SOUNDTRACK: SUFJAN STEVENS–Peace! Songs for Christmas Vol. V (2006).
This EP comes very close to being my favorite; it may even beat vol 3. In part because the disc is 35 minutes long (still short for Sufjan Stevens but longer than some bands’ full lengths).
Four songs are sort of repeated from other discs. “Once in Royal David’s City,” “Lo! How a Rose E’er Blooming,” (a pretty piano version) “Jingle Bells” (a bouncy piano version) and “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” (a slow piano version) are short instrumental reprises and act as nice segues between the more meaty songs.
“Get Behind Me, Santa!” is something of a Santa bashing song, but it’s still pretty fun (with some great prog rock synth sounds). But it is nowhere near as delightful as “Christmas in July,” another original that is totally Sufjan, from start to finish. It’s a great song regardless of the season. The pair of “Jupiter Winter” and “Sister Winter” are two originals: one mellow, the other less so. While I don’t love “Jupiter,” “Sister” is fantastic.
“Star of Wonder” is not the part from “We three Kings” but an original song full of Sufjan’s orchestration. It is mesmerizing. “Holy, Holy, Holy” is another beautiful rendition of a classic Christmas song (the delicate harmonies are really affecting). And finally, “The Winter Solstice” sounds just like its title: chilly and spare.
And that completes the box set, one of my favorite Christmas collections.
[READ: January 4, 2009] “Dead Man Laughing”
I have only read On Beauty (and a piece in The Believer to be reviewed later) by Zadie Smith and yet I feel that she has rapidly eclipsed many of my favorite writers. There is something about her style that is just beautiful to me. She writes deliberately and powerfully without overembellishing or resorting to anything beneath her. People often say that they could listen to so and so sing or recite the phone book, their voice is so good (I feel that way about Patrick Stewart). Well whatever the equivalent for a writer is, that hows I feel about Zadie Smith.
This piece is actually a Personal History, not a story. It concerns comedy, mostly. First, it talks about how she and her dad grew up watching the classics of British comedy: Monty Python, Fawlty Towers and the lot, and how despite their differences, they always had that in common. She grew up to be a comedy snob. She describes a time when she would play comedy albums for her friends. If someone coughed or talked she would life the needle up to replay the bit. This was hilarious and hit a little too close to home.
Later, her brother decides he will be a stand-up comic. It turns out he’s quite good, and it brings them closer to each other than they’ve been. He performs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and Zadie is very nervous for him. But he performs very well. She also rates highly some other comedians.
Since this is an account of her life, it’s rather hard to critique it. So I’ll just sum up by saying that it was interesting to have some insight into what her life (and to see that some of the characters in her books are based on her own family). I’ll also wish her brother well and hope to see him on Comedy Central someday. But I also want to thank her for turning me onto two other comedians: Edward Aczel (video here)and Andy Zaltzman (audio here). former comedy partner of The Daily Show’s John Oliver)
The piece is here.
[…] Man Laughing” This article was published in The New Yorker. I read it then and really enjoyed it. Rereading it was also enjoyable. It deals with her childhood, growing up […]