DEADBEAT POETS (AND OTHER STUFF)

If you're looking for some serious rock n roll to take the edge off of a Christmas music season dominated by Justin Bieber, Michael Buble, and Zooey Deschanel, your prayers are about to be answered.  The Deadbeat Poets have a 4 track Christmas EP coming out around the first of December.  "Deadbeat Christmas" should be available through Pop Detective Records shortly.

1.  Christmas Eve
2.  Christmas In Painesville
3.  Father Kenny's Lament
4.  Drunk At Midnight

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You won't find this release in your local store, or even your Internet store, but you might have found it in your Sunday paper...if you subscribe to the U.K.'s Daily Mail.  A poster at Imwan alerted us to the fact that Sir Cliff Richard teamed up the the British periodical for an album of Cliff's greatest Christmas hits.  Cliff is as big a part of Christmas in the U.K. as Bing Crosby was here, so there's quite a long list of Christmas hits to choose from.  Cliff's biggest Christmas #1 was likely 1988's "Mistletoe And Wine" and that's on here.  Amazingly, though, they didn't include my personal favorite Cliff Richard Christmas track, "Little Town".  We don't tell you these things to make you mad because you can't get them.  We just figure half the battle is knowing what's out there.  In all likelihood, the obsessive collector already has all these tunes anyway.  Read more about it here.

1.  Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
2.  Mistletoe And Wine
3.  Saviour's Day
4.  White Christmas
5.  The Christmas Song
6.  Winter Wonderland
7.  Let It Snow
8.  The Millennium Prayer
9.  Mary's Boy Child
10. When A Child Is Born

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If you've spun around the Interwebs in the past week or so, you've no doubt caught the news that Mariah Carey has recorded a new version of "When Christmas Comes" (from last year's "Merry Christmas II You") with John Legend.  But Mariah also let drop that the song would be featured next year on "BOTH" of "THEIR" Christmas albums.  For her part, Mariah is promising a "Deluxe" version of "Merry Christmas II You".  But that also means we should expect a new Christmas album from Legend in 2012.  Legend did a "Sounds Of The Season" EP for Target back in 2006 and, since that album has never had a wide release and is now out of print, it's possible the soul star will now release an expanded version of that disc.  But anything holiday related from Legend would be welcome.  Who knows.  Maybe he'll even toss in his 2008 duet with Stephen Colbert, "Nutmeg".  For those who haven't yet heard the Carey/Legend duet, here it is.

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Finally, some good news on the Hanukkah front.  Craig Taubman's label--which not long ago released a collection of songs for the Jewish High Holy Days--will be releasing a similar collection (digital only, apparently) of Hanukkah songs later this week, "Lights: Volume 2".  You'd be forgiven for forgetting that "Lights", Volume 1 was a live album released in 2008.   As it happens, I have a pretty decent Hanukkah collection, so most of these tracks are familiar to me.  There's Pop/Rock, Folk, Comedic Rap and even a bit of Smooth Jazz here.  The one track I don't have that immediately caught my ear was Yael Meyer's "Fire" which turns out to be a nifty little Indie Pop/Rock number from his brand new release "Everything Will Be Alright" (Dang!  I could've used that one about 3 weeks ago).  Others who have less of a Hanukkah library should greatly enjoy adding most of these to their collection.  For example, Michelle Citrin's "Pass The Candle" is a juicy Hanukkah adaptation of George Michael's "Freedom".

Taubman did at one point release his High Holy Days collection, "Jewels, Vol. 1", as a free download (though it's since returned to a paid download).  We'll have to wait and see if he does the same with this one.  Look for "Lights: Volume 2" on Amazon.  In the meantime, just FYI, Taubman is running a promotion in connection with Krispy Kreme Donuts--a very tasty treat combining donuts, Hanukkah downloads, and gift cards.  Check it out.

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