2. Do You Hear What I Hear
3. Winter Wonderland
4. Oh Holy Night
5. Old Toy Trains
6. Jingle Bell Rock
7. The Christmas Song
8. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
9. Go Tell It On The Mountain
10. Let It Snow
11. Auld Lang Syne
ARTIST SITE
iTUNES
1. It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year 2. Do You Hear What I Hear 3. Winter Wonderland 4. Oh Holy Night 5. Old Toy Trains 6. Jingle Bell Rock 7. The Christmas Song 8. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear 9. Go Tell It On The Mountain 10. Let It Snow 11. Auld Lang Syne ARTIST SITE iTUNES Known primarily for her Celtic fiddle playing (as with the performance band Bowfire), Kelli Trottier plays it fairly straight on "Memories of Christmas" and the result is a cozy down home outing. Trottier is an award winning violinist and her previous solo albums have featured a wide range of musical styles--from Celtic to bluegrass to pop to neo-Classical. But, for "Memories of Christmas", Kelli mostly sticks to traditional and country arrangements. Those who wish Kelli would sing more often will have the opportunity to soak in her sunny vocals throughout this album. Highlights for me included Roger Miller's "Old Toy Trains" and "Auld Lang Syne". At the moment, you can get the download version of Kelli's set through iTunes. For hard copy CDs, head straight to Kelli's web store.
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1. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 2. Hark The Herald Angels Sing 3. What Child Is This? 4. Magnificat 5. How Suddenly A Baby Cries 6. Joy Has Dawned/Angels We Have Heard On High 7. Jesus Joy Of The Highest Heaven 8. Carol Of The Bells 9. O Savior Of Our Fallen Race 10. Fullness Of Grace 11. Joy To The World (finale) 12. An Irish Christmas Blessing AMAZON CHRISTIAN BOOK ARTIST SITE In the last several years, the church has seen the rise of a "modern hymn" movement. Many talented Christian singers and songwriters feel strongly that the music of the church has become shallow and stale. Let's face it, it's been centuries since the church updated its playlist and the singing of the ancient hymns in worship services is often by rote. The modern hymnists aim is to bring meaningful relatable Christ-centered music back to the church. They take Bible passages and messages, sometimes even the old hymns themselves, modernize the language to make the lyrics relatable, give them a poetic rewrite, and set them to music that is accessible to multiple generations. This movement is completely separate from the Contemporary Christian movement, though their paths do cross on occasion.
Among the foremost practitioners of the "modern hymn" movement are Keith & Kristyn Getty, a married couple from Ireland now living and creating their music in America. Partly in celebration of the birth of their first child, the couple decided to create a Christmas album. About half the songs on "Joy-An Irish Christmas" are the old carols while the other half are newly written pieces. I'm not about to run out and buy up all of the Getty family's modern hymn albums. But, as you might expect, this sort of thing works really well with Christmas music. Really well. And all the more so with the Irish flavor the couple adds in to the mix. "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen", as interpreted here, is quite dynamic and joyous. And Irish! In many more traditional arrangements, the song is much more somber--sometimes to the point of being depressing. This album might be worth it for that track alone. But everything else hit just the right notes as well. Whether turning an ancient carol into a modern Irish jig, or spinning a beautiful original ballad, Keith & Kristyn Getty have crafted a truly magnificent holiday album. About the only song that didn't click with me was "Jesu Joy Of The Highest Heaven". But that was more than made up for by a trio of absolutely stunning originals--"How Suddenly A Baby Cries", "Fullness Of Grace" and "An Irish Christmas Blessing". The Getty's are even offering up a free download of their medley of "Joy Has Dawned" and "Angels We Have Heard On High" (which, ironically, is my second least favorite track on the album...but free is free). Just hit the little downward arrow on the Soundcloud widget above. Or head to Soundcloud yourself to pick it up. And just make sure to check out all the clips (available on the Getty's web site) before deciding whether or not "Joy-An Irish Christmas" is for you. You might be surprised. I was. 1. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/Joy To The World 2. Balulalow 3. Christmas Eve 4. Little Drummer Boy 5. Da' Day Dawis 6. O Holy Night 7. Baloo Lammy 8. Wexford Carol 9. What Child Is This/Irish Reel Set 10. The First Noel 11. O Come, O Come Emmanuel 12. The Greatest Gift 13. Drowsie Maggie/Rakish Paddy 14. Silent Night AMAZON ARTIST SITE The band formerly known as The Blair Band, The Celts are poised to attempt to do for Celtic music what Mannheim Steamroller did for...whatever it is they do. The Celts sound is a fusion of ancient Celtic instruments and rhythms with the electric instruments and Rock rhythms of today. Not that attempts at such a fusion haven't been made in the past. But most of those previous efforts tended to lean heavily in either one direction or the other. The Celts are striving for the perfect mix here. And it's not that The Celts are new; Ric Blair's band has been touring the globe for 15 years. No, I think the new ingredient here, just as it was for Mannheim Steamroller, is Christmas.
"Christmas With The Celts" captures both the fiery and the more quiet moods of the season in a way that, perhaps, only Celtic music can. AND (and its a big "and") The Celts are not only releasing this Christmas album, but they will be featured in a PBS special, "Christmas With The Celts", beginning December 1. Naturally, they'll be an accompanying DVD as well. So keep your ears and eyes peeled for The Celts this Christmas. And, for now, may your pockets be heavy and your hearts be light and may good luck pursue you each morning and night. 1. Ding Dong Merrily On High 2. O Come, O Come Emmanuel 3. Bring The Torch, Jeanette Isabella 4. Joy To The World 5. Silent Night 6. God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen 7. Lo How Arroz Con Pollo 8. Jingle Bells 9. The 12 Days Of Christmas 10. Angels We Have Heard On High 11. Fum, Fum, Fum 12. O Christmas Tree 13. Coventry Carol 14. Campanas de Belen AMAZON MP3 ARTIST SITE Festive, acoustic and enchanting; Moat Jumper is a musical group that blends Renaissance, Medieval, Traditional Celtic and Middle Eastern styles. Multi-instrumentalist Joe Matzzie, drawing upon his experience playing music at Renaissance festivals, created Moat Jumper.
And now for something completely different.... Proving once again that everything old is new again, ladies and gentlemen, I give you Moat Jumper. Moat Jumper is essentially a "super group" of the finest Renaissance Fair musicians in all the land. Joe Matzzie is an accomplished guitar and hammered dulcimer player who has previously recorded albums as part of the group Mince Pye. While playing at the New York Renaissance Faire, Joe met Stefan Dollack who was an adept player of such unusual period instruments as the hurdy gurdy and the bladder pipe. Rounding out the troupe are world class percussionist Reid DeFever, Paul Nowell on sackbut, and violinist Mindy O'Brien, herself a veteran of the Texas Renaissance Fair. The musicianship is top-notch throughout Moat Jumper's debut recording and the music itself is about what you'd expect from accomplished Renaissance Fair artists. If you've got a bit of the taste for Celtic or Medieval Classical music, or if you were charmed by the Christmas record from Blackmore's Night, this might be something you'll want to give a listen to. Heck, it'd make a nice companion piece to Putumayo's "Celtic Christmas", if that one's on your wish list this year. For those of us who just like to sample a bit of everything Christmasy, I found "Coventry Carol" decidedly tender, "Lo How Arroz Con Pollo" intriguingly daring, and "12 Days of Christmas" surprisingly spritely. "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" is borderline psychedelic and, on first listen, probably the track I'd most recommend to Christmas music junkies like myself (your mileage may vary). And "Jingle Bells" didn't work for me at all. At times, I wondered how a Renaissance rendition of, say, Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" might have played in the mix, but its likely best not to fool with Mother Nature (if you know what I'm saying). "Christmas At The Renaissance Fair" has a scheduled release date of October 18 and should be available in both hard copy and digital download formats through Amazon, CD Baby, and other Internet music sellers. (track list may not be final; see "edit" below) THE ALBION CHRISTMAS BAND - Here We Come A Wassailing (2009) CHARLES COZENS - O Come, O Come Emmanuel (2008) THE GOTHARD SISTERS - Little Drummer Girl (2010) DRUID STONE - Noel Nouvelet (2001) DAVID HUNTSINGER - Angels We Have Heard On High (2009) CHARLES COZENS - Good King Wenceslas (2008) LASAIRFHIONA NI CHONAOLA - Nollaig Bhan (White Christmas) STEVE SCHUCH & NIGHT HERON - Joy To The World (1998) ??? TERESA DOYLE - Bells Will Be Ringing ??? AINE MINOGUE - Jezebel Carol (1997) DAVID ARKENSTONE - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (2006) DOUGIE MacLEAN - Auld Lang Syne (1995) CD UNIVERSE LABEL WEB SITE Edit: Our friends at Santas Working Overtime have discovered Putumayo's collection on Bandcamp. So I've changed the track listing to reflect the Bandcamp track listing with one exception. It would seem that Teresa Doyle has been replaced by Steve Schuch & Night Heron, which is far less exciting. Not only that, but it would reduce to "one" the number of newly recorded tracks. So I've left Teresa on the list on the hope that her track simply wasn't ready yet. No such thoughts can exist about Charles Cozens' "Good King Wenceslas" being used in lieu of Celtic Nots', since both are previously released recordings. We'll have to see what the final final track listing actually looks like. In the meantime, it's really cool to have such a preview available.
________________ You can usually count on World Music label Putumayo to add a little extra fun, a little extra spice and seasoning, to the year's holiday festivities. Previous Putumayo Christmas releases include "Jazz & Blues Christmas", "A Family Christmas", and "New Orleans Christmas". For 2011, Putumayo casts their Christmas eye to the Emerald Isle, presenting us with a green Christmas...a "Celtic Christmas". Beautiful voices, entrancing Celtic instrumentation, and classic Christmas carols. Nothing could be finer on the road to Lisdoonvarna in the morning. As there were promised a few tracks recorded specifically for this project, I went ahead and tracked down the release years of the tracks on the collection, revealing Lasairfhiona's gaelic rendition of"White Christmas" and Teresa Doyle's "Bells Will Be Ringing" to be the all new recordings and, knowing the little I do about the music of those two, I suspect that those songs alone will be worth the price of admission. If "Putumayo Presents Celtic Christmas" is anything like previous Putumayo releases, you'll not only enjoy a unique old world holiday experience, you're likely to find yourself drawn to investigate further the music of these wonderful artists. And that's no blarney. |
PREviewsI don't know about you, but I want to see that cover art and I want to see that track list before I make my Christmas music purchasing decisions. The earlier the better. That's what we try to do for you here. We'll also try to give you a little background on the artist(s), in case they're new to you. Archives2010 PREviews Categories
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