A Rarebird in a Pear Tree, Volumes 1 and 2

Rarebird Records is an independent Canadian record company that specializes in a variety of styles, "from Americana blue-grass to indie folk rock, and singer-songwriter pop to soul infused art-rock."  They have also released a pair of excellent little Christmas compilations called A Rarebird in a Pear Tree via Noisetrade;  Volume 1 was released last year and Volume 2 was released this year.

Though they are both short, there are a lot of highlights on each album.  I really like the two songs by Shelley Adams - she has a very beautiful voice that sounds like Sarah McLachlan at times.  "The Friendly Beasts" by  Jason Paul Johnston has some of the cutest backing vocals you will ever hear courtesy of  Jana Lynn & Luke Paul Johnston.  There's a nice mix of traditional and modern songs, and possibly a few originals as well (I find it's getting harder and harder to determine if a Christmas song is original or not).  Both volumes are well worth checking out if you're looking for something a little more laid back and mellow sounding.

Happy listening!

URLs:

http://www.rarebirdrecords.ca/

http://www.noisetrade.com/rarebirdrecords (Volume 1)

http://www.noisetrade.com/rarebirdchristmasvol2 (Volume 2)

18 songs from Folk Angel

For a limited time - until December 22, to be precise - Folk Angel are offering their entire catalog (2 EPs and a full-length album, a total of 18 songs) for free.  You have to enter the case-sensitive password COMPASSION to access the downloads (I found the password on this site, in case you're curious).

I've been listening to these albums tonight and they're quite nice.  The third volume seems to have a much more varied sound than the first two, with the biggest surprise being the rap in the middle of  "Ring Christmas Bells (Carol Of The Bells)" - it comes from out of nowhere, but it works amazingly well.   "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus / Joy To The World", the final song on the second volume, has a very uplifting ending and is another highlight.

Happy listening!

URLs:

http://www.folkangel.com/?page_id=813 (music)

http://blog.compassion.com/how-about-some-free-christmas-music/ (password)

High Street Hymns - "Christmas & Advent Songs"

Christmas & Advent Songs is a sampler of, well, Christmas and Advent songs by High Street Hymns.  While listening to it, I thought it was an EP, but a closer look at the download page indicated that it is in fact a selection of songs from a longer album.  It's one heck of a sampler, though, so it's well worth a post and a listen (or three or four).

The genre on the download page is listed as folk/acoustic, but there's a lot more going on here than that would imply.  "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" is performed beautifully, starting with nothing but acoustic guitar and vocals and gradually building to a powerful crescendo with drums and electric guitar before coming right back to where it started.  "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" is a real surprise - the rapid guitar strumming and snapping percussion give it a somewhat aggressive edge; I'm actually reminded of Johnny Cash's version of "God's Gonna Cut You Down" when listening to it.  "In the Bleak Midwinter" is always one of my favourite Christmas songs, and this version, while more straightforward, is still very nicely done.  I was initially disappointed with "Love Came Down at Christmas", mainly because I was expecting something along the lines of Shawn Colvin's version, but subsequent listens have revealed the charms of this version as well.  I think that's one of the things I love most about Christmas music - everyone is free to put their own stamp on these songs, and if you're willing to do a bit of digging, there are some truly great gems to be found.

Okay, by my clock I have about 14 minutes left to post this if I want to get it up today, so I'd better go and do that now.  I hope you've been enjoying this year's crop of free Christmas music so far, and I'll be back soon with some more.  Happy listening!

URL:

https://www.noisetrade.com/highstreethymns

Album Spotlight: VNDVR XMSEP

Hello there, and welcome back to Free Christmas Music for another season!  Those of you who follow my other music blog may know that I've been on a rather extended hiatus from blogging, but I'm hopeful that the Christmas season, and all of the wonderful music that usually accompanies it, will help me to snap out of that.  Today I came up with a somewhat crazy idea to help get myself back into the blogging habit: I am going to attempt to make at least one new post on this blog every day until Christmas.  By my count, that should make for at least 32 posts (33 if I can keep going until Christmas Day).  This idea is crazy on a number of levels: I've never even come close to writing 32 posts on this blog in one Christmas season, even when starting earlier in the year than this; I'm still busy with work and other things (and the Christmas season itself will no doubt bring even more things to occupy my time) and don't have tons of time to write blog posts; and, perhaps craziest of all, I don't even have 32 things to write about yet - a quick look at my playlist and downloads folder shows 18 potential albums and/or singles to write about.

So if you're willing to accept the fact that I am attempting something completely unprecedented, for which I have little time and even less material, then by all means, feel free to join me for the next 32 days - I'm sure there will be lots of great music, and most likely a few surprises, along the way.

First up is a little EP that I actually came across late last year during my search for new versions of "Auld Lang Syne".  The name of the EP is VNDVR XMSEP; I guess this is a vowelless version of "Vandaveer Xmas EP", since it is a Christmas EP by "alt-folk song-singing/record making/globetrotting project," Vandaveer.  I didn't download the whole EP at the time, but I loved the version of "Auld Lang Syne," so I made a note to come back to it this year.  I did, and it ended up being pretty much as awesome as I'd thought it would be.  All three songs (the other two are "The Little Drummer Boy" and "Silent Night") have a very relaxed feel to them, with very sparse instrumentation and some beautiful interplay between the male and female vocals.

I'm sure I won't always be relaxed over the next 32 days, so this is an oddly appropriate album to start with.  I hope you enjoy it, and I'll be back again tomorrow (and the day after that, and the day after that...) with something else for you.  Happy listening!

URL:

http://www.vandaveer.net/music/

Album Spotlight: M Iafrate - happy xmas, x is here

Yesterday I promised you another folk-based Christmas album, and here it is: M Iafrate's happy xmas, x is here. There are 10 songs on this album, and they run the gamut from traditional Christmas carols, to the more modern "White Christmas" and "Happy Xmas (War is Over)", to an original composition called "The Prince of Peace".

The hymn "Each Winter as the Year Grows Older" starts the album off in a stark and somber mood, but by the time the harmonica kicks in on the second song, "O Holy Night", one gets the feeling that this is anything but a standard Christmas album; the use of a kazoo in "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" is an indication that this is a totally unique Christmas album. The Iafrate-penned "The Prince of Peace" is one of the album's highpoints; with instrumentation of "vocals, acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo, slide guitar, kazoos, tambourine, [and] hand claps", all performed by Iafrate himself (as is the majority of the entire album), and lyrics like "pave the way for the prince of peace. he hangs around with fishermen but doesn’t eat meat. he tellin’ us all to turn the other cheek. pave the way for the prince of peace," it is a fun and definitely unique look at the life of Jesus Christ. Another highlight is "Away in a Manger", which features Iafrate's brother Andrew on mandolin and vocals; and those vocals are harmonized beautifully with Iafrate's to create a very stirring version of this traditional Christmas carol.

Overall, happy xmas, x is here is a very fun album to listen to. The unique instrumentation, beautiful arrangements, and inspired performances make it a worthy addition to any music lover's collection.

Artist Spotlight: Dolores Dagenais

[Update: The music linked to in this post is no longer available.]

For me, one of the biggest benefits of this whole Free Christmas Music project has been the opportunity to discover artists that I probably never would have discovered otherwise. Many of those artists come from genres that I don't normally listen to; thanks to the ability of Christmas music to transcend all notions of genre, it is easy to find myself in previously unexplored musical territory. One such genre is folk music, and I am happy to say that I have found a couple of really great folk artists who have been generous enough to make their Christmas albums freely available for people to enjoy. I'll be doing this post in two parts, featuring one artist today and the other whenever I get the second part written, hopefully tomorrow.

Today I want to feature Dolores Dagenais, a singer/songwriter from Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada. Dolores has made her Words of Warmth album available for free download from her website. The album features eight songs, seven of which are traditional Christmas carols; the final song, "Empty Pocket", is an original song that was written in 2000 after she "witnessed the body of a homeless man being picked up off the sidewalk one cold January day." This song is absolutely beautiful and features some very moving lyrics. Another highlight of the album is "Away in a Manger", which is done completely a capella and features some stunning vocal harmonies. In fact, many of the songs on Words of Warmth feature very distinctive vocal harmonies which are an absolute joy to listen to.

Words of Warmth will only be available on the website until January 2008, at which time it will be taken down to make room for more new music, so you should head on over there now if you want to check it out.

Dolores has also added another original Christmas song to her website. "Fragile Light" takes a look at the true meaning of Christmas, and, like "Empty Pocket", is a very moving song. "Fragile Light" has been given its own page on the website, complete with artwork and lyrics.

Part two of my exploration of folk Christmas music will be up soon. In the meantime, though, please head on over to Dolores Dagenais's website so you can hear her beautiful music for yourself.