Les Étoiles de Noël (free album) [12 Days of HMVDigital #11]

Well, HMVDigital has gone all out on its second last day of giveaways.  Instead of a single track, it is offering Les Étoiles de Noël, an entire album, for free!  I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, so I can't comment on it very much, but here's the track list in case you need a little more convincing:

1. "An Old Fashioned Christmas, Noël sans faim" by Patrick Norman
2. "Les enfants oubliés" by Cindy Daniel
3. "Douce nuit, Sainte nuit, Give Peace a Chance" by Angel Forrest / Florent Vollant
4. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" by Angel Forrest
5. "Silver Bells" by Patrick Norman
6. "Joyeux Noël" by Marie-Chantal Toupin
7. "Père Noël arrive ce soir" by Martin Deschamps
8. "23 décembre" by Hugo Lapointe
9. "I'll Be Home For Christmas" by Patrick Norman
10. "Aimons-nous" by Annie Carrier
11. "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" by Éric Lapointe
12. "C'est l'hiver" by Cindy Daniel
13. "Un enfant" by Marie-Chantal Toupin
14. "Ave Maria" by Gino Quilico
15. "Minuit chrétien" by Mélanie Renaud
16. "Tout ce que l'on veut pour Noël... c'est l'amour" by Various Artists 

Some great songs in there, to be sure.  Happy listening!

URL:

http://www.hmvdigital.ca/artist/various-artists/les-etoiles-de-noel

Denis Richard - Noël

I haven't featured much non-English music on this blog, mainly because I don't really know how to search for it.  I'd certainly love to have more of it, especially songs that originated in other languages and were later translated into English.  I was delighted, then, to find Denis Richard's Noël on Jamendo last week, as it is a full-length album of French Christmas songs.  Even better, they are done in a very kid-friendly style, with upbeat, playful arrangements and very clear vocals; I just noticed that this blog is curiously lacking in kid-friendly music, so this album actually helps to address a couple of deficiencies at once.

You'll recognize a lot of the songs on here even if you don't know a word of French.  Other songs are less familiar to me, but I'll be looking up more information about them so I can hopefully find other songs like them.  I always love expanding my musical interests, and being able to do that in another language is just a bonus.  In the meantime, I hope that you, and perhaps any children in your life, enjoy this little collection of French Christmas songs.  Happy listening!

URL:

http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/80882