Multiple Album Spotlight: A Familyre Christmas

[Update 2009-12-04: Both albums can currently be found at this link.]

I have a couple of nice compilation albums for you tonight in the form of the first two volumes of A Familyre Christmas from the Sounds Familyre label. The first volume was actually posted on their blog last year, but I didn't discover it until sometime after Christmas and was actually unable to download it. Thankfully, the entire album was reposted last week, and I'm happy to say that it was well worth the wait. A Familyre Christmas Vol. 1 contains a nice variety of both traditional and original Christmas songs. My favourite is Dan Zimmerman's take on "In the Bleak Midwinter", which has a wonderful Johnny Cash vibe to it. The Singing Mechanics contribute a very nice version of "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming", a song which has become one of my favourites this year. A couple of other highlights are Lenny Smith's folky "For There is Born a Child" and Elin's sparse, beautiful, and multilingual version of "Oh Holy Night". All 13 songs can be streamed or downloaded from the widget on this page.

A Familyre Christmas Vol. 2 is in the process of being released, one track a day, every day until Christmas. There are currently 4 songs up, so go grab them if you haven't already done so and check back each day until Christmas for more. If this is anything like last year's release, the songs won't be up for very long after Christmas, so make sure to get the new songs as soon as you can. I have added a link to the RSS feed to this site's sidebar; it should appear near the top of the right sidebar, and it allows the MP3's to be downloaded directly (at least the last few).

I'll probably post a reminder about the remaining songs once they have all been released. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy what's already available. There's only a week left before Christmas, so I'm going to try my best to cram in as much great music as I can in that time. Happy listening!

URLs:
http://www.soundsfamilyre.com/blog/2009/12/
http://www.soundsfamilyre.com/blog/2008/12/10/a-familyre-christmas-is-back/ (old link)
http://www.soundsfamilyre.com/blog/2008/12/15/a-familyre-christmas-vol-2/ (old link)

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

Album Spotlight: Winter Wishes

I hope you have been enjoying the great variety of musical styles that have been featured so far on this blog. I feel like my musical preferences have been expanding thanks to some of the Christmas music I have been listening to lately. Over the past couple of days I have really come to appreciate an album that I originally downloaded last year but didn't really get into at the time. That album is the Silber Records compilation Winter Wishes, which I would like to feature today.

The single most striking feature about this album is the variety of musical styles found on it. From an a cappella version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (recorded via voicemail) to a cover of Prince & the Revolution's "Another Lonely Christmas", the album winds its way throught many different moods. There are beautiful renditions of "Silent Night" and "Carol of the Bells" as well as a reinterpretation of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" in "dream number nine (recurring)". The bulk of the album consists of original songs from the Silber Records roster; my favourites of these include the beautiful "Snow Angel" and "In the Snow", as well as the percussion- and synth-driven "Another Journey by Steamboat".

The best thing about such a varied album is that most people should be able to find at least a couple of songs to love on it. I have listed some of my favourites above; what are yours? I am also now interested in checking out more music from many of the artists featured on this compilation; perhaps some of them may end up being featured on my other blog throughout 2008. For now, though, please head on over to the Internet Archive and download a copy of Winter Wishes; make sure to take a look at the liner notes there for more information about the music.

Merry Christmas and happy listening!