NOTE: There's a new entry on the PREVIEWS page! Just sayin'. Every once in a while, there's an intriguing topic that makes its way across the Internets. Of late, this "10 Perfect Albums" topic has been showing up in my Facebook feed. The game goes something like this: "Post 10 perfect albums over 10 days. These are the ones where you regularly listen to the entire thing in order all the way through. Post the cover, name of the artist and album if not shown, no need to explain why." At least one of my friends did include a Christmas album among their ten, which got me to thinking it might be fun to try and identify 10 "perfect" Christmas albums. What the heck, could be fun, right? Keep in mind that such lists are completely subjective (kinda the point, actually) and that it's hard to call anything truly "perfect". And it's especially challenging for me because I get bored easy; there are only a handful of albums (Christmas or otherwise) that I regularly listen to all the way through. Your purchase links (where available) are the album covers. Apologies if you've already read about some of these at 200 Days of Christmas or as part of Merry & Bright's "Der Bingle's Essentials" series. And feel free to offer your own choices in the comments. So, without further ado, and in no particular order, here are my choices for ten "perfect" Christmas albums (in one day, not 10). This one has been turning up a lot this year and, well, it's about time. Possibly the most under appreciated Christmas album of all time. On "The Bells of Dublin", The Chieftans deliver a timeless collection of Christmas music both new and old, a festive feast that leaves you as completely satisfied as the best Christmas dinner you ever had. No straying into over cooked standards like "White Christmas" or "Santa Baby"--those just wouldn't be a fit for this Irish Folk group--The Chieftans stick to their signature sound and do it so well that even people who hate the genre can't help but be charmed and won over completely. The album is bursting with stellar performances from a plethora of top shelf guests--including Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, Nanci Griffith, Rickie Lee Jones, and, OMG, Burgess Meredith. Indeed, there is so much star power on this record that The Chieftans, themselves, are sometimes all but overlooked. That's why, as much as I enjoy such standards in the making as Browne's "The Rebel Jesus" and Costello's "St. Stephen's Day Murders", my favorite track is the opener...Paddy Moloney's "The Bells of Dublin/Christmas Eve" which sets the table perfectly for everything that follows. I'm gonna get lazy on this one and just quote what I wrote in 2011: Mindy Gledhill's "Winter Moon" is one of the best contemporary pop Christmas albums I've heard in years. Mindy paced the album perfectly, the recording is impeccable. And Mindy's voice is just dreamy. Whether she's delivering a peppy pop tune like "Little Saint Nick", a religious standard like "Silent Night", or turning "The Christmas Song" into a uke driven song from the roaring 20s, Mindy Gledhill brings everything to her performance and leaves you wanting more of the same. The original, "Little Soldier", packs as much seasonal wallop as most any holiday song ever has. And she gets extra points from me for recording the first version of"Patapan" I have ever liked--and I not only liked her version, I loved it. Others have come and gone, but "Winter Moon" remains in heavy Christmas rotation at the Stubby household. I've mentioned this 2000 album to fellow Christmas music collectors before as one of my all time favorites and I usually get that scrunched up "seriously?" face in response. Still, even if I'm the only person on earth who thinks so, I believe "Brand New Year" by SheDAISY is a perfect Christmas album. Top to bottom, front to back, I listen to it straight through every Christmas and it continues to sound fresh and never fails to bring a smile to my face. SheDAISY had a whole career as the Osborn Sisters, prior to becoming SheDAISY in 1999. I've never heard anything by the Osborn Sisters and, to the best of my recollection, I've never heard anything from SheDAISY other than their Christmas album. So its not like I'm some hopeless fanboy. I get some of the issues, here. SheDAISY were, ostensibly, a Country group. But they were a Country group that wasn't really Country enough for lots of Country fans. And they were a little too Country to appeal to people who hate Country music completely. They were among the first Country groups to work with loops and samples, techniques that are quite prevalent in Country music today. They are definitely a mix of Country, Pop, and Rock (at least on "Brand New Year" they are), with even a touch of Radio Disney styled Bubblegum flavor included--especially on the title track (and maybe that's why I find them so fetching). And, yo, a bit of Hip-Hop, too; I kid you not. Listening to this album, I never wasted a second trying to figure out what their genre is; their sound is unique. And, of course, they have those beautiful harmonies that only natural sisters ever seem to have. "Brand New Year" features the kind of balance and pacing other Christmas albums only ever dream of. There's a flow to the album that compels you to keep listening. They explore different sounds without ever sounding like they're trying to be something they're not. And the arrangements are superb. You know how I've said that the best Christmas songs are the ones that combine Joy with Longing? SheDAISY succeeds in putting the "longing" into "Jingle Bells", of all things. For that, alone, this should be on your Christmas playlist. But there's so much more...the rocking "Santa's Got A Brand New Bag", the spritely sparkling "Tinsel Town" (with it's wonderfully unexpected "Intro"), their original and funny perversion of the O'Henry tale "Twist of the Magi" (with Rascal Flatts), the reverence of "What Child Is This", wonderful covers of the seldom covered "Secret of Christmas" and "That's What I Want For Christmas", an amazing mashup of "Hark The Herald Angels Sing" and "Carol of the Bells", the sheer joy in lessons learned in the title track, and the pure a cappella beauty of the album closer. SheDAISY hasn't released any new recordings since 2011 and, even though I never followed the group, that seems a shame. But, if they're out there somewhere, I just want them to know that I got it. I understood and appreciated exactly what you were trying to do on "Brand New Year". And you did it perfectly. My earliest introduction to Jazz and the first CD I ever bought or owned (purchased in the middle of summer, I might add). I actually went out of my way to try to find reasons to keep Vince Guaraldi's soundtrack for "A Charlie Brown Christmas" off of this list. Is it perfect, really, Stubby? I mean, you know, sure, the instrumental tracks are perfect, but I hate singing kids almost as much as I hate singing dogs. Well, that's not true; I actually prefer the singing dogs. But, on this album, it works. Perfectly. Nuff said. When I decided to try my hand at this exercise, I made the deliberate choice not to consider compilations or multi-artist collections. There are just too many that could be considered "perfect" (or, at least, essential) to travel down that road. So no Phil Spector "A Christmas Gift For You" or 1987 "A Very Special Christmas" from me. For me, the best of those I refused to consider is 1968's "Soul Christmas" from Atco Records (so good that it's unofficial title among Christmas music collectors is "The Original Soul Christmas"). And, really, if the three "Santa's Funk & Soul Christmas Party" albums from Tramp Records aren't "perfect", maybe nothing is. But, from the outset, I knew there'd be one exception to my own arbitrary rule. The UA "Rhythm & Blues Christmas" album from 1976. Unlike other "perfect" albums, "Rhythm & Blues Christmas" has never been re-issued in any format. One reason for that is it's just too short for modern consumers, clocking in at less than a half hour, all told. Even when a company can obtain the rights to all ten of these tracks, they feel the need to pad it out...add more. Sure, Geico's gonna tell you that more is always better. But imagine, for a moment, the perfect cake recipe. Then imagine that you think you can make a better batter by using 10 eggs instead of 2. Never mess with perfection. While "Rhythm & Blues Christmas" has never been re-issued, copies of the original vinyl should be cheap if you look. Better yet, none of the songs are difficult to find, so just reconstruct it for your own head. You can read a bit more about this great record in our long neglected Essentials section. Manhattan Transfer were at the top of their game when they recorded "The Christmas Album" in 1992. It wasn't a huge hit, falling short of Billboard's Top 100 albums. And it's another record that, when I mention it to fellow Christmas music collectors, I get the scrunchy "seriously?" face (seriously, you've got seriously face). But, from the day I first put it on, from the first notes of "Snowfall", I knew this was going to be the beginning of a beautiful life-long love affair. I dig Jazz, I dig harmonies, and this album probably makes me feel more like Christmas than anything in my much too large collection. Alternately swinging and sentimental, The Manhattan Transfer do not hit a single wrong note (and I mean that metaphorically because, of course, their singing is perfect). Tony Bennett puts in an appearance, but they didn't really need him. I don't know why some others don't love "The Christmas Album" as much as I do; I just know I reach for it every year without even thinking and I play it straight through (usually more than once). 2005's "Acapella Christmas" missed the mark for me, but I don't know how I'd get through Christmas without "The Christmas Album". Emmylou Harris was Americana before there was such a thing. She effortlessly blends Folk, Country, Pop, Bluegrass, and even Celtic without ever alienating anyone (I know some hardcore Bluegrass fans who won't listen to anything recorded after the sixties...but they make an exception for Emmylou). The thing about Emmylou is that voice, that irresistible voice. It's ethereal and transcendent without the reedy and breathy qualities that haunt some modern artists. Ethereal and transcendent, but with power; her voice rings as true as a bell. By the time the closing track, "Light of the Stable", ends, you're practically weeping from the sheer beauty of this album. It was true the first time you heard it and it's still true hundreds or thousands of plays later. The backing musicians and vocalists, here, are of the All-Star variety and the material is perfect. "Light of the Stable" was first released in 1979 and it was a revelation for it's time. Hell, it was a revelation for ALL time. You couldn't put together a more perfect album if you tried. And we know that because the label has expanded it and released it with different cover art over the years. But, for my money, they should just leave it alone because the original is perfect. I shared this story over at The Fa (the forums at FaLaLaLaLa.com) in 2006. And I couldn't possibly tell it any better. So I hope you don't mind a copy and paste job. It's a long tale, but it's a good one. Sometime in the late 80s, I was at a used record store in Red Bank, New Jersey looking for Christmas music. Wasn't finding much (a few imports that I already had) when I looked to my right and saw this gem displayed on the wall. It called to me. It glowed brightly and the camera zoomed. Angels began singing heavenly music. My eyes got about ten feet wide (it was really a cartoon moment). I asked the store owner if it was for sale. Very busy, running here and there, he grumbled "everything's for sale." Didn't have a chance to ask him how much before he jetted off in another direction. I took the record from its display and turned it over to see "1954/$80" scribbled on the back in pencil. Could this really be $80? The newer used records all had those little red price stickers I know we've all seen, but not this one. Could I afford $80? For a record? I swallowed hard, decided I HAD to have it, put back a few other things I had been planning to get, and humbly walked up to the cash register (which, itself, looked antique). In my mind, the lady at the register looked as I'd imagined Mrs. Claus would look, with white hair and glasses and a smile that was just right (and, I'll add, my vision of Mrs. Claus is a slender woman). Trembling, I shyly held out the record and said "I'm not sure how much this is. It only has this $80 written in pencil on the back. See?" She took it from me, turned it this way and that and said, "Well, that's his handwritting" (meaning her husband, the store owner). "Did you want it?" I tried not to show my desperation to acquire this treasure. I'm sure I failed. "Yes! Er, I mean, $80 is an awful lot of money. But I think I have that much and (weak smile--close to a grimace actually)...yes." I was dripping sweat like Albert Brooks in Broadcast News. "How bout $8," she said. I about fell over. "But...(almost whispering, looking at the store owner) can you do that, I mean, if it's worth $80...I mean, I'll pay...I mean, I'm willing..." She waved me off. "Oh, him. He thinks everything is priceless. I swear, if it were up to him, we'd never sell a single record. And then what would we do? Do you want it?" She was already ringing it up. "Oh, yes!" She'd already bagged my purchase and was handing it to me. "Merry Christmas," she said, with her Mrs. Claus smile. As it turned out, they closed up shop within a year (planned) and I'm not sure how much that influenced Mrs. Claus. I don't care. I look forward to listening to this one every year, and there are few recordings I would say that about. I cannot imagine ever parting with it (even for $80...or $800). And it's not just a Christmas record, see, its a Christmas moment. "Winter Sequence: A Seasonal Suite for Rhythmic Reindeer" was released as a 10" in 1954 and re-released as two 7" records in 1955. Mine's the 10". The pieces (one for each reindeer, sans Rudolph) were written by Leonard Feather and arranged by Ralph Burns. Feather wrote each piece to reflect the character of the specific reindeer ("Cupid" is a love song, "Vixen" is sultry and sexy, darkly mysterious, "Dancer" is...well...a dancer; you get the idea) and Burns arranged each piece to showcase the talents of the featured player. And what players they were. Kai Winding, Billy Bauer, Joe Wilder, Osie Johnson, a young Herbie Mann...... It's truly one of the most unique records in my collection. Aside from that opening bit of "Dasher", it's not really all that Christmassy, but that's part of what makes it unique. And I really do (still) look forward to listening to "Winter Sequence" every Christmas. Now, it would be almost cruel to show this to you if you couldn't get it anywhere. But, a few years back, "Winter Sequence: A Seasonal Suite for Rhythmic Reindeer" was issued on CD as part of a twofer of Ralph Burns albums (both cover arts are linked to the Amazon listing for the twofer). To tell you the truth, I bought the CD but I missed the pops and clicks, so I listen to my CD-R of my vinyl copy when I listen. It may not be everybody's cup of Christmas tea but, to me, its perfect. And there you have it.... Eight "Perfect" Christmas albums. Eight of the finest-- What? What's that you say? Ten? TEN? We promised 10? But those 8 are the only ones I listen to straight through every year. That's all I got. I'm not kidding. This isn't a bit. 8 "perfect" Christmas albums is all I could come up with. If I listed two more as perfect, that'd be lying. And then Santa wouldn't bring me anything for Christmas. Would you feel better if I said "Dark Side of the Moon"? No? Yeah, I could throw the Spector album on, I guess. I do listen to that "regularly". But that's no fun (and, honestly, I don't think its perfect).. How 'bout this? Let me think about what the list above is missing and point you to some really, really awesome very good but not quite perfect Christmas records. K? The ultimate selection in each category (the ones that get the video) will be the ones I find myself reaching for the most for pure listening pleasure. Hmm. Not any kind of Rock footprint above at all, is there? Maybe I just have really high standards in Rock and Pop, but I can't think of any single artist Rock and Pop Christmas albums I listen to straight through every year. Not a one. I've got a Springsteen Christmas bootleg I listen to a lot, but that's about it. For Classic Rock, I'm very fond of the latter day efforts of Jethro Tull and The Moody Blues. They ain't perfect, but they're damn good. For more modern stuff, regular readers know I'm crazy fond of Lorna and Kissing Party, but their Christmas albums were really collections of annual singles and not conceived as an album. Same goes for The Killers, obviously. We've reviewed a bunch of awesome Rock Christmas albums over the years, from Donnie Iris to Jigsaw Seen to Rough Shop to Carbon Leaf--all very highly recommended and darn close to perfect. But I'd have to say my most favorite single artist Christmas Rock albums are "Under The Influence of Christmas" by The Grip Weeds from 2011 (see the above video) and Universal Honey's 2003 release "Can't Stop Thinking About Christmas" (currently OOP; see the video below). Now there's a couple of under the radar classics that, while a hair shy of perfect, deserve to be on this list and in your collection. World Music is a big category that covers a lot of ground (literally and figuratively). I love my Christmas music from far away lands. I truly do. But would I count any of them as "perfect"? Probably not. The closest would likely be Lisa Ono's "Boas Festas", but I can only listen to so much Bossa Nova before losing my mind. A lot of "Best of" Christmas lists include Jacob Miller's "Natty Christmas" and that certainly is the most brilliant single artist Reggae Christmas album ever made. Essential? Absolutely. Perfect? Not to me. There's a lot of good Cajun Christmas music. I'm not as big a fan of Justin Wilson as a lot of people are. But I'd count Michael Doucet's "Christmas Bayou" as one of my all time faves. And, if you dig the Zydeco thing, it's hard to argue with the excellence of Rockin' Sidney's "Holiday Celebration" (just don't mess with his "Toot Toot"). Unfair as it is to the rest, Hawaiian music is included in the World Music category. And, when it comes to Hawaiian Christmas music, I count three albums as essential--just not quite perfect. Much as I love "Christmas Favorites" by the Brothers Cazimero, I place them third (mostly because I can't escape this feeling that they're really the Oak Ridge Boys on vacation). Second is Na Leo Pilimehana's "Christmas Gift". Again, harmonies. And, of the three, Na Leo most gives me those laid-back breezy Island feels. But tops on my Hawaiian Christmas album list is Willie K's "Willie Kalikimaka". Willie can do the breezy Island thing, too. But he can Rock out, as he does "perfectly" on "Little Drummer Boy/Ring Your Christmas Bells". He can Rock Steady, as he does on "Reggae Christmas". And, get this, his beautiful version of "O Holy Night" (sung in both English and Hawaiian) runs well over 6 minutes. 6 minutes of "O Holy Night"? I'm in heaven. The thing about "Willie Kalikimaka" is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The individual tracks are plenty good, but the album as a whole is about as close to perfect as you can get without actually being perfect. Yeah, if I was numbering my list and a little less picky about what I label "perfect", Willie K would be in at #9. As far as the old timers go, the popular favorites in the Stubby household are Tennessee Ernie Ford's "Sing We Now of Christmas", Jim Nabors' "Christmas Album", and Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song". But that's about nostalgia, not perfection. I mean, honestly, it's not Christmas for me until I've heard Ernie sing (and talk) "Little Gray Donkey". But that's my problem, not yours. As for Bing Crosby, I like lots of his stuff but none of the albums. Now that I think of it, I should probably create my own Bing mix. Anyway. Just thought you'd like to know. And, finally, you know how I love the Blues. I wish I could point you to a "perfect" single artist Blues Christmas record, I truly do. But, to begin with, not a lot of Blues artists cut an entire Christmas album. B.B. King's was a bit of a disappointment to me. Wish he'd done it earlier in his career. Etta James was very good, but not perfect. Johnny Adams' "Christmas In New Orleans" is mighty fine, but I'd have preferred more of it be like "Lonesome Christmas" (less like "Silver Bells"). Sharon Jones gets short shrift from me, here. First, because "It's A Holiday Soul Party" is more R&B than Blues. And, second, because it's too new. I don't want to apply the word "perfect" in this context to any album less than 5 years old. But I do thank God for all of the music Sharon gave us before she passed. There's one single artist Blues Christmas album out there I've never been able to get my hands on. I have high hopes, if it's ever available again. And, if I ever get it, I'll let you know whether or not it makes the "perfect" grade. I promise. (But no spoilers). As I did with World Music, let me give you 3 real good Blues Christmas albums that, if you haven't heard them, are well worth your time and your dime. In third place, Cass Eager & The Mo' Debley's 2009 release "Santa's Got Soul". Cass is an Australian artist and "Santa's Got Soul" was one of those "this is my annual Import purchase" buys I mentioned a while back. Full disclosure, Amazon's only got it on CD-R and there's nothing on YouTube, really; want to check it out, you'll have to do Spotify. If you like your Blues female and funky, Cass is your woman. She absolutely KILLS "Santa Claus Is Back In Town" (the good kind of "kills"), covers Koko Taylor, Shemekia Copeland, Clarence Carter and the Staple Singers, and tops it all off with her own fabulous original Blues tune, "365 Days". Why third place? "Santa Baby". True, it's a bluesier "Santa Baby" than you're used to hearing. But still. "Santa Baby". Coming in at number two on our special Christmas countdown....Canadian Matt Andersen. I feel like I've let Matt down. "Spirit of Christmas" is a powerful and powerfully good album. It strikes just the right balance on almost everything and covers the musical waterfront with styles ranging from Bluegrass to Blues to Rock to Gospel. There are uncommon covers of "Little Toy Trains" (Roger Miller) and "The Lonely Shepherd" (Curtis Whiteley), an "O Holy Night" so wonderful that I'd wager even Jesus has it on his iPhone, and four self-penned originals. And yet...I never got around to doing a proper review, "The Spirit of Christmas" finished second on my 2010 list of favorites to an EP (an EP? Oh, the indignity), and now he's in the runner-up spot on my "closest to perfect" Blues selection. Why second? "Blue Christmas". Yeah, he does it good. I'm still not having it. So Kenny Neal takes the top spot with "I'll Be Home For Christmas" from 2006 (the cover art, here, is from the 2015 Cleopatra reissue). The album has that down home Louisiana flavor. There are no real surprises (unless you count the vocals of Kenny's daughter, Syreeta Neal; pretty much the whole Neal family pitched in on this one). And there's a nice balance of traditional tunes and modern Blues covers (two versions of "Merry Christmas Baby"). Beaucoup bonus points for having neither "Santa Baby" nor "Blue Christmas". But the thing is Kenny Neal can flat out play. Is "I'll Be Home For Christmas" perfect? No. I'll tell you what it is, though. It's American, dammit! Who are all these Australians and Canadians thinking they can be top Blues dog? The Blues is ours and don't you forget it! I'm just kidding. Mostly. Don't forget to add your perfect Christmas albums in the comments, if you feel so inclined. Let's close this mother out with Kenny Neal's cover of "Christmas Comes Once A Year". Independent labels tend to have a "sound", an "identity", and Green Hill is no exception. I've always had trouble verbalizing just what Green Hill's identity is. It's not really New Age, not really MOR or AC, not really Smooth Jazz. But you know it when you hear it. Ranging from the old time craftsmanship of a Craig Duncan to the lightly swinging Jazz vocals of Jaimee Paul, one thing you can count on from Green Hill is an annual care package of Christmas albums suitable for background music for an elegant Christmas dinner or soothing foreground music as you snuggle in front of the fireplace. And Green Hill's 2018 Christmas package is ready to be unwrapped. The 2002 collaboration between Jim Wilson and Stephen Bishop on "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" has appeared already on a couple of Jim Wilson's Christmas albums. And why not? It's timeless. And it's back again on the new Green Hill compilation "Songbird: Voices of Christmas". Although it appears that all of the tracks have been previously released, I like compilations like this one because they fill gaps...delivering music you really should already have but don't while also introducing you to music you didn't know you wanted until you had it. In addition to Stephen "Save It For A Rainy Day" Bishop, "Songbird: Voices of Christmas" also contains selections featuring Dan Fogelberg, Olivia Newton-John, and Orla Fallon. Then there are the sweet Jazz sounds of Matt Belsante and Jaimee Paul (two tracks each), a track from former NFL player and current CCM artist Ben Utecht, Classical Crossover from Mark Masri, and the title track of David Arkenstone's "Winter Fantasy" (Charlee Brooks on the vocals). Surely your holiday library is missing a few of these. I confess that mine is.
There's little doubt that the superstar of the Green Hill roster is Beegie Adair. The 80 year old Jazz pianist is so prolific, it's almost annoying. Part of me wants to ignore her and dismiss her music off-hand. But the problem with that is that she's just so damn good. Beegie's style of Jazz is a softer kind of Jazz, but it's definitely Jazz--the kind that can appeal to people whose tastes range from Beautiful Music all the way up to Fusion. And since communicating through music was one of the whole reasons I became obsessed with Christmas music, she's an essential artist of the genre. For Christmas 2018, Beegie is joined by vocalist Monica Ramey on "Some Enchanted Christmas" (something of a Yuletide follow-up to the pair's "Some Enchanted Evening" CD). No religious tunes on this one, just all your secular winter and holiday favorites (plus one Beegie original). Part of me wishes Beegie had brought along her trio for the outing (I luvz me some stand up bass and some gentle brush play on the skins), but its just piano and vocals, here. And the result is a very warm and intimate album to which no one should object (save maybe that Death Metal kid that your teenage daughter wants to date just to tick you off; so, as to that, think of this album as mosquito repellant). "Some Enchanted Christmas" is quintessential Green Hill. Can't find a Christmas tune with both Beegie Adair and Monica Ramey on YouTube, so how about Halloween....ish? Here's "Witchcraft".
Jack Jezzro is a bit of a musical chameleon. His guitar has led the way on numerous Christmas albums, but it's hard to find any two that sound remotely alike. As Jack's Christmas guitar work has ranged from Old Timey mountain music ("Smokey Mountain Christmas Memories") to Bossa Nova ("Bossa Nova Christmas"), finding a representative video is a bit of a challenge. This one came the closest (IMO) to the sound of the new album. Jack Jezzro's 2018 holiday set is "Christmas Jazz Guitar" and, from the samples provided by Green Hill, it's a straight ahead Jazz album with Jack's electric guitar right up front...just the way I like 'em. Jezzro uses whatever accompaniment will enhance the song--a sax here, some keys there--but never loses the overall focus on his guitar or the intimacy of the recording. I enjoyed "Bossa Nova Christmas" very much, but "Christmas Jazz Guitar" has the potential of becoming my favorite Jack Jezzro Christmas album. We do get a bit of a Latin rhythm on "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas". There are echoes of Guaraldi elsewhere. A few of the tunes (notably "The Christmas Song" and "Silent Night") are Yule Log worthy. And who could argue with a gently Jazz-full "Mr. Grinch"? All in all, superbly conceived and executed.
While Green Hill has their instrumental and vocal identity down to a science, their dabblings into Chill Out are a bit more hit and miss (and, not to be too critical, more miss than hit). Chill Out is a constantly evolving genre most readily explained as "Modern Easy Listening", often characterized by the use of electronic beats and effects. There's been some very good Christmas Chill Out music--I'm quite fond of "The Reindeer Room" series--but Chill Out tends to work best as a mix and less so in individual bites. Green Hill's current Chill Out project is Deep Wave, under the direction of Luke McMaster. They've done a couple of albums re-imagining 80s hits and have now turned their attention to Christmas music. The 30 second samples Green Hill provides for "Chillout Christmas" are insufficient for me to fairly render a thumbs up/thumbs down conclusion. But Chill Out is about creating a mood or ambience, and Deep Wave's covers of the 80s hits seem more process than mood to me; I'm just not feelin' it. "Wrapped Up In My Sheets" sounds promising. And it's nice to have a Chill Out version of Tom Petty's "Christmas All Over Again". (And I swear I've heard this Chill Out "Wonderful Christmastime" before, though I can't locate any evidence of it's prior existence.) But I'll likely pass on this one. Your mileage, of course, may vary. Since the Christmas music isn't up on YouTube, yet. We'll give a listen to Deep Wave's Chill Out version of "Everybody Wants To Rule The World", featuring SHASTA.
One thing about Green Hill is that they do recycle. And they don't usually advertise the fact. So, who knows, its always possible that, somewhere down the road, I'll discover that one of the above records was actually recorded and released in the 1990s. It's happened before. I'd prefer they'd say something but, no, they just randomly slap a new title and cover on some albums to give them that new car smell and you're on your own to figure that out. It means a lot more research for me, but it isn't really good for them, either, as it kinda contributes to the false but existing impression that "all Green Hill music sounds the same". Fortunately, it's not at all difficult to recognize Mark Masri's 2018 Green Hill release as a re-issue of one from 2010. Masri is a Pop vocalist who walks that balance beam between AC and Classical Crossover. In 2009, he released a holiday album called "Christmas Is...". A year later, he released an expanded version, then titled "Christmas Time With You". Green Hill re-issued "Christmas Is..." a few years back and are now re-issuing the latter disc as "Christmas Is... (Deluxe Expanded Edition)". Masri's style isn't exactly in my wheelhouse, but highlights include "Ave Maria", "Don't Save It All For Christmas Day", and the duet with Olivia Newton-John, "Every Time It Snows" (which also appears on the "Songbird" collection up top). Green Hill's 2018 crop also includes Craig Duncan's "Colonial Christmas" and Jaime Conway's "20 Piano Christmas Classics", both of which sound exactly like you'd think they would based upon their titles. All of these Green Hill releases are expected to hit the online retailers like Amazon on October 19, but there's a good chance you'll get them sooner if you order through Green Hill or the individual artists. And Green Hill has song samples for all of them available now at their web site (just click on any of the order links, cover art, or new album titles to get there). A couple of quick site updates. I got tired of waiting to hear from GoDaddy about my broken web mail, so we've got a new one -- [email protected]. Hopefully, this one works. And one thing I always liked about our other pages was the ability to search by genre. I always left that off the front page (with a couple of exceptions) to keep the clutter down. But, now that pretty much everything is likely to be front page, I'm adding genres as of this post. I'm not going back in time but, at least for this year (beginning now), you'll be able to search by genre (if I remember to do it). It'll be a pain in the butt, too. I mean, I think I had to add 9 new tags for this post alone (and probably left some off). But, what the heck. To quote someone from somewhere at sometime, let's make this the best Christmas ever!
For those still unfamiliar with Marc Martel (and there shouldn't be too many left), he's best known for having a singing voice that sounds very much like the late Freddie Mercury of Queen. Seriously, close your eyes and you'd swear it could be Freddie. Marc Martel was born in Montreal, Canada, and started the Contemporary Christian band Downhere in 1999. Downhere would win 5 JUNO Awards and numerous others before going on indefinite hiatus in 2013. Through the years, many fans would approach Martel after shows to tell him how much he sounded like Freddie Mercury. So he almost had to audition when Queen's Roger Taylor put forward a competition in 2011 to find a vocalist for The Queen Extravaganza--the official tribute show for the band. Martel won the competition and toured with The Queen Extravaganza show through 2015. In 2013, Marc released his first solo EP, "Prelude", with the full length "Impersonator" following in 2014. He continues to write and record solo and currently tours with The Ultimate Queen Celebration, a touring tribute group that doesn't try to look like Queen...they just play the music. "People say we sound more like Queen than Queen does," says Martel. And, as if his Freddie Mercury sound needed any more street cred, Marc Martel's vocals will be heard (along with Freddie's) in the upcoming Queen bio-pic "Bohemian Rhapsody", which opens November 2. Growing up listening to a lot of Gospel music and having pursued a career in Contemporary Christian music, Christmas music had a natural appeal to Martel. Downhere released the original Christmas song "How Many Kings" in 2007, followed by a full Christmas album with the same title in 2009. The Queen shows take up a lot of what would be writing time these days, but he still loves singing the old seasonal chestnuts. As a solo artist, Martel recorded a couple of Christmas songs (including a cover of "Last Christmas", recorded for a video game) before releasing the EP "The Silent Night" in 2016. He won me over on that one with his beautiful version of "O Holy Night". Marc then released another holiday EP in 2017, "The First Noel", which was a little more adventurous--featuring an epic Freddie Mercury worthy "Hallelujah Chorus", a beautiful rendition of "Mary Did You Know?", and a fun duet with Plumb on "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas". A word about The List, here. At this point in the season, I'm just going through Twitter feeds and news articles, seizing upon any mention of a Christmas recording project. As the season gets closer and busier, I rarely have time to follow up on all of them (I honestly figure if you are specifically interested in one or two of the Indie or lesser known artists, you'll follow up on those for your own head). But the decision of whether I list something as "TBA" or "Possible" is entirely my own and completely arbitrary. I take into account such things as when recording started and whether the artist has another non-holiday album coming out late in the year. By Christmas day, every year, many "possibles" will be released and many "definites" will not. That's just the way it is. Marc Martel has announced that he's working on his third straight Christmas EP and I'm sure we'll see it released this year. But I've listed him as "possible" because of this statement made to New Jersey Stage in July: "I am doing a lot of recording this year, including a Queen EP and a Queen Christmas EP, which people will be able to hear in the near future." I just can't figure out why he'd phrase it that way. Is it shorthand for anything not Downhere? He hasn't recorded with them in years. Why not just say he's recording a solo EP and a solo Christmas EP? (FWIW, he does refer to the coming Christmas EP as "my Christmas EP" on Facebook.) Aren't you intrigued by the possibilities? I am. I'd love to hear what Marc could do on a Christmas EP with Roger Taylor and Brian May. Heck, they must have run into each other while making the movie, right? Not sure how Adam Lambert would feel about that, of course. Or how 'bout, now that we've got two holiday EPs of largely reverent Christmas music, something that rocks like Queen, recorded with The Ultimate Queen Celebration band? I'd love to hear that. In all probability, Martel's new Christmas EP is a solo project, like those from 2016 and 2017. He's hinted that he'll be covering "Christmas Time Is Here" (from "A Charlie Brown Christmas")--definitely not something I'd expect Freddie to do. And, in all likelihood, I'll get over my hangup and move Marc to the TBA section shortly. I'd anticipate the EP in early November. As much as I'd like to hear one, we don't really need a Queen Christmas EP. Freddie Mercury and Queen did give us "Thank God It's Christmas" in 1984, which is plenty awesome. And then we have possibly the best Christmas song parody ever created....Pledge Drive's "Christmas Rhapsody" from 2003, still available as a free download and well worth dropping in anytime you get the chance.
We've got no shortage of holiday music from LeAnn. In addition to her 2004 CD, "What A Wonderful World", she went on that whole Christmas music binge a few years back, ultimately resulting in 2014's "One Christmas" and 2015's "Today Is Christmas". Ah, but my favorite LeAnn Rimes Yuletide tune is still her first, the 1997 single "Put A Little Holiday In Your Heart". Wasn't she just the cutest thing back then? So, anyway, the upshot of this whole thing is that, yes, we will be getting a new Christmas CD from LeAnn Rimes this year featuring her new songs written for her Hallmark movie, "It's Christmas, Eve". In all, she wrote three new songs for the film, two of which (the title song and "You And Me And Christmas") she performs on screen. The third all new song is "The Gift of Your Love". Essentially a soundtrack for the movie, the album "It's Christmas, Eve" also includes some re-worked songs from the rest of LeAnn's holiday catalog (full track list below). The album drops October 12 while the film debuts November 10. And, of course, LeAnn will embark upon her sixth holiday tour as well (though it appears to be limited to the western states this year). Tickets are on sale now. For more details, keep up with LeAnn via her web site and on Facebook. You know, uh, Kelly Pickler's doing a Hallmark movie this year, too. I don't suppose there's any chance of a Christmas album from that one? Hmm? Just sayin'.
Grammy winner Laura Sullivan is known for her piano-centric music which is marketed under the New Age rubric of "Healing Music" and "Music for Meditation". Personally, I like New Age music well enough--George Winston's "December" is an annual favorite--but there are only a couple of albums I've ever found where the music, by itself, brought me an inner peace and one of those was a Nine Inch Nails record. So I stick to phrases like New Age, Ambient, and Classical Crossover and try to avoid words like "healing". Of course, if that works for you, healing wise, then mazel tov.
Laura was born in San Francisco and began playing piano at age 4. Her mother wrote children's books. Laura completed her graduate studies in New York and issued her first album, "Piano Solos", in 2003. You've probably heard her music without realizing it in numerous films, TV shows and commercials. It was her 2013 release "Love's River" (produced by Windham Hill's Will Ackerman) that netted her a Grammy.
There's no question that Laura Sullivan's upcoming Christmas release, "A Magical Christmas", features beautiful cover art. Still, I might have passed it by because words like "healing" and "meditation" are a bit of a turn-off for me. But, as it happened, I've been binge watching "Kyle XY" of late. "Kyle XY" was a show on ABC Family about a decade ago centered around, well, let's say a test tube baby who was "born" at the age of 16--a completely empty vessel at first whose mind allowed him to do incredible things. The show is filled with bad people who want to either kill Kyle or use him for their own nefarious purposes. But the heart of the show, whether intended or not, is the relationship between Kyle (Matt Dallas) and his next door neighbor Amanda (Kirsten Prout). Through the whole series, you find yourself not so much concerned about what Madacorp or Latnok will do to Kyle; you just want the boy to get the girl (Amanda that is, not Jessi). The people who created the show actually didn't want Kyle to end up with Amanda (they figured Kyle to be a superhero destined to "walk alone" and that the thing with Amanda was just puppy love he'd outgrow in season 4), which tells me that they really didn't understand their own show and almost makes me glad it was cancelled after season 3 (almost). What does that have to do with anything? Well, Kyle's first exposure to Amanda is also the first time he hears music. It's one of the most memorable scenes in the entire series.
Stalker much? At that point in the series, Kyle couldn't even speak and was presumed to be autistic. He got better fairly quickly and, before you knew it, he was shouting "Yo, juice me" at the breakfast table. Anyway, piano-centric Christmas music suddenly had a draw for me. And, when I saw that "A Magical Christmas" included a mashup of Pachelbel's "Canon In D" (the tune Amanda is playing in the clip above) and "Deck The Halls", I couldn't resist. Laura does not disappoint.
As you can hear in that song, "A Magical Christmas" is lightly sweetened with other acoustic instrumentation, but the primary focus is the piano of Laura Sullivan.
Ultimately, it doesn't matter what connects you to the music so long as something does. If you find "A Magical Christmas" to be healing or peaceful and meditative, then good for you. For myself, I can't help but think of this as the sound Amanda might have grown into. Either way, you can preview the entire album at Bandcamp and pre-oder the October 2 release in CD or vinyl formats via Amazon. |
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