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One More Drifter in the Snow, Aimee Mann (Superego) Aimee's been creeping up on a Christmas CD for several years now, as you may have been following on this very website. The odd cut turned up from time to time, and in 2005 she put a four-song collection on iTunes. For 2006, she sat down to record an entire 10-song CD from scratch. From her own MySpace posting, she says, "I don't like to hear the modern stuff. I like a good old-fashioned Christmas record that has the chestnuts roasting and the really standard Christmas songs. ... The songs have old-fashioned arrangements but are played with a smaller combo that gives them kind of a modern twist." So this is actually a bit mellower than the Mistletunes standard of rocking out Christmas. Still, we like Aimee here, and in terms of creating something with a longer shelf life, her choices are probably the most astute ones from a commercial standpoint. She's done some of the tunes before, like the Mel Torme "Christmas Song," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and Michael Penn's "Christmastime," but these are all new performances and arrangements, though not wildly different from their predecessors. The most noticeable change is that "Christmastime" is now a solo piece rather than a duet with Penn. The one new song on here is "Calling On Mary," which could fit seamlessly on any of her past few albums, a lonely search for love at the holidays. Grant Lee Buffalo guests on "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," a combination spoken word and sung version that renders the book's text alongside the familiar song. Jimmy Webb's "Whatever Happened to Christmas" kicks off the CD, setting the tone, and the rest of the songs are classic carols like "White Christmas," "Winter Wonderland" and "I'll Be Home For Christmas," all rendered in Aimee's patented poison-valentine delivery. Not exactly the soundtrack for a Martha Stewart Christmas, but OK by us here. |
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Songs For Christmas, Sufjan Stevens (Asthmatic Kitty) Stevens is perhaps best known for his stated desire to record an album about every state in the union; so far, he's only done Illinois and Michigan, though The Avalanche is composed of outtakes from Illinois. In the meantime, he's done a private release of Christmas EPs every holiday since 2001 (except 2004) and this year, he's made a box set including this year's entry. Yes, I said a box set. Don't worry, it sells for about the price of a DualDisc. But five discs' worth of this quirky performer, especially in home studio demo mode, may be a bit much for most folks. It's a lower-fi version of what he's currently known for. It's educational in its way, since every song is lovingly annotated with its composer and lyricist, and there are lots of old carols, some obscure ones, hiding among which are some of the performer's originals. For that matter, hiding among the 42 songs are several repeats, including three versions of "O Come O Come Emanuel" and a few music-box renditions of such things as "Angels We Have Heard" and "Hark The Herald Angels." My inclination is to focus on the originals, of which there are 17 counting the instrumentals "Ding Dong" and "The Incarnation." They get more accomplished as he goes along, sounding willfully primitive on the 2001 disc and getting more arranged and intricate as he goes along. "Hey Guys! It's Christmas Time!" and "Come on! Let's Boogey To the Elf Dance!" may be the most fun, and "That Was the Worst Christmas Ever" may be the most affecting of the batch. The box offers a "singalong" conceit, in that there's a booklet that not only has lyrics but chords to all the songs. All told, I'm impressed with the sincerity and scope of this album, but I think a single disc of Sufjan's originals given the attention of one of his regular albums would have made a stronger artistic statement. |
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Wintersong, Sarah McLachlan (Arista) Sarah's had her Christmas feelers out for a while. Her "Song For a Winter's Night" goes back to 1994, she doubled up with the Barenaked Ladies for "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings" at the turn of the decade, and now she's back with a full album. The queen of Lilith Fair offers few surprises, as this fits snugly into her personal discography, which means there's a lot of mellow moments here, her piano and guitar set against Pierre Marchand's wall o' synths, and not much rocking out. She starts out strong with faithful covers of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" and "River," plus a good original, the title song. She reaches for a live string section on "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Her medley of "The First Noel/Mary Mary" is interesting, as she goes for some India-style riffing on strings against tabla percussion, and it's probably the most rocked-out thing here. She closes with a little help from Diana Krall on "Christmastime Is Here." Update: Clarifying that her version of "Song For a Winter's Night" is a cover of Gordon Lightfoot. |
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Christmas Tree on Fire EP, Holly Golightly (Damaged Goods) Holly's a prolific British vocalist with a venerable American name, and this bit of fun is three holiday songs on iTunes. The title tune has a bit of Brenda Lee in it, teetering dangerously toward country, but who can object when the Christmas tree is burning the house down on Valentine's Day? "Christmas Solo" is a light holiday blues with vibrato guitar; woe to him who loses the Christmas ham on the way to dinner, as he will be smote with a dirty word. And "Hear My Call, Here" is a mournful waltz. This is on a 7-inch vinyl picture disc, according to her website, or you can just download it. Just checked out her website, turns out she previously did a Christmas single in 2002 with the Greenhornes called "Little Stars." |
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A Sunflower at Christmas, The Pearlfishers (Marina) I can't even remember how I stumbled onto these guys, a Scottish band with roots back in the 1980s under such names as Chewy Raccoons and Hearts & Minds before becoming The Pearlfishers in 1989. This Christmas CD came out in 2004 (my copy is German, btw), but it can't be too obscure: the track names come up when I pop the disc into iTunes. The Pearlfishers are from that school of pure retro-pop rock, think late Sixties, Burt Bacharach-Beach Boys influenced. They take their influences and deliver seven cuts of poppy Christmas goodness with a bit of modern-day influence layered over it. Songs include "Snowboardin'," an ode to the popular sport; "Snow plus Christmas," an uptempo bid to spread holiday love; "Blue December (In the City)," a wistful ballad; the fantastical allegory of "Snow Lamb"; and the title song, performed almost simultaneously with "Away in a Manger" and very much in the mode of that classic carol with a "Pet Sounds-Surf's Up" approach. The hidden cut throws up some Brian Wilson-style a cappella singing. Some will find the full effect a bit cloying, but the individual songs are worth a berth on your mix discs. |
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Spirit of Christmas, Les Fradkin (RRO) This felt so familiar on first listening that I assumed it was mostly covers, but no, seven tunes are by Les and Loretta Fradkin and two more are co-written with Les by Raven Kane and Diana Haig. The three covers are the Roy Wood and John Lennon classics plus the rarely covered "Ding Dong" by George Harrison. What's really familiar is the 70s pop-rock pomp, a Spectoresque wall of sound channeled through Jeff Lynne's mixing board. I had the feeling that Les was a one-man band kind of guy, and it turns out I was right, but what I didn't know was that he had a long pedigree in the business, working with everyone from Edison Lighthouse to the Godz (yes, the ESP Disk Godz), and a long stint in "Beatlemania" as George to boot. By the way, Edison Lighthouse was part of a continuum of late 60s-early 70s top 40 hits done by Flying Machine, Brotherhood of Man and White Plains. And you could easily justify this disc based on the nice job he does on the aforementioned songs, but his originals like "Say You Love Me For Christmas," "Christmas Sleeps Tonight," "Hello Christmas (Goodbye Year)," "Jangle Bells" and the lightly Caribbean-flavored "Christmas Vacation" argue for you to search this out at Not Lame, iTunes or CDBaby. Update: Dropped a reference to one of the songs being a retread of an existing song, since it turned out I made a mistake. |
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Tidings, Allison Crowe (Rubenesque) This Canadian singer is more of a rock belter than her countrywoman Sarah McLachlan, and this 2005 album has more of a spontaneous feel to it, with only her piano, bass and percussion for backing. There are no originals, and indeed she even picks some non-holiday tunes for their complimentary tone, so we get things like Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," the Stones' "Shine a Light," McLachlan's "Angel" and the Beatles' "Let it Be" and "In My Life." Regulars include Joni Mitchell's "River," "Silent Night," "In the Bleak Midwinter," "First Noel" and "O Holy Night." There's something to be said for this unadorned approach -- for example, you might just feel comfortable playing this all year round. Maple Music kindly threw in a DVD of her playing live, but you have to be in the fan club to get this. |
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The Gift of Rock, Smashmouth (self-issued) One minute their song "Walking on the Sun" is everywhere, the next they're an oldies band. Nevertheless, Smashmouth is still alive and kicking, and they've rushed a new holiday CD out for 2005, available for now only at their website or on iTunes. They didn't put a lot of elbow grease into this, as nearly everything on it is rock 'n soul covers, but they exhibit pretty good taste nevertheless -- they cover the Raveonettes' "Christmas Song," rock up the O'Jays "Christmas Ain't Christmas (Without the One You Love)," Ringo Starr's "Come On Christmas," the Ramones' "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)," the Sonics' "Don't Believe in Christmas," the Kinks' "Father Christmas" and the Spector album's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." They also take on "Snoopy's Christmas," "Zat You, Santa Claus" and throw in a pretty cool original, "Baggage Claim." There's not a lot of variety in approaches -- this rocks out from start to finish. That's a very good thing. |
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My Favorite Carols, Robin Gibb (Koch) This is pretty much as advertised. The former Bee Gee goes it alone for the holiday in 2006 with 10 antique carols, no latter-day pop standards or originals, backed by a one-man band in pop-rock-pomp style with the occasional help of adult and children's choruses. It's well performed but strictly middle of the road. There's a "making of" DVD that accompanies the album. Gibb does throw us a curve on "Noel," in which the traditional "First Noel" chorus is swapped out for something a bit more pro-child and anti-war. Don't let the warbloggers find out. Oh, and import copies have an 11th track, "Mother of Love," which was performed live at a recent charity performance. |
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Barenaked for the Holidays, Barenaked Ladies (Desperation/Reprise) I have to say up front as a Ladies fan I had high hopes for this 2004 CD, and overall I'd say they were met. A lugubrious take on the opening track "Jingle Bells" quickly morphs into something more upbeat and fun -- including the rarely-used "Batman smells" verse. BNL's previous holiday offerings, "Green Christmas" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings" featuring Sarah McLachlan, are included here, both newly recorded for this album. The 20 tracks mix classic carols with recent pop covers like "Wonderful Christmastime" and "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and the band throws in a helping of originals like "Hanukkah Blessings," which heralds a triple Hanukkah alert as the Ladies also perform "Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah" and "I Have a Little Dreidel." They also wrote "Elf's Lament," a witty look at the holiday from behind Santa's work tables; "Snowman," a ballad by the title character; "Footprints," a faux-country weeper about following your love around in the snow; "Christmastime, Oh Yeah," your basic Norman Rockwell holiday tableaux in song; and "Christmas Pics," a mild jazzer about posing for whoever had a new digital camera under the tree. "O Holy Night" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" are instrumentals that sound like they were recorded in the organ showroom at a mall, and the Ladies do a scat version of "Sleigh Ride." And of course, they sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, just before the near-obligatory production number of "Auld Lang Syne." Good clean fun, and you'll enjoy playing it all the way through. |
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Christmas Offerings, Third Day (Essential/Sony BMG) This Christian rock band leaps into the fray for 2006 with their own holiday platter. It's a solid offering, blending nine classic carols with four originals and also mixing live and studio performances. The lead singer sounds a bit like Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam, though instrumentally they're a perfectly mainstream rock band, sort of like Vertical Horizon. The originals, not surprisingly, are strongly religious. "Born in Bethlehem" is the Nativity story at ballad tempo with strings; "Jesus, Light of the World" is a midtempo reflection from the modern day; "Chrismas Like a Child," recorded live, seeks to recapture the childlike reaction to the holiday; and "Merry Christmas" is a kind of magnum opus that contrasts our homes of plenty against orphans in China. The hidden cut is "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," group-sung a cappella. |
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A Twisted Christmas, Twisted Sister (Razor and Tie) Oh, dear God. I suppose I should have seen this coming, what with We Wish You a Hairy Christmas coming out a couple of seasons ago. Give 'em credit, though, if you had to imagine Twisted Sister doing Christmas music, then you'd have imagined exactly this -- they haven't missed a beat from their heyday to this day. The opening gambit has the band members playing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" on acoustic guitars, only to have one of the guys do a takeoff on the old Tina Turner spoken bit from "Proud Mary": "We do everything nice … and TWISTED!" Lita Ford stops in to duet with the band on "I'll Be Home For Christmas," and along the way they also beat "O Come All Ye Faithful," "Silver Bells," "Let It Snow," "Deck the Halls" and "The Christmas Song" into submission. Closest thing to an original idea on here is "Heavy Metal Christmas," done to the tune of "12 Days of Christmas." At the end, they wish us a Twisted Christmas, too, Bob Rivers notwithstanding. From 2006. |
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Happy Holidays, Billy Idol (Cyber Corps) If the Twisted Sister disc is precisely what you might have expected had they recorded it back in the day, Idol's is the exact opposite of that. The former lead singer of Generation X and the guy who brought us "Dancing With Myself," "Rebel Yell," "White Wedding" and "Cradle of Love" has all but dispensed with his signature sound, presenting a Christmas album that owes a lot more to Vic Damone than Idol's own "Yellin' At the Xmas Tree," which isn't even on here. He does 15 standard Christmas songs and carols, fattening it up with two originals, "Happy Holiday" and "Christmas Love," both of which are pretty lounge-y. The two rock classics he does, Elvis' "Santa Claus Is Back in Town" and "Run Rudolph Run" at least, are worthwhile, and his "Winter Wonderland" at least has some rhythm and guitar riffing going on, and "Jingle Bell Rock" is at least on a par with Hall and Oates' version. But sincere versions of "Silent Night" and "Auld Lang Syne" really don't add much to the rock canon. To get this, you have to go to Billy's website or to Best Buy, though Amazon has a pricey import of it that is identical other than the cover. |
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Winter Wonderland, Paul Carrack & the SWR Big Band (Carrack/Universal UK) Paul Carrack is one of those well-loved rock 'n roll journeymen performers, first heard singing and writing the band Ace's hit "How Long" back in 1974, then taking lead vocals on Squeeze's "Tempted" from 1981 before hooking up with Mike and the Mechanics on the way to going solo. In between, he played with such disparate acts as Roxy Music and Nick Lowe, the latter underappreciated hitmaker producing Paul's first solo album Suburban Voodoo and its hit single "I Need You." With such a storied rock history, it saddens me to report that Paul went all Rod Stewart-"American Songbook" on his first Christmas CD, so far released only in Europe in 2005. A perfectly predictable array of standard holiday pop songs, plus the Louis Armstrong "What a Wonderful World" and a reprise of Carrack's 1997 solo hit "Beautiful World," the latter as close to rock as things get here, is what you receive for your euro here, all played in pop orchestra ballad/swing arrangements. If Sinatra, Bennett, Goulet, or for that matter Michael Buble are who float your boat at Christmas, you'll be right at home here; Mistletunes regulars, I predict, will be disappointed. |
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A Christmas Album, Bright Eyes (Saddle Creek) Though I trade on my Web affiliations with Amazon and iTunes, as a music fan I still enjoy pawing through the stock at a well-kept independent record store because I've always ended up finding things I might not have otherwise. Take this 2002 CD by alt-wunderkind Conor Oberst under his better-known band de plume, quietly released to benefit the Nebraska AIDS Project and listed on his label's website only as an Internet-only album, though the link is currently broken, suggesting it's no longer available. Nevertheless, I found this in the stacks at Record and Tape Traders in Towson, MD over Thanksgiving weekend. As to the music, well, this is 10 of your better-known carols plus a dramatic reading of "The Night Before Christmas," all slapped together bull-session style in Oberst's basement with a cast of friends and collaborators. The leader's lo-fi style predominates, particularly on a rendition of "Little Drummer Boy." An uptempo "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" is as rocked-out as it gets -- the rest is a kind of mellow chamber-folk, though the performances are more spontaneous and less polished. For fans of the artist only. |
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Home For Christmas, Daryl Hall and John Oates (U-Watch/DKE) The boys from Philly have been trading on their version of "Jingle Bell Rock" for the past couple of decades as far as the Christmas scene goes, at least until this 2006 release. It's short, 10 songs plus a newly recorded "Jingle Bell Rock" that's not a lot different from the original (of course, RCA/BMG probably still holds the rights to that one). Two originals are solidly in the H&O tradition, the title song by Daryl, T-Bone Wolk and Greg Bieck, and John's "No Child Should Ever Cry on Christmas," both soulful mid-tempo numbers, though "Child" is just a tad sappier than "Home." The duo lets the hired string section get way out of hand on a lugubrious "Overture" leading into "The First Noel" and again on the closer, "O Holy Night." Two gospel numbers, "Children Go Where I Send Thee" and "Mary Had a Baby," bring some life to the proceedings, the cover of the Band's "Christmas Must Be Tonight" is not bad but unfortunately the soul classic "Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday" ends up way too middle of the road. This definitely has its moments. Portion of proceeds goes to Toys For Tots, BTW. |
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You Just Gotta Love Christmas, Peter Cetera (Viastar/Golden Threads) I've been looking a bit suspiciously at latter-day Christmas CDs by original album-rock era performers, simply because, well, they're my age or older and quite a few of them are happy to be middle-aged and mellow. So I approached this 2004 CD by the former Chicago bassist/vocalist carefully. (I'd heard about it earlier but hadn't actually run across a copy until recently.) It's not particularly rocked out in any meaningful way, definitely contemporary middle of the road music. Still, we'll give him props for putting some thought behind this endeavor, with three originals and some outside-the-box approaches to arrangements. Not a trace of Spector on "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," for example, but this version is a distinctive one nevertheless. "Deck the Halls" gets a bit of antique folk on the arrangement and a harmony vocal from Alison Krauss; he also duets "Blue Christmas" and "Winter Wonderland," this time with daughter Claire. The title song, an original, lacks only a horn section to take its place alongside Cetera's Chicago work. "Something That Santa Claus Left Behind" is a little sappy, but in the current era, "Alone For the Holidays" will ring true for a lot of women. |
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"Rooftop Soliloquy," Dead Gwynne (self-issued) Just discovered these guys, who have cut a Christmas song every year for the past 12 and posted it to their site. This year's tune (2006) is a bit goofy, a combination singer-talker with stereo separation out the wazoo. Download it free, collect the whole set if you like. Hey DG, 12 tunes is enough to get a CD mastered, you know.… Thanks to Brendan deVallance for the tip. The graphic is their latest non-Xmas CD, by the way. |
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"Give U One 4 Christmas," Hot Pantz (Gut Recordings) They're talking about a gift of course, so get your minds out of the gutter. This British duo put this snappy little pop rocker out for 2004 and have reissued it for 2006. The girls, Shelley and Kelly, are produced by Barry Upton, who also wrote the song with an eye toward a Ronettes/Roy Wood hybrid. I wouldn't describe it that way myself, but it's good fun nevertheless. (You must understand that the Brits hold Roy's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" in very high regard.) The B-side starts out to be an excessively reverent "Silent Night," but then the girls kick it up several notches into your typical punk-rock version. |
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Christmas In Fallujah, Jefferson Pepper (American Fallout) "We came here to Fallujah to win your hearts and minds/But when we bombed your building your family was inside." Couldn't come over any more on the nose than that in this season of the Iraq Study Group. Pepper is described at his website as a songwriter of two decades' standing, but this is his first album, released originally in 2005. This alt-rock-country album isn't all Christmas oriented, but songs like the country lament "Bethlehem PA" are good to cry in your eggnog over. "Christmas Tree" uses the season as a metaphor for the life and death of a relationship, "Deceived" is about learning there's no Santa Claus, and "Plastic Illuminated Snowman" is a pretty good metaphor for what a country does to its returning soldiers after a war. And as for that title song, well, you'll want a little John and Yoko as a chaser after that one. |
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"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," The Fray (Sony BMG) The makers of the CD How to Save a Life made like the authors of this classic tune and threw together a recording session with a kids' choir to get this sucker down -- and they did so on Dec. 3, 2006, just days before it got out on iTunes. |
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"Christmas Reindeer," The Knife (Rabid) A brother-sister act from Sweden made this dirgey-sounding electronic pop number back in 2001, near as I can tell, and it apparently pops up every year -- it was free at iTunes for a week in December 2006, and apparently they give it up at their own website as well. A good change of pace number. |
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"Jesus Christ," Mike Mills and Sally Ellyson (DLO/MM3) The R.E.M. bass player teams with Hem singer Ellyson in 2006 to cover the Big Star tune for the benefit of the Red Apple Foundation, a charitable group that gives grants to programs that improve the lives of children. The song is a bit mellow compared to the original, but collectors will go crazy. This is downloadable pretty much everywhere that sells music that way, and who knows, there may even be a physical CD out there somewhere. |
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"Holiday Mood," The Apples in Stereo (Yep Roc) Mellow and poppy in a mid-60s bubblegum way, more summer radio sounding than Christmasy, but lyrically it makes its case pretty well. These power-poppers have been around for five albums or so and just recently changed drummers, so you might want to check them out in the off-season too. Nothing on their website about this; found it on iTunes. |
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"A Great Big Sled," The Killers (Island Def Jam) One of that big batch of flavor-of-the-month bands from a couple of years ago, they do a bang-up job on this 2006 single, rocking out behind chimes and jingle bells while getting a bit of guest vocal action from Toni Halliday. The single's a benefit for Product [RED], the AIDS-fighting charity. |
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"Merry Xmas Everybody," Camp Freddy (New West) Don't know who these guys are, but how bad can they be if they share a label with John Hiatt, right? The Slade chestnut gets a reverent and rocking reading from these guys for 2006. |
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"Last Christmas Girl," The Stratocruisers (Just Plain Lucky) This is a cut from the North Carolina band's 2006 album Revolutions, all jangly guitars and harmony vocals straight out of the Sixties, with a 12-string guitar leading the way. You might hear a little Big Star in these guys, I hear just a taste of Bram Tchaikovsky in the chorus. Don't worry folks, she's not the last-ever Christmas girl. If you're not sure about shelling out for the whole album, they're letting you download this song from their site for 69 cents. |
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"Carol of the Bells"/"The Saracen Gift (Little Drummer Boy)," Pollo Del Mar (self-issued) Don Vigeant steers us to this pair of holiday classics rendered in garage/surf style by the above-named Bay Area band. "Saracen" has a bit more of an Eastern percussion thing going alongside the surf guitar rather than the martial beat of the more familiar "Drummer Boy" versions. "Carol," while surfy-sounding, builds in a bit of the drama you might find in a Trans-Siberian Orchestra rendition -- just a bit -- and rocks it up toward the end, then cuts the tempo back once more. Good stuff. "Saracen Gift" originated on a 1999 CD called The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, and I'm told both these cuts found their way to a long-gone compilation from 2000 called XmasY2K4U, but Don helpfully steered us toward downloads. |
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Star of Bethlehem, Three Days Wait (Instauration Records) This Columbus, Ohio-area band got this CD out just in time for Christmas in 2005, but we're just getting it this year. The band identifies itself, at least for the purposes of ISBN, as a Christian rock band, and this CD is intended to help raise money for several unspecified charities doing work for children. The title song kicks things off in a solid hard rock mode, talking about finding the Christ child, which appropriately leads into a version of "We Three Kings" with a definite Dave Matthews Band flavor to it. "Caroling" is a strong rocker about, well, caroling, and they even refer to "cranking it" and "slap the bass" in connection with serenading holiday listeners. "Snow Blues" is just that, an acoustic blues lament about leaving winter in Ohio for a trip to Mexico. They also take us on a "Sled Ride," promise to rock and roll Christmas with a new "Red Guitar," go bluegrass on, wait for it, "Blue Grass Christmas," and give us an ode to a "Snow Day." Rudolph gets props once more on "Christmas Hero," and they wrap things up with, well why not, "Merry Christmas." The band is an ambitious bunch of semi-pros who have given us a solidly entertaining holiday CD. |
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"Back For Christmas," Alexandra Lawerentz (ThoughtSquad) We never get too far into the holiday without hearing some version of "Bring my baby home for Christmastime," and this 2005 holiday song is as good a way to hear this sentiment as any. The PR materials accompanying my copy of this identify Alexandra as "a 17-year-old pop phenom," and who am I to quibble? She gives us a full-throated rendition of this catchy little Seventies-flavored rocker, spiced up with plenty of Christmas-style percussion alongside the heavy guitar and sax. (There's a hidden bit at the end of the disc with plunking piano and a little kid talking about a "clean clean earth" that is a bit too precious for my taste.) This is a CD single that appears to be available for sale in most ordinary outlets. |
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At Christmas, James Taylor (Columbia) Jazz. Not what you would expect from ol' JT, but look at the credits: Produced and arranged by Dave Grusin. I was expecting this to be mellow in the Taylor mode, but I wasn't expecting smooth jazz-large ensemble mellow. Only a few songs feature the artist's distinctive guitar playing style to any extent, one of which is the cover of Joni Mitchell's "River," which is the sound you might expect a JT album to have all the way through. Turns out this is one of two cuts not produced by Grusin. Considering this originated as a project for Hallmark Cards, I guess I shouldn't be surprised at how it turned out. Apparently the two non-Grusin songs weren't on the card shop original, but a version of "Deck the Halls" was. A different cover distinguishes the 2004 Hallmark from the 2006 Columbia. Update: Howard Cogswell notes "Deck the Halls" is part of the Columbia disc if you buy it from Barnes & Noble. Further update: An Entertainment Weekly article about the history behind "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and its evolving lyrics cites James' performance, first released in 2001 in the wake of 9/11, using the original, more downbeat lyrics. That performance is on this album, although the single almost certainly is somewhere on eBay. |
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"River," James Taylor (self-issued) Except for quoting "Good King Wenceslaus" instead of "Jingle Bells" at the beginning, you can pretty much predict what this is going to sound like. Although James is the king of mellow pop-folk, he's accomplished at what he does. This isn't on his 2004 Hallmark CD, it's supposed to be a freebie from his website, but it was down when I went to check. Salon.com had it for a while, though their daily mp3 column has ended and it's hard to know whether the archives are still alive. |
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"This is Christmas," Paul's Project (self-issued) A 2006 original from British lounge singer Paul Martin (he's from Gateshead for those who know where that is), who bills himself as Blighty's best Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin tribute singer. Here he puts the martini glass down and opts for a pop-rock arrangement with lots of Christmas schmaltz and a kid vocal on the bridge. It's a nice number in its way, and best of all it's a free download from his site. |
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"Santa's Going to Kokomo," Mike Love (Meleco) Yeah, yeah, Santa and his old lady like to go south for the summer. A remarkably weak effort, no doubt hindered by the insistence on making kids sing most of the way through it. This is the Beach Boys' final top 40 hit repurposed by the band's lead singer a la "Christmas Is All Around" from the movie "Love Actually." Another iTunes single from 2006. |
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Have a Twilley Christmas, Dwight Twilley (Digital MusicWorks) One of the godfathers of power pop, going back to the late '70s with his own Dwight Twilley Band, I hadn't heard about him much lately until I stumbled over this new for 2004 EP on iTunes. Update: It has been expanded into a full album for 2005. The album kicks off with "Snowman Magic" and segues into the jangly guitars of "Chrismas Stars," swings into the poppy "Santa Claus' Favorite" and throws in some horns on the stomper "Rockabilly Christmas Ball." "Christmas Night" mashes up bits of "Pink Cadillac" and "Bang a Gong" into a dance-rock holiday classic while "Christmas Love" takes it down to ballad speed. The expanded album also adds the ballad "Christmas Lullaby," the poppy "Almost Christmas Time" and the holiday stomper "Santa Claus Walk." Topping it off, a little friendly competition with the Flaming Lips on "Christmas With the Martians," listed as a "remix" on the expanded CD. |
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Christmas Means Love, Joan Osborne (HyLo/Womanly Hips) I don't often get the chance to tell people that Joan's first album, Relish, is one of the best albums of the 90s bar none. This 2005 collection doesn't quite hit those kinds of heights, but it's definitely a keeper. She casts a very selective eye over the holiday repertoire, limiting the traditional choices to a folk/gospel ballad treatment of "Angels We Have Heard On High," a blues waltz version of "Away in a Manger," and the usual stately "Silent Night." Like a lot of R'nB singers doing Christmas music, Joan leans toward the gospel side of things, with "Great Day in December" and a different version of "Children Go Where I Send Thee" than the one she recorded for A Home For the Holidays, less gritty but just as soulful. She also jumps into the blues with "What Do Bad Girls Get?" and gives a solid reading of Louis Armstrong's "Christmas in New Orleans." This was recorded exclusively for Barnes and Noble, but I wouldn't rule out a wider re-release in the future. Update: As predicted, now more widely available. |
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Christmas, Chris Isaak (Wicked Game/Reprise) Isaak has been milking that rockabilly crooner schtick for more than 20 years with great results, parlaying it into the quirky eponymous Showtime sitcom filled with hip cameos from fellow mid-list semi-celebrities. If you're a fan, this album will come as no surprise, brimming as it does with Chris's patented mix of pre-Beatles pop, rock and country moves. It's mostly trad carols but Chris bulks up the mix with five fairly sharp originals. "Hey Santa" is a smooth shuffle with Latin horns, "Christmas On TV" is a walking country lament about getting bounced by your sweetie for the holiday, "Brightest Star" is reminiscent of a Roy Orbison ballad, "Washington Square" is a waltz about lost love, and "Gotta Be Good" honky-tonks the thing you tell the kids into something you tell a faithless lover. "Santa Claus is Coming To Town" features a duet with Stevie Nicks, "Blue Christmas" is a straight lift of the Elvis arrangement spiced up with a little organ, "Pretty Paper" again recalls Orbison, a ballad version of "Mele Kalikimaka" thankfully picks up the tempo halfway through, "Last Month of the Year" is a twangy gospel version, and the other carols on the CD emphasize Chris' mellow balladeer side. I wouldn't call this a must-have, but if you're favorably disposed toward the Isaak sound you won't be disappointed. Update: Bob Bailey points out the version of this album sold at Target includes a cover of Elvis Presley's "Santa Bring My Baby Back To Me," which also appeared on a Best Buy compilation. This song and another, "I'll Be Home For Christmas," were bonus cuts on the Japanese version. Further update: This year's copies of this CD I've seen in stores lately include the Presley tune. |
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Winter Carols, Blackmore's Night (Locomotive) Sometimes you really lose track of your classic rock stars, or at least I did. Ritchie Blackmore, after leaving Deep Purple, went on to found heavy metal icons Whitesnake and Rainbow before landing with Blackmore's Night, which turns out to be an ensemble dedicated to antique English folk music with just the lightest of modern touches (drums, synths, etc.). Blackmore's chops on various guitars, mandola and other instruments are not in doubt, and vocalist Candice Night sounds just great doing this material. But this 2006 release is not in any way for rock fans. Two originals, "Winter (Basse Dance)," an instrumental, and "Christmas Eve," a vocal, are done in the antique style, to go with such classics as "I Saw Three Ships," "Good King Wenceslas," "We Three Kings," "Emmanuel" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," plus the opening medley of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing/O Come All Ye Faithful," the latter of which is the closest thing to a rock-sounding tune on this disc. Not a Mistletunes pick, but if you have any Dickens Village aficionados or Renaissance Faire fans in your circle, they might just find this a delightful change from the usual Christmas fare. |
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Peace, Love and Xmas, The Beautiful Losers (Beautiful Records) These guys, one Japanese guy and one American, released this CD in Japan in 2005, though it's available through CD Baby and iTunes this year. It's nearly all originals, except for faithful covers of "Last Christmas" and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," though not all Christmas-oriented. They're pretty much an electric folk-rock-pop act in the America vein. Highlights include "She's Coming Home for Christmas," "Cold, Cold Xmas" and "Every Day is Xmas Eve." The other songs are complimentary, but not specific to the holiday. |
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"Snow in Austin," Ellis Paul (Rounder) Another iTunes find from 2005, this is your basic alt-folk funny-sad take on the holiday from a popular practitioner of the style. It's about what happens, or what should happen, when "snow angels make it to Texas," and all the unrequited love that passes between two people. |
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"Have a Hap-Hap-Happy Christmas," Uncle Carl (self-issued) This is your basic R'nB horn-driven uptempo dance tune with the simplest of premises, as stated in the title. Fans of Huey Lewis and Sixties soul will especially enjoy this. Uncle Carl is a journeyman musician with quite a few originals to his credit, but this tune made the soundtrack of the recent independent film "Trust the Man" with David Duchovny and Julianne Moore, so it should be easy to track down that way, or you could simply go straight to the source for a sample. He's also on iTunes. |
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"Merry Xmas (From Your Ex-Girlfriend)," Grub Dog and the Modestos (Red Radio) From 2004, your basic regrets song, a country rocker about a lonely guy who gets a Christmas card from a former lover. Should probably call this one more country than rock, since it's more country than things I hear on country radio. Nevertheless, the title alone will stick out on your mix disc cover. |
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Can't Stop Thinking About Christmas, Universal Honey (41 Records) I haven't come across Universal Honey before, but this Canadian duo apparently is a big deal, with five albums, song placements on "Dawson's Creek," "Grosse Point" and "Time of your Life" and sold-out shows at Toronto's Massey Hall to their credit. This 2003 CD is their first full Christmas album, and it's chock full of originals, going to the songbook only once for an acoustic version of "I Saw Three Ships." They have that Sixties girl-pop-rock sound updated for the modern day, they've got quite a way with a hook, and the songs tie typical love song sentiments tightly into the holiday. The title song follows footprints in the snow to make an accusation of infidelity, while "ah-ah" vocals punctuate the beat. "Glad It's Christmastime" and "Best Christmas Ever" are great mix CD candidates. "The Celebration" is a duet of a beleaguered couple trying to find their groove: "It's Christmastime and we should be getting it on...." "Let Me Be Your Santa Claus" is a harder rocker, and "The Bells" starts off all sincere but swings into a Chuck Berry shuffle, talks about women going to see heavy metal bands in bars while pleading for a designated driver. The whole album is like this -- solid pop-rock performances, killer choruses and a strong eye for modern detail among the holiday sentiments. We'll forgive them one non-holiday song, "You Still Love Me." And in keeping with the current trend, a remix of the title song caps off the CD. I'm declaring this 2003's best Christmas album by a single artist. |
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"Christmas in America," Melissa Ethridge (Island) Your basic "come home for the holidays baby" lament, nicely rocked up in Melissa's trademark style just in time for 2005. It's one of the fresh tracks recorded for her Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled CD just out for holiday giving. I'm told there's a promo CD out there somewhere (I have a bootleg) of her doing a live medley of "Merry Xmas (War Is Over)" and "Give Peace a Chance" from back in the early 90s. |
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A Christmas Kind of Town, Marah (Yep Roc) I wasn't expecting this bunch of South Philly guys to put out a Christmas album, and given their status as a band that combines a lot of the better features of folks from Bruce Springsteen to the latter-day jam bands, I definitely wouldn't have expected vaudeville as the sound of such an album. Still, props to the guys for putting so much elbow grease into this 2005 release. There are five originals, including "New York Is a Christmas Kind of Town," "Counting the Days ('Til Christmas)," "Christmas With the Snow," the throwaway "Handsome Santa" and "Counting the Days, a Christmas Polka." They throw these in among a bunch of classics and covers, reaching all the way to Buck Owens for "Christmas Time's a-Comin" on one end and back to "Christmas Time Is Here." And they knit it all together with short skits in between tunes. I'd warn folks who have heard Marah before however, this sounds less like their regular stuff and more like something in between the Squirrel Nut Zippers and Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks. Update: The band put out an EP on vinyl and for download that combines a couple cuts from this album with three fresh tunes, "Home For the Holidays," the original "Valley Forge" and "Mele," the latter better known as "Mele Kalikimaka." |
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What I Really Want For Christmas, Brian Wilson (Arista) The management and staff of Mistletunes.com stipulates for the record that Brian Wilson's re-emergence as a solo artist after a troubled two decades or so is, all in all, a Good Thing. Nevertheless, we would not want to mislead anyone into thinking that a mid-60s Brian has the same hunger to reach the boundaries of music that he did in his 20s. That latter Brian got a much-deserved re-emphasis when Nonesuch issued the long-lost Smile in 2004. As for his first Christmas album since his Beach Boys days, well, what once was innovative now is adult contemporary. He hearkens back to that original 1964 holiday album with faithful remakes of "Little St. Nick" and "The Man With All the Toys," along with the same arrangement of "Auld Lang Syne." And let's face it, he could have gotten away with recycling a lot more vintage Boys material and arrangements, but to his credit he didn't. The title song is new, with lyrics from Bernie Taupin and an a cappella intro of the kind Brian's famous for, though the total effect is pretty lounge-oriented. "Christmasy," with lyrics by Jimmy Webb, and "On Christmas Day," which is all Brian, are more like Brian's recent solo work. Stop by his website to stream "White Christmas," which isn't on here. |
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"If Every Day Were Like Chrismas," Podsafe For Peace (self-issued) This 2005 Christmas single combines performers from nine countries in a "We Are the World" -- "Do They Know It's Christmastime" endeavor, organized by podcasting poobah and former MTV VJ Adam Curry, that will donate all the funds from the 99-cent download to UNICEF. It's a decent song, well performed, with big-platitude lyrics, pop-radio-friendly done in a familiar style, but I don't see any reason other than exposure that this couldn't become a holiday standard over time. No doubt the fact that none of the folks on this record could earn an Entertainment Weekly feature on their own will have more to do with this song's ultimate chart placing than anything else. The purchase link takes you through PayPal, by the way. |
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Blondfire Holiday EP, Blondfire (Wax Divine) This 2005 collection is an iTunes exclusive from the band formerly known as Astaire, Brazilian-American siblings Bruce and Erica Driscoll. Two piano ballads, "It's Been Christmas Here" and "Where's the Cheer," are fine pop songcraft if a little sedate, while "Underneath the Mistletoe" has a little more rhythm to it. Don't know if this is typical of their oeuvre or a little more hearth-friendly in keeping with the season, but this EP bodes well for the group in the other months of the year. There's also a demo of "Baby Blue," a non-holiday song, included with the full download. |
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"Let It Snow," Magnet (Filter) This one-man band from Norway named Even Johansen throws a decidedly 2005 approach into this Christmas standard, crooning over a mash-up backing track. Not for everyone, but I got a kick out of it. Found it on iTunes, you might want to check the other download services too. |
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My Morning Jacket Does Xmas Fiasco Style, My Morning Jacket (Darla) I have to admit I'm unfamiliar with these guys though I've seen their name mooted about for a few years now, but I will stipulate that they really take Christmas seriously. This 2003 EP (excuse the outdated terminology, but that's what I'm used to calling a six-cut mini-album of this kind) only has one rocked-out tune, the Elvis Presley tune "Santa Claus Is Back In Town," and it's more of a slow shuffle. The other tunes are fairly downtempo but sincere evocations of the holiday. "I Just Wanted To Say" would be at home as part of a David Lynch Christmas special, with a tempo more easily computed with a calendar than a metronome. "New Morning," a Nick Cave tune, doesn't sound particularly Christmas oriented, though the sentiment jibes with the other songs. "Xmas Curtain" also appears on their At Dawn album, and it's a pretty cryptic musing on "criminals who never break the law." "Xmas Time Is Here Again" is more conventionally Merry Christmasy, mostly acoustic guitar with a little electric guitar picking bass notes in the background. Oh, and there's a "Bonus Track," just seven minutes of doodling over a descending figure ripped from the previous song. Took a while, but it grew on me. Found it on the now-defunct Sony Connect, wish I'd known iTunes had it too. |
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"Lonely Without You (This Christmas)," Mick Jagger and Joss Stone with David Stewart (Virgin) From the soundtrack to the 2004 remake of "Alfie," this is your basic big soul showstopper Christmas ballad featuring the up-and-coming singer Joss Stone, who duets with the moss-averse Mick Jagger to fabulous effect. This is, as far as we can ascertain, only the second Rolling Stones-involved Christmas song ever besides Keith Richards' "Run Rudolph Run," and it benefits further from the involvement of teenaged diva Stone. And keep yer mitts off 'er, Jagger. |
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"Back Door Santa," Jet (Elektra) The "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" boys take a crack at the old soul chestnut and come off in fine fettle, although I suspect they took their cues from Bon Jovi rather than Clarence Carter on this one. Still, they did fine. Grabbed this 2004 performance on iTunes, where it's billed as an exclusive for the time being. |
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We Three Kings, Rev. Horton Heat (Yep Roc) The rockabilly preacher delivers for the holiday on this 2005 CD, rocking up a full roster of classic carols and holiday standards. It's full pedal to the metal, letting up only for "Silver Bells" and "Pretty Paper." They didn't stretch real hard for the song selection, going with such staples as "Frosty the Snowman," "Jingle Bells," "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and so on, plus rock standards like "Santa Bring My Baby Back" and "Run Run Rudolph" and the album's only original, "Santa On the Roof," about not catching Dad playing Santa. The good Rev. is known for a bit of comedy schtick when performing live, but this CD sticks to the music. |
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The Lost Christmas Eve, Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Lava) Everything I said about these guys elsewhere on the site holds in spades -- your basic old-school progressive rock opera dressed up in holiday clothes and now turned into quite the money-making machine; two separate TSO troupes tour the USA during November and December to give you the live version of their oeuvre. This 2004 CD, their third Christmas album, has 23 cuts but it also recycles some of their older material with new performances. And if you're just coming around to these guys, all three of the holiday CDs are now available in a boxed trilogy set. |
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Christmas EP, Aimee Mann (Superego) Aimee finally came out of the Christmas closet with this brief 2005 collection I found on iTunes but not at her website. It consists of fairly mellow covers of Joni Mitchell's "River," a song that fits her like an old shoe, the Mel Torme "Christmas Song" previously heard on the Q Division compilation, and last year's limited-availability cover of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," along with the instant classic from 2005's The Forgotten Arm, "I Was Thinking I Could Clean Up For Christmas." The latter features bright, funky rock band playing, cheerful melodies and a downer of a story about cleaning up and leaving a lover behind. Dark but warm, sort of like the dive bar around the corner from your apartment. (You have to get to the next and last song on Forgotten Arm to reach the somewhat happy ending.) The only thing missing is Aimee's duet with hubby Michael Penn, "Christmastime," from back in the mid-90s. |
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"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," Aimee Mann (SuperEgo) This is a single on her own label and so far was distributed only to people who bought stuff at her website. Of course, these things have a way of turning up at a later date. As for this particular song, well, it's a perfect Aimee Mann arrangement of a classic chestnut, complete with the baroque Beatle-esque touches she's known for. If there had been a Christmas scene in the movie "Magnolia," this is what you would have heard as the actors unwrapped their presents. Aimee previously did versions of "The Christmas Song" and a duet of her original "Christmastime" with hubby Michael Penn. |
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Christmas in July, Judith Owen (Century of Progress) This Welsh-born jazz-pop singer might not have made this site under normal circumstances, but this EP has a novelty twist -- her mellow cover of "Christmas With the Devil," the mock-holiday classic by Spinal Tap. She didn't have to look too far for the inspiration to do this tune -- she's married to Tap co-creator Harry Shearer, who contributes supporting vocals. She throws in a couple of holiday originals, "The Dancing Tree" and "My Father's Voice," and covers "Silent Night" in a duet with Julia Fordham, also doing "The Christmas Song" and a fairly mannered jazz version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." The whole disc is mellow pop singing, but Owen is the real deal in terms of singing and writing talent, if you prefer the mellower sounds. But for Mistletunes regulars, the Tap cover is worth the whole disc. From 2004. |
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"Father Christmas," The Features (Island Def Jam) What's with the title stealing? The Features come up with their own take on "Father Christmas" for 2004, not the Kinks original but their own. It even has a slight touch of Kinks to the melody in parts, and it's good in its own right. Another song sneaking under the holiday wire for 2004 at iTunes. |
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"Feliz Navidad," Los Lonely Boys (Sony/BMG) An exclusive track to iTunes for 2004, the Boys improvise an acoustic version of Jose Feliciano's big holiday hit. Even goofing around they sound as good as a lot of groups. You can tell they're Texans — as they flip back and forth between Spanish and English they give us "We wanna wish y'all a Merry Christmas.…" |
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"Do They Know It's Christmas," Band Aid 20 (Mercury/Universal) Inspired by the continuing strife in Darfur, Sudan, Bob Geldof and Midge Ure organized a 20th anniversary sequel to the original with an updated cast of current stars. On hand for the new version are Chris Martin of Coldplay, Robbie Williams, Dido, Fran Healey of Travis, vocal group Sugababes, rapper Ms. Dynamite, Joss Stone, Justin Hawkins of The Darkness, Dizzee Rascal and a bunch of other current English pop/rock stars, along with a reprise from Bono of his "thank God it's them instead of you" line, and a repeat visit from Sir Paul McCartney, who limits himself to bass this time. Thom Yorke of Radiohead is credited with piano and Damon Albarn of Blur is alleged to have "gotten tea" for everyone else. Madonna doesn't appear on the song but gives a spoken-word intro to the video, which was given a simultaneous premiere on all five of England's "terrestrial" channels, what Americans call broadcast stations as opposed to cable and satellite channels. Availability appears to be limited to Great Britain and Australia at the moment; I've been able to track down no plans for an American or worldwide release. The CD single is scheduled to contain the original 1984 version as well as the Live Aid performance of the song. Download sales are available from the British divisions of most of the players in that business except iTunes, which reportedly balked at charging twice the going rate for a single song. Update: The British iTunes got on board by putting the song up for sale at its normal price and paying Band Aid 20 the difference out of its own pocket. As for the performance, it's not remarkably different from the original, except for the retro-70s double guitars of The Darkness in the breaks and Dizzee Rascal's raps inserted into the bridge. Of the latter, my first reaction was, "Why is Ali G on this song?" My guess is that folks will want this in proportion to how they feel about the current wave of British popsters, with a few completists mixed in who actually have the 1989 version as well as the "Live Aid" DVD. |
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"Missle Tow," Mosquitos (self-issued) Stop by their website and download this for yourself (assuming it's still there since it first went up in 2004), a delightful Brazilian-flavored pop confection that goes all multicultural: "I wanna spend Christmas with you even though ... you're Jewish." And so it goes the other way around too, set to a catchy melody that'll bounce around your brainpan so much you'll think you're wearing an iPod when you aren't. If this kind of thing appeals to you, grab one of their regular albums while you're at it. |
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"The Christmas Party," The Walkmen with Nicole Sheahan (Record Collection/WB) Actually just a download from the band's website, this late 2004 song is also available from iTunes when you buy the single of "Little House of Savages." It's bracketed with spoken-word holiday sentiments and jingle bells, then it goes into a medium shuffle with a duet vocal reminiscent of the old Nuggets days -- or the latter-day garage movement, whichever you remember better. They like their wine in this song, too. On their Bows and Arrows album, they have two songs, "No Christmas While I'm Talking" and "New Year's Eve," neither of which appear to be holiday related as near as I can hear. |
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Everything You Want For Christmas, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (Big Bad/Vanguard) More big band swing mixed with rockabilly, in the vein of the Brian Setzer Orchestra, and therefore it suffers a bit from arriving two seasons later in 2004. I wouldn't recommend this to hard-core rockers, but more open-minded folks and fans of dancing cheek-to-cheek will likely go for this. Give them credit for a couple of smart covers, "Mr. Heatmiser" from the TV chestnut "Night Without a Santa Claus" and "A Party for Santa Claus," the Lord Nelson calypso classic. Not to mention "Zat You, Santa Claus," the Louis Armstrong song. "Jingle Bells" appears twice as an instrumental, one as a cha-cha and the other a little faster. Originals include "Rockabilly Christmas, "Last Night (I Went Out With Santa)" and "Christmastime in Tinsel Town." Update: Corrected the reference to "Mr. Heatmiser." I think I made the same mistake in other entries, so apolgies if I don't catch the other ones right away. |
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(Not Just Until) The Season Ends, Mary Karlzen (Y&T Music) Karlzen is a longtime solo alt-folk-rock troubadour with several CDs to her credit. Her version of "Run Rudolph Run" appears on the You Sleigh Me compilation, one of the very few, if any, covers of that done by a female vocalist. The version here sounds like a different, heavier rock performance. This EP, released in 2003 and advertised as a limited edition of 200, also includes her own original, the collection's title song, which also made an Atlantic compilation of plain pop performances. Along with yet another compilation contribution, a slow-drone version of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen," she adds rocked-up performances of "Auld Lang Syne" and the Carpenters' "Merry Christmas Darling," both nice crunchy renditions you won't be embarrassed to play to your taste-tipper friends. Probably now would be a good time to send Mary an e-mail about getting some more copies of this pressed. |
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Christmas Lights, Martha's Trouble (Aisling) This holiday EP came out in Canada in 2002 and is being marketed in the U.S. for the first time in 2004. Martha's Trouble is a folky duo, Jen and Rob Slocum, who split their time between Ontario and Alabama (talk about your red state/blue state dichotomy) performing what is essentially folk music, lots of fingerpicked guitar and occasional touches of violin, although they also have full band accompaniment on this short CD. "Christmas Song" is their own midtempo original and the only such among the six tunes, the rest of which are standards including "Silent Night," a syncopated "Little Drummer Boy," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." More folk than pop, and a bit mellow for this site, but Jen Slocum is an excellent singer, and you Roches fans will probably go for this. |
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Songs for Christmas, Jesse Colin Young (BeanBag/Artemis) The former sparkplug of the Youngbloods, makers of hippy anthem "Get Together" back in the late 1960s, Young may be as well known today for the kona coffee grown on his farm in Hawaii. Nothing against his solo CDs, mind you, the latest of which is Living In Paradise, released in September 2004. The holiday CD was originally put out in 2002 and has been reissued for 2004. No surprises, no original tunes, just a dozen mostly Christmas standards in his mellow pop-folk style. A little walking jazz on "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," a syncopated take on "White Christmas," but no revelatory arrangements. On the other hand, there's no attempt to hoke things up with jingle bells or anything other than a bit of violin or string quartet on a few songs. Too seriously intentioned for my taste, but coffee gourmets might want to order this directly from his site and get some of that fresh-ground java with it. |
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"I Love Christmas," Tommy James and the Shondells (Aura) As with the DMI Records compilation, we have another 60s pop-rocker making a 2004 Christmas move here, and this is a fairly straightforward original tune with an extended ending. It's a bit sappy for the younger folks, and while you'll recognize the Tommy James vocals, the performance doesn't quite recall the Shondells in their heyday. This was on iTunes but may be available as a single too. |
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"If You Were Born Today/Last Christmas," Jimmy Eat World (Interscope) A peculiar couplet kicks off this dirge-like 2004 holiday tune: "If you were born today/They'd kill you by age eight." Update: Bob Bailey points out this is a cover of the Low tune. This five-minute number mixes Christmas sentiments and suggestions of atonement. Following this is what sounds like a fresh attempt at their previous cover of Wham's "Last Christmas," a poppy acoustic romp through the tune. These guys apparently seem to like doing Christmas tunes, as we've noted before. |
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"Christmas Card," Jimmy Eat World (Big Wheel Records) JEW is often connected to the emo scene, although they disavow that label. This is from their album called Singles, although I had to go to their website to distinguish this one from their two self-titled albums, since the word "Singles" doesn't appear anywhere on this one. Anyway, this particular song has only a tiny connection to Christmas, in the reference to a "card postmark Dec. 23." Not to worry; they once did a single, now out of print, covering Wham's "Last Christmas." Update: "Last Christmas" turned up on The O.C. 3 Chrismukka collection. JEW also contributed "12/23/95" to Nettwerk's Maybe This Christmas, although that one was lyrically pretty sparse, getting the Christmas reference in only at the end. |
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"Merry Merry Merry Frickin' Christmas," Frickin' A (self-issued) Amenable folks these Frickin' As are, as all you have to do is go to the home page, wait a bit (depending on your 'Net connection) and the song will come rockin' out of your speakers. Props to Martin Johns for pointing this out to the site. He thinks it's from 2004, and I tend to agree since the flip side of this sucker is a "World Champion Red Sox" version of the same song. Hard rocker with good melody and hook and great lyrics ("My cousin Ashlee, her singing really sucks/ Blames it on her drummer and acid reflux.") Give these guys a tumble, buy the single and get both versions, even you Yankees fans. |
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Camp Holiday, Martin Sexton (Kitchen Table) I'm not all that familiar with Sexton, but the customer reviews at iTunes were mostly adulatory for him, if not necessarily for this 2005 CD. The buyers seemed to regard it as a holding action while he puts together another album of original material. This is your basic acoustic singer-songwriter approach to a CD full of classic carols leavened with a few pop classics, no surprises in song selection, and not much in tempo either. The one original tune, "Welcome to the Camp," at least throws a funky acoustic beat into the mix. Too mellow for my taste, but if there were more performances like "Welcome to the Camp" we might have had something here. The CD will make a contribution to Camp Sunshine for children with life-threatening illnesses, by the way. |
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Winter Weezerland EP, Weezer (Geffen) The two songs here, "Christmas Song" and "Christmas Celebration," have apparently been widely distributed as free downloads for several seasons now, so some of the more rabid fans of the band are offended that they've posted them at iTunes for sale and taken down the free links for 2005. I find it's a question of act now or forever hold your peace. Those who have 'em free don't have to buy them. Meanwhile, you'll find these two original tunes right in step if you remember the band from its big hit "Buddy Holly." |
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"Secret Satan," Karkis (Roadkill Supper) From the album Choking on the Bon Mot comes this hysterical bit of heavy metal riffing on the popular "secret Santa" tradition. Stop by their website, where it will stream the song and video right to you. One can never tell whether the Spinal Tap principle applies to bands of this genre, but I took it at face value and got quite a kick out of it. |
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"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," Raina (Robbins Entertainment) Have no idea who Raina is, but she does a pretty good job singing the Spector classic over a modern dance track. That's it — that's all there is to this, but for a lot of folks this will be enough. Another one from the iTunes store, haven't seen a physical CD version of this 2004 single anywhere. |
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"Single At Christmas," The Crossbank Strays (Silverword) This four-piece British outfit has been around since about 2000, with one album out and another awaiting release. In between, they decided to put together this holiday single for 2004, a nice mid-tempo number about the Bridget Joneses among us, whether male or female. They cite Roy Wood's classic "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day" as an influence, and that's not too far off. The second tune, "Please Ring," is not a Christmas number but is about the longing for that one phone call. They're on the upswing with airplay on Radio Caroline and the song's in stores at Amazon UK and HMV Records. Be the first on your block. |
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"Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End), The Darkness (Atlantic) Missed getting this 2003 holiday single onto the site in time for the holiday since I had to have it shipped over from England. If you're not familiar, The Darkness brings back the whole 70s hard rock vibe, from album art and wardrobe to stomping beats and screaming guitars. This is even produced by Bob Ezrin, who gave us Alice Cooper's biggest albums along with Lou Reed's Berlin. It's said these guys are way too subtle to make it in the United States, and I think I'd have to agree. They unashamedly steal from all the era's greats, especially Queen on this particular tune. The song itself is pretty much what you'd expect from a 70s hard rock act, which is the point, of course. |
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"Christmas In the Slammer," The Swallows (self-issued) This single from 2000 is by a hard-rock band from Boston, two guys and two girls, who kick off with a quote from "Carol of the Bells," a bit of Sex Pistols riffing and then into the verse, which hits lots of holiday cliches and toys with a few ("Let's put on some Perry Como or Boyz II Men"), but never quite explains who ends up having to celebrate Christmas "in the slammer." Still, it's a serious toe-tapper with lots of attitude. Their website is supposed to be www.theswallows.com, but they seem to have let it lapse. |
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Carolina Christmas, The Marshall Tucker Band (Shout! Factory) Southern rock's not one of my top favorite genres, which is probably why country from about the 1990s onward doesn't do anything for me. (Oh, you've never heard my rant about one of these being very much like the other, have you?) Marshall Tucker was one of the more radio-friendly of those bands back in its heyday 30 or so years ago, so it's not surprising this 2005 holiday effort by them covers a fairly wide swath of pop music history -- perhaps a bit too wide. Of the original tunes, "Snowfall in Georgia" uses flute to evoke the band's biggest hit, "Heard It In a Love Song," "Christmas in Carolina" is described in the liner notes as a tribute to beach music, but it's a bit more on the mild side of soulful than real beach tunes might be. "My Christmas in Custody" is a bluesy novelty and "Leave the Christmas Lights On" could easily be a ballad on country radio. The rest of the album is from the Christmas canon, "White Christmas" starting out just short of lounge music but breaking into Western swing halfway through, "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is a straight pop ballad with a female vocal, "Let It Snow" and "Silent Night" are blues-based renditions, and the boys wrap things up with a spoken "Twas the Night Before Christmas." As I've said about most of the '70s rock legends who have stepped up with latter-day Christmas albums, this is more adult contemporary than rock 'n roll. |
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Happy Holidays, Rickie Lee Jones (self-issued) Despite the album cover thumbnail you see to the right, this isn't available on disc — it's three songs she put up for free downloading in 2004. "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" is pretty straight jazz, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is done in a torch song arrangement and "O Holy Night" is a straight English folk rendition with pipes and harp. Nicely done, though a little seriously intentioned for this site, but I'm sure Rickie Lee has fans visiting this site. |
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"Christmas Time is Here," Silent League (self-issued) These New York City pop-rockers made their version of the Vince Guaraldi-Peanuts classic a free download for 2004. They stuck with the ballad tempo for it, though they noise it up a bit toward the end. Gotta say this isn't representative of their regular work, but hey, it's free for now. |
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"Merry Christmas Baby," George Thorogood and the Destroyers (Independent Productions) Not sure folks were really waiting with baited breath for an original blues tune called "Merry Christmas Baby," considering there's a classic tune with the same title. This 2004 single makes me think of what a blues artist would sound like if he played Branson, Mo. three shows a night. George knows better than this — see here. |
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Almost a Full Moon, Hawksley Workman (Isidora/Universal Canada) A California correspondent, Vicki Pasek, put me onto this 2002 CD, and I have to say it wasn't what I expected. I was under the impression that Workman was some kind of Gordon Lightfoot-come-lately, but it turns out this guy has great pop and rock sensibilities along with a quirky way of looking at things -- take "Learn How to Knit," a ballad about that very topic as a way of making Christmas presents. "First Snow of the Year" is a sprightly rocker that romanticizes what will eventually be a seasonal nuisance. "Merry Christmas (I Love You)" is a 9/11 homage to a lover who may or may not still be among us, then the singer decides to just succumb to a holiday "Common Cold." "Three Generations" is a fun faux-polka about families taking pictures of each other on Christmas. The title song loses the Christmas plot a little, but it's still a nice love story, and "Watching the Fire" is in a similar vein. A fairly conventional "Silent Night" wraps the album. This is good enough to encourage listeners to seek out Workman's other CDs. |
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"Crikey! It's Christmas," Crikey (self-released) This bit of festive semi-punk thrash with the edges ground off just a tad comes from a local London, England band that is looking to snag a recording contract by billing themselves as the "Kings of Broadband Rock." No, I don't know what it means, but I say whatever works. These middle-aged guys know how to have fun, and you'll probably appreciate this tune if you manage to get a hold of it. They sent me a demo with four non-holiday songs and this on it, fastened inside a Christmas card. If you found this by Googling for "Crocodile Hunter," this has nothing to do with that. |
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"Valley Winter Song," Fountains of Wayne (S-Curve) This one kind of treads the line as to whether it's really a Christmas song, but the chorus is irresistible and it's more holiday oriented to my ears than "My Favorite Things," so a Christmas song it is. We've celebrated many relationship songs here in which the Christmas reference is secondary, so this could go along with those. The Waynes are already on record with "I Want an Alien for Christmas," a more overt and fun holiday song, and this is from their 2003 album Welcome Interstate Travelers, which also includes the iTunes Music Store hit "Stacy's Mom." |
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The Magic of Christmas, Joy Electric (Tooth and Nail) This synth-pop act from California is apparently Ronnie Martin's one-man band, judging by credits and CD artwork. Joy Electric was previously featured on the BEC compilations Happy Christmas Vol. 1 and 2, and both the songs from those two CDs, "Winter Wonderland" and "Lollypop Parade (On Christmas Morn)," are on this 2003 album. This has an early 80s vibe, in terms of electro-pop; it has the sound of Depeche Mode in their early, cheap-synth phase, more so than their later, dour pop star incarnation. Even on a minor-key song like "What Child Is This," JE has a rather cheerful sound, and the choice of tunes plays to this quality. The bouncy "Lollypop Parade" is the only original here; all the rest of the tunes are standards and traditional carols like "Angels We Have Heard," "Deck the Halls," "Frosty the Snowman" and so on. This is a short album, but a good one. |
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Season's Greetings From moe, moe (Fatboy) Liner notes indicate the band moe's bass player is a Christmas-aholic, so much so that he conned the boys into whipping out this Christmas album in September 2002. They mostly revisit classics but they manage two originals, "Together At Christmas," a mid-tempo rocker that is radio-ready whether anybody actually plays it or not, and "Home," a nice piano ballad. They do a countrified "Blue Christmas," rock out "We're a Couple of Misfits" from the iconic "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" TV show, medley "Silent Night" into "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desire" with an arrangement that builds to a nice solid climax, and attempt, successfully, the only rock-band arrangement of "Linus and Lucy" from the original "A Charlie Brown Christmas" that I'm aware of. A nicely rockabillied "Jingle Bells" and a portentious "Little Drummer Boy" round out the set. Hanukkah alert: a semi-spaghetti Western version of "Oh Hanukkah." Kudos to a solid rock 'n roll Christmas effort; they manage to keep up the rock attitude even though some songs don't really lend themselves to the treatment. |
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"A Change At Christmas (Say It Isn't So)," Flaming Lips (Warner Bros.) Previously represented by a couple of hard-to-find versions of "White Christmas," not to mention "Christmas at the Zoo," the Lips whip out their Sharpies and give us another original Christmas tune on their 2003 EP Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell. It's a winner, slightly dirge-y in a similar way to David Bowie's "Heroes" but with chimes, tambourines and jangly piano instead of Robert Fripp's guitar to carry it along. The highly optimistic lyrics could put it into contention with "Happy Xmas" as a future holiday staple. |
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The Jethro Tull Christmas Album, Jethro Tull (Fuel 2000) The often-maligned progressive rock act of the 1970s never actually went away, continuing to record straight through any number of pop music fads. And this is a good time to note this site has been remiss in not noting the group has actually had a number of holiday tunes over time – "Christmas Song" from Living in the Past, "Ring Out Solstice Bells" from Songs for the Wood, "Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow" from an 80s single B-side, and "Another Christma |
