to sew these (and other new selvage items to come) (and it's still not too late to enter the giveaway here),
We have XM radio, which has its own holiday music channels, but if you listen for any extended period of time, you realize their play lists are really short. And we have 51 Christmas CDs (yep, counted them...).
First I thought I would do a David Letterman-type top-10 list, but then I realized the music you feel like listening to is so subjective--it totally depends on your mood.
So, in completely random order, here are my top picks.
Wait a sec. I'm going to disagree with that statement about completely random order, because if I had to pick only one CD, this would be it. Mark discovered Tonic Sol-Fa on a PBS special two years ago. Four guys from Minnesota, singing totally acapella. Amazing! There is a little bit of everything here, from the Grinch to Let There Be Peace on Earth. Bonus points: we saw them in Minnesota this summer and they did not disappoint.
A couple of years ago I discovered music from Clare College (on XM radio actually). These CDs are from 1967 and 1979, but the music is timeless and the arrangements are exquisite.



The college is located in Cambridge and how could you expect anything but beautiful music with buildings that look like these? I imagine high ceilings in a historic cathedral with flickering candlelight.


Which leads me to this one:
Mark is also the one who discovered the Chieftains (Paddy Moloney is part of the Chieftains) on a PBS special. About ten years ago we were snowbound in St. Paul and they were singing at Concert Hall in Minneapolis. We took a very "interesting" taxi ride in a snow storm to Concert Hall and heard them live. It turned out to be one of my most favorite days. Ever.
What is there to say about this one? It is a classic soundtrack and holiday movie. And John Williams is my pick for musical genius.


I have always loved the brass section of the orchestra, or any musical group for that matter. Chicago, Tower of Power. Gotta love all the brass. So of course the Canadian Brass always gets a lot of play time.


Before Keith Lockhart was the conductor for the Boston Pops Orchestra, they were under the direction of John Williams. But conductors aside, the Boston Pops Orchestra is one of my favorites. We have a lot of their CDs and someday, we will be sitting on the lawn in Boston on the 4th of July and enjoying their music live.

While I'm not a huge fan of The Three Tenors, the same can't be said for these guys. Love them. (Oh, and also Three Mo' Tenors, but I don't think they have recorded a Christmas CD. If they ever do, you can bet we'll own it!)

I don't think any Christmas season would be complete without some version of Handel's Messiah. This is my favorite, definitely not your classical orchestra version.

Yes, I jumped on the Taylor Swift bandwagon. This is only new purchase of 2009.

If your tastes run to instrumental, particularly piano, definitely check these out. Mark discovered Mary Beth Carlson playing in Nordstroms at the Mall of America (the same weekend we saw the Chieftains).


If you want something really, ahem, off the wall... you can add this to your collection. Yep, all the music is made by power tools.
We also own A Wild Christmas, composed entirely of animal sounds.
Yeah, I haven't listened to either of those in years. Probably not since the first time I heard them... but it's nice to know we have them in case that musical mood ever hits. Yikes.


And don't consider me the Grinch because I didn't include Mannheim Steamroller. We have all of them but I have heard them enough on the radio.
So what about you? Which holiday music lights up your Christmas?
5 comments:
05 08-
SewCalGal
said...
#
-
-
December 9, 2009 at 8:25 PM
-
Grandma G
said...
#
-
-
December 9, 2009 at 9:06 PM
-
k
said...
#
-
-
December 10, 2009 at 6:27 AM
-
JHNickodemus
said...
#
-
-
December 10, 2009 at 12:27 PM
-
Christa
said...
#
-
-
December 11, 2009 at 10:21 AM
I love Snapware products. They are one of the best organizational & storage products I've ever come across. I love how you can use just a section, or stack multiple units, for home or taking to a sew-cial/workshop. Very durable. And a great value for the $$$$.
Love, love, love Snapware products.
I also love the large storage Snapware units that you can "sometimes" find at JoAnns, but find all the time via Oranize.com (http://www.organize.com/3layercraftbox.html)
SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com
SewCalGal
www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com
I just ordered a Tonic Sol-Fa Christmas CD a couple days ago! Not the same as yours... or maybe it was... I can't remember. I guess I'll surprise myself when it arrives. ;)
My all time fav has been Mannheim Steamroller's "Christmas Extraordinaire". It gets me moving. :)
But actually, I haven't played any of my own CD's yet. There's so much Christmas music on the radio that I haven't bothered.
I'm a big fan of the Motown Christmas CD. Hard to beat the Jackson 5 singing Christmas songs.
I'm off to check out your Etsy store...
I recently heard a Billy Gilman Christmas album that I liked a lot!
Did not know you were a fan of TOP. How did I not know that? Amy Grant's "Home for Christmas" is my all-time favorite. But the best off-the-wall Christmas album ever is "It's a Cow Christmas." I used to have it on tape and would love to have it on CD, but I'm just not willing to pay the $25 asking price. But it's SO funny!
Post a Comment