Funny story. I knew I'd be leading this singles post with the Squirrel Nut Zippers, so I parked the video and told myself I'd get back to it. And, now that I've finished the rest of the post, my ass is beat. These singles posts are a lot of work, yo. Used to be one of our most popular features but, if you've had your fill of them and no longer find them useful, let me know. Cuz they iz a lot of work, yo. Anyway, let's see if I can keep this bit brief.
The Squirrel Nut Zippers originated as an eclectic Jazz band here in North Carolina. And because they combined all kinds of sounds--from Gypsy Jazz to Klezmer--they caught the wave of the Neo-Swing movement of the 90s (which, itself, was sort of an offshoot of New Wave, a sort of rebellion against the popular music of the day). The Squirrel Nut Zippers holiday album, "Christmas Caravan", was released in 1998. Remember how excited you were when you heard that for the first time? I do. It was like....Punk Jazz or something. Totally retro, yet totally original.
The Neo-Swing movement sort of faded (though a few top acts continued to do well) and so did the Zippers. They split up around 2000, going on to solo careers and other projects. They re-united (mostly) for some shows around 2007 and released a new album in 2008. But that wasn't ever going to be permanent. Jimbo Mathus, one of the founders, assembled a new cast of Squirrel Nut Zippers and they began the revival in 2016. Jimbo and Chris Philips are the only original members in the new Squirrel Nut Zippers. But the sound and approach is the same as it ever was (though I do miss the sharp writing of Tom Maxwell).
The new Christmas single features "Mardi Gras for Christmas" on the A-side, combining elements of Gypsy Jazz and New Orleans Second Line, while the virtual flip is "Alone At Christmas" --mostly a pre-war crooner (though other influences are apparent as well). I think they're both classic Squirrel Nut Zippers tunes, but I tend to favor the B-side which, while lacking some of the group's trademark frenzy, is just a really nice song you can imagine future torch singers covering. Look for the single at Amazon and iTunes.
The Squirrel Nut Zippers originated as an eclectic Jazz band here in North Carolina. And because they combined all kinds of sounds--from Gypsy Jazz to Klezmer--they caught the wave of the Neo-Swing movement of the 90s (which, itself, was sort of an offshoot of New Wave, a sort of rebellion against the popular music of the day). The Squirrel Nut Zippers holiday album, "Christmas Caravan", was released in 1998. Remember how excited you were when you heard that for the first time? I do. It was like....Punk Jazz or something. Totally retro, yet totally original.
The Neo-Swing movement sort of faded (though a few top acts continued to do well) and so did the Zippers. They split up around 2000, going on to solo careers and other projects. They re-united (mostly) for some shows around 2007 and released a new album in 2008. But that wasn't ever going to be permanent. Jimbo Mathus, one of the founders, assembled a new cast of Squirrel Nut Zippers and they began the revival in 2016. Jimbo and Chris Philips are the only original members in the new Squirrel Nut Zippers. But the sound and approach is the same as it ever was (though I do miss the sharp writing of Tom Maxwell).
The new Christmas single features "Mardi Gras for Christmas" on the A-side, combining elements of Gypsy Jazz and New Orleans Second Line, while the virtual flip is "Alone At Christmas" --mostly a pre-war crooner (though other influences are apparent as well). I think they're both classic Squirrel Nut Zippers tunes, but I tend to favor the B-side which, while lacking some of the group's trademark frenzy, is just a really nice song you can imagine future torch singers covering. Look for the single at Amazon and iTunes.
A long, long time ago, we told you that The McCrary Sisters were working on a Christmas album. As the end of the year approaches more quickly than ever, it's beginning to look a lot like next Christmas before we see the full fruits of those labors. Not that I've given up hope entirely, but the McCrarys do work so hard, you wonder when they find time to go into the studio at all. And now they're with Rounder Records, who do go good work...but v e r y s l o w l y. So we might just have to settle for The McCrary Sisters' Christmas single in 2018.
We all have our favorite Christmas songs and I have a friend who "collects" different versions of "Go Tell It On The Mountain"...but only if the arrangement is something different. I guess he'll be needing to add The McCrary Sisters' version to his collection. The McCrary Sisters give "Go Tell It On The Mountain" a Staple Singers feel. Which is interesting because, when The Staple Singers recording the song for "The 25th Day of December", they went old Spiritual (albeit with some funky electric guitar accents from Pops). You can practically hear the Staples shouting "Respect yourself" in appropriate spots on The McCrary Sisters' recording. Of course, you've got to be really good to pull this sort of thing off and The McCrary Sisters are about as good as it gets. Damn, I want a full Christmas album from them so bad.
For the virtual flip, "No Room At The Inn", the McCrarys go it a capella and give a spirited Gospel-soloist-with-choir-type-backing. On that one, I think I'd side with the Staples whose version, though in a slower tempo, had a bluesier feel (and you know me and Blues). You can pick up The McCrary Sisters' Christmas single from Amazon.
We all have our favorite Christmas songs and I have a friend who "collects" different versions of "Go Tell It On The Mountain"...but only if the arrangement is something different. I guess he'll be needing to add The McCrary Sisters' version to his collection. The McCrary Sisters give "Go Tell It On The Mountain" a Staple Singers feel. Which is interesting because, when The Staple Singers recording the song for "The 25th Day of December", they went old Spiritual (albeit with some funky electric guitar accents from Pops). You can practically hear the Staples shouting "Respect yourself" in appropriate spots on The McCrary Sisters' recording. Of course, you've got to be really good to pull this sort of thing off and The McCrary Sisters are about as good as it gets. Damn, I want a full Christmas album from them so bad.
For the virtual flip, "No Room At The Inn", the McCrarys go it a capella and give a spirited Gospel-soloist-with-choir-type-backing. On that one, I think I'd side with the Staples whose version, though in a slower tempo, had a bluesier feel (and you know me and Blues). You can pick up The McCrary Sisters' Christmas single from Amazon.
As good a Christmas music season as it's been so far, it's not necessarily a good thing when you have to count of Country artists to deliver a swinging Blues-infused tune like "The Not So Silent Night". But at least someone is delivering such a song. "The Not So Silent Night" teams up Phil Vassar with the group Lonestar (both Vassar and Lonestar have released their own Christmas music in the past). They even have a go at Queen-styled rock with "the operatic section". Best of all, 100% of the proceeds from "The Not So Silent Night" will go to the Salvation Army. I've seen my share of disaster relief efforts over the years and, let me tell you, you can't count on a lot of help from a lot of groups that raise money for disaster relief, but the Salvation Army is always there and eager to help. So, if you're a little shy about putting some money in the pot, here's a chance to do so and get a pretty great song in return. You'll find "The Not So Silent Night" at Amazon, iTunes and GooglePlay. I'd really like to see a vinyl 45 of this one. And, on the B-side, I want to hear it played by a Salvation Army Band. Now that would be cool.
"I'd Be Jolly, Too" was written by Wynn Varble several years back. But Jim Brown may be the first to officially record it. Wynn has written #1 Country hits for others (notably "Waitin' On A Woman" for Brad Paisley), but has had less chart success as an artist. Jim Brown is still relatively new on the Country scene, his debut album dropping in 2014. He's a solid songwriter in his own right, and he's definitely got the Country sound. The "joke" of "I'd Be Jolly, Too" is fairly obvious--succinctly summed up in the line "If I knew where all the bad girls lived, I'd be jolly, too"--but no less fun for that. You know me, I'm not big on the goof. But, somehow, fun little Country records like this are exempt from that rule of mine. You can't really do an hour or an hour and a half of Country Christmas music without at least a couple songs like this And Jim Brown turns out to be a good match for Wayne Varble's song. I think the song has legs--meaning I anticipate covers for years to come--but I've been wrong before. My nightmare scenario is that "Fly Possum Fly" becomes a perennial instead. "I'd Be Jolly, Too" is available at Amazon. The song runs a minute longer than this video, but how can you turn down a Christmas video with a pretty girl in a bikini? Well, maybe you can, but I can't.
I'm getting old and, unfortunately, that means I frequently find myself too easily drawn to familiar sounds. But I ain't dead, yet, and I do love coming across something that's fresh and new that connects with me and makes me feel almost relevant again. And so we give you Ahmari Lia's new Christmas single "Do You Believe?". Ahmari Lia is from Florida, she's 17 (crap, another talented kid), and her music is a combination of Electro Pop and Future Bass. "Do You Believe?" is thoroughly fresh and totally different from most, if not all, of the Christmas music I usually listen to. And yet, it makes me feel all Christmassy, and that's what counts. "The snow is fallin' and the time has come for you to grow up, but no way". I like that. And I guess I'm not alone; the video's been up a couple of days and has over 50,000 views so far. "Do You Believe?" by Ahmari Lia is available at CD Baby and iTunes.
Dang it all, it's another talented kid. Crap. Don't I feel old enough already without all you talented kids piling on? Get off my lawn, dagnabit! And it's Country, too. But it's good Country, Indie Country, and I don't want this one to slip through the cracks. Bailey James is her name. She's Nashville based and she's all of 15. Crap. She hit the Top 40 Country charts last year with "Run Girl" (and, again, any time you chart that high with an independently released single, you're doing something right). I'm not going to torture myself by listening to her other music (I don't want to have to contemplate just how good she might actually be), but it's hard to listen to "But If It Snows" and not hear echoes of Patsy Cline. There's a lot of Soul in that thar Country song and singer. "But If It Snows" has that genuine palpable Christmas longing that I haven't felt this deeply since Lisa Layne and Vince Vance first gave us "All I Want For Christmas Is You" (still one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs and so much better than Mariah's song of the same name). Give a listen to young Bailey James' heart-breaker "But If It Snows", have a good cry in your eggnog, and then go get it from Amazon and iTunes.
Buckner & Garcia are best known for the 80s hit "Pac Man Fever". Jerry Buckner and Gary Garcia got together in 1972 and it took a decade to score with "Pac Man Fever". The group continued writing and performing through the years, but never scored another hit. In the midst of something of a comeback, Garcia passed away in 2011. The Buckner & Garcia single, "I'm Gonna See Santa Claus", currently up at CD Baby, is billed as "the only Christmas song Buckner & Garcia recorded", but that's not entirely accurate. A year before "Pac Man Fever", the duo scored some airplay and sales with "Merry Christmas In The N.F.L." (credited to Willis The Guard & Vigorish). Even less well known is the album the pair put out when they were running the Waffle House restaurants. I've yet to be able to score a copy of "It's A Waffle House Christmas", but much of the album is performed by the Buckner & Garcia band (with guests including Eddie Floyd and Angela Adams). The album was released in 2001 and the one song on the set actually credited to Buckner & Garcia is "I'm Gonna See Santa Claus". As Paul Harvey used to say, "Now you know.... the rest of the story" behind this "new" holiday single.
Dionne Warwick is a living legend, an icon, and still young enough to make good records. In recent years, she's taken to tossing out the occasional Christmas single.
"Mele Kalikimaka" is a collaborative single, featuring Dionne, Hawaiian Reggae artist Fiji, and Nomad (whom I'm assuming is Damon Elliott, a Hip Hop producer who also happens to be Dionne's son). It's OK, with a nice Reggae beat and a spot of horns that momentarily breath some life into it, but, overall, I'd rate it completely superfluous. If you're looking for good Dionne Christmas music, almost anything else she's done in the genre would be preferable. I'm really quite fond of her 2014 single, "This Christmas", personally. If you're looking at it from a Fiji prospective, well...it's still superfluous. But, if it interests you, you can grab "Mele Kalikimaka" at Amazon.
"Mele Kalikimaka" is a collaborative single, featuring Dionne, Hawaiian Reggae artist Fiji, and Nomad (whom I'm assuming is Damon Elliott, a Hip Hop producer who also happens to be Dionne's son). It's OK, with a nice Reggae beat and a spot of horns that momentarily breath some life into it, but, overall, I'd rate it completely superfluous. If you're looking for good Dionne Christmas music, almost anything else she's done in the genre would be preferable. I'm really quite fond of her 2014 single, "This Christmas", personally. If you're looking at it from a Fiji prospective, well...it's still superfluous. But, if it interests you, you can grab "Mele Kalikimaka" at Amazon.
A couple of instrumentals to close us out. There are two instruments I'm an absolute sucker for, for some reason....cello and flute. So, while I'm not usually a Classical music guy, you give me a cover of my absolute favorite Christmas song "O Holy Night" done on the cello, and I'm all in. In this case...one guy, eight cellos. You might know Cremaine Booker by his other name...That Cello Guy. The principal cellist for The Nashville Philharmonic Orchestra, Cremaine has played with just about everyone you can think of...Sheryl Crow, Kelly Clarkson, Lindsey Stirling, Jewel, Michael McDonald, Carrie Underwood, Nelly, Yo Yo Ma, Black Violin, and on and on and on. But what he's best known for are his YouTube split panel videos where he basically accompanies and overdubs himself. That Cello Guy, Cremaine Booker is pretty amazing. And, on "O Holy Night", he does the old hymn proud and beautiful on 8 separate cello parts. He's getting ready to drop an entire Christmas album, "Love On Christmas", and "O Holy Night" is the lead single. You can purchase it just about anywhere you get your downloads (including Amazon), but, for a very very limited time, you can download it free from Grey Duck Records on Bandcamp. And, if you're looking for the split panel video, that's coming. Look for it November 7.
What do you get when you pair a Classical British composer and pianist with an experimental Lo-Fi Hip-Hop concept producer of unknown origin? Apparently, you get a Chill Hop atmospheric take on a classic Christmas song...with a beat. Ben Laver is the British composer and pianist and there's plenty online about him. The Lo-Fi Hip-Hop producer is Micah Von, whose experimental concept "band" name is POLR. Micah doesn't like to say too much about himself, but his concept is about capturing moments in pictures (taken all over the world) and fashioning music to go along with the visual. Now POLR takes the "band" name and implies that it's music "straight from the arctic", but I'm personally of the opinion that POLR is derived from "polaroid"...wherever the heck Micah is actually from (Patterson, New Jersey? Sorry, Abbott & Costello joke again). Everything else aside, "Merry Little Christmas" is Funky and Cool. I love instrumentals like this. I wish there were more of them. "Merry Little Christmas" is gonna sound groovy as hell on a Christmas mix-disc. Anyway, I think so. You can pick it up at Amazon and pretty much everywhere else, including sites most of us don't know a thing about, like Traxsource and JunoDownload. Just sayin'.
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