The holiday music of 2021 may not be plentiful, but there are a handful of very worthy new releases and reissues.

In the 45 years since Pat Metheny’s debut album arrived, I haven’t gone many weeks (if even days) without listening. Yet there are still new revelations.

Playing in the most exposed settings is a Catherine Sikora hallmark, her latest being ‘corners,’ a series of concerts by one, for one. Her fearlessness never lets her — nor the listener — down.

As good as previous Pink Floyd vinyl reissues are, ‘A Momentary Lapse of Reason: Remixed & Updated’ is quite unique.

A rock-guitar lover’s goldmine, ‘Astral Cafe’ finds Illinois guy Jimmy Ryan grooving on his sonic pursuit of an electric Eden.

For Beatles fans, 2021 proved to be a bonanza.

Take away the fussy orchestral arrangements from these vintage songs and you’re left with what made Bob James a long-time great. He still is.

Released 45 years ago today, ‘Wings Over America’ stands as some of the most vital work that Paul McCartney has ever done.

Thrift Store Halo’s long-awaited ‘Pop-Rocket’ EP pinned the passionate angst of vintage Graham Parker to a wall of hard-fisted power-pop arrangements.

The dark pulsing psych-rock brainchild of Sicily’s Gioele Valenti, JuJu’s ‘La Que Sabe’ is music that shakes the moon a bit.