Roye Albrighton jump started Nektar in 2000, after recovering from a near fatal liver infection, but in some ways the band is just now coming into its own again.

Toronto-based pianist Chris Donnelly has made two records so far, and both of them are solo piano records (Solo (2009) and Metamorphosis (2011). We now finally get to hear how this inventive musician interact with other musicians with the first album by Myriad3, a trio he recently formed with fellow Ontarians Dan Fortin (bass) and Ernesto Cervini (drums).

Check out a new remix of the Rolling Stones’ “Doom and Gloom,” which has been glammed up by Benny Benassi. That’s the DJ/producer perhaps best remembered for a club hit from the summer of 2002 called “Satisfaction”

For hard rock and metal, 2012 certainly wasn’t the best year that I can remember. In all honesty, there were only a few albums that came across my desk that really excited me.

Among the voluminous amount of Christmas music recently released lies a fun stocking stuffer: “Spend Christmas with Me,” a duet with jazz chanteuses Jane Monheit and Sara Gazarek.