This collection of tunes came from a group of musicians in the Wilmington, Del. area for Christmas 2004 as a benefit for Toys For Tots, in combination with WSTW-FM. Quality-wise it's right up there with most regional music compilations, a mix of mostly covers and traditional carols with a few originals thrown in by some of the more ambitious acts. Cover credits are inconsistent, but I'm guessing "A Day Like Christmas" by Cliff Hillis is an original. It's nice and hooky with jangly guitar, handclaps and toy piano to carry it along. Nik Everett's "No More War (At Christmas Time)" appears to be his own tune, a moderate rocker with an end to social strife on its mind. David Zumsteg's "Christmas Snow" is an instrumental in the Trans-Siberian Orchestra vein, as is Yes Virginia's version of "Silver Bells," and Lamont Penn's original "Christmas Is a Birthday" is a funk-jazz-soul ode to the title sentiment, and "The Day After Christmas" is a pop-folk original by John Pollard. Kicking off the CD is a full-cast version of "Do They Know It's Christmas," a little too on the nose and reverent of a cover, but This Year's Girl make up for it with the very next cut, a rocked-out "Here Comes Santa Claus." Seven On Sunday do a hard-rock "We Three Kings" and Smoky Greenwell and Johnny Neel knock out a harmonica-piano blues instrumental of "Away in a Manger." Appears to be out of print, although you can stream some tunes at the link in the first line of this review.
Let Them Know It's Christmas, various artists (WSTW-FM)
This collection of tunes came from a group of musicians in the Wilmington, Del. area for Christmas 2004 as a benefit for Toys For Tots, in combination with WSTW-FM. Quality-wise it's right up there with most regional music compilations, a mix of mostly covers and traditional carols with a few originals thrown in by some of the more ambitious acts. Cover credits are inconsistent, but I'm guessing "A Day Like Christmas" by Cliff Hillis is an original. It's nice and hooky with jangly guitar, handclaps and toy piano to carry it along. Nik Everett's "No More War (At Christmas Time)" appears to be his own tune, a moderate rocker with an end to social strife on its mind. David Zumsteg's "Christmas Snow" is an instrumental in the Trans-Siberian Orchestra vein, as is Yes Virginia's version of "Silver Bells," and Lamont Penn's original "Christmas Is a Birthday" is a funk-jazz-soul ode to the title sentiment, and "The Day After Christmas" is a pop-folk original by John Pollard. Kicking off the CD is a full-cast version of "Do They Know It's Christmas," a little too on the nose and reverent of a cover, but This Year's Girl make up for it with the very next cut, a rocked-out "Here Comes Santa Claus." Seven On Sunday do a hard-rock "We Three Kings" and Smoky Greenwell and Johnny Neel knock out a harmonica-piano blues instrumental of "Away in a Manger." Appears to be out of print, although you can stream some tunes at the link in the first line of this review.
No TrackBacks
TrackBack URL: http://www.mistletunes.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1238
Leave a comment