1 comments about Doo Wop Around the Christmas Tree.

1. This has become my favorite Christmas CD. It may seem odd to anyone not familiar with the style of music, but this Doo Wop Christmas collection achieves what few Christmas collections do; it's a happy, joyful collection that makes you smile, laugh, and sing along even if the only place you generally sing is in the car, alone, with the windows rolled up!
   
   I'll grant you that I'm partial to Doo Wop music, being from Philadelphia and raised by parents who were here for the beginnings of the genre when every street corner was host to a group intent on serenading the neighbors. That aside, this music is much more than nostalgia. The talents of the Mighty Echoes--for surely we can all agree that singing a cappella requires a great deal of talent--are showcased in their fun and lively arrangements of Christmas standards, breathing new life into the entire lot.
   
   I'd be hard pressed to choose a favorite track, but opening with Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and closing with Happy Xmas (War is Over) was brilliant. The addition of a little "Ho ho ho" in the closing notes of the former give a fun twist to a familiar favorite, and the arrangement of the latter into a 1950s style would surely have made John Lennon himself smile.
   
   Worth every penny! I only wish the Mighty Echoes would put together a second volume!

2 comments about Hymns of Vaughan Williams.

1. If you like traditional hymns done the traditional way (with choir and organ), this CD is a good one.

   A typical hymn-sing, but a great recording of it. This isn't your grandma's choir.

   The arrangements aren't too flashy, but the final selection ("All Hail the Power") makes up for it, and will knock your socks off.

   An ardent fan of Fred Swann's, I'd recommend this CD to any hymn-lover.




2. If you like traditional hymns done the traditional way (with choir and organ), this CD is a good one.

   A typical hymn-sing, but a great recording of it. This isn't your grandma's choir.

   The arrangements aren't too flashy, but the final selection ("All Hail the Power") makes up for it, and will knock your socks off.

   An ardent fan of Fred Swann's, I'd recommend this CD to any hymn-lover.

5 comments about Seasons Greetings from Moe..

1. When I saw that moe. had a holiday CD, I was excited and anxious to hear how they would interpret christmas music. When the Carol of the Bells began to play, I realized just how awesome this band really is. It's a truly beautiful CD with VERY COOL versions of some classic songs. It's too short (I would have loved a 2 disc set of this stuff) but SOO worth it. Moe. is always very exciting to hear and I'm glad they reached out to the holiday music genre.



2. moe. lets loose and has fun on this delightful, funny holiday compilation. "Together at Christmas" and "Home" are great new songs, and the standards are played with joy and energy. Especially wonderful is the gorgeous slide guitar rendition of "Silent Night," which goes into a Pink Floyd-ish jam.



3. This album could have been just another collection of the same old holiday songs that are always done, just by a different band this time. But, if you know moe., you know that they'd never let that happen. What moe. offers up is a perfect mix of old favorites, obscure gems, and even two originals. You might expect a holiday collection from moe. to be done with tongue planted firmly in cheek, but while there are moments of pure levity, there are also songs that are done almost reverently. The two originals (Rob's Together at Christmas and Al's Home) are both incredibly heartfelt and display a sentimental side of moe. that is rarely seen. In addition, there are stately readings of Carol of the Bells and Little Drummer Boy, and a downright inspired arrangement of Silent Night into Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring done on slide guitar with a Moog backing. Those alone are worth the price of the album, but you also get a few genuinely fun numbers. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer's lament We're a Couple of Misfits shows up in what can only be describes as a garage band style take, and Jingle Bells in reinterpreted in a way that leaves the band laughing at the end of the track. The album gets a little loose in places, but never places that would hurt the overall feel of the album (it's always in one of the less serious tracks). The album is fun where it needs to be, and sincere where it should be. It's a breath of fresh air from all of the same old holiday collections.

   It's also worth noting that only 4000 copies of this album were pressed, so if you don't get it now, you probably won't.




4. Too many Christmas CD's seem like they were thrown together too make a quick buck off a fleeting wave of popularity. But when a lesser known band like moe. makes a Christmas album, it seems more like they actually WANTED to do it. I really like their choice of doing a more obscure song from a holiday special. "We're a Couple of Misfits" (from Rudolph) is a blast. The surf-instrumental "Oh Hanukah" is another one the best songs here. Their original songs are not as great, and part of one of those songs, "Home", even reminds of "Heat of the Moment" by Asia (not really something I want to be reminded of). The rest of the CD is made up of a variety familiar Christmas songs, which are all done well. As another reviewer mentioned, the disc is over too soon. Even if they didn't add any more songs, it would have been cool to hear them jam a little more, being a "jam band" and all. Here's hoping they'll make a Volume 2 some day.



5. This is a very original collection of songs from a very unusual, generous, jam band from upper New York State...MOE. They are an awesome band. The CDs are great travelling music for your car trip. MOE has so many CDs available: live, and studio, it would be impossible to mention them all.

No comments about King of the Singing Cowboys.

2 comments about Winter Tidings.

1. The musical team of All Petteway and Amy White are known and appreciated for their blends of contemporary, Celtic-influenced, original and traditional instrumental music employing acoustic guitars, the mandolin, the piano, Irish bouzouki, and incredible beautiful vocals. "Winter Tidings" is a CD collection providing their musical tributes to winter in the Southern Appalachian mountain country and includes Breakin' Up (4:09); Joy to the World/The Gift (4:34); The Holly and the Ivy (4:11); Bring a Torch Jeannete Isabella (3:05); People Look East (3:22); Cherry Tree Carol (5:05); Into the Light (5:15); Roving on a Winter's Night (5:27); Aerial (3:44); Gabriel's Message/I Wonder as I Wander (4:57); A New Year's Carol/Sussex Carol/Tomorrow Will Be My Dancing Day (4:59); Christ Child's Lullaby (4:10); and Star in the East/Born in Bethany (3:30). "Winter Tidings" is a wonderfully performed and enthusiastically recommended addition to personal and community library Christmas Season CD music collections.



2. In the Washington Metro area, we have enjoyed listening to Al Petteway and Amy White in concert and on CDs for years. They are very talented and their music is always enjoyable, inspiring, and interesting. Every music lover should have these artists in their private collection.

No comments about Christmas à la carte / Bartoli, Domingo, Mutter, Pavarotti, Schäfer, Terfel.

3 comments about Messiah: The Dream Cast.

1. With one glaring exception, this "Dream Cast" recording is an excellent collection of highlights from Handel's Messiah, containing both modern- and period-instrument recordings. The performances of the "dream team" soloists are excellent, and not just the women, but also the men. For the female voices, I particularly enjoyed: Arleen Auger (I know that my Redeemer liveth), Anne Sofie von Otter (O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion) and Leontyne Price (He shall feed his flock), with Joan Sutherland also good (Rejoice greatly o daughter of Zion), but Kiri Te Kanawa (There were sheperds abiding) perhaps seeming disaffected. For the male voices it was great from start to finish with Anthony Rolfe-Johnson (Comfort ye my people), Jerry Hadley (Every valley shall be exalted), Charles Daniels (Behold and see) and Robert Hale (The trumpet shall sound), but with Bryn Terfel (Why do the nations) perhaps seeming light.
   
   The one exception? For Unto Us a Child is Born sung at high speed. Les Musiciens de Louvre (whoever they are) sound like chipmunks singing at the old LP 78 speed. They seem in a race to see who can finish singing first, without any meaning or phrasing, like juveniles in a race thru' their rosary beads. This is a shame, because next to the Hallelujah chorus, this is the most important part of the Messiah.
   
   The orchestral playing by the English Baroque with Gardiner, the English Consort with Trevor Pinnock, and the Gabrieli Players with McCreesh was outstanding. I especially liked the clear trumpet playing of the Gabrieli with Hale singing "The trumpet shall sound." I also enjoyed the Hallelujah chorus by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields with Neville Marriner. Altho' I usually like a modern, massed-strings sound, this smaller ensemble under Marriner was very pleasing to my ears. And given my bias I liked the performances of the large symphony orchestras under Solti and Davis too.
   
   So this is in deed a "dream" collection, except for the French chipmnunks on the second most important part of the Messiah.



2. I've been living with this CD for a few days now and while I think it's a valuable addition, I wouldn't use it even as a primary 'highlights' cd. (For that you're better off with the highlights CD featuring John Shirley-Quirk, Felicity Palmer, Raymond Leppard, English Chamber Orchestra, and Felicity Palmer (Audio CD - 2003)- ASIN: B00006L9RR).
   
   It's best to use this as a soloist review cd. If you're singing one of the solo parts, use it as a guide for phrasing/pacing except as noted below.
   
   Other: The decca recording transfers are very good and help keep this at 3 stars.
   
   "The trumpet shall sound" cut is quite good, nice tempo, one weak note on the entrance to the chorus repeat holds it back slightly.
   
   * "For unto us a child is born" must have been sung while the Kentucky Derby was on...WAY too fast. This sounds more ridiculous on repeated hearings.



3. This recording is missing "And the Glory of the Lord" !! How can that be? I agree with the others that "For Unto Us a Child is Born" is fast, but it certainly doesn't sound like the Chipmunks. It's been performed fast by others in the past. Conductor's discretion.
   
   Best part for me? Robert Hale on tracks #19 and #20. I knew him when I was a little girl -- my mother would accompany him.......long time ago but the strength in his voice still stirs something inside me. These tracks alone make the CD worth it for me.

3 comments about Albatross.

1. I have heard this album about ten times, and it sounds as foreign to me now as it did on the first listen. The Standard, Portland expatriates in North Carolina, have again created a stunning, scarred vision of, um, something, I'm not sure what. Their songs cram a lifetime's worth of angst and displacement into four minutes, wracking your brain to find comparisons, arriving at only one: themselves. The Standard sound like The Standard.
   
   And that's good, except that this Standard album doesn't sound like their others. Whereas "Wire Post to Wire" was akin to a trip through hell's cobblestone streets in a shopping cart, this one is like a flume ride on electric jello. Gone are the arpeggiated riffs bashing needle marks into your skull, and now we got POWER CHORDS, tons of 'em, stinging like a thousand bees and mish-mashing together somehow. The songwriting is less frantic, too. Things are a little placid by comparison, and the piano isn't as disturbed, this time sounding like it anchors the whole thing down. I am more reminded of Shudder To Think's spastic theatrics and flailing melodies than ever.
   
   Of course, this is all a meaningless attempt to define and describe the most obtuse and difficult music around today. Pretty addictive music, even if you won't figure it out until their next offering.



2. This is an album that really takes some time and effort to appreciate. It takes a while for the melodies to kick in and Tim, the singer, has a very distinctive style, quite fragile and edgy sounding. To me, it sounds a llittle like a less commercial U2 with some Thom Yorke mixed in. Musically very accomplished with guitars and keyboards having equal importance. It's ultimately a very rewarding album and well worth investigating



3. Red White Black & Blue Motion Picture Soundtrack
   
   A great album from a group that has become one of my favorite bands. I discovered them when I bought band member Jay Clarke's soundtrack for RED WHITE BLACK & BLUE, which is pretty cool too.

2 comments about Yule Be Miserable.

1. This CD is supposed to feature unhappy Christmas songs. But in reality, not very many of these songs are particularly mournful. But most of the songs are good, with the exception of Spike Jones' awful version of "Nuttin' For Christmas" (sung by a group of kids). But what is Billie Holiday's "Stormy Blues" doing here, which, although it fits the "miserable" concept, doesn't have anything to do with Christmas? It's also strange that they included two versions of the instrumental "Christmas Blues", although both versions are good. This is a decent CD, but it could have been much better.



2. Though the title is slightly misleading and this isn't a collection of music that has you considering ending it all, it's good music that's fun to listen to and enjoy.
   
   The title cracks me up, I just wish that it was used for some down and out Holiday music.

1 comments about Hell's Bells of Christmas: The AC/DC Tribute.

1. Could've been cool. Could've been great. But this Christmas album is something I hate.
   
   First, the musicians involved -- none are listed in the liner notes or their website, and I can understand why, but Jim Curtiss at least had the gumption to take credit as project coordinator -- didn't give the music any oomph. Instead, they (identified covertly as Santa Claws & the Naughty but Nice Orchestra) took the familiar melodies of "You Shook Me All Night Long," "Back in Black," "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" and "Highway to Hell," among others, and watered them down to something even elevators would be ashamed to play. Then, to give them that special Christmas cheer, they added sleigh bells in the background. Yep, that's it. That's the big secret behind this daring recording.
   
   Whoop-de-flippin'-doo.
   
   This album commits the ultimate musical sin of being dull and uninteresting. Perry Como rocks harder than this.
   
   by Tom Knapp, Rambles.(net) editor