New Christmas Releases (Cliff Richard, Neil Diamond, Cassie and Maggie, Snow Blossoms, La chorale de Y'a du monde à messe, Aled and Russell and more...)

 

A Neil Diamond Christmas

I'm generally a fan of Neil's Christmas stuff, and everything here is previously released, but I was fairly meh about this compilation. Maybe it's just not programmed to my taste, so don't let that stop you from checking it out.

 A Very Very Cassie and Maggie Christmas 

A fine collection of original festive tunes and engaging arrangements of old favorites from popular Canadian folk duo.

Christmas with Cliff

Cliff Richard

Another legendary artist defies the ravages of time, though not quite as extraordinarily as Johnny Mathis. Cliff's voice and delivery aren't what they once were but he's still produced a holiday album well above the standard set by many contemporary acts.  I'm absolutely grading on a curve cause I've always been a fan so listen accordingly.

 

Snow Blossoms: Lost Country Christmas Classics 

Terrific collection of lesser known holiday tunes

Home For Christmas

Con Funk Shun

Started slow, but after a couple of iffy tracks, the songs really start to work - Christmas Kind of Day, My Favorite Things, Do You Hear What I Hear, and Christmas for Two are prime cuts

 Second Edition: A Very South Bay Xmas 

I didn't really find anything worth hearing again apart from  Mack Ogden's My Holiday Angel. YMMV, and it's for charity, so check it out at Bandcamp

Juste après novembre

La chorale de Y'a du monde à messe

I know nothing about this group from Quebec but their Christmas album is emerging as one of my favorites this season.

Holly Jolly Christmas / On Christmas Eve - John Owen-Jones

Christmas with Aled and Russell

Solid Classical Crossover Christmas Collection

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White Winter Hymnal - Jade Bird 

Not the best cover of of this tune I have but not at all poor.

Santa Train - Paige King Johnson

Lit Up Like a Christmas Tree - Aidan & the Wild

New Christmas Releases from A Girl Named Tom, The Tabernacle Choir, PG Roxette, Kalani Pe’a, Blane Howard and more...

 One More Christmas

A Girl Named Tom

I haven’t watched The Voice in ages so I was unfamiliar with A Girl Named Tom but based on their holiday release, One More Christmas, I’m going to have to check them out. This is a charming and fun collection and about as poppy as I can take. The originals hold up really well among the more familiar fare.

Recommended

O Holy Night: Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square

Wish You the Best for Xmas

Per Gessle / PG Roxette

Swedish pop legend Per Gessle (Gyllene Tider, Roxette) offers this four track holiday Single/EP (it’s really two songs plus two instrumental versions of those songs).Catchy europop,

Recommended

Purple Hawaiian Christmas

Kalani Pe’a

Perfectly pleasant, if fairly generic holiday offering elevated by a warm layer of Polynesian flavor. If you like that sort of thing, you’ll like this sort of thing.

Happy Xmas

Michela Anne

Four track EP limited by its choice of four massively over-covered songs that should IMHO, just be left alone if you don't have something exceptional to add to them. Outside of a slightly  better than average take on Last Christmas nothing here really stands out. Most of the tracks are fine but do nothing to justify listening to them as opposed to the existing iconic versions. It doesn't help that they include one of my least favorite Xmas songs, and a song so generic that only its original version is worth listening to. Plus, I already have a handful of amazing versions of River to choose from. Michela Anne’s take on the one song that can survive incessant cloning, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, is…fine.

Fans of the artist will enjoy this, no doubt.

A Living Room Christmas

Lunar Vacation

Three track single/EP that at least tries to salvage their uninspired choice of covering Last Christmas by making it fairly unique, fairly. I’m guessing whoever wrote the Spotify Christmas algorithm was a big Wham fan, what else would explain the glut of these covers?) The other two tracks include a a slightly left field take on Skating and a surprisingly recent cover choice Norah Jones’ Christmas Calling (Jolly Jones).

Christmas in the Car

Blane Howard

Solid country release with a nice mix of familiar tunes with fresh arrangement plus an excellent new song. There are a couple of tracks that aren’t all they might have been, a tepid take on The Christmas Song, for example., but a generally enjoyable effort.

Recommended

Christmas Night with You

Straight No Chaser

One great thing, or maybe not so great, depending,, about the Christmas music scene is that it turns would be one hit wonders into perennial chart hitters. If Straight, No Chasers’ claim to fame had been a clever cover of almost anything other than a Christmas song they would be novelty, with a small n, act. Luckily for them it led to a seasonal windfall, (not to the same extent of say Pentatonix, but still…) sadly it leads to abysmal tracks like this one being forced upon us at holiday time. Unlistenable.

We’re Home for Christmas

Our distant worlds

Minimal solo piano arrangements that barely register even as background music. 

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Diego de Galdeano

Another low effort solo piano EP tailor made for Spotify “Relax” “Peaceful” “Calm” playlists.

Christmas Time (Is Here Again)

Spoon

Faithful cover of the Beatles Christmas tune, so barely listenable

New Christmas Music Releases from Louis Armstrong, Laurie Berkner, A Very Indie Christmas, Dan+Shay, Hailey Whitters and more...

Albums

 Louis Wishes You a Cool Yule

Louis Armstrong

Superb compilation of holiday-themed tracks from the legendary Satchmo! ‘Nuff said.

Highly Recommended 

Another Laurie Berkner Christmas

 The Laurie Berkner Band

I remember back in my old job as a parent to little kids that Berkner was one of the “cool” children’s music artists that parents could listen to, along with the kiddos, without going totally insane. My little ones weren’t huge fans so I don’t have a lot of nostalgia for this stuff but, as kid’s Christmas albums go, this is first-rate. If this was on in the background somewhere I wouldn’t walk out on account of it, so there’s that. If you have kid’s this is a great alternative to the disastrous pop garbage they’re likely bombarded by daily..

A Very Indie Christmas Vol 1, + Vol2

Here’s a stonking bargain for you -  Over 100 Christmas tunes from loads of fab artists across many genres all yours for less than $20! And on top of that it’s all for a good cause!

I can vouch for most of the artists, and many of the songs included here, there are some awesome tunes on board, and while it’s not likely every song will float your festive boat the odds are pretty high that you’ll get way more than your money’s worth. Plus, did I mention the whole charity thing?

Volume 2

December

 Quando Nuevo

A stellar collection of instrumental tracks, some New Agey /World-ish, others decidedly jazzy. I’ve actually paired this in a playlist with George Winston’s solo piano December, and it melds nicely.

Recommended

Appalachian Christmas

Chosen Road 

Bluegrass flavored, gospel-infused country Christmas record, and a good one too. Recommended if this sort of thing is up your chimney.

Christmas Ballads 25th Anniversary Collection

Dave Koz and Friends

Home For the Holidays with DCapella 

DCapella & Disney

Not in my home. This was dreadful.

Christmas Morning

Megan Nicole

Generic pop wouldn’t sound out of place under the opening credits of some middling Hallmark Xmas flick.

Singles

Christmas Anyway - Stars

Weak-ish effort from the generally terrific Canadian duo Stars. It’s for charity though so at least your dollar will go to a good cause even if you are likely to shelve and forget the tune pretty quickly.

New Baby for Christmas - Hailey Whitters

Solid country single.

Holiday Party - Dan+Shay

A pedestrian country pop number that sounds as generic and un-Christmassy as its title. Not bad just nothing special.

dear santa - emlyn

Bombastic alt-pop single. Not for me, so I can’t really judge its quality tbh. Give it a spin and see if it’s your thing.

New Christmas Music 2021(Nat King Cole, Manchester Orchestra, Dave Barnes, Wiaiwya, Goo Goo Dolls, The Bittersweets, Peter Simandyl...)

 Dave Barnes - I Wish it Would Snow

Nice mini-album, I’ll be sampling it some more throughout the season.

Wiaiwya - 24

Strong inde-pop compilation featuring great tunes from the lies of The popguns, Corvair, Piney Gir, The Orchids and more. Not every track is a winner but there’s more good here than meh. Check it out and pick your faves…

The Bittersweets - Love Came Down at Christmas

Lovely, ethereal

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Peter Simandyl - The Winterking (Christmas Song) / Daylong Dance

Interesting euro-folk

Emmy Law - Different This Year

Dreampoppy

Tom Speight - Driving Home for Christmas

Better than average “Acoustic cover”

Goo Goo Dolls - One Last Song About Christmas

Pretty decent mainstream rock ballad. Bonus track on re-released version of their Christmas record.

The Lathums - Krampus

Growing on me but I don’t know what kind of staying power it’ll have.

A Sentimental Christmas with Nat King Cole and Friends

Posthumous duets are … unsettling, both in motive and execution. That said it’s hard to go wrong with Nat Cole as source material, hard but not impossible. I can’t think of any good reason to come back to this album again - there’s bo added value in the Frankensteined songs, so what’s the point.

Manchester Orchestra - Christmas Songs Vol 1

A collection of Christmas dirges. What fun.

A Blackwatch Christmas Vol VII by Fowler VW & Blackwatch Studios (2017)

A Blackwatch Christmas Vol VII by Fowler VW & Blackwatch Studios (2017)

Arbor Christmas: Volume 18 (2017)

Arbor Christmas: Volume 18 (2017)

Christmas EP by Rue Royale (2017)

Christmas EP by Rue Royale (2017)

Star of Night by Janelle Nadeau (2017)

Star of Night by Janelle Nadeau (2017)

Christmas Album of the Day: A Rock By The Sea Christmas - Volume Six

Christmas Album of the Day: A Rock By The Sea Christmas Volume Six
From the album's Bandcamp page

Featuring original, holiday-inspired songs from von Grey, Eric Durrance, Sara Rachele and others, A Rock By The Sea Christmas :: Volume Six is the latest in the series of compilation CDs that raise money for pediatric cancer research and treatment on behalf of the Florida-based charity. Also includes contributions from Michael Logen, Amy Gerhartz, Charlie Oxford, The Electric Sons, Martha’s Trouble, The Galavanters and Mark Bliesener.

   
Listen on iTunes 
Amazon / Bandcamp

Christmas Album of the Day: It's a Holiday Soul Party Sharon Jones, the Dap-Kings

Christmas Album of the Day

It's a Holiday Soul Party Sharon Jones, the Dap-Kings

Listen on Spotify,Amazon Prime, iTunes

 Preview/buy at Bandcamp, Amazon

Holiday Fare from Wrieuw Recordings, AKW, Memoryhouse, Andrew Palmer & Sarah Handy

Festive tunes from At Ease Christmas Classics, Front Range Christian School, Centretown Records, The Concept

Holiday tunes from Slow Dakota, Moon Park, Wheeland Brothers, The Pauses, Kirby Krackle

Xmas with Boom Forest, Pop Punk's Not Dead (Comp), Waiting For Snow 2 (Comp.), Linby, Falling Up

New Christmas Music from Velvetron, The Apple Sisters, Duck Logic Comedy, These and the Other Guy, Cal Folger Day

Velvetron.com

h/t The G-Man 

New Christmas Music from Alpine, Dr. Dog, !!!, Fall on Your Sword, BBC Cornwall Introducing

New from The Reigning Monarchs, Ohrange, Birds of Christmas comp., The Clymer Kurtz Band, RJ Knapp & Honey Robin, Dan Becker

 h/t Lie in the Sound

 h/t Lie in the Sound

Xmas Music Roundup: The Reindeer Tribe, Marina V, Tinsel Machine, Can't Say Records, Sarah Macintosh, David Hollandsworth, Wolf Hut

Holiday Music Roundup: Richard X Heyman, Thought Beneath Film, Josienne Clark & Ben Walker, Mahoney & The Moment, Lisa Pankratz, Snow Globe Comp.

  

Christmas Music Roundup: Eenie Meanie Holiday Mix, Mark Geary & Glen Hansard, Meiko, The Frontier Needs Heroes