Didn't get to sleep that night till the morning came around

1. Ezy Ryder- Jimi Hendrix

• "Riding down the highway of desire, he says the free wind takes him higher, trying to find his heaven above, but he's dying to be loved." A few weeks ago I picked up the new Jimi Hendrix release "Valleys of Neptune" and quickly decided I should fill in the gaps in my Hendrix collection. My next move was to pick up "First Rays of the New Rising Sun" which features a number of songs that Hendrix was working on for his 4th studio album before his untimely death. Like a number of songs on the album, "Ezy Ryder" demonstrates Jimi's new found funk sensibilities. Recorded with his Band of Gypsys partners and featuring backing vocals from members of Traffic, you can hear Hendrix charting a new musical course on "Ezy Ryder". The song is said to have been inspired from the film "Easy Rider" written and directed by Dennis Hopper. I hear the film is a classic, but after seeing what Dennis Hopper did with with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre II I'm inclined to stay away from anything with his name on it.

2. Deck The Stills- Barenaked Ladies

• "Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young." Take the Christmas standard "Deck the Halls" and substitute CSN&Y for all the lyrics and you have "Deck the Stills" featured on the "Barenaked for the Holidays" album. It's 32 seconds of light hearted filer on a great collection of original and standard holiday music. We don't get any Kwanzaa songs (are there Kwanzaa songs?) but we do get a couple of nice Hanukkah songs (complete with Yiddish lyrics) to compliment the Christmas fare. The ultimate highlight of the collection is an acoustic take of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings" featuring fellow Canuck Sarah McLachlan. The Ladies and Sarah sound so good together it seems strange they never recorded more than this one song. Next Tuesday marks the release of "All In Good Time", the first album from the Barenaked Ladies since the departure of lead singer (and band co-founder) Steven Page.

3. It's About Time- Jamie Cullum

• "Walking down to the water's edge, where I have been before, If I don't find my love sometime I'm walking out that door. Biding my time, trying to find a heart that's lonely, looking for her, my love my one and only." On the album "Twentysomething" pop/jazz crooner Jamie Cullum sprinkles a few original songs in between a healthy serving of cover tunes. The covers tackle songs from an eclectic group of artists/composers- Hendrix, Radiohead, Cole Porter, and Pharrell to name a few. Cullum's ability to re-purpose these songs in his style is impressive, but the album would fall short if the original numbers weren't so great. "It's About Time" (an original) is a mid tempo acoustic guitar driven song about trying to find Mrs. right. It doesn't reach the heights of some of the other originals ("All At Sea", "Twentysomething") but finds Cullum in good form.