Attwater: Christmas

I used to be a really big fan of country music.  Looking back on it now, I think it was more of a phase than anything, although I still enjoy pulling out my old Garth Brooks, Dixie Chicks, and Shania Twain albums for a listen every now and then.  That said, I think Attwater's Christmas EP, which is decidedly very country sounding, has been one of the nicest surprises so far this Christmas season.

There's a nice mix of traditional and modern songs on this EP.  It opens with a countrified cover of Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You", then moves on to "O Holy Night".  I don't recognize "Christmas Song (Walk Me Home)", so I'm assuming it's an original, and a very nice one, at that (I mean really, really nice - I've listened to it a few more times while typing this post, and it sounds better with each listen.  The vocals are just gorgeous, the bridge is beautiful, and the little quote from "Winter Wonderland" near the end is icing on the cake.).  "It Won't Seem Like Christmas" seems to be a Loretta Lynn cover (I'm not familiar with it, but a quick Google of the lyrics seems indicate as such).  The EP closes all too soon with "Little Drummer Boy", but the entire thing is so well done that you'll likely be coming back to it for repeated listens.

 I just noticed on their Facebook page that the album will only be free for this week, so hurry up if this sounds like something you're interested in!  

I often find that I need several listens to an album in order to really absorb it and feel comfortable enough to post about it.  Not so with this one - I heard it for the first time this morning and immediately felt that it would be worth a post.  Hopefully you'll feel the same way about it.  Happy listening!

URL:

http://www.noisetrade.com/attwatermusic

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

Chanticleer - "Noël Nouvelet" [12 Days of HMVDigital #8]

Today's free download from HMVDigital is Chanticleer's "Noël Nouvelet".  Once again, I am completely unfamiliar with this artist (according to their website, they are the top male a cappella chorus in the world), but it's still a very beautiful song and is definitely worth a download.  Happy listening!

URL:

http://www.hmvdigital.ca/artist/chanticleer/christmas-with-chanticleer-featuring-dawn-upshaw

Julian Casablancas - "Christmas Treat" [12 Days of HMVDigital #7]

Today's free download from HMVDigital is Julian Casablancas' "Christmas Treat" (actually, I believe the song is called "I Wish it was Christmas Today", as that's what the cover art says, as well as what he sings in the chorus).  This one caught me totally off guard as it's an artist that I've never heard of before, but the song totally rocks!  It has a bit of a new wave or power pop feel to it and is unbelievably catchy.  I think this may be my favourite of all of the songs released by HMVDigital so far.

Further investigation (okay, I clicked on the artist's name on the download page) reveals that Casablancas is the lead singer/songwriter for The Strokes, a band that I am obviously not familiar with if I didn't even recognize his name.  If you're a fan of The Strokes, I'm sure you will love this song; even if you're not a fan of them, you may still love this song.  There's really only one way to find out, and (today, at least) it won't cost you a thing.  Happy listening!

URL:
http://www.hmvdigital.ca/artist/julian-casablancas/chrismas-treat

Barking Classics - "12 Days of Christmas" [12 Days of HMVDigital #6]

Today's free song from HMVDigital is Barking Classics' "12 Days of Christmas".

...

At least it's free.  Honestly, that's about all I have to say about this one.  I might play this for my kids later and see if it gets a laugh out of them, though.  I also might try to recreate it in Mario Paint if I can convince my Super Nintendo to work for a little while.  Happy listening!

URL:
http://www.hmvdigital.ca/artist/barking-classics/12-days-of-christmas

Twisted Sister - "O Come All Ye Faithful" [12 Days of HMVDigital #5]

Today's free download from HMVDigital is Twisted Sister's version of "O Come All Ye Faithful" from A Twisted Christmas, which was released in 2006.  If the arrangement sounds a little familiar, it's because you've probably heard it before as "We're Not Gonna Take It", which itself was inspired by this very song.  It's not an exact match, but it's very close.  Listen to the harmonized guitar solos to hear just how close - one of them plays the traditional melody, and the other one is the same as the solo in "We're Not Gonna Take It".  It's a very playful arrangement, and it sounds like the band must have had a ton of fun creating it; it's certainly a lot of fun to listen to.  Happy listening!

URL:
http://www.hmvdigital.ca/artists/twisted-sister/a-twisted-christmas-1/02-Oh-Come-All-Ye-Faithful

Mariah Carey - "The First Noel/Born Is The King Interlude" [12 Days of HMVDigital #4]

One of the things that I love most about free Christmas music is that it gets me listening to artists that I would otherwise not even bother with.  Case in point: Mariah Carey, whose "The First Noel/Born Is The King Interlude" (from her recently released, and cleverly titled, Merry Christmas II You) is today's free download from HMVDigital.  It's not my favourite version of "The First Noel", but it's still quite nice, and I really like the brief interlude section that's tagged on to the end of the song.

Any guesses as to what else will be coming our way from HMV this month?  I'd love to see Lady Gaga's "Christmas Tree" given away, since there was such a huge deal made about it last year when Amazon gave it away for free; other than that, though, I'm just sitting back and enjoying this unexpected windfall of Christmas music.  Happy listening!

URL:
http://www.hmvdigital.ca/artist/mariah-carey/merry-christmas-ii-you

"Vive le Vent" [12 Days of HMVDigital #3]

Since it appears that the 12 Days of HMVDigital MP3s previously mentioned in this space are available to more than just Canadians, I thought it might be a good idea to put up a quick post about each song as it becomes available.  I thought about doing that yesterday, when Sheryl Crow's "O Holy Night" was the free download, but I figured that there would only be a few hours left to download the song by the time I posted about it; it turns out, though, that the downloads have been changing over closer to midday EST, so there would have been ample time for anyone interested to grab the track.  Oh well, live and learn!

Today's download is "Vive le Vent" as performed by Les petits chanteurs d'Aix en Provence, Santa Claus Light Orchestra.  "Vive le Vent" is a French song that uses the same music as "Jingle Bells".  This is a cute version of the song sung by a children's choir.

I have to say, these downloads have been a very nice surprise so far.  I'm impressed with the variety shown in the first three songs, and I'm really looking forward to what is to come.  Happy listening!

URL:

http://www.hmvdigital.ca/artist/les-petits-chanteurs-daix-en-provence-santa-claus-light-orchestra/joyeux-noel-le-meilleur 

12 Days of HMVDigital

I just found out that HMV will be giving away one free festive track each day for the next 12 days (starting today) as part of their 12 Days of HMVDigital event.  It's quite probable that these giveaways are limited to Canadians; however, I have no way of testing that myself, since I am in fact Canadian and already a member of HMVDigital.  If someone residing outside of Canada would like to test this out for themselves, please report back here and let everyone know whether or not it works.  If it doesn't, then I apologize, as I do like to keep the content I post about accessible to as many people as possible.  As someone who has often found himself on the outside looking in at all of Amazon's MP3 giveaways, though, I can't help but feel excited about this, and I really hope that at least a few people are able to benefit from it.

The first MP3 to be given away in this event is "Ave Maria" by The Canadian Tenors.  If it turns out that people in the rest of the world can also access these downloads, then I'll probably make mention of any noteworthy songs as they become available; otherwise, this will probably be the last time I mention it.  Either way, please let me know how it works for you.

URL: 

http://www.hmv.ca/microsites/12days/eng-12days-music-10.html

P.S. This isn't meant to be today's post - I'm actually working on another one that should be up soon and will have music that anyone can download, like most of my posts.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra - "Dream Child (New 2010 Version) (U.S. only)

Full disclosure: I feel rather conflicted about writing this post, because the download is only available in the United States.  Being Canadian myself, and thus unable to access the download, I completely understand if anyone feels slighted in any way.  However, it is a weekend, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to get a proper post up today, so this will have to suffice for now.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra have rerecorded "Dream Child", a song from their 1998 album The Christmas Attic.  This version of the song features Tim Hockenberry, who sang "Believe" on last year's Night Castle, on vocals.  I really love the vocals on "Believe", so I really wish I could hear what he has done with "Dream Child".   If anyone who reads this manages to download the song, please leave a comment letting the rest of the world what we're missing out on. :)  Happy listening!

URL:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004BUK8S4/ref=dm_sp_alb

P.S. David has posted a free Christmas download over at Feedback, but you may need to act fast, as he believes it will only be available for four days.  Keep an eye on his blog, as he's planning to put up more free Christmas downloads on the four Fridays leading up to Christmas, and his excellent taste in music means that they will all be worth checking out.

Free Christmas music from classical.com

Earlier this year, I wrote a post about classical.com's selection of free music on my other music blog.  I have continued to come back to that site each and every week since then, and I've downloaded quite a bit of excellent music from it.  This week's free album is a collection of Christmas music performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Vaughan Meakins, and featuring a mix of singers and choirs.  There is a nice variety of music on the album, with some of my favourite songs like "Away in a Manger", "The First Noel", and "Good King Wenceslas", as well as some I've never heard before like "Shepherds Pipe Carol" and "Donkey Carol".

If you've never been to classical.com before, you will need to register for an account with the site before you can download anything; registration is free, and, among other things, it enables you to download free music from the site every week, so it is well worth doing.  The free downloads are typically kept on the site for two weeks before they get replaced by something else (although I have noticed exceptions, such as Beethoven's 9th symphony, which is still available after more than two months), so it's best to grab it as soon as possible.  Happy listening!

URL:

http://www.classical.com/free-music-download.php?download_id=113419

2 free downloads from Oprah

Just as she did last year, Oprah is offering some free Christmas music downloads from her website for a limited time.  This year it's only 2 songs instead of the 8 that were offered last year, but still, free Christmas music is always worth downloading. :)

This year's songs are "What Child is This", as performed by Andrea Bocelli and Mary J. Blige, and "Silent Night" as performed by Sugarland.  I can't say that I've ever knowingly heard any music by either of these artists (Mary J. Blige excepted), so it's nice to be able to hear something new.  I was really impressed with Sugarland's take on "Silent Night"; it has a light country feel to it, and the vocals (which include one verse sung in Spanish) are excellent.

After hearing last year's sampler from Oprah, I was so impressed by Josh Groban's version of "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" that I added Noel to my wishlist and ended up receiving it for Christmas.  I don't know if I feel quite that strongly about either of these songs, but I think I would definitely like to check out some more of Sugarland's music now.

These two songs will only be available until tomorrow (that's December 1) at 23:00 CT, so if you're interested in them at all, you need to get over to the site as soon as possible and download them.  Last year's songs ended up being offered again a few weeks after they initially went up, but who knows if that will happen again this year.  Go check them out, and happy listening!

URL:

http://www.oprah.com/article/food/partyplanning/pkgholiday/20091118-tows-free-holiday-download

Album Spotlight: Oh, Starling - "Joy"

I will be the first to admit that I can be rather enthusiastic about Christmas music.  I listen to it at times of the year that are just unthinkable to some people.  In November of one year, I was listening to some Christmas music on my lunch break at work when someone commented on it, basically wondering why I was listening to it when it wasn't even close to Christmas.  When I tried to explain that I just liked the way it sounds, I received a response along the lines of "Well, you've obviously never worked in a retail environment at Christmas."  I guess the implication was that the endless repetition of Christmas music in stores at this time of year is enough to make anyone sick of it.

Now, I have nothing at all against this attitude or the person who said it (in fact, he may be reading this on Facebook right now).  In fact, I can understand how being forced to listen to anything repetetively can turn someone off from it.  However, over the last three Christmases (oh wow, is this really my fourth year doing the free Christmas music thing?), I have had the opportunity to listen to a lot of different takes on Christmas music, and I can't help but think that if people were exposed to some of these unusual arrangements of otherwise familiar songs, they might be a little more accepting toward the whole idea of Christmas music.  Of course, I could be totally wrong about that, but at least I enjoy it, and I gather from some of the comments and emails that I receive that my readers enjoy it too.

Oh, Starling have made their EP, Joy, available for free for a limited time.  On it, they have crafted some very refreshing arrangements of five familiar Christmas songs; refreshing, but no so radically different that they could not be enjoyed on the radio, or yes, even in stores that are playing Christmas music.  The acoustic instrumentation and slowed down tempos give a very relaxed feel to songs like "Joy (To the World)", "Silent Night", and "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear".  Each song is given a lot of breathing room, and a lot of them are given extended bridges and choruses.  It's a great little release to listen to when you'd like to relax for a while, especially as things start to get really hectic in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  You're not likely to hear these songs playing over the PA of your favourite store, so it might be a good idea to load them onto an MP3 player for your own personal listening; it would be hard to feel rushed while listening to these beautiful renditions of familiar Christmas songs.

Joy will be free for a limited time - one article I read about it said only until US Thanksgiving - so you should go download it now if you're interested at all.  The form on the site asks for quite a bit of information (email address, first name, country, city, and zip code, to be precise), so I would recommend reading the privacy agreement if you're at all paranoid about giving that kind of information out.  They did send me a couple of emails, but it is worth noting that the download link appeared on the site after I submitted the form - it was not emailed to me.  You can choose between MP3 and AAC formats; I chose MP3, which yielded a 37.3 MB zip file.  Happy listening!

http://ohstarling.bkstageshare.com/joy

Free Album: Holiday Hits 2008

I've seen quite a few blog posts about this already today (with even more coming in as I write this), so it's quite possible that you may already have heard about this.  If not, I guess one more post about it can't hurt!  For "the next 48 hours", Oprah Winfrey is giving away a free compilation called Holiday Hits 2008.  Here is the track listing:

Faith Hill - "Joy to the World"
Tony Bennett - "I'll be Home for Christmas"
Il Divo - "O Holy Night"
Josh Groban - "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear"
Brian McKnight - "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"
Amy Grant - "O Come All Ye Faithful"
Harry Connick Jr. - "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"
Aretha Franklin - "Silent Night"

There are some really big names on that list, and what looks like a great mix of both traditional Christmas carols and more modern standards.  Normally I like to write at least a brief review of the material I post about, but because of the time-limited nature of this offer, I think you'll excuse me for just wanting to post about it as soon as possible.

I can't find any mention of when this offer was actually posted, so if you are at all interested in it, I would suggest heading right over to Oprah's site and downloading the songs; they will likely be gone sometime on Friday.  The site also features printable cover art, instructions for burning the songs to a CD, and more information about each song and artist.  Enjoy, and Happy Listening!

URL:

http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20081118_tows_holiday/2

608 South - Treeline Christmas (redux)

[Update: The 608 South website has never come back online, so I have decided to remove the files from my own site as well.]

Last week's featured album, 608 South's Treeline Christmas, is currently unavailable as the 608 South website is still down. In order to enable peple to hear this wonderful album, I have decided to take an unusual step and host the files on the Free Christmas Music website. If you are interested in listening to the album, please visit its new home on the Free Christmas Music website. If 608 South's website ever comes back, I will remove the files from my own site and redirect readers there. But for now, as far as I know this is the only place on the web where this album is available.

As always, I would love to know what anyone thinks of the album. If 608 South happens across this entry, thank you for the wonderful music, and I hope to see your website back up and running soon. Merry Christmas!

Free Album: Seriously Westcoast Vol. 2 - Happy Holidays (limited time only)

NOTE: as of December 16, 2007 at 11:59 p.m., this album is no longer available for free. I know some of you happened across this post a little late to get the download; in order to avoid missing any future time-limited offers, please subscribe to the blog's feed (also available via email) and always be amongst the first to read each post.

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Hi again. I know it's only been a few hours since the last post, but this free download is only for a very limited time, so it definitely needs to be mentioned now.

Seriously Westcoast Vol. 2 - Happy Holidays is being given away for free by the Vancouver Sun this weekend. The offer started at 12:01 EST and continues for 48 hours from that time. This is a compilation of Christmas music from artists on the Nettwerk Music Group label. Here is the entire track listing:

Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
The Weepies - All That I Want
Sarah McLachlan - Silent Night
Matt Wertz - What Child Is This
Lily Frost - Skating On The River
Oh Susanna - Go Tell It On The Mountain
Medieval Baebes - The Holly & The Ivy
The Be Good Tanyas - Rudy
Barenaked Ladies - Elf's Lament
Melissa McClelland - O-Holy Night
Jars of Clay - Hibernation Day
Jenny Owen Youngs - Things We Don't Need Anymore
Martha Wainwright - Merry Christmas And A Happy New Year
Kyle Andrews - Under The Misteltoe
Leigh Nash - The First Noel
Sarah McLachlan - The First Noel (DJ Shah Remix)

Sound good? You bet! Head on over to the download site, enter your name and email address, and download away. As always, I'd love to read what you think about this in the comments.

Merry Christmas!