A Foggy Holiday, Carols From the SF Scene Vol. 2, various artists (Talking House)

Just got hold of Vol. 1 this year, and for 2008 we get Vol. 2, another collection of Bay Area bands contributing Christmas songs to benefit MusiCares, the Grammy Foundation's fund to aid needy musicians. As last time, these alt-pop-rockers give us a wide selection of covers, some fairly faithful to the originals, others reimagined in a variety of ways. The Lovemakers' "Melekalikimaka" is a cover of the Beach Boys song of the same name, incorporating backing vocals from the Boys' early song "Hawaii." "Do They Know It's Christmastime" by Apside takes the Band Aid song and applies a bit of a country shuffle to it. "Happy New Year" by The Matches covers Tilly and the Wall, The May Fire turn "It's a Marshmallow World" into a dirge, Overview puts a bit of Eastern drone and stomp behind "I Believe in Father Christmas," and Scissors For Lefty lay down a fairly disorienting backing for "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Topping things off is a hoedown version of Mel Torme's classic "The Christmas Song" by I the Mighty that turns into a rock rave-up at the end. Another great effort from the folks at Talking House.