Christmas Music

If you live in one of the ten areas of the US where there are Revels performances, go!

THis is real CHristmas music. Having been forced to listen to AmericanChristmasPopMusic thanks to the egregious Sirius at work, the Revels come as a blessing today.

Bing Crosby had a gorgeous baritone but (aside from his performances with Louis Armstrong) he sang everything in the same way. Hearing that buffoon Dean MArtin sing anything is bad enough but there is nothing Christmasy, spiritual, solisticey or celebratory about Dean Martin. I wanted to do an Elvis and shoot the radio. SPeaking of Elvis . . . who I never "got" . . . "Blue Christmas" can take a long walk off a short pier. During a five hour shift, I heard "I'll Be Home for Christmas" at least a dozen times, in vocal and
instrumental renditions. Enough. One of them was by Frank Sinatra. Now, I feel almost the same way about Sinatra that I feel about Crosby. He sang everything the in one of two ways: up tempo or as a ballad. Listening to Sinatra twice in one lifetime is a sufficient survey of his work. As they say at the end of Looney Tunes (which reminds me that I would rather hear the late Mel Blanc sing the ChristmasPop offerings), "that's all, folks!"

I did hear one beautiful rendition of a more commercial CHristmas song while shopping and I commented to the cashier who said that she thought the singer was Josh Groban.
While Groban may be a self-important little twit, he does have a lovely voice and he doesn't limit himself to one style.

Which reminds me. BEfore the radio at work was switched to Christmas Kitsch, it was tuned to Christmas Operatic or Christmas Gravitas. I heard a number by Tom Jones who largely wasted a career and a spectacular instrument on dumb songs. I can't figure out why no one ever cast Jones in a musical. Unless the guy can't act at all, his voice could have carried anything.

1. I LOVE ` Christmas Carols.

2. I cannot get "sick" of them.

3. I prefer traditional Christmas Carols popular in the first half
of the 1900s, thru around maybe the 1970s.





David

I agree about "Blue Christmas"
and Sinatra; never cared much for him.

I love Christmas Carols as well, but, Christmas Carols are not ChristmasPop.

If u mean NEW Christmas music,
then I strongly agree with u.
NOSTALGIA is deeply integrated with the Christmas Spirit.

I love capitalism, but I see no reason
for NEW Christmas songs.





David

There are songs and then there are songs. Songs have always spanned the spectrum of melodic and harmonic construction and the lyrics similarly range from foolish to profound. About an hour ago, I heard the contemporary jazz group Pink Martini put a rhythmic spin on "We Three Kings of Orient Are." It was great.

My argument is with dull, pedestrian seasonal music. I'm not a great fan of Pink Martini or of jazz, but, China Forbes has a fine voice and the band is made up of real musicians.

Not all new or contemporary music fails. In fact, just as some rock is more complex than some classical, some contemporary Christmas music is more satisfying to listen to than some of the older material that is still given play during December.

I 'm aversive to jazz; it gives me headaches.

For me, Christmas is about NOSTALGIA;
new music does not conduce to that.

I observe that your knowledge of matters musical
is much greater than mine.





David

It's not true that new music is without nostalgia. Of course, there is the music with which you have had personal experience, but, many songs written late in the last century and during this young century are nostalgic. They may not be to you personally.

Kinda weird: I saw a picture of a RR station
of a time a few decades b4 my birth
and I had an abrupt & major NOSTALGIA attack;
as if I shoud know it, or recognize it.

(not exactly deja vu, but close)





David

I love this- it makes me feel peaceful:

And I love this too:

I think it's the sheepies that bring about the peace.

My favorite carol performed by my favorite British folk rock group:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVwr5B6VQZk

Modern but very good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcmtk70NcC8&playnext=1&list=PLDD1282F720F20D5B&index=43