Tag: Christmas Music

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Christmas playlist part six: The Nightmare Before Christmas

Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a holiday staple around these parts. It has been for me since I first saw the movie in 1993. It’s a classic that stands up to A Charlie Brown Christmas and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas but with the added fun of being a little twisted.

How much do we love this movie? Meg and I had Jack & Sally cake toppers at our Halloween-themed wedding last year. (Technically, they didn’t sit on top of the cake because we had a cake buffet, but I digress.) Continue reading “Christmas playlist part six: The Nightmare Before Christmas”

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Christmas playlist part four: Strange Communion by Thea Gilmore

Album cover: Strange Communion by Thea Gilmore

Strange Communion (2009) may not be an according-to-Hoyle Christmas album, but it’s a great album for the season.

The album has a few songs specifically about Christmas, but the whole album is definitely winter-themed and the kind of thing you can really dig into when the weather cools off and it’s dark before six p.m.

Album cover: Strange Communion by Thea GilmoreI think it was Simon Phipps that recommended Thea Gilmore to me a number of years ago over Twitter. Great recommendation, I must say.

“That’ll Be Christmas” should be a standard. It’s a perfect little pop tune that’ll stick with you for days after just one listen.

“Listen the Snow is Falling” is a cover of the B-side to John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over).” This cover is much more intimate, and you can practically feel the crisp air and snowflakes landing on your face.

I nearly get sensory overload listening to “December in New York.” When the song swells with Gilmore’s voice and strings at the same time, I leave the world behind for a bit.

“Book of Christmas” is probably the only song on the album that I’d skip on heavy rotation. The spoken word delivery and instrumentals don’t seem to fit with the rest of the album. It’s not terrible, but in the light of the other tracks it’s a weak entry.

Happily, “Old December” puts us back on track, and there’s a cheerier and poppier mix of “That’ll be Christmas” bonus track to wrap up the disc.

Strange Communion is another annual tradition for me. Give it a listen or three, you might want to add it to your Christmas rotation too.

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Christmas playlist part three: A Charlie Brown Christmas

Album cover: A Charlie Brown Christmas - Vince Guaraldi Trio

Album cover: A Charlie Brown Christmas - Vince Guaraldi TrioA Charlie Brown Christmas, the animated TV special, has always existed. At least, that’s how it seemed to me as a kid. It’s how it seems now, really. I don’t remember watching it the first time, it just was a tradition that we observed as a family.

It was one of those “kids shows” that (not so) strangely, I never had to persuade my parents to watch. I can’t swear to this, but I don’t think we ever missed an annual airing of the special on CBS. Continue reading “Christmas playlist part three: A Charlie Brown Christmas”

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Christmas playlist part two: Wintersong by Sarah McLachlan

Album cover: Wintersong by Sarah McLachlan

Apparently 2006 was a banner year for Christmas albums. Well, two, anyway. Aimee Mann’s One More Drifter in the Snow, which I covered yesterday, and Sarah McLachlan’s Wintersong were both released in October 2006. Both albums are well worth the money, though McLachlan’s Wintersong strikes me as the more traditional of the two.

Like Mann’s Drifter, Wintersong is largely composed of covers, with only the title track being an original by McLachlan.

The album starts with McLachlan’s take on the John Lennon / Yoko Ono single, “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” I might even prefer it to the original, depending on the day and my mood.

While Mann’s take on Christmas is a little melancholy and anti-commercial, McLachlan’s album embraces the holiday spirit full force. It’s interesting to compare the songs they both chose to cover, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” to juxtapose the arrangements and moods. In McLachlan’s hands, “Have Yourself” is fully traditional. Mann’s is celebratory but also a little world-weary and wise.

“Wintersong” is my favorite track on the album. It’s sultry and lovely, very much in the vein of some of my favorite McLachlan songs from earlier albums like Surfacing.

Really, there’s not a bad track on the album. It’ll fade into the background while you’re trimming the tree or otherwise celebrating, but it also rewards close listening. Nice gift if you have friends or family who enjoy Christmas music, too.

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Christmas playlist part one: Aimee Mann

Cover: Aimee Mann "One More Drifter in the Snow"

If the phrase “Aimee Mann Christmas album” seems weird at first, you’re not alone. Most Christmas albums seem like cash grabs, which would be weird for Indie-to-the-core Mann. Rest assured, this is not your standard Christmas fare. Mann’s not afraid to be downbeat and explore the somber side of the holiday.

Mann’s Christmas album includes a mix of standards and two originals, one by Mann and Paul Bryan, one by Mann’s husband Michael Penn (“Christmastime”). “Whatever Happened to Christmas” opens the album, a perfect tune for drinking whiskey by the fire, alone.

“The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” is beautiful but not exactly joyous. Penn’s contribution, “Christmastime,” brings to mind hints of Elvis Costello It’s one of my favorite tracks on the album, but I doubt you’ll be hearing it on the department store rotation this holiday season.

Mann’s take on “You’re A Mean One Mr. Grinch” is fun. It’s faithful to the original without being a carbon copy, with Grant Lee Philips doing co-vocal duties. It’s hard to live up to Thurl Ravenscroft’s original take, but Philips does an admirable job.

If you want to feel the traditional Christmas spirit, Mann’s take on “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” is what the proverbial doctor ordered. You know, if doctors ordered that sort of thing.

“Calling on Mary,” the Mann/Bryan original, is my favorite track on the album and feels a lot like Mann’s previous album The Forgotten Arm. It would have been right at home on that album. It’s also the source of the album title:

Calling on Mary is voluntary
Unless you’re alone like me
If there’s a star above, then it can look like love
When they light up the Christmas tree

And to all the lost souls down below:
Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas
What’s one more drifter in the snow?
Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas

Bonus Track “I Was Thinking I Could Clean Up for Christmas”

Off the aforementioned Forgotten Arm album, “Clean Up for Christmas” is about kicking an addiction in time for Christmas. Not exactly festive, but it’s a powerful and gorgeous song.

Tried to find a good YouTube version to link to, but to my ear the uploads I found were a bit off. Do dial it up on the streaming service of your choice if you haven’t listened to it before. Actually, just go ahead and cue up The Forgotten Arm and One More Drifter in the Snow back to back if you’ve got a little time and would like an antidote to schmaltzy Christmas tunes this week.

Back tomorrow with another peek into my Christmastime playlist. If you have suggestions, please share!