This 100 times over. One of my favorite Christmas albums that seemingly doesn’t get much love. Great song selection and arrangements. Highly recommended.
Right now, giving the Chris Isaak Everybody Knows It's Christmas on candyfloss vinyl, red Sun Records label. Just a few songs in and it isn't bad! He's doing a bang-up job on "Run Rudolph Run" right now! Singing in his classic voice with a little slapback echo to the vocals!
It's hard to beat that album! Got it on an early issue CD and not only does it sound great, the music on it makes it one of the must-have Christmas albums. Always been a fan of Christmas music (I even keep a stash of vinyl and CDs to play any time of the year) and this one is part of that group, as well.
My mission right now is to find a Christmas (or "holiday," or just winter) album that sounds anything like this: Cool, weird, kind of dark and droney, yet somehow still folky and festive! I'd take a full album of this over another round of glossy covers of "Frosty" and "Jingle Bell Rock" any day.
I've got several Christmas albums but the two must listens are Charlie Brown Christmas and Merry Christmas from Brenda Lee. Those are the two I grew up on.
I forgot, I need to break out my copy of Christmas with Colonel Sanders LP! I first saw the cover of it at a Christmas museum in Medina, OH (Castle Noel, I think?) and found one on ebay not too long after. It's not a bad sampler, pretty much an RCA collection of Christmas music from their label (Arthur Fiedler and The Boston Pops, Chet Atkins, Harry Belafonte, etc.)
I don't know about 'Christmas albums' per se, but I do tend to play the following at this time of the year: Horslips - Drive The Cold Winter Away Genesis - And Then There Were Three (it's always had a winter feel for me...) Kate Bush - Fifty Words For Snow Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker Handel - Messiah Some random Gregorian chants Yes - Turn Of The Century (just that song - also a winter feel) Then, on the day itself, I often play the following songs: Big Big Train - Merry Christmas Kirsty MacColl and The Pogues - Fairytale of New York (absolutely the best Christmas song ever - 'pop' song anyway) Greg Lake - I Believe In Father Christmas (a close second) and, if I've had too much to drink, I.Q. - For Christ's Sake
I love this album (and almost everything Aimee has done.) It's super annoying to me that this and much of her catalog isn't available on vinyl. dan c
Nat King Cole - "The Christmas Song" Jose Feliciano - "Feliz Navidad" Elvis Presley - "Merry Christmas Baby" The Waitresses - "Christmas Wrapping" Sting - "Gabriel's Message" Trans-Siberian Orchestra - "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24" Blackmore's Night - "Emanuel" and, of course... Vince Guaraldi - A Charlie Brown Christmas
Right now playing the soundtrack to The Polar Express besides the movie itself having a few good songs, the second half is classic Christmas music (Bing's "White Christmas", Sinatra's "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", my man Perry Como with "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas", etc.) Up next is a Perry Como Christmas compilation, and will get some more lined up this afternoon while I work!
New video from Joel Paterson's Christmas album: Joel Paterson – It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas (Official Music Video) Highly recommended. Paterson channels Les Paul, Chet Atkins, and others all over the record.