Time Stopper

English-born Gary Marshal has called the U.S. home since 19, when he joind Fredrio Apcar's then-current "Vive Les Girls" show in Las Vegas. His exposure to American audiences was immediately successful, resulting in TV appearances on NBC's "Tonight Show" and on Art Llnkletter's "Talent Scouts." After one TV appearance, columnist Terrence O'Flaherty referred to Gary as a "new Robert Goulet".

Every year it's an issue: how does one stomach the onset of holiday music? With an endless stream of overplayed pop stars stirring what Sufjan Stevens calls "That Creepy Christmas Feeling," how does one navigate the sound of the season? Back in 2001, Stevens began making annual EPs of traditional carols and songs mixed with his own holiday-themed tunes. With 2006 and Volume 5, he's compiled a perfect gift for the Christmas-inclined indie rockster: all five EPs in one box, separately slipcased, plus a booklet filled with lyric sheets, chord charts, a Rick Moody essay, and more.

Quintessence was the great underground band of the 1970s. Formed in March 1969, they were quickly signed to Island Records and later that year released their debut album, In Blissful Company. Between 1969-71, Quintessence, a counterculture phenomenon, made three albums for Island Records. Now, recently sourced from Island's multi-track tapes and digitised at Abbey Road Studios, this packed 2CD set reveals a wealth of stunning, hitherto unheard recordings in pristine studio sound.

This album is released in celebration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of the composer Giovanni Pergolesi. I Musici performs compositional works by Francesco Geminiani, Giovanni Pergolesi, Antonio Vivaldi and Francesco Durante. I Musici was formed in 1952 by twelve young and promising Italian musicians, mainly Roman and mostly graduates of the at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. They chose the simple, yet nice name I Musici and they deliberately decided to shape the ensemble without a conductor.

With a cast of instrumental all-stars, folk vocalist Judy Collins creates a mini-masterwork on "Who Knows Where the Times Goes".