Review - Time Life Treasury of Christmas

Frequently during my youth, my family of seven would pack into the van and brave the hour-long trip from Fort Wayne to Wabash where two sets of grandparents and sundry other relatives awaited. Five kids, one hour, no hand-held electronic games. During the holiday season, this intolerably long drive was tempered with Christmas music via an 8-track and later a hungry cassette deck. Chuck Mangione reigned as king during the rest of the year but at Christmas he graciously stepped aside for John Denver And The Muppets (A Christmas Together) and the Time-Life Treasury of Christmas. In a futile attempt to get this crusty old curmudgeon into the Christmas spirit, I recently purchased the 2-CD set Treasury of Christmas and this review is my festive way of making said purchase a tax deductible business expense. Ho ho ho!

The first few seconds took me back in an instant: Perry Como crooning "Home For the Holidays", although I didn't remember him jazzing things up so much: such are the selective memories of youth. Then came the definitive edition of "White Christmas", sung by none other than Bing Crosby. Andy Williams treated me to "Do You Hear What I Hear?" and "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" (they really knew how to make long song titles back in those days) and Gene Autry did his best with "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer." Of course everyone remembers the world famous Harry Simeone Chorale and their stirring rendition of "The Little Drummer Boy". Never one to back down from a challenge, the Robert Shaw Chorale rejoinder is their medley version of "Carol of the Bells/ Deck The Halls", although it ends up being spookily reminiscent of the theme music from The Omen. Judy Garland demands that you "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" and the obligatory Burl Ives joins in with "Holly Jolly Christmas", without which no holiday music collection is complete. There were a number of songs on this 45 song collection that I didn't remember, probably resulting from the fact that even at a young age, the Hoffman boys were ruthless music critics. "NOT THIS SONG AGAIN!" our cheery, grating voices would squeak every time Julie Andrews dared beseech God that those Merry Gentlemen should rest or Lena Horne would thrice invoke the coming of snow. But now I am just a smidgeon more tolerant and can appreciate these classic jewels for the memories and tradition they represent. Should you brave the recently warm weather (where's Lena when you need her?) make sure you don't pick up the bowdlerized version which is also comprised of two CDs but could have been put onto one. A scant twenty-four tracks grace this version which is "based on" the original "as seen on TV" set (always a good sign) and also contains a number of what one can only politely call substitutions. Luciano Pavarotti singing "O Holy Night" in place of Perry Como and Alabama sawing through "Tennessee Christmas" are but two of these aberrations: you've been warned. If you're buying the album for nostalgic memories, you want to make dad-blurned sure you get Fred Waring And the Pennsylvanians and their jazzy take on "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" so hunt down the complete 45 song version. Anything less just wouldn't be Christmas.

This review first appeared in WhatzUp, December 2001.

Review - Kustard Kings - Kustard Kristmas and various Christmas

The Kustard Kings album is one fine piece of work. I listen to it every year, perhaps multiple times, becoming a family tradition. The other albums in this review, well, I honestly had forgotten they existed.

The fine folks at Confidential Recordings decided that what their roster really needed was a trio of instrumental Christmas albums designed for today's jaded youth.

Husky Team weighs in with Christmas in Memphis, twelve tracks and thirty-two minutes of Yuletide goodness. Comprised of Dave Amels, inventor of many keyboard products, and Dennis Dikens, former drummer with The Smithereens, Husky Team have striven to combine classic Memphis R&B grooves with a classic Christmas sound. The first track that caught my attention was their take on "Auld Lang Syne" where they combine this treasured song with the memorable riff from the Booker T. and the MG's instrumental rock classic "Green Onions". The other catchy track is "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" where a skating-rink organ is punctuated with a screaming guitar lick. Other tracks include such standards as "Silent Night", "We Three Kings", and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing", each done with a swinging style that incorporates lots of Hammond B3 organ, Wurlitzer piano, and dead-on drumming. However, the sparse instrumentation throughout and the fact that the organ takes the melody on nearly every track makes this the least interesting of the three, at least to my grinchy ears. Still, if you love the early rock Memphis sound or Hammond B3 to the point that you have performed unnatural acts with this instrument, this album will certainly bring many smiles to your face.

Next up on the chopping block is the first solo album from multi-instrumentalist/producer/arranger Jon Graboff, For Christ's Sake!, an even mix of traditional carols, albeit done in creative ways, and newer favorites. The album kicks off with a Nashville-flavored "Sleigh Ride" with lots of fancy pedal steel guitar playing, sleigh bells (or course), wood blocks, and a bevy of real violins! "Winter Wonderland" finds both Spanish and Hawaiian dobros taking the melody in this innovative remake that also includes a Wurlitzer and a bowed upright bass. NQRB's "Christmas Wish" would have become a twangy country song had it not been for the inspiration of adding bongos, mandolin, mandocello, and theremin, all played by Graboff. Pedal Steel guitar on the melody ensures a country sound on the Beach Boys' "Merry Christmas Baby" yet the expertly played tenor and baritone saxophones give just the right balance to keep most of the twang away. The original "Christmas Shopping" reveals Graboff's mixed feelings of the holidays with expressions of good cheer mixed with trepidation, expressed by the piano and guitar doubling the melody for a very nice, relaxed sound. Laura Cantrell's "Too Late For Tonight" opens with Graboff at the sitar before transitioning back to the western world with pedal steel guitar on the melody. The obscure "Thanks For Christmas" by XTC is given a joyous air of distinction with Hammond organ, mandolins aplenty, and pizzicato strings. Other tracks include a Johnny B. Goode-styled take on "Run Rudolph Run" with lots of ragged piano, and the shuffling upbeat groove of "Joy To The World." Although a brief thirty minutes, it's an excellent, creative, alt-country exploration of these treasured songs.

Saving the proverbial best for last is A Kustard Kristmas by the wickedly tight alterna-pop house band at Loser's Lounge, The Kustard Kings. With nearly an hour of material these five kings bear sixteen instrumental gifts guaranteed to even make Scrooge tap his feet. The medley "Holly Jolly Christmas/We Are Santa's Elves" from one of those Rankin/Bass animated Christmas specials is a surf-guitar and organ duet injected with the sugar of three dozen Christmas cookies. The Beach Boys' "Little Saint Nick" mixes the classic version with a riff influenced by "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress" for another energetic excursion. More surf rock is to be found in the original "A Kustard Kristmas" which showcases their classic pop-funk-lounge sound with tastefully restrained guitars and organ juxtaposed with a crushing wall of guitars. "Christmas Night in Harlem" features varied percussion and layer upon layer of squishy, fun keyboard sounds and a colorful Lincoln-era They Might Be Giants sound. As heavy as last years fruitcake is the original "U Sleigh Me" with a monsterously fuzzed-out guitar riff sure to make your behind shake and wiggle. Sporting a groovin' bass line similar to Edgar Winter's Group's "Frankenstein" is the King's take on "Welcome Christmas" from the classic "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" special. With a cowbell recklessly joining the mix of banjo and cartoonish sounds, a wheezy keyboard duels with a strep-throated guitar to make this version delightfully memorable. Another killer track is "Heat Miser Strut", based on the song from another Christmas special, "The Year Without A Santa Claus". Steamy and murky, the melody oozes like lava from a scorching keyboard with subtle wah guitar that later gives way to electric piano that further explores the catchy melody. There are no monster egos in this tight quintet… they are a true ensemble cast and it shows in the musical variety where everyone gets their time in the limelight. The best thing I can say about this crazily inventive album is that I will not be surprised to find myself listening to it in the dead of summer. Yes, it's definitely one album that won't be packed up with all the other Christmas CDs on December 26.

This review first appeared in WhatzUp, December 2002.

Review - City on a Hill - It's Christmas Time

Not one I reach for often... the female refrain of the title track ("It's Christmas time!" over and over) is a big saccharine and oddly secular.

Christmas albums are difficult things. Not only do they only get played two or three weeks out of the year but woe to anyone who tries to write original Christmas songs. Likewise, woe to anyone who simply rerecords songs in the same fashion as those who made the song famous. A further hurdle is the fact that Christmas carols carry such a strong element of childhood nostalgia that it's difficult to determine if we're enjoying the song or the warm memories that accompany the song.

But these obstacles don't deter the release of dozens of Christmas albums each year, many of them mere vanity projects or as bland as unflavored gelatin. Enter City On A Hill - It's Christmas Time, the third installment in the popular (in certain circles) Christian worship album series. If anyone can do justice to a Christmas album it would be a Christian Christmas album, right? Although I've heard more than my fair share of awful Christmas albums from that market, I'm happy to say that It's Christmas Time connects more than it misses.

For a change, this Christmas album contains songs about the birth of Christ. The first single, "It's Christmas Time", is the predictable "let's get all the big artists in one room to trade off vocal leads." As an original Christmas song it's pretty decent, mixing in musical quotes from classic carols to create a more timeless feel. "Silent Night" follows in a beautiful and austere rendition, sung by Leigh Nash of Sixpence None The Richer. With a gentle yet reverent feel, acoustic guitars, and in this case cello, this song is typical of much of the album. The fact that so many songs stick to such simplicity not only gives the entire project a mostly homogenous feel not usually found in "various artists" projects but also helps to tie in the original songs with the classics. Caedmon's Call performs the original "Babe In The Straw" with nice accordion accompaniment compliments of Phil Madeira. Sara Groves lends her fantastic voice to the plaintive yet reverent "Child Of Love", a song which will surely be sung to background tapes in many churches this season. Written and performed by Julie Miller is "Manger Throne", perhaps the best song on the album with a near classic sound that might make it past the guards and into the timeless canon of Christmas carols. "Away In A Manger" is quite brief but is notable for it's pump organ and incredible horn arrangement by John Painter (half of Fleming & John and string arranger for Ben Folds). The final track is "O Holy Night" with a very nice cello arrangement and a stellar vocal performance by Michael Tait, formerly of DC Talk. The only real weak points on the album come from Jars of Clay and Out of Eden. Both abandon the acoustic tone for electronic drumbeats, keyboard sounds and other obviously non-organic timbres, nice songs on their out but sorely out of place. Program those out of your CD player and you've got a very solid, enjoyable Christmas album that effectively manages to mix classics with songs so craftily written that you might forget many of these songs didn't exist one year ago.

This review first appeared in WhatzUp, December 2002.

Review - They Might Be Giants - Holidayland

Ah, the many joys and images of the Christmas season. Snowflakes falling gently to the ground, Santa Claus luring away your wife, snowmen in protective rubber skin. Fans of the quintessential pop duo known as They Might Be Giants have long been familiar with such unorthodox holiday imagery but now these disturbing scenes are available in one convenient, festive package known as Holidayland. The earliest track on this collection is "Santa's Beard", from their infamous Lincoln album. Flansburgh sings "I saw my baby wearing Santa's beard / She kissed him once and whispered in his ear" to a stripped down and ratty guitar paired with a pogo-stick bass beat. Also by Flansburgh is "Careless Santa", originally released by his side band Mono Puff. Before now, "O Tannenbaum" was only available as a special 7" vinyl single from the They Might Be Giants fan club but now it has been converted to a bunch of shiny, laser-encoded pits for your listening pleasure. With J.D. Feinberg utilizing brushes on the drum kit, Linnel sings a drunken jazz version of this famous melody in the original German. Another rarity is the original "Feast of Lights", previously released on a compilation album. The song is played mainly on a harpsichord with the occasional percussion flourish, giving it a spooky, subdued feel. Recorded specifically for this project is a cover of "Santa Claus", written by the legendary 60s band The Sonics. The Giants give this tough, bluesy song a spin in their power-pop blender, creating a delicious holiday beverage. The only Christmas missing from the TMBG catalog is the B-side of the "O Tannenbaum" record, a humorous off-the-cuff ditty called "Christmas Cards" where the singer explains why you won't be getting a Christmas card from him this year: they all seem to get stolen before he can mail them, right out of his desk. But they didn't ask me. They never ask me and to tell you the truth, I'm getting a bit tired of them not asking my opinion. Clocking in a just under twelve minutes, this EP would make a great stocking stuffer.

This review first appeared in WhatzUp, December 2001.

Review - Phil Keaggy - Majesty & Wonder

I had meant to post these before Christmas and plumb forgot. Sugarplumb, that is. I listen to this Christmas album every other year or so. It still doesn't grab me but it's nice wallpaper.

Though best known in the Christian music industry, veteran guitarist Phil Keaggy is revered among guitarists of many faiths for his amazing mastery of the instrument, despite only having nine fingers. Because it appears to be almost mandatory in the Christian music industry to release Christmas albums, Keaggy has finally bowed to the idol with Majesty and Wonder, a Christmas album full of his wonderful playing. In this instrumental collection, Phil displays his wide stylistic range on seven holiday classics plus four original compositions that incredibly hold their own against such well-known Christmas fare. While most of these tracks are accompanied by the London Festival Orchestra or a small ensemble of instruments the focus is almost always on the guitar.

True to the multiple facets of Phil's past music, there are many styles to enjoy on this disc. "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" is a pretty straightforward rendition in classical guitar but the next track, "Good Christian Men Rejoice" switches to a jaunty Celtic dance with penny whistles, violins, and Celtic percussion. "Silent Night" changes the tone yet again with a laid back, almost jazzy feel. A long-time favorite of mine, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" finds the melody traded between acoustic and electric guitars while the orchestra layers each verse with added tension. Other classics that Keaggy includes are "The First Noel", "O Come O Come Emmanual", "What Child is This?" and "O Holy Night". But for me, the highlights are the Keaggy originals. Comprising a three-piece set is the "Nativity Suite" where the interplay between the electric guitar and orchestra is quite dramatic, especially in the finale, "Flight Into Egypt" that incorporates the melody of "Carol of the Bells" into its tapestry.

Overall, the music on this album is quite laid back. If you are expecting the constant roar of electric guitar found on his Crimson and Blue album, you'll be sorely disappointed. But there is quite a bit of technical prowess herein, yet it's not so in-your-face that it draws attention to itself. Rather, this album is great background music that also bears up under close listening. Mellow yet rich.

This review first appeared in WhatzUp, December 2000.