It's a slow slog every single year through the over blown crap avalanche which is made up of Michael Bolten, Elvis and Mariah Carey doing their god awful versions of already over done christmas tunes as well as their even worse original compositions.
I thought that we could create a little oasis here for our members to come where they can get away from being inundated by this yearly assault on their ears and brain cells.
I'll begin with this unbelievably beautiful and sad piece by Gandalf's Fist.....
I like Christmas songs, especially ones that stand on there own musically. Father Christmas by the Kinks, Jethro Tull's A Christmas Song, Joni Mitchell's River, The Pogues Fairytale of New York, Ray Charles Chestnuts Roasting...almost any Christmas song by Bruce Cockburn, Bing and Bowie and this version of The little Drummer Boy by Elvin Bishop. Crank it loud!
Forgot about The Pogues. I haven't heard that one in awhile. I'll have to head over to You Tube and revisit it.
I will also confess to being fond of "Merry Stupid Fucking Christmas" by the Philadelphia punk band Thorazine.
Also, Fuck Christmas, by Fear. Another great nihilistic punk christmas classic.
Get REAL Christmas music...from 1600 and before. Medieval and Renaissance carols, motets and other works are beautiful and mostly in Latin so it doesn't matter what they are saying.
The thing is, most of the compositions of the time were requesitioned by the King, who basically acted on orders from the church. So pretty much everything had a religious slant and could therefore be considered christmas music.
But that's the beauty of early Christmas music: it's in Latin, which might as well be gibberish to most of us. It's gorgeous, and not kitschy.
its the muzak and rock punk whatever adaptations of krap that make me reel. I am down with the classical stuff because it sounds good
I'm with you. I'm sick of Christmas music before it starts for the season. Its the same 10 songs played over and over and over by various artists. My girlfriend starts listening to it starting Nov. 1st. I'm ready to poke holes in my ear drums by Thanksgiving.
You might want to salt in some of the suggestions being offered up here on to her play list. It might make your holidays more bareable. This thread is not the place for standard christmas drivel.
just listen to fat of the land it's much better
Any by Gary Hoey (hard rock guitar, NO singing); any by Trans Siberia Orchestra; And... the Kinks "Father Christmas". (;
Fun fact about Trans Siberian Orchestra that some people know, but most don't. TSO was the side project of a prog metal band called Savatage. Their big Christmas hit, Christmas Eve/ Sarajevo 12/24 first appeared on the Savatage album, Dead Winter Dead in 1995. It's an amazing record, and I highly recommend it.
This may be a bit off-the-wall, but xmas music for me is Rush's album 2112 and Aerosmith's album "Toys in the Attic"! I received these albums as a gift one xmas when I was in high school. Listening to them during the winter holidays always brings back warm memories. So I guess my answer is: Instead of listening to all that really crappy "christmas" music, listen to something that brings back nice memories of holidays past.
To be honest I love Christmas music. I'm not a fan of Mariah Carey or Elvis, but there are many others I like.
For starters, I like those guys who make fun of Christmas, like Dennis Leary many years ago when he released A Merry F&^$ing Christmas. Weird Al's Christmas at Ground Zero, and of course Bob Rivers parodies... My favorite being "The Restroom Door Said Gentlemen."
My Christmas taste is rather eclectic. I have A metal version of Silent night, A dance version of it, and a classical version... and I love them all. A few years ago I purchased the Twisted Sister Christmas album.
I think it's about the style of music, but also about interpretation. There are only ten actual Christmas song which get get covered by just about every musician on earth, but it's how they hear that song, and how they translate it.
I also really enjoy Danny Elfman's Nightmare Before Christmas.
Big band leader Stan Kenton did some beautiful jazz arrangements of Christmas music which, when he died, he willed to a Methodist church in Wichita, Kansas. I attended a Christmas service the church with a friend over 20 years ago just to hear the arrangements. They were fantastic!
The church plays the arrangements with a jazz band during every Christmas season. . Even as an atheist, if you are ever in Wichita during the Christmas season, I would recommend it.