We Three Kings, The Roches (MCA)

This sister singing group suffered the fate of being better known among other performers than the general public, but they managed to make a number of albums together, separately and in various combinations over the years. Their regular material was quirky original folk-pop, and their various influences are all on display here. While this 1990 CD is a tour de force of music-making, it's definitely not Mistletunes material. The vast majority of this is traditional carols in mostly traditional arrangements, with lots of classical and madrigal influence. Well-known carols get fairly conventional arrangements, like the title tune, "Deck the Halls" and "Away in a Manger," but they loosen up a bit more with pop tunes like "Frosty the Snowman," "Jingle Bells, "Sleigh Ride" and "Silver Bells." Suzzy Roche wrote the ballad "Christmas Passing Through," which is pretty good, and Terre Roche contributed the a capella "Star of Wonder." You might want to slip this into the collection of someone whose idea of Christmas music is the Michael Bolton album. Was reissued in 1994 by Rykodisc.