Top Picks: Holiday music edition
Loading...
Sugar and spice
The Living Sisters鈥� is a project by four Los Angeles singer/songwriters: Alex Lilly, Inara George, Becky Stark, and Eleni Mandell. They blend their lovely voices and songwriting chops in this good-natured collection of original songs with titles such as 鈥�Christmas in California,鈥� 鈥淣eon Chinese Christmas Eve,鈥� and 鈥淪kip the Sugar (Good Girl)鈥� as well as a few reimagined classics. 聽
Downtown holiday
Ren茅e Fleming鈥檚 first holiday album, , evokes the opulence of the most wonderful time of the year with her jazz takes on seasonal favorites. Fleming delivers her signature emotion in tracks such as 鈥淚n the Bleak Midwinter鈥� and 鈥淪till, Still, Still,鈥� but it鈥檚 the jazz greats she invites around the tree 鈥� Chris Botti, Kurt Elling, Wynton Marsalis, Brad Mehldau, Kelli O鈥橦ara, Gregory Porter, and Rufus Wainwright 鈥� who add the sparkle and glow.
Foot-stomping carols
The Blind Boys of Alabama bring their appealing gumbo of gospel, soul, and blues to the Christmas party on聽 Guest artist Taj Mahal strums and sings with the Boys as they take a dozen Christmas carols to church, transforming familiar chestnuts such as 鈥淒o You Hear What I Hear?鈥� and 鈥淪ilent Night鈥� into exuberant doo-wop gospel workouts.
Beautiful blue Christmas
Some folks feel more reflective than upbeat during the holidays. The Ohio-based husband-and-wife duo of Over the Rhine mine that theme in . Eight original songs and the maudlin Merle Haggard classic 鈥淚f We Make it Through December鈥� make this album the polar opposite of celebratory, but there is spellbinding beauty in these tracks. 鈥淟et It Fall鈥� conjures up the majesty of 鈥淏ridge Over Troubled Water,鈥� gently counseling, 鈥淲hatever we鈥檝e lost/ I think we鈥檙e gonna let it go/ Let it fall, like snow.鈥澛�
Not your mom鈥檚 Christmas music
Ever wonder what Christmas music is out there beyond the well-known hits 鈥� maybe something a little less ... jolly? In the documentary , director Mitchell Kezin explores the community of collectors looking for obscure Christmas tracks. Filmmaker John Waters, Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne, and others muse on the season鈥檚 harder edge. It鈥檚 available on DVD, On Demand, and in select theaters.聽
