There were so many albums I really wanted to get to, this year...to properly review or at least feature. The old computer dying when it did threw a bit of a wrench into the works, but I was pretty much behind all season anyway. And it's not that I think anyone out there relies solely on Stubby's to learn of new Christmas releases (if you do, you shouldn't), but a voice of recommendation from any corner is a good thing. So you've got 11 months, now, to prepare next year's playlist. Here are a few releases from 2018 that I really liked (but didn't get to feature) for you to check out and consider.
We at Stubby's first encountered Amber Norgaard through her contribution to "Christmas From The Heart" in 2016. I was really impressed with "Light To The World" and the way it took the story of Joseph and Mary and Jesus and sort of superimposed it over the eternal and universal experience of women giving birth more generally. Song aside, Amber has one of those voices that, though soft and ever so slightly smokey, just cuts through all the clutter and instantly reaches your heart and soul.
At the urging of her mother, Amber recorded an entire Christmas album this year, "Be The Peace", which (though released in November) I didn't catch up to until right around the time my computer died. I think I largely expected a fairly AC/CCM Folk experience, though I figured it would be a good one. And the opening track, "Love Came Down At Christmas", beautifully arranged and performed with exquisite choices of instruments, was about what I was expecting.
And then came the Blues guitar opening for the thoroughly Gospel "I Pray on Christmas". Hey now! Amber, as it turns out, sprinkles surprises like that throughout "Be The Peace". She brings together a multitude of sounds--Folk, Rock, Jazz, Blues, New Age, Pop--and the instrumentation is impeccable throughout (much as I'm a sucker for cello, I especially enjoyed the texture the Sax brought to the proceedings). There's even a Spanish language spin on "I'll Be Home For Christmas".
Before she became "Tucson's Folk-Rock Goddess", Amber Norgaard was a nurse. And there's undeniably a healing quality to her music, which makes for fine listening on both spiritual and secular levels. In her hands, even "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" is strangely uplifting. Personal favorites on "Be The Peace" include the title track, "I Pray on Christmas", "O Come O Come Emmanuel", "I'll Be Home For Christmas" and "Light To The World".
Amber, by the way, has a dog named Macauley. Well, nobody's perfect, right Missy Katz?
At the urging of her mother, Amber recorded an entire Christmas album this year, "Be The Peace", which (though released in November) I didn't catch up to until right around the time my computer died. I think I largely expected a fairly AC/CCM Folk experience, though I figured it would be a good one. And the opening track, "Love Came Down At Christmas", beautifully arranged and performed with exquisite choices of instruments, was about what I was expecting.
And then came the Blues guitar opening for the thoroughly Gospel "I Pray on Christmas". Hey now! Amber, as it turns out, sprinkles surprises like that throughout "Be The Peace". She brings together a multitude of sounds--Folk, Rock, Jazz, Blues, New Age, Pop--and the instrumentation is impeccable throughout (much as I'm a sucker for cello, I especially enjoyed the texture the Sax brought to the proceedings). There's even a Spanish language spin on "I'll Be Home For Christmas".
Before she became "Tucson's Folk-Rock Goddess", Amber Norgaard was a nurse. And there's undeniably a healing quality to her music, which makes for fine listening on both spiritual and secular levels. In her hands, even "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" is strangely uplifting. Personal favorites on "Be The Peace" include the title track, "I Pray on Christmas", "O Come O Come Emmanuel", "I'll Be Home For Christmas" and "Light To The World".
Amber, by the way, has a dog named Macauley. Well, nobody's perfect, right Missy Katz?
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1. Love Came Down at Christmas
2. I Pray on Christmas 3. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel 4. I'll Be Home for Christmas - Estaré En Mi Casa 5. Light to the World 6. O Holy Night 7. 'Til the Season Comes 'Round Again 8. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer 9. Be the Peace 10. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear |
We've had our share of Monkey business this year. But there's no monkey like a Green Monkey. The thing about the annual Green Monkey Christmas comp is that there's no need to sample. You know, without hearing a single note, that it's going to be one of the finest Rock/Alt Rock Christmas records of any year. And, sure enough, the very second I saw that "A Green Monkey Christmas For Martians Up On Mars" was out, I laid my money down without hearing a note. Every year, I listen to these Green Monkey comps, telling myself, well, there's bound to be a track or two I could live without. And there never is. Every bit of every one is pure gold. (Well, OK, the joke of Jeff Kelly's "Christmas At The End of Time" has been done before, and once was more than enough).
Every October, Tom Dyer puts out the call for the Christmas album, artists new and old answer, and Tom tosses in a few contributions of his own. The result is always a wide variety of sounds that, together, create a cohesive and rocking' collection. And 100% of the proceeds go to MusiCares.
Highlights on "A Green Monkey Christmas For Martians Up On Mars" include Super Z Attack Tram's Progressive "We 3 Super Kings", Kaz Murphy's vaguely 50s lament "Christmas Was Yesterday" (can't help but imagining Gene Pitney singing that one), the Ramones friendly "All I Want For Christmas (Is To Be Left Alone)" by The Swaggerlies, Duane Hibbard's "Blame It On The Nog" (which is sort of Alice Cooper meets The Cramps), Emily Bishton's straight forward "Toyland", and the Bluesy single from the set, Tom Dyer & The True Olympians' "(I'm A) Lonely Little Christmas Tree". Sample or don't sample, just buy "A Green Monkey Christmas For Martians Up On Mars" and you will not regret it. Parental Advisory on "Happy New Year" by Kline's 57.
Green Monkey issued another Christmas release this year, "Tom and Kat's Excellent Christmas Adventure", which collects up some of the best of Tom and (daughter) Kat Dyer's Christmas tunes (including last year's delicious "Fruitcake"), but I haven't really had a chance to listen to that album, yet.
And I would be remiss if I didn't mention my very favorite tune on this year's Green Monkey comp (I'm sure they wrote it with me in mind)--the Psych Pop "Gray Whiskers (Winter Cats)" by Donovan's Brain. Missy Katz has that one on constant repeat.
Every October, Tom Dyer puts out the call for the Christmas album, artists new and old answer, and Tom tosses in a few contributions of his own. The result is always a wide variety of sounds that, together, create a cohesive and rocking' collection. And 100% of the proceeds go to MusiCares.
Highlights on "A Green Monkey Christmas For Martians Up On Mars" include Super Z Attack Tram's Progressive "We 3 Super Kings", Kaz Murphy's vaguely 50s lament "Christmas Was Yesterday" (can't help but imagining Gene Pitney singing that one), the Ramones friendly "All I Want For Christmas (Is To Be Left Alone)" by The Swaggerlies, Duane Hibbard's "Blame It On The Nog" (which is sort of Alice Cooper meets The Cramps), Emily Bishton's straight forward "Toyland", and the Bluesy single from the set, Tom Dyer & The True Olympians' "(I'm A) Lonely Little Christmas Tree". Sample or don't sample, just buy "A Green Monkey Christmas For Martians Up On Mars" and you will not regret it. Parental Advisory on "Happy New Year" by Kline's 57.
Green Monkey issued another Christmas release this year, "Tom and Kat's Excellent Christmas Adventure", which collects up some of the best of Tom and (daughter) Kat Dyer's Christmas tunes (including last year's delicious "Fruitcake"), but I haven't really had a chance to listen to that album, yet.
And I would be remiss if I didn't mention my very favorite tune on this year's Green Monkey comp (I'm sure they wrote it with me in mind)--the Psych Pop "Gray Whiskers (Winter Cats)" by Donovan's Brain. Missy Katz has that one on constant repeat.
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1. Tom Dyer - T'was The Night Before Christmas
2. Donovan's Brain - Gray Whiskers (Winter Cats) 3. Super Z Attack Team - We 3 Super Kings 4. The Holiday Bloch-busters - War On Christmas 5. Emily Bishton - Toyland 6. Kline's 57 - Happy New Year 7. Tom Dyer & The True Olympians - (I'm A) Lonely Little Christmas Tree 8. Richard Stuverud - Empty Branches 9. Kat Dyer - Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel 10. The Elf-tones - New Year's Day 11. Toiling Midgets - Snowshoe and Weasel 12. Kaz Murphy - Christmas Was Yesterday 13. The Swaggerlies - All I Want For Christmas (Is To Be Left Alone) 14. Duane Hibbard - Blame It On The Nog 15. Tom Dyer & The True Olympians - Christmas Train 16. Ed Portnow - Wintertime is Christmas Time 17. Jeff Kelly - Christmas At The End Of Time 18. The Freewheelin’ Joe Ross - T'was The Night Before Christmas |
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I can't tell you how much I've been wanting to do a proper review of "A Christmas Album" by The Purple Hulls. As a Bubblegum child, Bluegrass has always been a tough fit for me. But the Bluegrass I like, I really like. I can't explain it, but it's like I only connect to Bluegrass that's got "soul" (not the R&B kind of soul, but that feeling that says "this isn't music we make; this music is who we are"). And I really like The Purple Hulls. They've got that extra something, that "soul".
I've yet to find the time to truly give "A Christmas Album" a fair listening. I've heard all the tracks, but a few here and a few there, and that's not how I like to do when I review an album. What I can tell you straight off is that I'm selling them short by even referring to them as a Bluegrass band. There are really only a few tracks that are purely Bluegrass. The wider-lens Americana covers it better.
The Purple Hulls are identical twin sisters Penny and Katy Clark of Kilgore, Texas. Needless to say, those harmonies are tight and these young ladies know their way around string instruments. For a few years, now, the sisters Clark would post a Christmas song to YouTube and those were so incredible that demand for a Purple Hulls Christmas album was growing rapidly. "A Christmas Album" is fairly gorgeous throughout, covering standards from "Let It Snow" to "O Come All Ye Faithful" to originals like "Can't Stop Christmas From Comin'" and "That's Christmas To Me".
Hard to pick out personal favorites since it's all so good, but, in addition to the songs already mentioned, I'd add "Labor of Love". But you also shouldn't miss their sweet take on "White Christmas" or their rousing version of "Auld Lang Syne".
I can not recommend "A Christmas Album" highly enough. I think that, once you've had a taste of The Purple Hulls, you're going to want their entire catalog. And that still won't be enough. They're that good. And, kids, there's even "A Christmas Album" vinyl (exclusively available from The Purple Hulls and not due out until early January). It's very very limited, so I wouldn't wait another second if vinyl is what you crave.
I've yet to find the time to truly give "A Christmas Album" a fair listening. I've heard all the tracks, but a few here and a few there, and that's not how I like to do when I review an album. What I can tell you straight off is that I'm selling them short by even referring to them as a Bluegrass band. There are really only a few tracks that are purely Bluegrass. The wider-lens Americana covers it better.
The Purple Hulls are identical twin sisters Penny and Katy Clark of Kilgore, Texas. Needless to say, those harmonies are tight and these young ladies know their way around string instruments. For a few years, now, the sisters Clark would post a Christmas song to YouTube and those were so incredible that demand for a Purple Hulls Christmas album was growing rapidly. "A Christmas Album" is fairly gorgeous throughout, covering standards from "Let It Snow" to "O Come All Ye Faithful" to originals like "Can't Stop Christmas From Comin'" and "That's Christmas To Me".
Hard to pick out personal favorites since it's all so good, but, in addition to the songs already mentioned, I'd add "Labor of Love". But you also shouldn't miss their sweet take on "White Christmas" or their rousing version of "Auld Lang Syne".
I can not recommend "A Christmas Album" highly enough. I think that, once you've had a taste of The Purple Hulls, you're going to want their entire catalog. And that still won't be enough. They're that good. And, kids, there's even "A Christmas Album" vinyl (exclusively available from The Purple Hulls and not due out until early January). It's very very limited, so I wouldn't wait another second if vinyl is what you crave.
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1. O Come, All Ye Faithful
2. Reunion Song 3. Let It Snow! 4. That's Christmas to Me 5. Celebration Song 6. Can't Stop Christmas from Comin' 7. White Christmas 8. Labor of Love 9. Greatest Christmas Gift 10. Auld Lang Syne 11. Matthew's Begats (Live) |
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"Did we lose the sun". That's just one of the lines that let's you know "Stay Warm" by The O'Pears is not a Christmas album of twinkle lights and tinsel. To be fair, I haven't had the time to more than sample this album (and, to be fair to me, it wasn't released until December 17), but it was one on my list (and I checked it twice) and what I've heard so far gives me to know I was very very right to put it on my Nice list.
The O'Pears are a Canadian Folk trio of singer-songwriters. And, clearly, nothing makes me weaker in the knees than perfect female harmony vocals. I gotta say, I'm especially enchanted when two of the women harmonize and the third breaks off and sings something in an entirely different direction, like a leaf floating off the tree and blowing in the wind. Just sayin'.
"Stay Warm" presents a picture of the Winter season in all its complexity...the joy and love and the dark and cold. Remarkably, it manages to explore the dark and cold aspects with warmth and light, for the most part. "Did we lose the sun", as example, is from "Find The Sun", which isn't about Winter at all, but a relationship in which the flame seems to have gone out. "Did we even try before we let it go." But even that song ends with hope as the singer vows to "Find The Sun" rather than let love die. "Hearts Grow Fonder" is as complex as the season itself, weaving loss and nostalgia, the warmth of family and the cold of the season, into one tidy "toast" that is, taken all together, a positive mix.
Perhaps the sweetest song, here, is "Jingle Jangle".
The O'Pears are a Canadian Folk trio of singer-songwriters. And, clearly, nothing makes me weaker in the knees than perfect female harmony vocals. I gotta say, I'm especially enchanted when two of the women harmonize and the third breaks off and sings something in an entirely different direction, like a leaf floating off the tree and blowing in the wind. Just sayin'.
"Stay Warm" presents a picture of the Winter season in all its complexity...the joy and love and the dark and cold. Remarkably, it manages to explore the dark and cold aspects with warmth and light, for the most part. "Did we lose the sun", as example, is from "Find The Sun", which isn't about Winter at all, but a relationship in which the flame seems to have gone out. "Did we even try before we let it go." But even that song ends with hope as the singer vows to "Find The Sun" rather than let love die. "Hearts Grow Fonder" is as complex as the season itself, weaving loss and nostalgia, the warmth of family and the cold of the season, into one tidy "toast" that is, taken all together, a positive mix.
Perhaps the sweetest song, here, is "Jingle Jangle".
I like it when you sing me carols
I like it when you trim the tree
But I like best when you jingle jangle
jingle jangle for me
I like it when you trim the tree
But I like best when you jingle jangle
jingle jangle for me
Most of the other songs, however, have both a little light and a little dark to them. The O'Pears scatter a few "minute carols" through the set, but, aside from Joni Mitchell's "River", the full songs are all written by the women of The O'Pears. And their songwriting is as amazingly perfect as their harmonies.
One of the most interesting things about "Stay Warm" is that The O'Pears did not include their 2017 Christmas single "Quiet Now" (nor 2016's "Long Winter"). That at least suggests that we'll be hearing more seasonal suites from The O'Pears, and that makes me very happy. While I haven't listened to it all, yet, I'd already count "Stay Warm", "Ring The Bells" and "Lady Winter" as favorites. And, really, this album should have as much appeal to lovers of Indie Pop and Dream Pop as to those who love Americana, a cappella, Folk and Folk Pop. It's just really beautiful stuff.
One of the most interesting things about "Stay Warm" is that The O'Pears did not include their 2017 Christmas single "Quiet Now" (nor 2016's "Long Winter"). That at least suggests that we'll be hearing more seasonal suites from The O'Pears, and that makes me very happy. While I haven't listened to it all, yet, I'd already count "Stay Warm", "Ring The Bells" and "Lady Winter" as favorites. And, really, this album should have as much appeal to lovers of Indie Pop and Dream Pop as to those who love Americana, a cappella, Folk and Folk Pop. It's just really beautiful stuff.
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1. A Candle Burned
2. Stay Warm 3. Bleak Midwinter 4. Lady Winter 5. Silent Night 6. Hearts Grow Fonder 7. Find the Sun 8. Gloria in Excelsis 9. Jingle Jangle 10. Carol of the Bells 11. Ring the Bells 12. River
THE O'PEARS WEB SITE
PURCHASE FROM BANDCAMP (Bandcamp listing in Canadian dollars) PURCHASE FROM AMAZON |
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