Excuse the pun, Boh, but it's been a stellar few months for music releases and if you're looking for some suggestions for music-fan friends and relatives, or you want to load up the CD changer for your summer travels, here goes.
Top suggestion among local new sounds is Brooke Fraser's Flags.
However, most of my recommendations come from some of rock's dinosaurs.
Not another Elton album you may say, but the new Elton John and Leon Russell album Union is definitely worth the money. So too is the latest from Mr Eric as in Clapton. Get a preview of Sting's upcoming New Zealand concert in Symphonicity, or rock out with Ray Davies and a cast of thousands as they revisit Kinks classics.
Robert Plant's Band of Joy is a stunner.
This is a man who seems to get better with age, and this is an equally great reinvention as his Raising Sand album with Alison Krauss.
Neil Young's Le Noise is another example of an an aging rocker who also seems to get better with age. You might also want to grab the remastered version of Paul McCartney's Band on the Run.
Thanks to improved sound quality it sounds better than it did in the 70s.
Then there's the very recent adding of the Beatles music to the i-Tunes platform. Millions of Beatles songs have already been downloaded after years of waiting. Jazz fans had plenty to celebrate, and that's a subject close to my heart. Lee Ritenor's 6 String Theory, Charles Lloyd Quartet's Mirror, Brad Mehldau's Highway Rider and Jasmine by Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden are now firm favourites for me. Concerts of the year? No contest.
A draw between Leonard Cohen, and the Diana Krall, Melody Gardot and Madeline Peyroux gigs. Enjoy the music you choose these holidays.
