Christmastime is here again

Well, it finally happened.

I was finally subjected to my first live performance of the season of “Feliz Navidad,” which ne’er fails to make me want to gouge my eardrums out with a knitting needle. I also was at a fancy office Christmas party on Friday night and the soul cover band kept throwing in trombone lines from Joy To The World and Sleigh Ride, etc etc etc.

It brought to my attention the fact that this post is long overdue. I’ve got a pretty sizeable collection of “Christmas Music That Won’t Drive You To Drink Unless You Want To” — which just got a shot in the arm this year thanks to a rockin’ 3-CD compilation I received from Philly friend Brian (yay Brian!).

There’s a lot of schmaltzy crap out there this season, kids. Stay safe. Here’s a haven of good stuff for your seasonal mixmastery:

FUEL FOR YOUR FRIENDLY CHRISTMASTIME FIRE
We Four Kings – The Blue Hawaiians (surf music!)
Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas – Eels
Do They Know It’s Christmas – Pete Yorn
Work on Christmas – Harvey Danger
God Is Real (Jesus Is Alive) – John Davis (of Superdrag)
Angel In The Snow (unreleased version) – Elliott Smith
Washington Square – Chris Isaak
I’d Like You For Christmas – Julie London
Donna and Blitzen – Badly Drawn Boy
You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch – Luce
That Was The Worst Christmas Ever! – Sufjan Stevens
Back Door Santa – The Black Crowes
Baby, It’s Cold Outside – Leon Redbone & Zooey Deschanel (Elf)
Winter Wonderland – Liz Phair
The Gift of Grace – Denison Witmer
Christmas Eve – Teenage Fanclub
Silent Night – Ben Harper & The Blind Boys of Alabama
When I Get Home For Christmas – Snow Patrol
Listening To Otis Redding At Home During Christmas – Okkervil River
Xmas Curtain – My Morning Jacket
Fairytale of New York – Stars
The Rebel Jesus – Jackson Browne
Maybe This Christmas – Ron Sexsmith
What A Year For A New Year – Dan Wilson (of Semisonic)
Merry Christmas Everybody – Rooney
The Winter Song – Eisley
White Christmas – Mark Kozelek
Christmas – Leona Naess
Christmastime is Here – Snowden
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas – Hem
Holy, Holy, Holy – Sufjan Stevens
Silent Night – Brian Wilson

**HO HO HO, The file as a ZIP**

That helps to slightly ease the sting of briefly having — and then cruelly LOSING — the vinyl Christmas With Elvis record last night at a houseparty with a white elephant gift exchange.

It was mine. I was so excited. But now the doe-eyed Elvis (with those dewy lips, good heavens) is gone from my Christmas celebration, stolen by another gal, sending me home with a plastic candy cane full of little bottles of flavored Stoli instead.

I’m still in mourning.

New Christmas tune from Mike Mills (R.E.M.) and Sally Ellyson (Hem)

With everyone’s top lists popping up all over the place and Hem’s album Funnel Cloud on many (and R.E.M. always on mine) I thought this new Christmas single for charity could use a little shout-out:

Mike Mills of R.E.M. and Sally Ellyson from Hem have recorded as new song as a benefit for kids this holiday season. It’s available right now on iTunes for 99 cents, all proceeds benefiting the Red Apple Foundation.

You can hear a sample of the tune on their MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/redapplehelpskids. It is a cover of a Big Star song (“Jesus Christ”), so you know you’ve got some great power pop right there. Check it out, I think you’ll like it.

Pearl Jam Christmas Singles (it’s not the world that’s heavy, it’s just the things that you save)

There’s over a decade of collecting behind this post.

The plan was to hold off for a few more weeks to make this more of a Christmas present but, well, I failed to contain my joy. Today as we decorated our full and lovely Christmas tree that makes the whole house smell fabulous, I pulled out my entire complete collection of vinyl Pearl Jam Christmas singles from the inaugural year (1991) until the 2005 edition to listen to on the old record player. I am expecting the 15th vinyl single for 2006 to grace my mailbox — well, sometime between now and Valentine’s Day. Maybe Easter. Punctuality has never been on the list of reasons to appreciate this divine collection.

But turning these fine specimens over in my hands and reading the labels, looking at the album art, slowly lowering the needle and spinning the black circle gives me a deep happiness every time. The fact that Pearl Jam sends one of these (almost) every year to their fanclub is just awesome. From the earliest one, which started with Beatles-like Christmas greetings and some ramblings, through various live gems and little studio recordings just for the fan club, there is always a fantastic variety from year to year, a small and welcome surprise in the mailbox.

Every once in a while they’ll toss in an actual Christmas song (1991, 2002, 2004), and there are some wonderful covers (1992, 1998, and 2000 are favorites). If I had to pick just one song from this bunch for the rest of my life, it would probably be “Angel,” which is stunning in its wavering purity, and inspired by a poem called The Eloping Angels: A Caprice. I love it fiercely and thoroughly.

I was going to try and walk you through the rest of my favorites, but as I looked over each record, I realized there is no way I could. I’ve written this paragraph 4 times and keep deleting it because it’s getting too long. So just listen to them all — I know not of a better way to spread Christmas cheer (than singing these loud, for all to hear).

PEARL JAM CHRISTMAS SINGLES

1991
Let Me Sleep
Ramblings I

1992
Sonic Reducer (Dead Boys cover)
Ramblings II

1993
Angel
Ramblings III (live in Indio, CA 11/5/93)

1995
History Never Repeats (Split Enz cover, live in Auckland with Neil & Tim Finn)
Sonic Reducer (Dead Boys cover, live in New Orleans with Joey Ramone)
Swallow My Pride (Green River cover, live in Las Vegas)
My Way (Elvis cover with Elvis’ cousin Terry, live @ The Aladdin in Vegas)

1996
Olympic Platinum (Nick Didia)
Smile (live in Barcelona, 11/21/96)

1997 (joint effort with R.E.M.)
Happy When I’m Crying (written by Jack Irons)
Live For Today – R.E.M.

1998
Soldier of Love (originally recorded by Arthur Alexander, 1962)
Last Kiss (originally recorded by J. Frank Wilson, Ed found a 45 copy at the Fremont Antique Mall)

1999
Strangest Tribe (written by Stone Gossard)
Driftin

2000
Crown of Thorns (Mother Love Bone cover, live 8/22/00 in Vegas)
Can’t Help Falling In Love (written by Elvis Presley, live 8/22/00 in Vegas)

2001
Last Soldier (live @ Bridge School 10/21/2001)
Indifference (with Ben Harper, live @ Bridge School 10/21/2001)
Gimme Some Truth (Lennon cover, live @ Groundwork Benefit, Seattle 10/22/2001)
I Just Want To Have Something To Do (Ramones cover)

2002
Don’t Believe In Christmas (Sonics cover, soundcheck Seattle Showbox 12/6/02)
Sleepless Nights (Everly Brothers cover, live @ Wiltern Theatre 2/26/02 with Beck)

2003
Reach Down (with Chris Cornell, 10/28/2003 in Santa Barbara)
I Believe In Miracles (Ramones cover, 10/28/2003 in Santa Barbara)

2004
Someday At Christmas (Jackson 5ive cover)
Betterman (with the Walmer High School choir from South Africa)

2005
Little Sister (with Robert Plant, 10/5/05 House of Blues Chicago)
Gone (demo, recorded 9/30/05, Room #1152, Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City)

PEARL JAM CHRISTMAS SINGLES 1991-2005 ZIP

UPDATE: 2006 and 2007

And yes, I actually do own a Pearl Jam stickman Christmas ornament, an internet purchase circa 1995. Rock on.

Sarah McLachlan: Wintersong

A completely welcome surprise in my mailbox yesterday was a new Christmas album from silver-throated Canadian songstress Sarah McLachlan: Wintersong (Arista Records). I didn’t even know she had anything new coming out, so I was excited to pop this baby in the player and hear what Sarah has to offer us this Advent season (even though we just started November).

Does this foray into seasonal bliss sound like it may be a bad idea for McLachlan? As one reviewer wrote, “An album like this could cement [her] as a middle-of-the-road crooner ready for the Andy Williams Christmas Show, but there’s more beneath the surface of Wintersong than just Christmas chestnuts, over-roasting on an open fire.” I completely agree, and absolutely love the elegant, ethereal collection that she has created here with longtime producer Pierre Marchand.

I know that your sentiments on Christmas music can diverge in two very different ways. I have to admit, there are days when I’ll be moseying along in Macy’s and “Here Comes Santa Claus” will come on and I will want to run for shelter. Now that it’s November, I’ll have to make a mental note to avoid the mall as much as possible until January for that very reason.

But there are so many Christmas songs that are quiet and lovely and meaningful, that make me feel like all can be right with this world. Sarah picks those songs. She picks the ones that underscore the stillness, the mystery, and some original compositions with an air of bittersweetness. There is not a single track on here that I want to skip, no gaudy garish upbeat tracks with cracking whips and ho-ho-ho’s that seem out of character to the collection.

First and foremost you must listen to her wrenchingly sad and flawlessly beautiful cover of Joni Mitchell’s “River” (oh, and I’ve decided to plunge into Joni Mitchell, but that’s another post). It could be one of my favorite songs of the year. If a note can break your heart, they way she tackles the line about “I would teach my feet to fly . . . away” could do it for me.

The album opens with a fairly straightforward cover of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” by Lennon (complete with a chorus of children in the background), and sandwiched in between her lovely arrangements of old standards is a brand-new song that she penned, the title track “Wintersong.” Also a longtime five-star favorite of mine, “Song For A Winter’s Night” (written by Gordon Lightfoot) has previously only been available on her B-Sides, Rarities, & Other Stuff album, and is a wistful & welcome addition to this album.

The songs have a uniqueness in the production and the arrangements that are distinctly McLachlan. Whether it is her new melody to the verses in the minor keys of “Greensleeves/What Child Is This” or the bright banjo plucking (a la Sufjan) in “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” she adds a distinct fingerprint to each song. The album closes with a melancholy and simple version of Vince Guaraldi’s “Christmastime Is Here” (with Diana Krall accompanying Sarah on piano). You can almost see the snowflakes falling.

There is a spare, glistening beauty to this effort, and I can seriously see myself listening to every Christmas for years to come.

River (Joni Mitchell cover) – Sarah McLachlan

Stream other new songs at her MySpace, or watch some video on Amazon.

The Black Crowes want to put something in your stocking for ya

Oh, I am SO out of season. What the heck, Heather? Well, compare this post to your half-off after-Christmas sale. You can get really good things after the holidays are over.

I was a little slow on the uptake finding this new Black Crowes cover of an old R&B/Blues song, and didn’t find it until after Christmas (like January), and then I forgot to post it. But take a listen, it is so good, so swaggering, so Southern-moonlight that I had to post it.

Back Door Santa – Black Crowes

Chris and Rich Robinson are heading out on an acoustic tour in April, just the two of them. That will be insane – just look at the intimate and rad venues in San Francisco alone! Tix onsale next week:

ACOUSTIC TOUR DATES
4/13 - Brooklyn - Warsaw (on sale: Fri 2/24 @ Noon)
4/14 - New York – Frederick P. Rose Hall (on sale: Fri 2/24 @ Noon)
4/15 - New York – Town Hall (on sale: Fri 2/24 @ Noon)
4/17 - Austin РCactus Caf̩ (on sale: Fri 2/17 @ Noon)
4/18 - Austin РCactus Caf̩ (on sale: Fri 2/17 @ Noon)
4/20 - San Francisco РCaf̩ Du Nord (on sale: Fri 2/24 @ Noon)
4/21 - San Francisco – The Fillmore (on sale: Sun 2/26 @10:00 AM)
4/22 – San Francisco – Bimbo’s 365 (on sale: Fri 2/24 @10:00 AM)
4/24 - Los Angeles – The Roxy (on sale: Fri 2/24 @ 11:00 AM)
4/25 – Los Angeles – The Roxy (on sale: Fri 2/24 @ 11:00 AM)

There is a live DVD coming out from the Crowes in March, titled Freak ‘N’ Roll into the Fog, recorded at the Fillmore in San Francisco in 2005. There’s also a new album alleged in 2006 from these guys, but nothing concrete. Let’s hope.

“Wakin’ up the reindeer, makin’ little kids cheer”

For my *final* seasonal post, a little ’60s punk rock cover:

“Don’t Believe in Christmas”
Pearl Jam
(right click, save target as)

This was one of the two songs on the Pearl Jam 2002 Christmas Single vinyl (ask me sometime to show you all of them; I’ve got the whole set and look for any excuse to bust ‘em out).

It is a cover of a song by The Sonics, a ’60s-era Tacoma, Washington punk band. This is a live version from the second night of Pearl Jam’s epic 2002 club shows at The Showbox in Seattle.

So jump around by the stockings and make a little mistletoe romance with this good-time tune.

Merry Christmas, guys. May we all remember how blessed we are.

A few more Christmas tracks

Okay, here are a few more good Christmas tracks I discovered on the Something Old, Something New blog. I promise this will be my last holiday post for a while, I will try to restrain myself.

Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas, Eels
The Christmas Song, Weezer
Just Like Christmas, Low
1963 Fanclub Christmas Album, The Beatles (not really listenable as music, but a nice trifle of memorabilia)

One more random thought I have recently had while being assailed by Christmas music. Can we talk for a second about that line in Walking In A Winter Wonderland where they sing, “He’ll say are you married? We’ll say no man, but you can do the job when you’re in town.” (?!?) That has always seemed a little racy to me.

Christmas Music That Won’t Drive You To Drink (unless you want to)

Well, it is December 1, which means that you are all now at the mercy of the Christmas Music Industry.

You will minding your own business, out shopping or driving along listening to the radio, when suddenly you cannot escape the strains of “Feliz Navidad” (my personal most hated) or “Sleigh Ride” (which actually isn’t SO bad, because of the redeeming quality of the whip sound). Or the godawful Chipmunks thing? What IS that? While I actually like the warm-fuzzy-inducing abilities of Christmas music, and the wonderful message it brings, my qualm is that so much of it is just terribly done and kind of annoying.

So, you can run, but the only way to truly hide is to bring along your iPod and pull up this playlist of not-lame Christmas music. This should also all fit nicely on one CD for portable holiday cheer. Have fun!

That Was The Worst Christmas Ever! – Sufjan Stevens
Let Me Sleep – Pearl Jam
Christmas With Jesus – Josh Rouse
Gotta Be Good – Chris Isaak (a little naughty holiday cheer)
White Christmas – Otis Redding
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – Death Cab For Cutie
What I Want – The Winter Blanket
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas – Coldplay
Merry Christmas – The Ramones
Come On! Let’s Boogey To The Elf Dance! – Sufjan Stevens
Washington Square – Chris Isaak
Christmas – Leona Naess
Christmas Time Is Here – Charlie Brown Christmas
I’ll Be Home For Christmas – The Winter Blanket
Someday at Christmas – Pearl Jam
Hey Parker, It’s Christmas – Ryan Adams
Silent Night – Johnny Cash

YOU CAN ALSO DOWNLOAD THE ENTIRE MIX AS A ZIP FILE HERE

Ho, ho, ho. Pass the eggnog, chief.