Katy Perry sent her Twitter followers into a tizzy over the weekend after she posted the following....
No, it's not about Katy losing her balance. The Twitter fever is all about those two Christmas tree emoticons.
So what does that mean, exactly? Is she recording a Christmas album? A Christmas single? A song for an upcoming Christmas compilation (those "Very Special" people would seem about due)? A Christmas duet for some other artist's album? Or did she simply bump her head and, instead of bluebirds or stars, she's seeing Christmas trees spinning around her? No one knows except for Katy and whomever was in the studio with her. And Katy may feel she's already said too much.
For those interested (and impatient), Katy does have at least one officially released holiday track. Katy's rendition of "White Christmas" can be found on the 2008 Hotel Cafe collection, "Winter Songs".
So what does that mean, exactly? Is she recording a Christmas album? A Christmas single? A song for an upcoming Christmas compilation (those "Very Special" people would seem about due)? A Christmas duet for some other artist's album? Or did she simply bump her head and, instead of bluebirds or stars, she's seeing Christmas trees spinning around her? No one knows except for Katy and whomever was in the studio with her. And Katy may feel she's already said too much.
For those interested (and impatient), Katy does have at least one officially released holiday track. Katy's rendition of "White Christmas" can be found on the 2008 Hotel Cafe collection, "Winter Songs".
The folks at Tin Idol are back at it....raising funds for a second volume of "Metal Kalikimaka". Last year's "Metal Kalikimaka, Vol. 1" was not only well received by fans and critics alike, it was nominated for a Na Hoku Hanohano award (sort of like Hawaiian Grammy Awards).
I'll confess, with Volume 1, I was kind of hoping for more of a Metal and Hawaiian music mashup and what we got was a pretty straight forward Metal album (featuring Hawaii's top Metal musicians). But they did it so well, that its hard to find fault with anything they did (especially given the many very bad Metal Christmas albums in existence). Loved the fact that there were different vocalists throughout and I loved the music selection. You know, you see the ancient carols covered by Metal bands fairly often, but you rarely get Metal versions of "Baby It's Cold Outside" or "2000 Miles". So, yeah, very kewl, brah.
So, anyway, like last year, there will be numerous artists making their contribution. Like last year, they are raising funds through Indiegogo. Like last year, there will be a heavenly host of classic Christmas songs and one brand new original (17 tracks in all). And, like last year, there are perks available for the larger contributions. And, while the digital download is around, I don't know if the physical CD was available other than through Tin Idol and their Indiegogo campaign. (And, if you missed last year's set, you can get both CDs through this year's campaign).
I imagine we'll be getting some videos of the new stuff closer to the release. But here's a track from Volume 1 to wet yer whistle.
I'll confess, with Volume 1, I was kind of hoping for more of a Metal and Hawaiian music mashup and what we got was a pretty straight forward Metal album (featuring Hawaii's top Metal musicians). But they did it so well, that its hard to find fault with anything they did (especially given the many very bad Metal Christmas albums in existence). Loved the fact that there were different vocalists throughout and I loved the music selection. You know, you see the ancient carols covered by Metal bands fairly often, but you rarely get Metal versions of "Baby It's Cold Outside" or "2000 Miles". So, yeah, very kewl, brah.
So, anyway, like last year, there will be numerous artists making their contribution. Like last year, they are raising funds through Indiegogo. Like last year, there will be a heavenly host of classic Christmas songs and one brand new original (17 tracks in all). And, like last year, there are perks available for the larger contributions. And, while the digital download is around, I don't know if the physical CD was available other than through Tin Idol and their Indiegogo campaign. (And, if you missed last year's set, you can get both CDs through this year's campaign).
I imagine we'll be getting some videos of the new stuff closer to the release. But here's a track from Volume 1 to wet yer whistle.
We've got a few more details on Danny Gokey's upcoming Christmas album. First of all, the album is entitled "Christmas Is Here", not "This Christmas" as we had earlier speculated. And the album's release has now been set as October 16. And we know the song titles that make up much of the album: "This Christmas", "Mary Did You Know", "White Christmas", "The Christmas Song", "Give Me Jesus", "What Christmas Means To Me", "The Most Wonderful Time", "Lift Up Your Eyes" and the title track. You gotta figure there's at least one or two more. No cover art as yet, though.
And, while I'm not really ready to get into Christmas singles (oh, yes, there have already been a few), there are a couple of album tracks I did want to call to your attention.
Rickie Lee Jones released a new album back in June. "The Other Side Of Desire" includes "Christmas In New Orleans". And, no, it's not the tune most of us associate with Satchmo, but a song which sounds like vintage Tom Waits (though Jones says she hasn't spoken to him since 1979). And, really, you should check out the entire album. Rickie Lee is as unique an artist as we've ever seen. Rickie's songs have always been authentic glimpses into her soul and, as she has gotten older, her "voice" speaks to all of us who are getting older. In getting older, most of us learn what is truly important in life...a little late, but hopefully not too late.
And you know I'm a fan of Jazz. So might I suggest Lorraine Feather? Her latest is "Flirting With Disaster" and includes the seasonal track "Feels Like Snow", which is that awesome kind of contemplative 3 a.m. Jazz I'm especially partial to.
And, for the Hanukkah minded among us, be on the look out for the coming album from Joanie Leeds and the Nightlights. "Meshugana" comes out on September 1. While ostensibly an album for the kids, the song "Spinning" (yep, it's a dreidel tune) sounds like a rocker that kids of all ages can groove to.
And, by the way, rumor has it the Free List for 2015 is up. It's an all new page, so you're going to need a new RSS feed, if you're into that sort of thing. It comes in handy this time of year, when I tend to neglect it a bit. But you know as well as I do that soon enough the action over there is going to be fast and furious. The 2014 Free Page still exists, but its been moved to the archives. Anyway, our new entry on the Free List is a darn good one featuring the Dream Pop of the UK band Lorna. Awesome stuff. I promise.
Rickie Lee Jones released a new album back in June. "The Other Side Of Desire" includes "Christmas In New Orleans". And, no, it's not the tune most of us associate with Satchmo, but a song which sounds like vintage Tom Waits (though Jones says she hasn't spoken to him since 1979). And, really, you should check out the entire album. Rickie Lee is as unique an artist as we've ever seen. Rickie's songs have always been authentic glimpses into her soul and, as she has gotten older, her "voice" speaks to all of us who are getting older. In getting older, most of us learn what is truly important in life...a little late, but hopefully not too late.
And you know I'm a fan of Jazz. So might I suggest Lorraine Feather? Her latest is "Flirting With Disaster" and includes the seasonal track "Feels Like Snow", which is that awesome kind of contemplative 3 a.m. Jazz I'm especially partial to.
And, for the Hanukkah minded among us, be on the look out for the coming album from Joanie Leeds and the Nightlights. "Meshugana" comes out on September 1. While ostensibly an album for the kids, the song "Spinning" (yep, it's a dreidel tune) sounds like a rocker that kids of all ages can groove to.
And, by the way, rumor has it the Free List for 2015 is up. It's an all new page, so you're going to need a new RSS feed, if you're into that sort of thing. It comes in handy this time of year, when I tend to neglect it a bit. But you know as well as I do that soon enough the action over there is going to be fast and furious. The 2014 Free Page still exists, but its been moved to the archives. Anyway, our new entry on the Free List is a darn good one featuring the Dream Pop of the UK band Lorna. Awesome stuff. I promise.
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