SOUNDTRACK: MAYBE THIS CHRISTMAS TREE? (2003).
I really didn’t like the second volume of this series. But this third volume is back to form. Nearly everything on this record is great. There’s a few songs where they have chosen to take all of the joy out of the Christmas song. This is a valid choice, sure, but it doesn’t work when a collection mixes it up with happy Christmas songs.
But by far, this album is far more positive than mopey.
THE POLYPHONIC SPREE-“Happy Christmas (War is Over)”
I don’t really like this song, but this version is fun. I think the full choir overwhelms what i don’t like about the song.
THE RAVONETTES-“The Christmas Song”
I don’t really know The Ravonettes, but I love this version of this song The whispered vocals, the plinky guitar, the general rocking shuffle–it’s all good to me.
DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE-“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”
It would take a lot for Death Cab for Cutie to mess this up. This is a terrific version of this song.
PEDRO THE LION-“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”
This is a slow piano ballad. I actually thought it might be Coldplay. It’s too slow, especially given the other songs so far.
BELSANA-“Bittersweet Eve”
This is a catchy folk song although it leans towards the mopey in the vocal delivery. And technically it’s about New Year’s Eve.
IVY-“Christmas Time is Here”
I love Ivy. Her voice is so great in general. This version of the song sounds really compressed, almost like a music box, which makes its sound even prettier.
ROYAL CROWN REVUE AND VICKY TAFOYA-“Baby It’s Cold Outside”
I don’t know if Royal Crown Revue is typically a retro sounding band, but man, this song is perfectly retro. It sounds like it could have been recorded a long time ago, right down to the vocal styling.
TOM McRAE-“Wonderful Christmastime”
I don’t understand why you would take this song and make it a downbeat ballad.
PILATE-“Fairytale of New York”
I love the original of this song so much. Musically, this version is pretty good, but there’s something vocally about it that falls flat for me. It may just be that it’s close but not exactly right so it feels off to me.
LISA LOEB-“Jingle Bells”
It sounds like she’s smiling entirely through this song, which is exactly as it should be–even with a somewhat breathy version like this.
JARS OF CLAY-“Christmas for Cowboys”
This is a John Denver song that I didn’t know before. It’s kind of a country song, but it doesn’t really feel like it in this version. I like the cowboy whistle.
COPELAND-“Do You Hear What I Hear?”
Because of the autotune, this version grates. And yet, I find it strangely compelling add well. The guitar chorus and synth voices are great, but when it gets into the auto tune it goes too far until it goes way too fast and actuate sounds interesting again..
[READ: December 12, 2017] “Kings”
Once again, I have ordered The Short Story Advent Calendar. This year, there are brief interviews with each author posted on the date of their story.
Hello. Welcome. It’s finally here: Short Story Advent Calendar time.
If you’re reading along at home, now’s the time to start cracking those seals, one by one, and discover some truly brilliant writing inside. Then check back here each morning for an exclusive interview with the author of that day’s story.
(Want to join in? It’s not too late. Order your copy here.)
This year I’m pairing each story with a holiday disc from our personal collection
I really enjoyed this story, which was designed as a Crowdfunding request to do exactly what the title asks.
We see that the person’s goal is $5,229 and that she has received $1,395 with 28 days to go.
That all seems reasonable except for the whole Land of the Dead business.
The Description speaks of a heartwarming sibling reunion in a terrifying place where no mortal has any business treading.
She explains that she and her sister have never gotten along. She can’t even remember the last time they spoke.
However, their parents have been killed and she wants to tell her sister in person. She can’t t text this important news. So she has to find her. And her sister has done what she always does: “go to a place where she isn’t welcome and crash the party just because she feels like it.”
She explains the breakdown of expenses, which is all modest. Except for the $5,000 one-time crossing fee.
Anything raised over the total request will go yo charity.
Rewards involve primarily thank-you notes from the sister.
It’s all weird and funny and sad. And then the updates give you her progress.
She started before achieving her goal because she obviously couldn’t wait for it to be funded.
On June 26, she takes a bus to the portal where she will get to the Land of the Dead.
But what I especially love about this is that the Comments page starts filling up around the time that she starts her quest. But because of the way the “webpage” is constructed, we don’t see the comments until the end. The comments have quite an impact on the story.
It’s incredibly well designed and fascinating.
It comes from a collection called Help Fund My Robot Army & Other Improbable Crowdfunding Projects which sounds like it could either be totally great or burn out on itself pretty quickly. I’m going to have to look for it.
I Just Read About That... 
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