I've had this discussion before. For the generation before mine, the Christmas movie was "A Christmas Carol" with Alistair Sim. For my generation, it was "It's A Wonderful Life". For the generation after mine, it's "Christmas Story". So what is it for the next generation? Some will answer "Christmas Vacation" or "Home Alone" or "Elf". "Elf" is too recent anyway, so you can rule that one out. The correct answer is "Die Hard". And, with this just released Christmas tribute to the 1988 action thriller, I now have proof. Don't give me polls that say that nearly two-thirds of Americans don't think "Die Hard" is a Christmas movie at all. How bout you just ask the specific generation that's making the choice? The generation that has chosen "Die Hard" as their Christmas movie doesn't care what the rest of us think about it.
"It's Christmas Time, Mr. Falcon!" is ten tracks of retro Synth Pop goodness that take you right back to movies from the eighties. Truthfully, as often as not, these songs more recall "Beverly Hills Cop" than "Die Hard" (no surprise, since the Retro Promenade label also released a comp paying tribute to Harold Faltermeyer, the man who scored those Eddie Murphy flicks, earlier this month). But the two tracks from Who Ha--the only vocals on the collection--clearly come from the "Die Hard" generation and likely inspired the set's theme. They're also easily the best tracks on the set.
"It's Snowin" sounds like a cross between Tears For Fears, Men Without Hats, and Simple Minds. Though it's essentially a one-line song that lasts over six minutes, it works. But "Merry Christmas To Me" is the song that lays out all the love for John McClane and the "Die Hard" franchise, while specifically dissing all the other Christmas movie pretenders ("Jingle All The Way", "The Santa Clause", "Home Alone").
"John McClane became a hero on my TV screen. That was Christmas to me." That's all they needed to say.
Kondrath's "Solemn Holiday" is also excellent. "Yuletide" by Jurgen Desmet fits the "Die Hard" theme and also sounds sufficiently Christmasy. The one fly in the ointment for me was Dress 2 Kill's "Slopestyle" which gave me a headache.
"It's Christmas Time, Mr. Falcon" is free from Retro Promenade on Bandcamp. And, if you look around a bit, you'll find 2013's "It's Christmas Time!" and last year's "It's Christmas Time Again!"--also free. Although I would advise them to stop using the exclamation point as I think JEB! has ruined that forever.
"It's Christmas Time, Mr. Falcon!" is ten tracks of retro Synth Pop goodness that take you right back to movies from the eighties. Truthfully, as often as not, these songs more recall "Beverly Hills Cop" than "Die Hard" (no surprise, since the Retro Promenade label also released a comp paying tribute to Harold Faltermeyer, the man who scored those Eddie Murphy flicks, earlier this month). But the two tracks from Who Ha--the only vocals on the collection--clearly come from the "Die Hard" generation and likely inspired the set's theme. They're also easily the best tracks on the set.
"It's Snowin" sounds like a cross between Tears For Fears, Men Without Hats, and Simple Minds. Though it's essentially a one-line song that lasts over six minutes, it works. But "Merry Christmas To Me" is the song that lays out all the love for John McClane and the "Die Hard" franchise, while specifically dissing all the other Christmas movie pretenders ("Jingle All The Way", "The Santa Clause", "Home Alone").
"John McClane became a hero on my TV screen. That was Christmas to me." That's all they needed to say.
Kondrath's "Solemn Holiday" is also excellent. "Yuletide" by Jurgen Desmet fits the "Die Hard" theme and also sounds sufficiently Christmasy. The one fly in the ointment for me was Dress 2 Kill's "Slopestyle" which gave me a headache.
"It's Christmas Time, Mr. Falcon" is free from Retro Promenade on Bandcamp. And, if you look around a bit, you'll find 2013's "It's Christmas Time!" and last year's "It's Christmas Time Again!"--also free. Although I would advise them to stop using the exclamation point as I think JEB! has ruined that forever.
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