Britain's Cherryade label keeps its Christmas streak alive at five for 2009, presenting acts from its label roster and elsewhere who keep poking and prodding at the various ways to express the sounds and emotions of the holiday through the medium of independent alternative rock 'n roll. School kicks things off with "Let Me Be the Fairy on Your Christmas Tree Tonight," a solid slice of girl-group pop-rock to get you in the spirit. Das Wonderlust takes a chamber-pop approach to "Someone to Pull Crackers With," an art-rocker with just a tiny taste of Sparks and a premise that I'm quite certain is an expression of romance among the Brits. I can just hear Barry White, rest his soul, saying, "Oooh, let's pull some crackers tonight baby...." Persil's "Dear Santa" is a nice bit of electro-pop meeting spaghetti Western guitar in a plea to the jolly elf: "I want you for Christmas...." Shrag plays things for laughs with a takeoff on Jona Lewie, "Stop the Revelry," in which the cavalry is ignored and the holiday fun is aggravating the singers. Mistletoe is a source of holiday intrigue, as The Gresham Flyers describe a "Mistletoe Misadventure" involving multiple lovers to horns, strings and acoustic guitars, while Doris and the Jumpers investigate via synths and drum machines the likely outcome, a "Murder Under the Mistletoe." The 10p Mixs worry about "too much carbon in the atmosphere," but vow not to let that bother their holiday in "Christmas Number One," which is not about Will Riker. 'Allo Darling whips out a ukelele and chimes to sing about a "Space Christmas," one achieved by the singer first seducing a rich man to pay for the sojourn (shades of "Indecent Proposal!"). Humousexual takes a page from Billy Bragg with "Come Take My Hand In Winter," Rebecca Wilmott's "A Christmas Echo" and Everett True's "A Christmas Tale" give a shout-out to the spoken word, and the obligatory New Year's wishes come from Detox Cute and the Beauty Junkies, who mope a bit, boy-girl style, about an "Unhappy New Year." Four tunes on this are repeats from previous discs in the series, but there's still 21 other tunes, all fresh for this year. Clicking on the album cover will take you to iTunes, but if Cherryade is just your flavor, you might want to follow this link to the label's website, where through the magic of international post you can get a special deal that will put hardcopy versions of all five Cherryade Christmas discs under your tree.
A Very Cherry Christmas 5, various artists (Cherryade Music)
Britain's Cherryade label keeps its Christmas streak alive at five for 2009, presenting acts from its label roster and elsewhere who keep poking and prodding at the various ways to express the sounds and emotions of the holiday through the medium of independent alternative rock 'n roll. School kicks things off with "Let Me Be the Fairy on Your Christmas Tree Tonight," a solid slice of girl-group pop-rock to get you in the spirit. Das Wonderlust takes a chamber-pop approach to "Someone to Pull Crackers With," an art-rocker with just a tiny taste of Sparks and a premise that I'm quite certain is an expression of romance among the Brits. I can just hear Barry White, rest his soul, saying, "Oooh, let's pull some crackers tonight baby...." Persil's "Dear Santa" is a nice bit of electro-pop meeting spaghetti Western guitar in a plea to the jolly elf: "I want you for Christmas...." Shrag plays things for laughs with a takeoff on Jona Lewie, "Stop the Revelry," in which the cavalry is ignored and the holiday fun is aggravating the singers. Mistletoe is a source of holiday intrigue, as The Gresham Flyers describe a "Mistletoe Misadventure" involving multiple lovers to horns, strings and acoustic guitars, while Doris and the Jumpers investigate via synths and drum machines the likely outcome, a "Murder Under the Mistletoe." The 10p Mixs worry about "too much carbon in the atmosphere," but vow not to let that bother their holiday in "Christmas Number One," which is not about Will Riker. 'Allo Darling whips out a ukelele and chimes to sing about a "Space Christmas," one achieved by the singer first seducing a rich man to pay for the sojourn (shades of "Indecent Proposal!"). Humousexual takes a page from Billy Bragg with "Come Take My Hand In Winter," Rebecca Wilmott's "A Christmas Echo" and Everett True's "A Christmas Tale" give a shout-out to the spoken word, and the obligatory New Year's wishes come from Detox Cute and the Beauty Junkies, who mope a bit, boy-girl style, about an "Unhappy New Year." Four tunes on this are repeats from previous discs in the series, but there's still 21 other tunes, all fresh for this year. Clicking on the album cover will take you to iTunes, but if Cherryade is just your flavor, you might want to follow this link to the label's website, where through the magic of international post you can get a special deal that will put hardcopy versions of all five Cherryade Christmas discs under your tree.
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