Music Monday 12.4.06

It's time to talk Christmas music.  Granted, I'm not the foremost expert on Christmas music.  Nor do I want to be or ever intend to be.  I'd rather get a CD I can listen to after the holidays are over and all year round.  But there are times to drop a few bucks on Christmas music.

One of those times is when Sufjan Stevens puts out a Christmas album.  I don't own it yet, but I have many of the songs from a free download last year.  They are fantastic, and his boxed set, Songs for Christmas, is surely worth the $20 price tag. Grab it.  Or head to Sufjan's website to stream all the music! (Thanks macht)

If a Sufjan fix won't do it for you, then check out my post from last Christmas detailing the five most played Christmas CD's in my home.  All good stuff.

Comments

[bjnotbk]

ok...so you lost me on John Tesh. I was surprised to see no Charlie Brown Christmas, no Elvis, what about Sinatra or Jim Neighbors?

[Steve McCoy]

We had this discussion on Tesh last year. If you buy music according to a name, don't buy it. If you buy according to beauty and enjoyment, it's fantastic. It's instrumental for crying out loud. Listen to it. You will be surprised.

[macht]

Sufjan has all 5 CD's streaming on his website.

[Steve McCoy]

Thanks macht. I've added that to my post.

[Adam]

Stevens' box set is fantastic. It is very worth buying even if you already have the first three editions. I just blogged the other day about my five favorite Christmas records. My very favorites are Stevens' new set, along with Charlie Brown Christmas, and Over the Rhine's Darkest Night of the Year cd. There's so much bad Christmas music - but I'm glad there's good stuff as well.

[matthewsmith]

The brand new Over The Rhine Christmas record (Snow Angels) is worth checking out as well.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Your King Has Come, a project I put together a few years back. (http://www.yourkinghascome.com)

[Joel]

Thanks for the tip. i've become so digital, i didn't even think about cd's this x-mas.

i already have all 5 albums in mp3, but i bought two of these for friends.

[Jonathan Oldacre]

I just got this box set yesterday; great music! Sufjan also makes some great comments about the paradoxes of Christmas music in the album notes:

"[Christmas music] intersects a supernatural phenomenon (the incarnation of God) with the sentimental mush of our mortal lives (presents, toys, Christmas tree ornaments, snow globes, cranberry sauce), leaving in its pathological wake a particular state of mind one can only describe as 'that warm, fuzzy feeling."

"...Christmas music poses a cosmological conundrum in requiring us to sing so sweetly and sentimentally about something so terrifying and tragic."

I would emphasize joy when speaking about the Savior's advent, but I see where Sufjan is coming from: there is a soberness mixed in there as well. After all, the point of Christmas really is calvary!

JO

[Matt Adair]

Day late and a dollar short, but Sufjan's Christmas collection is growing on me. I have to admit that I don't really get the hype about him, which as a 31 year-old usually buys me alot of strange looks from all the cool kids in my church. There are still moments when I listen to some of the songs and wonder what the appeal is, but I'm really enjoying some of the arrangements...

Also, just so Matthew has someone else on here recommending the 'Your King Has Come' CD, I'd encourage you to buy it immediately, along with Matthew's solo CDs and his projects with Indelible Grace. Very, very good musically and lyrically.

[Mark Goodyear]

Steve, thanks for these Monday posts. I'm hopelessly lame about music. (I tell people I like Harold Budd, and they look at me like I'm nuts.)

This is some of the best Christmas music I've heard.