Another year over, and a new one about to begin. A new decade, in fact. I find it hard to believe how fast time has been passing. It certainly doesn't feel like it was ten years ago that I was sitting home with my parents watching a "top 1000 videos of the millennium" countdown on CMT (yes, the top 1000 videos of the previous 1000 years, even though television itself had only been around for a very tiny fraction of that time - I guess everyone had to get in on the millennium hype!). My life has changed immeasurably in that time (for the better, by far), and I'm really looking forward to what the next ten years (and beyond) will bring.
One thing that definitely hasn't changed, though, is my love of music. That is what keeps me blogging about music, and I'm always glad to hear from people who appreciate the music I post about. Thank you for reading this blog for yet another year, and I'll see you again sometime next November (of course, you are more than welcome to check out
Totally Free Music for some excellent non-Christmas music throughout the year; as always, I have no idea which direction that blog will take, but it is sure to be an exciting one).
Before signing off for the year, though, I'd like to point you to the new versions of "Auld Lang Syne" I came across this year, just as I have done for the
previous two years. Most of these versions were just included on Christmas albums that I downloaded, but I also took a quick look around for a few other versions this year, which is something I never did before.
First up is J.E.L.L.i.'s
"Happy New Year" from
A Jolly J.E.L.L.i. Christmas (which I already covered in my
Christmas Day post).
After a countdown, complete with party sounds, and a brief acoustic prelude, the song kicks into high gear with a truly rocking arrangement. It's barely more than a minute long, but anyone who loves instrumental guitar rock should definitely check it out.
Another version that I
already covered this year comes from Corbin Watkins'
Incarnation album. It is the second half of the medley "Do You See?/Auld Lang Syne", and it is one of the quietest, most minimal versions of this song I have ever heard. Very nice for quietly contemplating the end of the year.
The last version that I came across during my normal Christmas music search this year is on the Lawrence compilation
The More the Merrier Christmas. Sam Billen, who organized the compilation, closes the album with a very laid back version of "Auld Lang Syne", which features some beautiful vocal harmonies.
A quick Twitter search turned up a few more versions, including a punk version from
MxPx, a fun dance mix from
DJ Josh Fernandez, a beautiful mellow version from electro-pop duo
Measure, and a great country version from
Vandaveer that starts as a duet but builds up into a full singalong in the second half. As I've mentioned before, this is the first time I've ever gone looking specifically for this song (a sure sign that it's really becoming a favourite of mine), and I'm glad I did, as there are some excellent versions to be found there.
And that's it. Whatever you decide to do tonight, I hope you have a safe and happy end to 2009, and that 2010 will bring you everything you want and need. I just can't wait to
start saying "twenty ten" - I'm tired of pronouncing years starting with "two thousand". ;) In all seriousness, though, this has been a really trying year for my family and me, and I'm hoping that the symbolic turning of the calendar will end up being a real turning point for us. Happy New Year!
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