Yeah...been a while since I had anything to say but while digging out from under tons of snow, inspiration struck. Thanks for that snowball.
Anyway, the radio stations near me seem to play the same selections by the same artists...over and over. Andy Williams and Karen Carpenter weren't the only people to sing Christmas songs, and as much as I like to be creeped out by Dean Martin's Baby It's Cold Outside, there are quite a few songs I'd like to see added to the rotation.
SheDaisy's A Brand New Year is one of the best Christmas albums, ever. Don't let their country roots scare you away - they mix original songs with some beautiful re-arrangements of classics. That's What I Want For Christmas is a sultry jazz love song that I wish was just a little longer and I love the guitar in Hark the Herald Angels and Jingle Bells. I could listen to those riffs looped for hours. The only song on the album I can do without, Twist of the Magi, is about two people basically beating the crap out of each other's stuff. Funny, true, but just not my thing.
Aly & Aj's (now 78Violet) Acoustic Hearts doesn't do anything really new with the classics but the duo renders them beautifully. There are a couple of original songs, and you've likely heard them on the radio at some point: Greatest Time of Year and Not This Year (which is typically a good reflection of my Christmas spirit at any given moment). My favorite might be We Three Kings though.
A Charlie Brown Christmas. Can't go wrong with Vince Guaraldi. I'm a sucker for drum brushes across a snare.
Almost anything by Elvis. It's just plain fun to sing along with the King, though Santa Bring My Baby Back (to Me) is my all-time favorite. You can't feel bad while listening to it. Some, like White Christmas, border on the hysterical as Elvis's ability to enunciate devolves as the song goes on.
A song I came across, completely by accident (I think it came in an iTunes freebie compilation), is Meaghan Smith's It Snowed. Another sultry, jazzy song that makes me want to take my wife in my arms and foxtrot across the floor? Yes, thank you.
Can you think of a more unlikely pairing than Bing Crosby and David Bowie? Yeah, probably, but would the result be as good as their Little Drummer Boy / Peace on Earth? A shame this didn't get much airplay while I was growing up - in fact, I think the first time I heard this was after college. Nice to hear it more frequently now.
More recent, Kelly Clarkson's Wrapped in Red is a great addition to any holiday playlist. Run Run Rudolph is HOT and 4 Carats is a more upbeat, breathy take on Santa Baby. Oh. Oh.
And lastly, two more singles for holiday fun: Straight No Chaser's 12 Days of Christmas and Spiraling's Do You Hear What I Hear? If you haven't heard of Straight No Chaser or their humorous 12 Days...get thee out from under that rock and to YouTube now! Go on, I'll wait.
Back? See? Fun. Looking for something with a little more edge? Spiraling mashes Do You Hear with The Who's Baba O'Riley. A Christmas song you can play air guitar to? Sweet.
So, those are just some of my favorite holiday selections. There are certainly a number of songs I would happy to never hear again - if I'm feeling especially cynical, they might find their way into another post. For now, Merry Christmas.
