So Elated's The Bewildering Light is a beautiful collection of traditional and original Christmas music. The music is mainly folk-oriented, but there's a lot more going on than such a blanket term would indicate. The male and female vocal harmonies add a lot to songs like "Eastern Star" and "The First Noel", which comes to a gorgeous crescendo near the end and concludes with a whistling outro (I'm a whistler myself, so I always love to hear whistling in music).
Some of the original songs are very nice. "Stick With You" is told from the point of view of Joseph, and "Shepherds and Angels" has a cool, upbeat, Jack Johnson-like vibe. The latter is also available in two versions - the original and a "party version", which seems to be a remix that brings the background vocals more to the foreground and sounds quite a bit clearer.
There are also beautiful instrumental versions of "Greensleeves" and "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear". I particularly love the classical guitar in the latter - it really helps to give it a unique and lovely sound.
The album is available from Noisetrade, so the usual business of supplying your email address and postal code in return for free music applies. Happy listening!
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