OK. Last paper before Christmas. Less than a week to go. Hang in there, folks.

As promised, this week I'm going to look at local albums that you might like to buy for Christmas. Now that the new government has made a priority out of cancelling the excellent Buy Kiwi-Made Campaign I'm happy to step into the breach.

I'm not sure exactly where these albums will be available, but between Jim's Music Room in Grey Street, Tracs on Devonport Road and (possibly) the music shops at Bayfair you should be able to find anything here. You won't – of course – see any of these items at The Warehouse.

So where do we start?
On the rock side of things there are the two live albums that have been mentioned quite a bit recently, both recorded at the Colosseum, and both pulsing with what most people would call rhythm and blues. And they're both called Live At The Colosseum. The one that's been around a little while is by Brilleaux, the new one is by Hard To Handle, and I happily recommend either as Watusi Quality, full-on sweaty reminders of what hard-driving blues-rock sounds at its best.

Still in the rock vein and ideal if you want something in the Very Heavy category is the debut album from Metal Tower, a CD with a cover so black and intense that it can't even be photographed. Called simply Metal Towerology it is garage metal at its best – low budget raw and ready. The band have a cracking rhythm section and enough shredding guitar lines to rip your face off. It's currently only available on Trademe but your black-T-shirted nephew will definitely thank you.

Also with a garage feel is the rockabilly blues of the B-Side Band – tough semi-acoustic lo-fi songs with local themes dominate their CD, Pilot Bay Blues.

On the more melodic side of the rock/pop divide comes Mellowdrops and their album Where Do We Go From Here?, which has the sort of stately melodic panache you might find on a Coldplay record while dosing its songs with a patina of Pink Floyd-style retro sound effects.

Kokomo, meanwhile, released their latest album earlier this year and it proved their biggest seller so far, both locally and internationally. It has been moving like whatever the modern equivalent of hot cakes are from CDBaby.com. This was no doubt helped by the fact that it is a collection of the songs of Bob Dylan. No mere cover album, however, it radically reinvents the songs with Kokomo's trademark blend of blues, country and jazz, and features the outstanding guitarwork of special guest Nigel Gavin. (Kokomo play a special summer concert at Mills Reef Winery on January 8 – get tickets now!)

The Bay's biggest seller over the past year also features special guests. A host of them in fact. Liam Ryan's Mississippi 2 Mauao is a slick summery offering of groove-oriented jazz, part vocal, mainly instrumental, which highlights the soloing of Cameron Allen (sax), Midge Marsden (harp) and Grant Mason (trumpet), as well as featuring a plethora of local guitarists including Trevor Braunias, Regan Perry, Derek Jacombs, Joel Shadbolt and Peri Kohu.

The other local top-seller was Shona Laing's remarkable album Pass The Whisper, in which the iconic singer returns to her folk roots. It's a mixture of some beautiful new songs – which show Shona has lost none of her emotional honesty or fierce intelligence – and reimagined versions of 'Kennedy”, 'Soviet Snow” and others. Top contributions come from members of Celtic Christchurch band Rhua.

The other woman who made an impact locally this year was Carol Storey, most well known as the singer for jazz band Torch Songs, who released her first solo album, Mokomoko, a heartfelt exploration of her family's history in the Opotiki area, all sung in Te Reo. With subtle melody and rich harmony, Carol's work caught the ear of many around the country, leading to much acclaim and a nomination at the APRA Silver Scroll Awards.

Tracie de Jong didn't release a new CD this year but her previous ones are still available and just as wonderful as ever. Most recent is Turning In, a lovely album of mellow laid-back folk-jazz. With a Grammy Award-winning American producer on board it sounds fantastic, the highpoint being Tracie's transcendent take on Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah”.

So there you go. A pile of albums. And many of these bands also have older CDs to choose from as well. Buy local. You'll feel good about yourself. And, in these hard times, your local musicians will feel good too.