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Tag: Enya

  • Holiday Music That Won’t Kill You – Part 1: Christmas Present

    Holiday music sucks!  No, actually it’s only sappy overplayed Christmas music that gets annoying.  The listening environment counts too.  Anything played at Christmas Tree Shops while you are waiting for your mom to decide what size glass beads to buy will torture you.  Jimi Hendrix and John Coltrane could be jamming right in front of you but the stink of scented candles and the puddle of sweat inside your jacket will ruin everything.

    Relax.  The truth is there are some really great Christmas CDs available.  Here is a guide to some holiday music that won’t kill you.

    Part One:  Christmas Present

    Various Artists – We Wish You a Metal Christmas and a Headbanging New Year

    The obvious comparison is to Twisted Sister’s 2006 release Twisted Christmas. This is way better.
    The CD was produced by Ronnie James Dio’s wife/manager and one of the Kulick brothers.  (I can never remember which one is the producer and which was in Kiss, but it doesn’t matter for this review.)  It contains twelve very well-known Christmas songs performed by very well-known 70s and 80s metal and hard rock guys.  Here are just a few of the bands they were in:  Kiss, Motorhead, David Lee Roth (not him, thankfully), Alice Cooper (yes, him), ZZ Top, Foo Fighters, Black Sabbath, Dokken, Dio, Styx, Judas Priest, and Deep Purple.

    The lineup is what makes this CD so successful.  All the musicians are really good (much better than anybody in Twisted Sister), but it’s really the variety that makes this work.  The concept could get boring very quickly (Beatallica, anyone?).  A different lineup and singer on every track keeps things fresh.

    If you think you might like it, you probably will.  If not, read on…

    Enya – And Winter Came…

    Like the previous selection, this is exactly what you would expect.  Remember the song that goes “Sail away, sail away, sail away?”  No, not Randy Newman.  I mean the one that sounds like the music Jet Blue plays when it’s time to get off the plane.

    This CD sounds just like everything else Enya has done. If you like her ethereal vocals, orchestral synth playing and new agey Celticness, you will dig this.  Holiday CDs can frequently disappoint, but I think this one works because Enya put a lot into it.  She wrote ten of the twelve songs and came up with interesting arrangements for the other two.

    Many songs are not specifically about Christmas.  Some just refer to winter or the Star of Bethlehem.  Two songs are about time passing, which makes them really more appropriate for the Winter Solstice or New Years.

    James Taylor – At Christmas

    Smarm Sandwich.

    Various Artists – The Hotel Cafe Presents Winter Songs

    This new compilation showcases the new generation of female singer-songwriters. It’s mostly very good, but I find myself skipping some of the standards.  That’s to be expected from a holiday comp and I don’t think it’s a big problem, especially for people who really like this kind of music.  Many of these women are good songwriters and it’s the original songs that I find most compelling.  Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson, Brandi Carlisle, Lenka, Meiko, and Colbie Caillat all contributed very interesting songs.  Priscilla Ahn’s version of “Silent Night” is really cool and a couple lesser names handle their standards well.  KT Tunstall, Alice Smith, Katy Perry, and Nicole Atkins are among those who decided to turn their chestnuts into torch songs.

    Like the metal CD, if you think you’ll like this, you probably will.

    I’ll be back soon with Christmas Past and Future.  Shine on.

    Rock Dad is hoping whoever brings presents for the winter solstice brings him the Genesis 1970-75 box set and a good rock and mineral field guide.

  • Chart Chat 12/7/08: Kanye Beats Axl Down

    Let’s party like it’s 1999! For the first time in 2008, every album in the Top Ten scans over 100,000 copies. Of course,this tracking week includes Black Friday, explaining this sudden rush of good fortune in the music industry. Lots of interesting news within the chart as well. Let’s see what’s going on with this week’s Billboard Albums Chart. All charts are the sole property of Billboard Communications, Inc.

    1) 808s & Heartbreak-Kanye West

    Kanye has reason to celebrate as well as reason to worry. 808s is his third #1 album (out of four albums), but it also scores the lowest first-week sales of his career, a testament to this album’s polarizing nature.

    2) Fearless-Taylor Swift
    3) Chinese Democracy-Guns ‘n Roses

    What the hell happened? G’N R fans were supposed to be trooping to Best Buy in droves to pick up this long, long awaited album, and not only did it not come close to toppling Kanye, but it couldn’t even top Taylor Swift!! What gives?

    4) I Am…Sasha Fierce-Beyonce

    Sasha Fierce is in control of the singles chart, where Single Ladies jumps into the top spot, wresting control after two months of non-stop T.I.. Beyonce also finds herself at #3 with If I Were a Boy. Don’t fret for T.I., though. He’s enjoying his last few weeks of freedom with the #2 and #4 singles in the country.

    5) Theater of the Mind-Ludacris
    6) Day & Age-The Killers

    People still care about The Killers. How unfortunate.

    7) Dark Horse-Nickelback
    8) Twilight-Original Soundtrack
    9) Various Artists-Now That’s What I Call Music 29
    10)David Cook-David Cook

    The 2008 American Idol champion is off to a way better start than his predecessor. Jordin Sparks’ debut scanned just over 100,000 units in its’ first week, a record-low for an Idol winner, while Cook is about 100,000 copies away from Gold after only two weeks. However, proving that it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish, Sparks’ album has crossed the Platinum mark and remains on the chart a year after its’ release. Thanks Chris Brown!!

    11)High School Musical 3: Senior Year-Soundtrack
    12)Black Ice-AC/DC
    13)The Promise-Il Divo
    14)The Greatest Songs of the Eighties-Barry Manilow

    The bored housewife section of the chart is right here, as classical-esque boy band Il Divo come in at lucky #13 this week, while the immortal Barry Manilow (kids, he was Clay Aiken thirty years ago, with all that that implies) pops up a notch below, with yet another tribute album. This one was not as successful as its’ predecessors, one of which actually hit #1 on the charts a couple years back. Check out the cover, too. That man’s face is tighter than Spandex on Mo’nique.

    15)Prospekt’s March-Coldplay
    16)Paper Trail-T.I.
    17)Joy to the World-Faith Hill
    18)And Winter Came-Enya
    And now we’re at the Christmas holiday portion of the chart, with festive albums from Faith Hill and Eny…hey, wait. Something tells me that an Enya holiday album won’t exactly have you rockin’ around the Christmas tree. Oh, well. Feliz Navidad!!

    19)David Archuleta-David Archuleta

    Something tells me Blake Lewis is sitting at home right now going “Fuck! They couldn’t have done this with me?!? Sorry, bro. Cute, innocent teenagers are infinitely more commercial than beatboxers.

    20)Funhouse-P!nk

  • The New Music Files 11/11/08: David Archuleta, T-Pain and More!!!

    Sorry I missed y’all last week. Voting (and the subsequent 7 hours of watching CNN while fluctuating between cnn.com and yahoo.com) took up the entire of my Tuesday. However, Obama’s been elected (YAY!) and I can now devote my attention towards letting you know what’s in stores-’cause today’s kind of a doozy.

    David Archuleta David Archuleta: The only other instance of a 2nd place Idol finisher coming out before the champion that I can remember was Clay coming out (ooh, play on words) before Ruben…and you all know how that one went. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago how I’d finally been sucked into the gooey goodness of first single Crush, but that’s where I draw the line. However, your teenage niece or cousin is probably on line at the record store already to grab this one.

    T-Pain Thr33 Rings: I think I’ve made my disdain for T-Pain pretty clear. The man can’t sing, can barely rap, and brings coonery to an all-time new level. If, with that knowledge, you still want to buy his record, be my guest.

    Taylor Swift Fearless: Carrie who? Taylor Swift is country music’s current it girl, with tons of pop appeal (hey, she dated a Jonas!). This widely anticipated second album has already spawned the huge hit Love Story and will be one of the biggest successes of the fourth quarter.

    Seal Soul: Seal is starting to put out albums with the same frequency that he makes babies!! Coming just a year after his last release, Seal’s new album features covers of classic soul tunes. The first single is a version of Sam Cooke’s A Change is Gonna Come, which has me kind of worried, but Prayer for the Dying and Love’s Divine can make up for a million ill-advised covers.

    Musiq Soulchild On My Radio: Last year’s #1 Luvandmusiq did nothing for me. Why? Because it sounded like Musiq’s last three albums. For album #5, the R&B singer tried to switch it up with the T-Pain-esque single Radio, but after that met with a resounding thud at radio, he regrouped and came back with the safest bet possible-a Mary J. Blige duet. I own each of Musiq’s first four albums, but this might be the record where the Musiq officially stops for me.

    Elsewhere: Did you know that Tracy Chapman was still around? Me neither. The folky wonder celebrates the 20th anniversary of her still-classic debut with a new album tomorrow. The 29th installment of the Now That’s What I Call Music series also hits stores, as does the first album of R&B material from Deborah Cox (did you know that she was still around?) in six years. Offensive-rap outfit Jedi Mind Tricks have a new one hitting stores today, and there are also a couple of interesting curiosities: an Enya Christmas album, an album from Kevin Costner (I’m assuming this is The Bodyguard star and there aren’t two Kevin Costners floating around, and a new Vanilla Ice album-this one featuring him tackling some of the greatest hip-hop hits of all time. I might get this just to see what a complete and total trainwreck it is.

    On the greatest hits tip, alterna-rap faves Jurassic 5 re-release their first, independently distributed record with a bonus DVD, while several of New Order‘s classic albums get the deluxe double-disc treatment. On the anniversary tip, there is a 30th anniversary edition of Cheap Trick’s Live at the Budokan, while we’re also getting a 2-disc Smiths anthology. Christina Aguilera’s Target & iTunes-exclusive greatest hits disc gets released today, as do hits packages from Enrique Iglesias (!) and Hilary Duff (!!…and didn’t she just come out with a greatest hits album like two years ago?)

    Get your full list of new releases here.

    Happy shopping!!