 | 1. White Christmas 2. Blue Christmas 3. O Come, O Come Emmanuel 4. Last Christmas 5. The First Noel DOWNLOAD FROM LOREN'S WEBSITE VISIT LOREN RADIS ON FACEBOOK |
"Christmas" is the fourth in a series of almost annual holiday EPs from California singer/songwriter Loren Radis. An acoustic performer--ostensibly Indie Folk--Loren's Christmas sets are always offered free (donations gratefully accepted).
Loren's got a great voice--reminds me a bit of Bob Lind. And here's the thing: Loren's a hell of a songwriter, as you can hear on his non-holiday albums. So its a bit of a bummer that most of the Christmas songs on the four albums are the ones we all know. There's one song on his 2011 EP, "It's Christmas Time", that I don't know (so I'm thinking original)--the title track--and it just shines above and beyond the rest. On that same set, he covers the Smiths "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" and he does so superbly. I'd like to hear more lesser-known or original songs. Of course, if he spent all his time writing new Christmas songs, he'd probably have little time to write anything else. Then he'd have to start charging for the Christmas sets and....you know. It's a thing.
That said, he does well with the old carols and pop Christmas songs. There's some variety in the textures of the albums, themselves. For example, on 2012's "Because It's Christmas", we get more backing vocals, which gives us a fuller, richer sound. He does layer in some vocals on "Christmas", but I miss a female tone a bit.
Overall, "Christmas" is a nice stand alone. "Last Christmas" gives the EP some Pop energy, while Loren really does an exquisite job on the slower numbers. "O Come O Come Emmanuel" is my personal favorite on "Christmas" (your mileage may vary). And my favorite from all four was "The Christmas Song" from "Because It's Christmas"--beautiful arrangement and execution on that one. Download one or download all four, Loren Radis has the holiday spirit and his Christmas music is there for you to be had.
Loren's got a great voice--reminds me a bit of Bob Lind. And here's the thing: Loren's a hell of a songwriter, as you can hear on his non-holiday albums. So its a bit of a bummer that most of the Christmas songs on the four albums are the ones we all know. There's one song on his 2011 EP, "It's Christmas Time", that I don't know (so I'm thinking original)--the title track--and it just shines above and beyond the rest. On that same set, he covers the Smiths "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" and he does so superbly. I'd like to hear more lesser-known or original songs. Of course, if he spent all his time writing new Christmas songs, he'd probably have little time to write anything else. Then he'd have to start charging for the Christmas sets and....you know. It's a thing.
That said, he does well with the old carols and pop Christmas songs. There's some variety in the textures of the albums, themselves. For example, on 2012's "Because It's Christmas", we get more backing vocals, which gives us a fuller, richer sound. He does layer in some vocals on "Christmas", but I miss a female tone a bit.
Overall, "Christmas" is a nice stand alone. "Last Christmas" gives the EP some Pop energy, while Loren really does an exquisite job on the slower numbers. "O Come O Come Emmanuel" is my personal favorite on "Christmas" (your mileage may vary). And my favorite from all four was "The Christmas Song" from "Because It's Christmas"--beautiful arrangement and execution on that one. Download one or download all four, Loren Radis has the holiday spirit and his Christmas music is there for you to be had.
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