A rare Christmas album from French maestro Paul Mauriat – presented with a style that's maybe a bit more lush and scented with the season than some of his other albums of the time! The strings are a bit fuller, and the rhythms more laidback – so that the overall vibe is more in the best Christmas orchestral mode of the 60s – and a bit less like some of Mauriat's famous instrumental pop. Still, the approach is a nice one for those late hours after the party – when the fire's still going in the fireplace, and you're sitting around with the last few visitors enjoying a nightcap. Titles include "Rin Rin", "Among The Cattle & Grey Donkey", "Adeste Fideles", "Silent Night"," White Christmas", and "Little Father Christmas". CD also features 7 more Christmas tunes – including "Alle Jahre Wider", "Liese Riselt Der Schnee", "For Never & Always", and "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer". (Holiday Music, Now Sound) CD

This is Asphodel's wonderful reissue of "word jazz" maestro Ken Nordine's classic mid 60s ode to the sultry side of the common, the uncommon, and some seemingly made up colors. ("Muddy" anyone?) Billed as "A Sensuous Listening Experience" – and truly living up to it somehow – it's a crazy suite of smoky, jazzbo spoken word monologues, each describing a different color, with groovy, loungey jazz backing. If you're unfamiliar with the weird, wordy world of Ken Nordine, this is the perfect place to start. 34 colors get the nod, including "Azure", "Russet", "Flesh", "Nutria", "Mauve", "Cerise", "Sepia" and others on the obscure spectrum, plus "Olive", "Lavender", "White", "Orange", "Purple" and lots of others on the common tip. If Monty Burn's got high on ether and cut a jazz album, this is probably what it would sound like. (Spoken Word, Now Sound) CD