December 21, 2003

Only one man's interpretation of Christmas music has really made me merry this year. I had originally planned something longer and rantier about commercialization of Xmas music, but the hell with that. I'm addressing Christmas cards and listening to the best version of "What Child is This" I've heard. The Trio's music evokes a lot of good memories from my childhood; the excitement of Santa's visit, the weeks before Christmas where we'd see relatives from far-away places and make cookies, construction paper snowflakes, pipe-cleaner angels, popcorn garlands and many other craft ornaments and, of course, the presents. Most interesting to me is the intensity of these seasonal experiences, while the remembrance of the material aspects of gift-getting is much more muted.
posted by boo_radley 20 years ago
  • Oh, Hell yeah. This is my absolute favorite Christmas album of all time. I've listened to it daily for the past week, and yearly for about ten years.
  • I haven't listened to any Christmas music yet except the elevator music at the mall, but I have a serious hankering this year for a drunk Dean Marton crooning "Silver Bells".
  • Fantastic link and post, boo!
  • speaking of holiday music...
  • I have a pathological hatred of Christmas songs. I don't get who enjoys them. The only people I can think of who actually like Christmas music are the people who pick CDs to play in shops and pubs. Halfway through September they get a feverish look in their eye, start gibbering, and make insane grabs at anything which looks like it might contain sleigh bells or a children's choir.
  • SideDish: interesting link, thanks. Thinking of recent Christmas songs that I think of "classic" I only come up with Christmas by The Posies from Just Say Noel.
  • Guaraldi transcends Christmas. "Linus and Lucy" is happiness, embodied in a jazz trio. But I'm pretty much with BBF on Christmas songs. Even the few good ones IMO (caroling standards: Coventry carol, "Les Anges dan nos Campagnes," etc.) are spoiled by the carpet-bombing delivery that seems to start earlier every year. This newswire story claims that one radio station started spinning the Christmas wax at Halloween. I didn't hear anything quite that early, but I did have to flee a full-metal-holiday-jacket Starbucks in mid November, in a shopping center on Maui. Surreal.
  • bbf & goetter : I'm mostly in your camp(s). The typical crud I hear piped in at malls, restaurants &etc. is awful. It's because most modern artists (the industry performers who "move units") who do interpretations of Christmas songs seem to have some desire to be "taken seriously" or "show respect" to the issue. It's these people who churn out overwrough, overproduced crap-piles that makes Christmas difficult to bear. All false sentiment spray painted on like plastic flocking shot out of an industrial blower. All lying smiles designed to tug at ignorant people's heartstrings and wallets. The best songs are simple and sincere; two traits which are severely undervalued anymore.
  • Basic Hip has a new (old) Christmas album up for download or stream every 3-5 days. It's good old stuff from jazzy 60's christmas interpretations to electronica from the 70's, to sensual bedroom pr0n Christmas music, to...well, just about all styles, shape, and colour. I heartily endorse it.
  • Blaise, I know the feeling, but if you're away from Christmas music for long enough, you get back to liking it. It's not bad music, it's just overexposure. I live in Japan, and since I haven't been eating out at fast food places or going to Starbucks (or, incidentally, Christmas shopping), I haven't heard much Christmas music for the last few years. I've noticed that as Christmas rolls around, I actually have a desire to hear a few Christmas songs (for some reason, I keep singing the lyrics to "Winter Wonderland" in my head). Sure, it's not amazingly good music, per se, but once the overexposure wears off, you're left with the residual attachment that you got to Christmas music when you were a kid and Christmas was fun. (Assuming your parents didn't get killed on Christmas or anything like that)
  • Guraldi's trio is that getting-out-of-school, presents coming, people visiting, food, possible snow, everything's-okay feeling. $0.02
  • This Christmas album is excellent.
  • I was about to recommend that EP. I bought it a week or so ago, and it's making me feel very Christmassy in a slow, reflective, drinking-half-a-bottle-of-scotch-on-my-own-whilst-the-fire-runs-out-of-coal kinda way.
  • I'm surprised I didn't comment on this one before. I had been an official monkey for about 4 days now. What was I doing? Enjoying time with family and friends!? Anyway, my freshling year in college, I was in a triple (a big ol' room of which many stories could be related) and we played Guraldi's "Charlie Brown Christmas" for about 18 hours straight--in part to drive one of the three of us nuts. One might say peanuts. (I wouldn't say it, but you might). But in any case, reading the biography gave me that wistful Guraldi feeling all over again...and a urge to get the album. A most welcome holiday post!
  • I am a big fan of this, regardless of the producer's personal actions...
  • I just got "The McGarrigle Christmas Hour" and I cant recommend it highly enough. Some of it's traditional, some of it not, but it's all good. Really cheering me up after another hateful Christmas with my family.