Nicholas Burgess' digital footprint is extremely light. Other than his Bandcamp site, which tells us he's from Boston, there's really nothing. Well, he is or was one half of the band Hex Map, but that doesn't tell you much either. But his name is Nicholas so, if you're playing the Hallmark Movie Drinking Game, feel free to toss one back right now.
If Walter Carlos and Daft Punk had a baby, he might make music a lot like Nicholas Burgess. At least on "Xmas Gold". Nicholas' earlier work is a lot more Indie Rock oriented than this Electro Pop Yuletide set. But strip away all the weirdness on "Xmas Gold" and what you're left with are well crafted Pop songs with tasty hooks and inspired lyrics. Well, to be honest, some of the weirdness can't be stripped away--so those tracks would be well crafted weird Pop songs with tasty hooks and inspired lyrics--but we'll get to that.
"Xmas Gold" smartly opens with the most identifiably Pop song, "Love Love Love (On Xmas)". With it's opening Beach Boys vocals and Mariah Carey tempo, this is what I suspect it would sound like if Phil Spector decided to do a 2018 Indie version of "A Christmas Gift For You". You could easily hear a Pop Rock band or a retro Girl Group covering "Love Love Love (On Xmas)".
We move decisively to the dance floor for "Greedy Little Boy". And irresistible and danceable beats are definitely one of the things for which Electro Pop is famous. One part "Monster In My Pants", one part Willy Wonka, and one part "Bridge of the Naughty Children", "Greedy Little Boy" is a little more menacing than festive, but then "The Nightmare Before Christmas" enchants everyone, so that's likely a feature and not a bug. The subject matter is what it sounds like (except that the "Greedy Little Boy" is clearly a full grown man). "Dear, Santa, I'm still rotten. Look how long my list has gotten. But that don't mean that I don't want it all." The Christmas drop-ins are expertly done. It's a really cool song but, in the end, it's the beat that sticks with you more than anything.
"Sugar Plum" is one of the absolute highlights of the set. Playing off the familiar riff from "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and finding every possible rhyme for "plum" imaginable, it could have been a novelty filler if conceived by a lesser artist. Nicholas makes it work...exceedingly well. Everything from the 8-bit music break to the perfectly done Classic Rock guitar solo to the one-note "ooh" build reminiscent of the "ooh bop" in "Never Gonna Get It"...everything is perfect (and all of that is just in one section of an overall perfect tune). I know I said these were finely crafted Pop songs but, for my money, "Sugar Plum" was crafted the finest. There's a hit, there, if radio programmers weren't too deaf to hear it. And the production is genius.
We move decisively to the dance floor for "Greedy Little Boy". And irresistible and danceable beats are definitely one of the things for which Electro Pop is famous. One part "Monster In My Pants", one part Willy Wonka, and one part "Bridge of the Naughty Children", "Greedy Little Boy" is a little more menacing than festive, but then "The Nightmare Before Christmas" enchants everyone, so that's likely a feature and not a bug. The subject matter is what it sounds like (except that the "Greedy Little Boy" is clearly a full grown man). "Dear, Santa, I'm still rotten. Look how long my list has gotten. But that don't mean that I don't want it all." The Christmas drop-ins are expertly done. It's a really cool song but, in the end, it's the beat that sticks with you more than anything.
"Sugar Plum" is one of the absolute highlights of the set. Playing off the familiar riff from "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and finding every possible rhyme for "plum" imaginable, it could have been a novelty filler if conceived by a lesser artist. Nicholas makes it work...exceedingly well. Everything from the 8-bit music break to the perfectly done Classic Rock guitar solo to the one-note "ooh" build reminiscent of the "ooh bop" in "Never Gonna Get It"...everything is perfect (and all of that is just in one section of an overall perfect tune). I know I said these were finely crafted Pop songs but, for my money, "Sugar Plum" was crafted the finest. There's a hit, there, if radio programmers weren't too deaf to hear it. And the production is genius.
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1. Love Love Love (On Xmas) 2. Greedy Little Boy 3. Sugar Plum 4. Red Lingerie with White Fuzzy Trim 5. Santa Planet 6. The Great Christmas Airship Sails Toward Death 7. Crystal Crystmas Sky |
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And now, let the weirdness begin. Up until now, Nicholas has been flirting with adult holiday themes. I don't mean X-rated or anything. Over time, that perfect shiny Christmas of our childhood does take on a bit of tarnish. But now we've reached the lingerie portion of the program. I mean, what part of a childhood Christmas are we trying to recapture on "Red Lingerie with White Fuzzy Trim"? Wait, don't tell me; I don't want to know. "Red lingerie with white fuzzy trim, this is what Christmas means to them. Nothing more, nothing less, never buy the wrong dress. Nothing less, nothing more, always from the same store." Geez, even the spice in their eggnog has lost it's flavor. But, with all that, the beat somehow gives the whole thing the feeling of something a little more sinister ("Whip it. Whip it good."). Let's just say "Red Lingerie with Fuzzy White Trim" will not fit the theme of "Christmas the way it used to be." Then again, I don't know how your Christmases used to be.
Since we're dealing with what was once called Space Age music, it's only fitting we get a Space Age song. Not to get too deep, here, but philosophers through the ages have theorized that, because the universe is infinite, anything you can imagine actually exists within it. So somewhere out there, there must be a planet of nothing but Santas, who ride reindeer and eat magic mushrooms, who "live and love and die", never asking why. Because Nicholas Burgess has conceived of it, "Santa Planet" must exist. I can't help of think of "Santa Planet" as being a kind of Christmas tree farm for Santas. You know, some get picked and some...just live out the rest of their lives never knowing why they exist, never even thinking about it. Hmm. Does that mean they don't exist, because they don't think? Oh, Descartes, you were a wily one. In any case, for my money, "Santa Planet" is the most original and interesting of the songs on "Xmas Gold". That applies to both the music and the lyrics...and to whatever fever dream inspired them.
Since we're dealing with what was once called Space Age music, it's only fitting we get a Space Age song. Not to get too deep, here, but philosophers through the ages have theorized that, because the universe is infinite, anything you can imagine actually exists within it. So somewhere out there, there must be a planet of nothing but Santas, who ride reindeer and eat magic mushrooms, who "live and love and die", never asking why. Because Nicholas Burgess has conceived of it, "Santa Planet" must exist. I can't help of think of "Santa Planet" as being a kind of Christmas tree farm for Santas. You know, some get picked and some...just live out the rest of their lives never knowing why they exist, never even thinking about it. Hmm. Does that mean they don't exist, because they don't think? Oh, Descartes, you were a wily one. In any case, for my money, "Santa Planet" is the most original and interesting of the songs on "Xmas Gold". That applies to both the music and the lyrics...and to whatever fever dream inspired them.
We delve deeper into dark territory on "The Great Christmas Airship Sails Towards Death". "Santa's sleigh flies where it may and the night gives way to dawn./You realize everyone dies when all the Christmases are gone." I can think of dozens of ways to interpret this song, but I'm gonna go with the most holiday friendly one I can think of. Keep the spirit of Christmas alive within you--as much as you can as long as you can--for, when the Christmas spirit within you dies, you die with it. OK, so...holiday "not-so-friendly"? But that's really a very traditional sentiment. Christmas was meant to be about the celebration and renewal of life amidst the darkest and coldest of times. Eh.....anybody buying this? Ahem, moving on then.
"Xmas Gold" closes with the Dream Poppy "Crystal Chrystmas Sky". The music on this one is gorgeous. The lyrics seem to suggest that this long strange trip was all a Christmas analogy to the stages of a relationship and, maybe, we've found resolution. At least for this year. "Sometimes I feel like I'm too ancient, sometimes I feel like I'm dead/And every dream I have of us melts in snow, just in my head/And when you're coming around, I feel I bring you down when everything else is good/But you don't see it that way. You make me feel OK. You make me feel like I should." Happy ending? Let's hope.
Understatement alert: "Xmas Gold" is not your ordinary Christmas album. But life isn't all sleighbells and snowmen, either. Nicholas Burgess deserves plaudits for taking us on a Christmas trip that's unique, honest, adult, and simultaneously real and surreal. As it happens, you won't be reviewing "Xmas Gold", so you don't have to think about Descartes and what the Santas on "Santa Planet" dream about, or even whether they exist. As noted at the outset, Nicholas knows how to write a good Pop song. So you can just enjoy the music. Or you can trip out to the electronic noises. In ten states, you can come back from the legal marijuana dispensary and contemplate your navel. It'll help you with the cover art which is, to be honest, a bit...disturbing. Now that I've said that out loud, I hope that's what he was going for. The songs stand well alone and my favorites are "Sugar Plum" and "Crystal Chrystmas Sky". Mmmm. "Santa Planet", too. "Xmas Gold" officially releases November 30 in both CD and digital formats. Place your pre-orders now on Bandcamp.
"Xmas Gold" closes with the Dream Poppy "Crystal Chrystmas Sky". The music on this one is gorgeous. The lyrics seem to suggest that this long strange trip was all a Christmas analogy to the stages of a relationship and, maybe, we've found resolution. At least for this year. "Sometimes I feel like I'm too ancient, sometimes I feel like I'm dead/And every dream I have of us melts in snow, just in my head/And when you're coming around, I feel I bring you down when everything else is good/But you don't see it that way. You make me feel OK. You make me feel like I should." Happy ending? Let's hope.
Understatement alert: "Xmas Gold" is not your ordinary Christmas album. But life isn't all sleighbells and snowmen, either. Nicholas Burgess deserves plaudits for taking us on a Christmas trip that's unique, honest, adult, and simultaneously real and surreal. As it happens, you won't be reviewing "Xmas Gold", so you don't have to think about Descartes and what the Santas on "Santa Planet" dream about, or even whether they exist. As noted at the outset, Nicholas knows how to write a good Pop song. So you can just enjoy the music. Or you can trip out to the electronic noises. In ten states, you can come back from the legal marijuana dispensary and contemplate your navel. It'll help you with the cover art which is, to be honest, a bit...disturbing. Now that I've said that out loud, I hope that's what he was going for. The songs stand well alone and my favorites are "Sugar Plum" and "Crystal Chrystmas Sky". Mmmm. "Santa Planet", too. "Xmas Gold" officially releases November 30 in both CD and digital formats. Place your pre-orders now on Bandcamp.
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