Sex Mob Dime Grand Palace - Jumping out of the hectic New York jazz scene a few years ago, Sex Mob presents the kind of jazz that just doesn't get the respect it should: that sleazy, greasy, nasty funky stuff that permeates the air of cheap strip-clubs and bad detective movies. As a friend said upon returning a borrowed copy of their 2000 release, Solid Sender, "Man, I need a shower after hearing that." Hopefully this will be more of the same, after a bit of a disappointment with the Does Bond set of James Bond theme-song covers.

Rufus Wainwright Want One - With his 2001 release, Poses Wainwright (yes, the son of Loudon Wainwright III) gave the world a breath of fresh air. Often set to what amounts to modern day Tin Pan Alley tunes, Wainwright uses his voice to display something that so often goes ignored these days - melody. Possessed of a breathy, laid-back voice, it's easy to get caught up in Rufus' effortless and yet understated sense of dramatic melody. So powerful is his gift that jazz trumpeter Dave Douglas chose the title track to lead off his 2002 album, The Infinite. Dave knows the good stuff when he hears it. Hopefully this is more good stuff too.

Bob Dylan - (some sites list these as released this week, some last, but since I forgot it last week I'm including it here) A whole loaded-butt's worth of Dylan remasters in the form of hybrid SACD, just in time for early Christmas buyers. Here's the run down: Another Side of, Blonde on Blonde, Blood on the Tracks, Bringing It All Back Home, Desire, The Freewheelin', Highway 61 Revisited, Infidels, John Wesley Harding, Love and Theft, Nashville Skyline, Oh Mercy, Planet Waves, Slow Train Coming, Street-Legal, and Limited Edition Hybrid SACD Box Set.

(More crap: unproductivity.)