Category: Contemporary Christian

SMALLTOWN POETS - CAROL OF THE BELLS

12/16/2018

The Smalltown Poets have released a couple of excellent CCM Christmas albums--2011's "Smalltown Poets Christmas" and "Christmas Time Again" in 2014--but they've been all quiet on the Yuletide front since then (although, as a CCM band, pretty much everything they record could be tied to the spiritual aspect of the holiday). But the band has returned with a holiday single for 2018. They describe their version of "Carol of the Bells" as what they would imagine it would sound like if Queen and Radiohead decided to record a Christmas single together. That's not too far off the mark, though it misses without the presence of a Freddie Mercury. Now had they recruited Marc Martel to join them on the vocals.... Truth be told, I think they came up with the description after they'd recorded it and listened to it, not before they laid out the arrangement. And it's a fine rendition of "Carol of the Bells" that, I think, sounds like The Smalltown Poets. And there ain't nothing wrong with that. You can get this one free, in exchange for your email, from Noisetrade.

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ALLI ROGERS - THE SILENT STARS

12/14/2018

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This is an oldie but a goodie. Alli Rogers is one of the great undiscovered treasures of Folk and CCM. I honestly don't know what she's been up to lately. She hasn't been very active on social media for the past few years and her website says she's not currently touring.

Back in 2009, Alli released a brilliant Christmas album (obviously focused on the more spiritual side of the holiday). "The Silent Stars" has been a quiet perennial among those who know it--one of those albums you always take the time to play in December, but you somehow never think to mention it to others.

"The Silent Stars", the complete album mind you, by Alli Rogers is now available to stream or download free from Noisetrade. I recommend it highly. I think it will become a quiet perennial in your home, too. I'm especially fond of Alli's version of "O Little Town of Bethlehem". "Adorn" is one of Alli's originals.

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THE WINTER FAILURE - MERRY XMAS

11/30/2018

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1. Part 1
2. White As Snow
3. Snowglobe
4. Frost
5. Part 2
6. Christmas Kinkade
7. This Is Christmas
8. Grandpa Rocket
9. Ol' Frosty
10. Part 3
11. Fever Wreath
12. You Came To Save
13. Part 4
14. Melodies & Symphonies
15. New Years Eve

DOWNLOAD ON NOISETRADE

The Winter Failure and I have a long strange history. The Florida group has been making an annual Christmas record since 2009, I believe, and I first heard them in 2010 (our inaugural season). I've generally found their Christmas albums to be a bit uneven and haven't shied away from saying so. But there were always moments or songs that were wonderful and that deserved to be heard. Last year, I was quite ill and, though the group asked me to listen to their annual release, I just couldn't. Hell, I could barely walk. I'm trying to remember if I listened to any album all the way through last year, and the only one that comes to mind is Sofia Talvik's (and Liz Chan's, but that was an EP).

For their tenth Christmas album, "Merry Xmas", the group revisits some of their favorite and best songs from the decade past. But, rather than just collect up the previous recordings, it's The Winter Failure unplugged, as it's just the guys and one guitar. And it works. First of all, a good song is a good song and doesn't need to be heavily produced. Second, The Winter Failure was almost always better on their originals than on covers and this "Greatest Hits" collection, if you will, dispenses with the covers (though I do miss "Breath of Heaven" on this collection). And, finally, their best stuff was really, really good. I immediately remembered songs that had been favorites, like "This Is Christmas" and "Snow Globe" and "Fever Wreath" and "New Year's Eve". For those reasons and more, "Merry Xmas" does not suffer from the unevenness that always bothered me on previous sets. If there was ever an album to introduce you to The Winter Failure at their finest, this is the one.

As I listen to "Merry Xmas", I can't help but feel I've been too harsh of The Winter Failure. Because, at the core, these are people making music--and Christmas music--for the simple reason that they love doing it. And what could be wrong with that? "Merry Xmas" can be streamed and/or downloaded from Noisetrade.

Although this isn't the version on "Merry Xmas", "This Is Christmas" was always one of my favorite songs by The Winter Failure. This one was from the group's 2015 record.

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VARIOUS - VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS SAMPLER

12/16/2016

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Phil Wickham – Christmastime
Phil Wickham – Better Than Life
MercyMe – Go Tell It On The Mountain
MercyMe – God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman
Laura Story – Emmanuel
Laura Story – Who But Jesus
Sara Groves – O Holy Night
Sara Groves – Your Reality
Phillips, Craig & Dean – The First Noel
Phillips, Craig & Dean – Throne of Praise

There has certainly been a proliferation of CCM artists recording Christmas music over the past 20 years or so. It may be hard to believe, but it wasn't that long ago that the most faithful Christian circles were openly disdainful of Christian artists recording contemporary music. About as contemporary as they wanted their Christmas music was Southern Gospel.

Many of the radio gigs I had back in the day included shifts "running the board" for specialty programs. What frequently happened with these shows was that the "host" would record all his voice parts ahead of time (mostly "live" commercials), leave a stack of records, and never actually be there for the show. And one such show was a program of primarily Gospel music. Well, at Christmas (and I'm talking about probably three weeks worth), what do you think I did? Hey, I stuck to the stack of records provided, I swear. But the tracks weren't specified. So I pulled out the hippest sounding stuff I could find--the music on those records that leaned closest to Pop or Rock or straight Country, or Gospel with clear Jazz infliences. Well, a weird thing happened. The "host" would get complaints from the older part of his audience, but the numbers in the younger demographics grew considerably. I got a very mild rebuke (after Christmas). But the point is the same conclusion the church ultimately accepted. If you want to reach people with music, you'll reach more if it's their music. Think "Sister Act". Right?

I don't know why I went through all that as the lead-in to this free download (for a limited time) from Free CCM. The website has gathered a diverse group of CCM artists and taken a few choice cuts from their Christmas releases, serving them up to anyone interested. MercyMe is clearly straight up Pop and Pop Rock ("God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" would have gotten me more than a mild rebuke, I promise you). I don't know anyone who doesn't like the Indie Folk Pop music of Sarah Groves. I was very fond of Phil Wickham's "Songs For Christmas", from which we get "Christmas Time". I'm less familiar with Laura Story and Phillips, Craig & Dean, but, again, you're talking about music that should be easily accessible to fans of Pop and Pop Rock. 10 songs in all. Not a bad return for your email address. Head here to get the set.

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MARC MARTEL - O HOLY NIGHT

11/28/2016

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Exactly a month ago, I posted this video on the front page because I was very impressed. "O Holy Night" is my favorite and Marc Martel does a beautiful version. Martel, who used to be in the group Downhere, released his Christmas EP on November 19. You can find the details in our earlier piece (really don't want to repeat myself). But, for a limited time, you can download this gorgeous rendition of "O Holy Night" FREE from the good folks at New Release Today (formerly New Release Tuesday). New Release Today has limited time free downloads of current CCM releases all year long. Being as we're in the Christmas season, probably a good idea to check over there every once in a while (in fact, I see they've just posted a cut from the new J.J. Heller Christmas album). The free download of Marc Martel's "O Holy Night" "expires" on December 10.

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MATT JACKSON - LOVE CAME DOWN AT CHRISTMAS

11/10/2016

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1. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings
2. Love Came Down At Christmas
3. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
4. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
5. O Holy Night

MATT JACKSON'S WEB SITE
MATT JACKSON ON FACEBOOK
DOWNLOAD AT NOISETRADE

A Christian Folk Rock artist, Matt Jackson was based in Florida at last report (previously in Georgia). The digital-only Christmas EP "Love Came Down At Christmas" was something he released last year. His fanbase was very pleased with it, but a lot of folks didn't even know it was out there (yep, I missed it too). So, to get the music to others less familiar with his music, Matt has made "Love Came Down At Christmas" available from Noisetrade (tips welcome). The EP did have a sixth track, "The Christmas Story", which appears to be a spoken word piece. If you're a completist, you can grab the track at iTunes. As enjoyable as the rest of the set is, the star of the show has to be the rockin' opening track, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings". At least for me. You are, of course, free to find your own favorite.

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PATRICK OVENDEN - CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

11/10/2016

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Patrick Ovenden is a British multi-instrumentalist who has recorded a lot of stuff in what I'm guessing is a home studio. Some hit, some miss, some experimental. He's very much influenced by Classic Rock groups like the Moody Blues and Jethro Tull (also Mike Oldfield). Recently, he decided to put up an awful lot of his works on Bandcamp--stuff going back to 1990, for Christmas sake--most of it free for the taking.

Three of Patrick's records are Christmas related. The earliest,"Winter In White Pages Lost", is one big long piece that plays off that Mike Oldfield influence. The most recent of the Christmas sets, "A Traditional Christmas", is from last year. Some of its very good ("We Three Kings" and"Away In A Manger", for example), some less so. But the one that grabbed me was the one that shows off those Moody Blues/Jethro Tull roots.

"Christmas Shopping" shows a 2014 date and its got a couple of tracks I couldn't warm up to but, for the most part (as I, too, love the Moodys and the Tull), its a fun little record that is very much in the Classic Rock, orchestral Folk Psych vein. Now keep in mind that Jethro Tull had a lot of people in the group and the Moodys had an actual orchestra backing them on "Nights In White Satin". So Patrick, whom I'm guessing is responsible for all the instruments and almost all the vocals himself in his home studio, is at a bit of a disadvantage. That translates to a tad of a lo-fi sound, but not so much. Among the highlights for me were "A Winter Garland" (though the opening bit lasts too long for my taste), the title track, "Christmas Morning", "Christmas Star" and "How Majestic Is Your Name".

So head on over to Bandcamp, if you're intrigued, and listen to Patrick Ovenden do his thing. Heck, listen to him doing all of his things. It's there for you to be had.

1. A Winter Garland
2. Christmas Shopping
3. Snow
4. Christmas Morning
5. Christmas On My Mind
6. Jingle Bells (trad.)
7. Christmas Star
8. This We Believe (feat. Michael Bave)
9. January Man
10. Evensong (instrumental)
11. The Ballad Carol
12. (Adonai) How Majestic is Your Name

PATRICK OVENDEN'S WEB SITE
DOWNLOAD AY BANDCAMP

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The FREE List

Here we hope to direct you to some of the Christmas music on the web that can be yours absolutely free. We will not direct you to mp3 or sharity sites, here, but only to artist sites, label sites, and other authorized and unquestionably legal locations.

SMALLTOWN POETS - CAROL OF THE BELLS

ALLI ROGERS - THE SILENT STARS

THE WINTER FAILURE - MERRY XMAS

VARIOUS - VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS SAMPLER

MARC MARTEL - O HOLY NIGHT

MATT JACKSON - LOVE CAME DOWN AT CHRISTMAS

PATRICK OVENDEN - CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

The FREE List

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