
These aren't Christmas releases the rest of the world will be talking about around the Christmas tree later this year. In fact, I still haven't figured out how to get one of them. But these are the little surprises tucked away in a small corner of the very big mountain of Christmas releases that make all the hunting worthwhile. These are the kinds of things I look for--musically familiar enough to easily seduce someone but different enough to expand their aural horizons a little bit. Of course, if already operating in expanded mode, your head is going to love these immediately.
"My Heart's Thanksgiving", above, is not from the new Christmas album, but from the pair's last outing, "Vespers 3: My Heart's Thanksgiving". And we all know what follows Thanksgiving, right? That's right, indigestion. But after that. No, after Black Friday, too. No, after Cyber Monday. Keep going. It'll come to you.
"Vespers 4: The Work of Christmas" is primarily New Age/Ambient. But it's also Folk and Jazz and Classical and just a little bit tropical. Mostly what it is is gorgeous. Bong has such a gentle touch on that guitar and I'm a sucker for flute. This is the kind of disc I've talked about that I toss in the CD player at 2 a.m on a quiet snowy night and just....breathe. Relax, decompress, re-align the hamster wheels of my mind.
And I think the extra special cool factor on this one is that, alongside the old familiar carols, there are seven tracks of (I'm guessing) traditional Filipino holiday favorites. Unless you've been spending a lot of time with Christmas music from the Philippines, the tracks will sound fresh and new. Instrumental, so there's no need to worry about understanding the lyrics. And they are Christmas songs; that magical holiday sparkle is in there.
If I had to guess, I'd say "Vespers 4: The Work of Christmas" was released last Christmas, but its possible it was an early 2015 set. I'd also guess there might have been some physical discs on the islands, but I'm probably wrong about that, too. What we've got right now is the digital download version which reached Amazon on August 21. And it's 16 tracks--nearly ah hour of music--for $4.99. That's pretty good, isn't it? There's another track over at Rhapsody--"Kahit Na Abril Ay Harang Pasko Pa Rin"--I don't know what the story is there. Some people don't like this sort of thing, but I love it. Already bought it. Though I might wait until 2 a.m. on a quiet snowy night to give it a proper listen.

2. Pasko Na!
3. Paglamig Ng Hangin
4. Pasko Na Naman
5. O Little Town of Bethlehem
6. Isang Sanggol
7. Away In A Manger
8. Silent Night
9. Emanuel
10. What Child Is This?
11. Payapang Daigdig
12. O Holy Night
13. Oyayi
14. Ang Pasko Ay Sumapit
15. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
16. The Work Of Christmas

The difficulty is that African music doesn't register a blip on the American music scene and market. Releases may bubble up for a little bit but, just before they break the surface layer of American public consciousness, they disappear. By the time I hear about something cool from Africa, it can't be found for sale anywhere. To be fair, I haven't really checked all of "anywhere" as yet. There's actually a vendor I go to for this sort of thing and I will see what his holiday inventory is looking like. And I know there is a web-store that carries nothing but mp3s from African artists. I know its out there but I don't remember where. But stuff like this should at least be available from Amazon MP3 or iTunes or whomever. It's not.
The album had eight tracks, we're told. You can stream six of them at Victor Seii's Soundcloud page. But I'd do that sooner rather than later since you never know when "Well Seasoned 3" is going to make the scene. Six streaming tracks is a pretty good deal when the music is this unique, compelling and beautiful. Now we just have to work on that "where can I buy it" thing.