Last Christmas, we talked about what a tragedy it is that poppy Christmas music has become the most obnoxious part of the most wonderful time of the year. In that same spirit of avoiding the Christmas tunes that drive us mad, here's a list of 12 different kinds of Christmas tracks - from the bizarre to the baroque - that you probably haven't heard, and should.
Pearl Jam - Let Me Sleep
Ella Fitzgerald - The Secret of Christmas
Friar Alessandro - Sancta Maria
Miles Davis & Gil Evans - Blue Xmas
Mogwai - Christmas Song
The Chieftans - A Breton Carol (Lyrics)
Sufjan Stevens - The Child with the Star on His Head
The Soul Stirrers - Christmas Means Love
Chris Cornell - Ave Maria
(Okay, so you've heard this one before. But not like this.)
The Soul Stirrers - Christmas Means Love
Chris Cornell - Ave Maria
(Okay, so you've heard this one before. But not like this.)
The Dale Warland Singers - O Magnum Mysterium
Excellent choices.
ReplyDeleteIf I can post my own 12:
1) The wonderfully warm Christmas celebration of extended family ties, "It's a Big Country" by Davitt Sigerson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDXZsydJU2c
2) "December" by The Waterboys - A wild joy for the month, with the penultimate reason in the last stanza: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dneQheeevWo
3) "Remember Bethlehem" by Dee Mullins - an old-timey song, which is really about the physical universe standing in awe of the arrival of the Infinite into our world...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-Pa2ARdIjI
4) "Mary Had a Baby" - Bruce Cockburn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syS9wU1Sr8A
5) "Fourth Man in the Fire by Johnny Cash - not technically a Christmas song, but I first heard it on one of Johnny Cash's Christmas specials as a teenager and always loved this rollicking ballad of those stiff-necked Israelite men, Shadrach, Mesach, and Abed-Nego, who resisted wicked Nebuchadnezar with the aid of the Fourth Man http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgWjWMS56Vc
6) Ave Maria - I have always enjoyed the Chris Cornell version you posted, as well as the (very Catholic) Aaron Neville's, and the Cramberries/Luciano Pavarotti version, but the wonderful voice and piano playing of Warren Zevon, one of my all-time favorite singers, has to be my favorite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuEqSQDDzNM
7) The Heat Miser / Snow Miser Song - An incredibly catch and surreal number that stands out in an otherwise completely forgettable 1970s Rankin Bass Christmas special. Who are all those little mini-me's dancing with the characters? Their children? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yon2YuXssvo
8) The dBs' "Home for the Holidays" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er_WKb63LMw - a country-flavored song about well, going home for the holidays, a little more upbeat that "I'll be Home for Christmas" and a great holiday traveling song.
9) "Gabriel's Message" by Sting - lots of songs about Christmas, not as many about the Annunciation. This one is lovely: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DpCJY6QEMI
10) "Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow" by Jethro Tull - Remember the less fortunate at Christmas, and whatever we do to the least of our brothers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okdCqg3I8-4
11) Bill Nighy channeling Davey Jones and Robert Palmer as has-been rock superstar Billy Mack in "Christmas is All Around" - intended as a parody in "Love, Actually" of a cheesy attempt to cash in on Christmas...but I still love it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl2vX229e1A or the CD version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjWRV0dCg7c
12) "The St. Stephen's Day Murders" - The Chieftans with Elvis Costello - a somewhat sanguinary song about relatives who overstay their welcome.
Thanks Mike! I'll have to give all of these a good listen. Still in the process of making some Christmas playlists, and there's still plenty of room!
DeleteSorry, forgot link for the last: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjxBY8JaiYk
ReplyDelete