -- B.W. Curley Bridges Mr. Rock 'N' Soul
Barrel-housed and Barrie-based, ancient piano man Bridges runs through a collection of rockers that will surely have you doing today whatever it was that people did back then. Sitting in the la la, waiting for the ya ya, indeed. -- B.W. Chris Thomas King The Legend of Tommy Johnson
The spin on O Brother, Where Art Thou is slow to stop. King, who portrayed a character loosely based on 1920's Delta bluesman Tommy Johnson in the Coen Brothers hit, steps back into the role for an album that, confusingly, is light on the Delta blues it pretends to draw on. A mix of soulful folk-blues and slide-driven house-rockers, the material veers far from the brand of rap-blues that King normally packages. -- B.W. Guitar Shorty I Go Wild!
Known for his on-stage acrobatics, the former David Kearney is only slightly less energetic in the studio. Searing guitar-fills puncuate morning-after B. B. King vocals that tell "Oh my lordy, my name's Guitar Shorty, and I'm still just warming up." -- B.W. Blind Pig 25th Anniversary Collection
A quarter-century long in the shadow of fellow independent Alligator Records, Blind Pig releases a three-CD birthday set . . . just like Alligator did about five years ago. This stocking-stuffer leans hard on uptempo blues from the label's current roster. -- B.W. WORLD Valdes Trio El Arte del Sabor Bebo
The title translates to "the art of flavour," and what a tasty brew this trio concocts. The recipe? Take a brilliant Cuban pianist, add famed cohorts "Cachao" (bass), and "Patato" (congas), for equal parts jazz and Cuban, both sweet and spicy. The perfect antidote for piano fans a little tired of the ubiquitous Vince Guaraldi this time of year. -- L.R. D'Gary Akata Meso
For those in need of a new acoustic guitar hero, you've found him in D'Gary, son of a Malagasy shepherd, and one of the first to translate the island's folk instrument styles to guitar. On his latest, Madagascar meets India on some tracks via collaborations with tabla player Nantha Kumar.
The results? Sometimes dreamy, sometimes wild, always beautiful. -- L.R. Ismael Lo Dabah
Almost seven years in the making, via Dakar and Paris (and sung in both French and Wolof), Dabah is from the pop side of Lo's palette, with hooky melodies and occasional dance floor infusions. (Early American influences, such as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Etta Jamesm still leave their mark.) And, as always, the Senegalese star's soulful voice captivates.-- L.R. Fight to Win Femi Kuti
Carrying the torch of Afro-Beat proudly, this release is an improvement on his last, with lyrics a unified focus on the politics he was raised in. (No more odes to his personal prowess, thankfully.) Musically, it's a driving mix of all the jazzy, funky ingredients of roots Afro-Beat, subtly laced with hip hop and house -- one of the reasons the Kuti name is a favourite with a whole new generation these days. -- L.R. JAZZ Billie Holiday Lady Day: The Complete Billie Holiday on Columbia (1933-1944)
The stats tell the story of this lavish package: 10 CDs, 11½ hours of music in a total of 230 performances -- studio recordings, radio air checks and miscellany -- from the first half of Billie Holiday's career. That's arguably the better half, when her life and voice were still more sweet than bitter and when her accompanists included some of the greatest musicians of the day, starting with Teddy Wilson and Lester Young. There's another stat to consider, though -- the price, about $260. -- M.M. Cecil Taylor, Marilyn Crispell, Paul Plimley with John Oswald Complicité
Complicity? More like heredity. The father of the jazz-piano avant-garde, Cecil Taylor, divides this challenging three-CD, in-concert set from Victoriaville, Que., with two of his "kids," Marilyn Crispell and Paul Plimley. Taylor, an unsentimental 71, is still as tough as nails, while the kids -- long since "grown up" -- have taken a softer line. Crispell is expansive where Taylor continues to be fiercely focused and the Canadian Plimley (duetting with alto saxophonist John Oswald) is almost sprightly where Taylor remains trenchant. -- M.M. Tierney Sutton Blue in Green
Tierney Sutton sings from the Bill Evans songbook on Blue in Green -- five of the tunes that the pianist wrote, including Very Early and Waltz for Debby, and 10 of the standards that he loved to play. Sutton, a Californian via Boston, is just the sort of careful and securely musical singer you'd want for this task, which calls for discretion rather than power. Sutton has both; happily, it's the former that usually prevails. -- M.M. John Coltrane The European Tours: Live Trane
Trane buffs are like Deadheads: They're interested in everything the great tenorist did before his untimely death in 1967. This seven-CD set, recorded between 1961 and 1963 in five western European cities, captures the man in full flight with his great quartet (augmented on three tracks by Eric Dolphy). FYI: there are six versions of My Favourite Things, five of Impressions. -- J.A. Miles Davis Miles Davis: In a Silent Way Sessions
A fair bit of this stuff found its way onto such Davis compilations as Water Babies and Directions,but they're out of print now, so it's good to have these 1968 sessions in one place or, more precisely, three CDs. They mark Miles's first wholehearted embrace of the electric idiom. -- J.A. Campbell Ryga Spectacular
Canadian hard-bop isn't much different from American hard-bop, the way alto saxophonist Campbell Ryga plays it here, just a little less muscular rhythmically and a shade cleaner melodically. Ryga and his four Vancouver bandmates pay vivacious tribute to hard-bop legend Cannonball Adderley, with trumpeter Brad Turner dashing in the role of Adderley's brother Nat. It may all just be an exercise in the sincerest form of flattery, but as flattery goes, it's very convincing. -- M.M. Daniel Mille Entre chien et loup
One of the year's sleepers. Imagine a Pat Metheny Group in which Metheny played accordion, not guitar. The charismatic Daniel Mille squeezes, sings and swoons passsionately, heart seldom far from sleeve. The result is utterly charming when it's not a little too precious; its blend of jazz, classical and World Beat elements could be only the work of a Parisian in 2001. Make that two Parisians: guitarist-pianist Jean-Christophe Maillard serves as Lyle Mays to Mille's Metheny. -- M.M.