Maybe This Christmas Tree
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Music CD Cover
Edition: Music CDCD Release Date: 2004-10-05
Music Label: Nettwerk Records
Soundtracks:
- Happy Xmas (War is Over) - Polyphonic Spree
- The Christmas Song - The Raveonettes
- Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Death Cab For Cutie
- I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day - Pedro the Lion
- Bittersweet Eve - Belsana
- Christmas Time is Here - Ivy
- Baby It's Cold Outside - Royal Crown Revue with Vicky Tarefe
- Wonderful Christmastime - Tom McRae
- Fairytale of New York - Pilate
- Jingle Bells - Lisa Loeb
- Christmas for Cowboys - Jars of Clay
- Do You Hear What I Hear? - Copeland
Free Music Notes for Maybe This Christmas Tree
Free Music Review: Not To Everyone's Taste - But I Like Most Of It
Hit: 4 Stars
I am always on the look-out for original Christmas music and have a rather large number of such CDs in my collection, especially those tunes that, over the years, also became hit singles for the artists concerned. You won't find any of those in this volume which, certainly, is one of the most unusual seasonal compilations I have. I picked my copy up about three years ago, primarily because of the obvious originality of many of the tracks, as well as the fact some proceeds go to a charity.
In the insert, which contains no other details except publishing credits for each of the artists, there is a small note saying "A portion of the proceeds from this record will go to the Marine Toys For Tots Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that our nation's most needy children will experience the joys and wonder of the holidays with gifts that are bought with charitable contributions."
As for the music, I like most but found that I could do without these three: I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day, a traditional seasonal tune done horribly by Pedro The Lion, an indie rock band based in Seattle, Washington led by vocalist David Bazan; Christmas Time Is Here, the now-classic Vince Guaraldi composition first featured in the animated A Charlie Brown Christmas, done here by Ivy, a NY City trio consisting of Andy Chase, Adam Schlesinger and Dominique Durand, who sings it in a manner obviously meant to conjure up visions of an old 78 rpm recording - not horrible by any means - just not to my liking; and Do You Hear What I Hear? first made famous by Bing Crosby back in 1963, but poorly rendered here by Copeland, a Lakeland, Florida pop/alternative band led by vocalist Aaron Marsh, backup singer James Likeness, guitarist Bryan Laurenson and drummer Jonathan Buckley.
On the other hand, I thoroughly enjoy the cover of the John (Lennon) and Yoko (Ono) & The Plastic Ono Band with The Harlem Community Choir 1971 hit, Happy Xmas (War Is Over), by The Polyphonic Spree, a large band directed by Tim DeLaughter with a 10-person choir from Dallas, Texas that boasts two keyboardists, a percussionist, bassist, trumpeter, trombonist, harpist, violinist, drummer, guitarist, flute player, French horn player, and one electronic-effects coordinator. Among the original cuts is The Christmas Song, a different tune than the familiar one with the same name composed by Mel Torme in the 1940s. Guitarist/vocalist Sune Rose Wagner, who wrote it, is one half of this Danish duo with bassist/guitarist/vocalist Sharin Foo who took the name Raveonettes by combining part of the name of The Ronettes with Buddy Holly;s big hit, Rave On.
Another indie rock band, this time from Bellingham, Washington, is Death Cab For Cutie, and they perform Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), a tune written by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry and Phil Spector, with leader Ben Gibbard on vocals and guitar, while Chris Evanson and Brett Detar, who wrote Bittersweet Eve specifically for this album, function as Belasana. The Royal Crown Revue, formed up in L.A. in 1989 and are often cited as the group that sparked a return of the Swing Era tunes, and do a great job on the old standard, Baby, It's Cold Outside.
The soft vocals of Tom McRae, born in Essex, England in 1969, highlight the cover of Paul McCartney's Wonderful Christmastime, the four-piece Canadian band Pilate contribute their composition, the haunting Fairytale Of New York, and from actress Lisa Loeb, who, with her group Nine Stories, had five hit singles in the 1990's, including the # 1 Stay (I Missed You) from the film Reality Bites, we get her unique interpretation of Jingle Bells. And finally, there's a cover of John Denver's Christmas For Cowboys, written by Steve Weisberg, by the oddly-named
Jars of Clay, formed at Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois. Vocalist Dan Haseltine, pianist/keyboardist Charlie Lowell, lead guitarist Stephen Mason, and rhythm guitarist Matthew Odmark, had a 1996 # 37 hit with Flood and created their name from a new translation of a passage from 2 Corinthians 4:7.
An oddity, to be sure, and maybe not to everyone's taste, but this old traditionalist likes it very much - except for those three tracks mentioned.
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