So many thoughts.
There's an expression in politics--"fighting the last war". What it means is that politicians and parties frequently fall victim to assuming that the tactics which proved decisive in the previous election will hold true in the current one. But things change, people change, attitudes change, situations change...everything changes. So someone who approaches an election "fighting the last war" is almost certain to lose, no matter how well they execute their game plan. It's like the weather. One day it's 50 degrees, the next it's 20. Dress for the yesterday and you'll freeze today.
So practically as long as I can remember, people have been trying to re-create the success of the albums we hold to be iconic...be it Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" or Phil Spector's "A Christmas Gift For You". Even when they succeed, they fail...because they are, in essence, "fighting the last war". To crate a Christmas album that has the potential to become an evergreen...an album that future generations will look back upon and say, "That's what Christmas sounds like"...it has to be of it's time. Michael Buble did a very nice Christmas album and he did it very well. But it wasn't an album of it's time. It was an album that harkened back to an earlier time. As soon as you conjure the phrase "harken back", you lose. If we have anything approaching an iconic Christmas album in the last quarter century, it's Low's "Christmas"...and that was nearly 20 years ago. Some will say Sufjan, but I think Sufjan was following the path that Low had blazed. That said, doing an album today that "harkens back" to Low's would also be "fighting the last war".
All of which is a very long way of saying I think the folks with the best label name in the business, Where It's At Is Where You Are, have created an album in "Stars" that has the potential to become the seminal Christmas album of this generation...the album that, 30 to 40 years from now, people will look back upon and say, "That's what Christmas sounds like".
There's an expression in politics--"fighting the last war". What it means is that politicians and parties frequently fall victim to assuming that the tactics which proved decisive in the previous election will hold true in the current one. But things change, people change, attitudes change, situations change...everything changes. So someone who approaches an election "fighting the last war" is almost certain to lose, no matter how well they execute their game plan. It's like the weather. One day it's 50 degrees, the next it's 20. Dress for the yesterday and you'll freeze today.
So practically as long as I can remember, people have been trying to re-create the success of the albums we hold to be iconic...be it Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" or Phil Spector's "A Christmas Gift For You". Even when they succeed, they fail...because they are, in essence, "fighting the last war". To crate a Christmas album that has the potential to become an evergreen...an album that future generations will look back upon and say, "That's what Christmas sounds like"...it has to be of it's time. Michael Buble did a very nice Christmas album and he did it very well. But it wasn't an album of it's time. It was an album that harkened back to an earlier time. As soon as you conjure the phrase "harken back", you lose. If we have anything approaching an iconic Christmas album in the last quarter century, it's Low's "Christmas"...and that was nearly 20 years ago. Some will say Sufjan, but I think Sufjan was following the path that Low had blazed. That said, doing an album today that "harkens back" to Low's would also be "fighting the last war".
All of which is a very long way of saying I think the folks with the best label name in the business, Where It's At Is Where You Are, have created an album in "Stars" that has the potential to become the seminal Christmas album of this generation...the album that, 30 to 40 years from now, people will look back upon and say, "That's what Christmas sounds like".
"Let's write a song for Christmas/Go and grab your guitar/We'll make a song for everybody/Get to the top of the charts/Let's find a rhyme for tinsel/Create a song to be sung/In December of every year and/Remind you when we were young". And so begins "Stars". One of the things that made "A Christmas Gift For You" an album of it's time was that the record was very "in your face". By that I mean that the album was almost entirely made up of secular covers remade in the upstart music of the day and it opened with, horrors, "White Christmas". It was, in a way, a total rejection of everything Christmas music had been up until then. Boomers were like that. Millennials or Gen Z--or whatever they're calling the latest generation--is no less skeptical of their predecessors, but they're less "in your face" about it. Instead of "we're going to take your thing and make it our thing", it's more like "we're going to do our own thing, which will be better than your thing". Or, put simply, there are no covers on "Stars".
The opening number, "Christmas Stars" by Whoa Melodic is not just a brilliant Christmas song, but a brilliant choice to set the tone for the rest of the album. It's beautiful Indie Pop, replete with jangly guitars and ooh-la-la harmony vocals. It's today's Indie sound--sort of the raw Indie of the late 90s meeting up with Coldplay and settling somewhere in between. And it's today's Indie messaging, as in "we're going to do something for everybody that will also push us to the top of the charts." It's neither selfish nor selfless--it's hopeful but not unrealistic (dare I say it's ho-listic?). And it has the slightly ironic title (we aren't talking about stars in the Christmas night sky; the band intends to become "Christmas Stars"). OK, maybe I'm reading too much into things, but then I'm still reeling from the review of "Xmas Gold", so my mind is in a trippy place. Rest assured, if all you want to know is whether "Christmas Stars" by Whoa Melodic is a good song that will withstand repeated plays...it is. It is, in fact, one of the best Christmas songs I've heard since...well, since "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)".
The opening number, "Christmas Stars" by Whoa Melodic is not just a brilliant Christmas song, but a brilliant choice to set the tone for the rest of the album. It's beautiful Indie Pop, replete with jangly guitars and ooh-la-la harmony vocals. It's today's Indie sound--sort of the raw Indie of the late 90s meeting up with Coldplay and settling somewhere in between. And it's today's Indie messaging, as in "we're going to do something for everybody that will also push us to the top of the charts." It's neither selfish nor selfless--it's hopeful but not unrealistic (dare I say it's ho-listic?). And it has the slightly ironic title (we aren't talking about stars in the Christmas night sky; the band intends to become "Christmas Stars"). OK, maybe I'm reading too much into things, but then I'm still reeling from the review of "Xmas Gold", so my mind is in a trippy place. Rest assured, if all you want to know is whether "Christmas Stars" by Whoa Melodic is a good song that will withstand repeated plays...it is. It is, in fact, one of the best Christmas songs I've heard since...well, since "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)".
 | 1. Whoa Melodic - Christmas Stars 2. Scrabbel - Hiding In The Snow 3. White Town - Say You'll Be Home For Christmas 4. Spaceship - Todmorden Bells 5. Darren Hayman - Blue Tinsel, Red Tinsel 6. Bill Botting - Ginger Wine (Just Like Christmas Day) 7. the Catenary Wires - Christmas Tree (Burn Burn Burn) 03:54 8. Spaceship - Todmorden Bells (reprise) 9. Jeff Mellin - January's Bluff |
The rest of "Stars" is nearly as good. Scrabbel's "Hiding In The Snow" is like a concept album within a single song. Scrabbel takes a simple progression and makes it endlessly fascinating. They take a simple idea--calling out from work to hang with friends in the snow--and make it seem like the very secret of life. Hey, I'm convinced. And it's simultaneously just what it says and metaphor. In a way, we're all "trying to get back to the snow". Aren't we?
White Town's "Say You'll Be Home For Christmas" has got a little bit of Barry White about it (not the voice; nobody has Barry's voice), which is ironic since it's about being alone at Christmas. "Is it warm where you are? Are you safe under the stars? Do you miss home at all? Say you'll come home and see me. Say you'll come home and see me. Say you'll come home and see me. This Christmas. This Christmas." Someone's moved on and someone hasn't. Dreamy music (with a beat) and a very realistic and relatable situation, punctuated by vocals that are, from time to time, ever so slightly off key (which makes the song even more relatable). "Say You'll Be Home For Christmas" is oddly cathartic. The music is sad, yet uplifting in a way. And the story is pathetic but all too relatable. I don't think she's coming home, dude.
OK. I gotta admit. I don't get the bells at all. Somebody is going to have a very clever explanation of why "Todmorden Bells" is "genius" and I'm still going to think it's crap. I'm a stupid Boomer, so I'm probably not supposed to get it anyway.
Darren Hayman's "Blue Tinsel, Red Tinsel" is just a joyous song of Christmas seen through the eyes of a child (and with actual children), or an adult who is more in touch with his childhood than most of us could ever hope to be. What's really wonderful about "Blue Tinsel, Red Tinsel" is that the music is so perfect, you really don't even need the lyrics to feel what the song is about. Favorite line: "And a game called 'Cheat' where everybody cheats", although that bit about the bike was pretty good, too.
"Ginger Wine (Just Like Christmas Day)" by Bill Botting is a good example of celebrating good moments amidst the mundane of real life and, when life is nothing but mundane, celebrating as if there are good moments...just like Christmas Day. Musically, "Ginger Wine" has a similar feel, to me, to Davitt Sigerson's "It's A Big Country". Probably nobody will agree with me on that, but that's how it rolls for me.
"Deck the halls with boughs of holly/Tis the time for melancholy/Christmas tree, oh, Christmas tree, don't weep for me". "Christmas Tree (Burn, Burn, Burn)" by The Catenary Wires is a bit like a modern Indie "Fairytale of New York" (blasphemy, I know; but dysfunctional relationships aren't exclusive to any one generation). After 7 years, the guy just split, and everything about the song tells you how they were growing apart. She sings: "Deck the halls with boughs of holly." He sings: "Tis the time for melancholy." That tells you all you need to know. And, in the "music of it's time" theme, nobody seems too broken up over the break up. You know...s#&% happens.
More bells. Some backwards. Still don't get it.
"Stars" closes with Jeff Mellin's "January Bluff", a down-tempo ode to New Year's. It's the perfect ending to a nearly perfect album (frickin' bells). "Don't worry 'bout a thing.....New Year's here". The lyrics beautifully (and in great detail) describe New Year's Eve. I don't know the traditions in the UK, so I don't know if the drop he's describing is like our Times Square drop, if it is our Times Square drop (via telly), or if it is simply metaphorical--but it does make it very relatable for Yanks. This is a long song and there's an awful lot going on in it. But, in typical Indie Pop fashion, the key is the duel meanings of the title, "January's Bluff". In one sense, a bluff is a cliff...a demarkation point, the end of one thing and the beginning of another. I love the way Webster's Dictionary phrases the other meaning: "to deter or frighten by pretense or a mere show of strength". See? This whole idea of wiping away the old year and starting anew is a fraud. And it's a fraud we repeat year after year--convincing ourselves "by pretense or a mere show of strength" that this day will change everything. As if to lay it out more plainly, there is an extended repetition in the last part of the song: "Cry your eyes out, dry your tears". On one level, many people do precisely this. On another, it's a metaphor for life. And (while, again, I may be reading too much into all this) the song is as long as it is because there is no demarkation between the years--nothing changes (everything changes)--life just goes on, and goes on, and goes on...until it doesn't.
The music of my people, Boomers, was always pretty much unbearably happy or unbearably sad, soft or hard; we're the kind of people who see everything as nails and ourselves as the hammers. It's what I grew up with, so I like it just fine. But there's a different quality to modern Indie music. Christmas Underground might call it "terribly sad lyrics with beautiful music", others might call it a "knowing cynicism", but it's really just facing the reality of life for what it is and making the best of it. The music on "Stars" has that quality. And all of it is just beautiful Indie Pop with no sidetrips to Shoegaze or Pop Punk or Noir Folk or whatever today's new genre is. All of that together makes this an incredibly enjoyable and cohesive album--one that has the potential to become an iconic Christmas record--a record that people will look back upon in 30 or 40 years and say, "That's what Christmas sounds like."
"Stars" is the third WIAIWYA Christmas collection that I'm aware of. "50,000,000 Elves Fans Can't Be Wrong" (2001) and "Christmastime Approximately" (2010) were fine and memorable Indie collections. "Stars" is better. "Stars" will be released November 30 in digital and limited edition color vinyl formats. This is one where you should definitely get the vinyl. I believe "Stars" is culturally significant. But, even if I'm wrong about that, it's just freaking gorgeous and bloody brilliant. (And I have to learn to write shorter reviews. Just sayin'.)
White Town's "Say You'll Be Home For Christmas" has got a little bit of Barry White about it (not the voice; nobody has Barry's voice), which is ironic since it's about being alone at Christmas. "Is it warm where you are? Are you safe under the stars? Do you miss home at all? Say you'll come home and see me. Say you'll come home and see me. Say you'll come home and see me. This Christmas. This Christmas." Someone's moved on and someone hasn't. Dreamy music (with a beat) and a very realistic and relatable situation, punctuated by vocals that are, from time to time, ever so slightly off key (which makes the song even more relatable). "Say You'll Be Home For Christmas" is oddly cathartic. The music is sad, yet uplifting in a way. And the story is pathetic but all too relatable. I don't think she's coming home, dude.
OK. I gotta admit. I don't get the bells at all. Somebody is going to have a very clever explanation of why "Todmorden Bells" is "genius" and I'm still going to think it's crap. I'm a stupid Boomer, so I'm probably not supposed to get it anyway.
Darren Hayman's "Blue Tinsel, Red Tinsel" is just a joyous song of Christmas seen through the eyes of a child (and with actual children), or an adult who is more in touch with his childhood than most of us could ever hope to be. What's really wonderful about "Blue Tinsel, Red Tinsel" is that the music is so perfect, you really don't even need the lyrics to feel what the song is about. Favorite line: "And a game called 'Cheat' where everybody cheats", although that bit about the bike was pretty good, too.
"Ginger Wine (Just Like Christmas Day)" by Bill Botting is a good example of celebrating good moments amidst the mundane of real life and, when life is nothing but mundane, celebrating as if there are good moments...just like Christmas Day. Musically, "Ginger Wine" has a similar feel, to me, to Davitt Sigerson's "It's A Big Country". Probably nobody will agree with me on that, but that's how it rolls for me.
"Deck the halls with boughs of holly/Tis the time for melancholy/Christmas tree, oh, Christmas tree, don't weep for me". "Christmas Tree (Burn, Burn, Burn)" by The Catenary Wires is a bit like a modern Indie "Fairytale of New York" (blasphemy, I know; but dysfunctional relationships aren't exclusive to any one generation). After 7 years, the guy just split, and everything about the song tells you how they were growing apart. She sings: "Deck the halls with boughs of holly." He sings: "Tis the time for melancholy." That tells you all you need to know. And, in the "music of it's time" theme, nobody seems too broken up over the break up. You know...s#&% happens.
More bells. Some backwards. Still don't get it.
"Stars" closes with Jeff Mellin's "January Bluff", a down-tempo ode to New Year's. It's the perfect ending to a nearly perfect album (frickin' bells). "Don't worry 'bout a thing.....New Year's here". The lyrics beautifully (and in great detail) describe New Year's Eve. I don't know the traditions in the UK, so I don't know if the drop he's describing is like our Times Square drop, if it is our Times Square drop (via telly), or if it is simply metaphorical--but it does make it very relatable for Yanks. This is a long song and there's an awful lot going on in it. But, in typical Indie Pop fashion, the key is the duel meanings of the title, "January's Bluff". In one sense, a bluff is a cliff...a demarkation point, the end of one thing and the beginning of another. I love the way Webster's Dictionary phrases the other meaning: "to deter or frighten by pretense or a mere show of strength". See? This whole idea of wiping away the old year and starting anew is a fraud. And it's a fraud we repeat year after year--convincing ourselves "by pretense or a mere show of strength" that this day will change everything. As if to lay it out more plainly, there is an extended repetition in the last part of the song: "Cry your eyes out, dry your tears". On one level, many people do precisely this. On another, it's a metaphor for life. And (while, again, I may be reading too much into all this) the song is as long as it is because there is no demarkation between the years--nothing changes (everything changes)--life just goes on, and goes on, and goes on...until it doesn't.
The music of my people, Boomers, was always pretty much unbearably happy or unbearably sad, soft or hard; we're the kind of people who see everything as nails and ourselves as the hammers. It's what I grew up with, so I like it just fine. But there's a different quality to modern Indie music. Christmas Underground might call it "terribly sad lyrics with beautiful music", others might call it a "knowing cynicism", but it's really just facing the reality of life for what it is and making the best of it. The music on "Stars" has that quality. And all of it is just beautiful Indie Pop with no sidetrips to Shoegaze or Pop Punk or Noir Folk or whatever today's new genre is. All of that together makes this an incredibly enjoyable and cohesive album--one that has the potential to become an iconic Christmas record--a record that people will look back upon in 30 or 40 years and say, "That's what Christmas sounds like."
"Stars" is the third WIAIWYA Christmas collection that I'm aware of. "50,000,000 Elves Fans Can't Be Wrong" (2001) and "Christmastime Approximately" (2010) were fine and memorable Indie collections. "Stars" is better. "Stars" will be released November 30 in digital and limited edition color vinyl formats. This is one where you should definitely get the vinyl. I believe "Stars" is culturally significant. But, even if I'm wrong about that, it's just freaking gorgeous and bloody brilliant. (And I have to learn to write shorter reviews. Just sayin'.)
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