This is just a single, but it's J-Pop, and I'm partial to J-Pop.
ARTIST SITE
CD JAPAN-SPECIAL EDITION (w/ DVD)
CD JAPAN-REGULAR EDITION
ARTIST SITE
CD JAPAN-SPECIAL EDITION (w/ DVD)
CD JAPAN-REGULAR EDITION
 1. All I Want For Christmas Is You - Figurines 2. Carol Of The Bells - Fallulah 3. Happy Christmas (War Is Over) - Teitur 4. Merry Xmas Everybody - The Blue Van 5. The Christmas Song - Coco 6. Bort Fra Døren, Hansemand - Peter Sommer 7. What Are You Doing New Years Eve - Sonja Richter 8. Little Drummer Boy - Kirsten Og Marie 9. Last Christmas! - The Kissaway Trail 10. You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You - Jacob Bellens 11. Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) - The Fireflies 12. En Helt Fantastisk Jul - Nørlund & Giana Factory PURCHASE THROUGH CDON Some of the finest Indie artists from Denmark are on display on "Fra Danske Hjerter", which translates as "From The Danish Heart". The Fireflies are already pretty well known in Europe for their appearances on the Danish X Factor (sort of like American Idol), while acts like Kirsten & Marie are just beginning to shine. (And I really do like Kirsten & Marie's single, "My Dear".) The material covers the gamut of international standards, from an interesting and very Indie take on "Carol Of The Bells" to a pretty straight forward cover of Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody". There's also a Danish carol, Peter Sommer's rendition of (translated) "Away From The Door", plus the Danish version of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" (which translates somehow as "Have A Fantastic Christmas") as sung by Giana Factory and Nørlund. Nørlund, as it happens, put the whole thing together. And a televised concert, bringing all of these artists together, is planned for December. Once again, ordering these overseas gems when they're new is costly. This one will run you nearly 32 Euros (including shipping)--over $43. But, of the foreign releases we've looked at so far this year, this might be the best of them. Better leave a search running at eBay, eh? A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this disc will go to the Christmas Seals Foundation. You can find some song samples for this album on the Danish iTunes.  Rather than try to fit the track list for this 2 CD set next to our album photo, here, we'll save that for the end of the post. The important thing to know is that those NOW Music people are everywhere. It seems like nearly every country in the world has its own NOW series. Well, a lot of them do, anyway. But, in a way, that's really cool. Because each country has their own versions featuring, yes, a lot of stuff you already know, but also the great pop hits of their own country. And, yes, I repeat myself, that is really really cool. NOW Christmas albums, beyond America's borders, have only been released in a few countries thusfar--Great Britain, Canada, Japan, The Netherlands, and Denmark. And the NOW Christmas series out of Denmark has clearly been one of the most successful. PURCHASE THROUGH CDON NOW Christmas 2010 is Denmark's eighth NOW Christmas release, and that's as many Christmas releases as in the UK (where the NOW folks began their empire) and more than in the US. And one reason the Denmark releases do so well is their inclusion of a wide variety of selections, musically and nationally. Even on the English speaking tracks, there's an interesting assortment, including Olivia Newton John & Michael McDonald singing "All Through The Night", Bill Haley & The Comets doing "Jingle Bell Rock", The Spice Girls' "Sleigh Ride", Linda Ronstadt's "When You Wish Upon A Star" and, not Band Aid, but Band Aid II. Not saying any of those are unique, but they are different. Different? This one's even got "Jingle Bombs" by Achmed The Dead Terrorist (comedian Jeff Dunham). And, of course, where else are you going to get all that, John Mogensen's "Bjældeklang-Kender I den om Rudolf" AND the Tuborg Holiday Jingle? Anyway, here's the full track list (plus another video at the bottom): Disc 1 1. Queen – Thank God It’s Christmas 2. Drengene Fra Angora – Jul I Angora 3. Band Aid II – Do They Know It’s Christmas 4. Pet Shop Boys – It Doesnt Often Snow At Christmas 5. Otto Brandenburg – Sren Banjomus 6. Cliff Richard – Mistletoe & Wine 7. D:A:D – Sad Sad X-mas 8. Caroline Henderson – Vil Du Vre Min I Nat 9. Roy Wood & Wizzard – I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday 10. Cartoons – Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 11. Olivia Newton-John & Michael McDonald – All Through The Night 12. Sanne Salomonsen Og Nikolaj Steen – Vi Lover Hinanden 13. Martin Brygmann Og Julie Berthelsen – Jesus Og Josefine 14. Sren Sko – Min Engel 15. Spice Girls – Sleigh Ride 16. Gnags – Der Sidder To Nisser 17. John Mogensen – Bjldeklang/Kender I Den Om Rudolf 18. Ashley Tisdale – Last Christmas 19. Julie Maria Og Alis – Pagten (Uden Hinanden) 20. Sinne Eeg & Bobo Moreno – Baby It’s Cold Outside 21. Tuborg Juleband – Tuborg Julebryg Jingle (Hidden Track) Disc 2 1. John Lennon & Yoko Ono – Happy Xmas (War Is Over) 2. Anden – Jul Pa Vesterbro 3. Chris Rea – Driving Home For Christmas 4. Shu-Bi-Dua – Rap Jul 5. Mel & Kim – Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree 6. Flemming ‘Bamse’ Jrgensen – Jul Pa Vimmersvej 7. Kylie Minogue – Santa Baby 8. Nordstrm – Danmark, Det Er Jul 9. Dean Martin – White Christmas 10. Bossen Og Bumsen – Op Til Jul 11. The Pretenders – Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas 12. Nanny Og Martin Brygmann – Alle Ku’ Se Det Ske 13. Bill Haley & His Comets – Jinglle Bell Rock 14. Monrad Og Rislund – Jul Igen (Remix) 15. Kate Bush – December Will Be Magic Again 16. Tomym Seebach – Vi nsker Alle En Gldelig Jul 17. Natalie Cole – Jingle Bells 18. Laid Back – So This Is X-Mas 19. Ss Fenger – Jeg Holder je Med Dig (2009) 20. Linda Ronstadt – When You Wish Upen A Star 21. Achmed – The Dead Terrorist – Jingle Bombs (Hidden Track) Måns Zelmerlöw was a contestant on the Swedish version of American Idol back in 2005, so you'd figure that's the kind of music he does. But judging only from the brief YouTube clip above, "Christmas With Friends" might be the blissful surprise of the 2010 Christmas music season. For all the artists who have tried, I don't think anyone has better captured the sound and spirit of the classic discs of old from artists like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and others in that vein. Again, I've only got a minute and a half clip to go by. But I'm really liking that sound. The album was done in association with the World Childhood Foundation, a charity, and features collaborations with popular Swedish artists including Björn Skifs (Blue Swede), Lunds Studentsångare, Pauline, Göteborgs symfoniorkester and Pernilla Andersson. "Christmas With Friends" boasts two original tracks, "December" and "Vit som en snö" ("White as Snow"). The album will be sold exclusively through ICA Stores (a large Swedish retailer). Not entirely new to Christmas music, Måns did a duet with another 2005 "Idol" contestant, Agness Carlsson (who won that year), on a 2007 rendition of Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas" which, within minutes, became the ad campaign for MQ, a mega-store not unlike Target. But the sound on that one was much more Poppish than the lush sound of this clip for the upcoming album. I might just have to go out of my way to get this one.  1. Jag drömmer om en jul hemma 2. Christmas Song 3. I Pray on Christmas (with Björn Skifs) 4. December 5. Oh, come all ye faitful 6. All I Want for Christmas Is You (with Pauline) 7. Tometen jag vill ha en riktig jul 8. The Angel Gabriel (with Lunds studentsångare) 9. Winter Wonderland 10. Christmas (Baby please come home) 11. Vit som en snö (with Pernilla Andersson) No Purchase Link Yet  1. Jeuno --Starlight Celebration (Final Fantasy IX) 2. CAPTAIN SQUARE~星屑のキャプテン / X'mas Edit (Live A Live) 3. ゴールドソーサー~空駆けるハイ?インド / X'mas Edit (Final Fantasy VII) 4. 魔法都市ジオ / X'mas Edit (Legend of Mana) 5. 風の憧憬 / X'mas Edit (Chrono Trigger) 6. Botshaft / Post Production Mitsuto Suzuki Mix (SaGa Frontier II) 7. チョコボのハッピークリスマス (Chocobo) PURCHASE THROUGH AMAZON JAPAN This is one of the most interesting, and possibly one of the most bizarre, Christmas releases of 2010. Honestly, one of my prime motivations for putting up an International page was so that I could feature this Japanese release. Square Enix, for those of us who don't know, is the company behind a whole host of console role-playing games (CRPG) and franchises, like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. There is an entire universe of adolescents and adults absolutely devoted to these games. I see commercials for some of these things and hear stories about lines around the block at Midnight and wonder, "what's all this about then?" I peaked out at Pac Man, personally. Now I'm told that Western (US) games and Eastern (Asia) games are completely different, but I don't know anything about that. What I do know something about is Christmas music. The selections on this CD from Square Enix are Christmas adaptations of CRPG theme music. And, judging from the samples put up on YouTube, there are few finer examples of how Christmas music from far away lands can sound "so different and new and yet somehow so familiar." Check it. This is track 7, which I'm told translates to "Happy Christmas", adapted from the theme to the CRPG Chocobo. Awesome, isn't it? "Xmas Collections, Music from Square Enix" drops in Japan on November 24. Due to the high import costs and all, I doubt I'll be picking this one up anytime soon. But I know it's out there. And I'm going to get it, eventually. Here's another clip, adapted from the game Chrono Trigger. This one supposedly translates as "Yearnings Of The Wind".  1. JUL, JUL STRÅLANDE JUL (Bright Shining Yule) 2. NÄR DET LIDER MOT JUL (Christmas Draws Nigh) 3. ALLELUJA 4. PIE JESU (FAURÉ) 5. SANTA LUCIA (with Charles Castronovo) 6. LAUDAMUS TE 7. STILLA NATT (Silent Night) 8. LAUDATE DOMINUM 9. KOPPÅNGEN 10. ETERNAL SOURCE OF LIGHT DIVINE 11. BRED DINA VIDA VINGAR (Spread Thy Wide Wings) 12. PIE JESU (WEBBER) 13. BETLEHEMS STJÄRNA (Star Of Bethlehem) 14. AVE MARIA (with Martin Frost) 15. MARIAS VAGGSÅNG (Maria's Lullaby) 16. DEN SIGNADE DAG (O Blessed Day) ARTIST'S SITE PURCHASE CD THROUGH ARTIST'S SITE Malena Ernman initially made her name in Opera but has moved more and more towards Cabaret Pop. Ernman's most recent albums have contained elements and performances of both, which can be a little of a disconcerting juxtaposition, though Ernman blends the two fairly well. And, in the 2009 Eurovision competition, she went full-on Techno Pop with her poperatic performance of "La Voix". I'm not a big fan of any of those genres but, based on the little I've listened to, I'd have to say Ernman is an exceptional Opera singer, bringing an uncommon delicacy to her vocal performances. But "La Voix" is really quite catchy in spite of itself, putting a uniquely European spin on the old Phil Spector kitchen-sink "Wall of Sound" concept. The track list, here, looks to be a combination of Traditional Swedish Christmas songs and Classical. "Jul Jul Stralande Jul", for example, is practically Sweden's "White Christmas". Song title translations are mine, but hopefully accurate. If a Malena Ernman Christmas album is something you've been pining for, you can pre-order an autographed copy from her website for roughly $22.50 (149 kronar), plus 55 kronar shipping (about $8.30). Above, we gave you a performance of "Pie Jesu (Faure)", which appears on "Santa Lucia". But I'd truly be remiss if I didn't also include "La Voix". I promise you it's great. |
InternationalWhen it's Christmas, it's Christmas all over the world. And I've long been fascinated by the holiday songs of faraway lands--so different and new and yet somehow so familiar. ArchivesChristian Bautista Categories
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