For those of you that follow us on Twitter, you will be familiar with this. BUT, by all means, keep reading!
First, can we all just admit that the genre of Christmas/Holiday music is rather scant when it comes to good music?
I mean, sure… There’s nothing quite like listening to Sinatra croon Frosty The Snowman or Nat King Cole sing The Christmas Song while decorating the tree… And the first couple times I hear Paul McCartney’s “Simply having a wonderful Christmas time” I get fuzzy, warm feelings confirming that Christmas is near.
BUT, while I’m driving around town, I’d much rather listen to Radiohead’s Kid A or U2’s Joshua Tree than Sinatra’s or Cole’s holiday tunes… And concerning the McCartney Christmas song, to quote a recent tweet from Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrutte from The Office), after a while it “makes me want to kill and eat a raw, bloody reindeer on his lawn.”
Maybe that’s a bit over the top, but I understand the sentiment behind it: with very few exceptions (that I am aware of) Christmas music is usually only listened to out of nostalgia, not for quality/depth/importance/etc…
A friend sent me an invite to get some new, FREE, Christmas music. I was skeptical at first, but checked it out because this friend usually has pretty good taste in music. Until now, my Christmas music playlist was pretty much just the Sufjan Stevens Christmas albums. (If you don’t have them, believe me, you NEED them.) They are so good that I would have to stop myself from listening to them throughout the rest of the year… Especially when Fall arrives…
Anyways, the name of the band is Sojourn. And yes, they were giving away the album for free.
The deal was:
A. Give them 5 email addresses of family or friends that they could send the same invite to.
or
B. Pay what you want for the album (a lá Radiohead for the release of In Rainbows)
I have listened to the album several times since then and I must say, I am REALLY impressed! This is great music! It is holiday music without the kitsch. I especially love the intro to Joy To The World… It’s very….. Celestial… or Glacial… Maybe both. I can’t decide. Point is, it’s great!
I get the feeling that I will have to stop myself from listening to this throughout the rest of the year too.
Here is the link for you to get the album… Hope you enjoy! When you give the album a listen, come back and let me know your thoughts on it. I would love to see what other people think!
