Dai, non facciamo i cinici punkettari, non mettiamoci il piercing anche al cuore. Ammettiamolo una volta per tutte: il Natale è la festa più bella, quella più sentita, quella che ci fa ricordare l’infanzia e che alla like to spend the end with people who are closer to our heart. So a good musicodipendente each year to enter the Christmas spirit, I dive in the vast ocean of the Christmas Album. It is a tradition in Anglo-Saxon world, where musicians from different genres test themselves in the Christmas-themed song (remember the wonderful Lennon's "Happy Christmas, War Is Over"?) Or even churn out a whole album with some new and the unforgettable classic. And then get this quick overview of my favorite Christmas albums ...
Indie Christmas
Not even the diverse world index was able to escape the charm of the Christmas album. Let's start with Songs For Christmas (Asthmatic Kitty 2006), the gargantuan box set Sufjan Stevens collecting all the mini album out of our Christmas events between 2001 and 2006. In addition to the inevitable classic (the minimal Silent Night, Jingle Bells , O Come O Come Emmanuel The First Noel and , the crescendo of orchestale O Holy Night, the joyful I Saw Three Ships , the traditional melody of yearning We Three Kings , the sweet harmonies of folk-pop The Little Drummer Boy, Joy To The World , Away In A Manger ), there are also original songs from the old rural charm as That Was the Worst Christmas Ever! , It's Christmas! Let's Be Glad! and We're Going To The Country! (all enhanced by the evocative sound of the banjo), delicate folk-pop sketches, enriched by those unpredictable and sometimes bizarre orchestral arrangements that have become the trademark of Mr. Stevens, as Put The Lights On The Tree , How on! Let's Boogey To The Elf Dance! , Did I Make You Cry On Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It!) , Christmas In July, Sister Winter , Star Of Wonder . Una citazione a parte la merita la geniale Get Behind Me, Santa! , caratterizzata da una irresistibile sezione fiati. Come al solito abbiamo l’ennesima dimostrazione dell’esuberante creatività di Sufjan , ormai croce e delizia degli appassionati di musica. Con Stevens non c’è altra scelta: prendere o lasciare. E noi prendiamo volentieri, accettando questo prezioso dono di Natale. Voto: 29/30.
Not even the diverse world index was able to escape the charm of the Christmas album. Let's start with Songs For Christmas (Asthmatic Kitty 2006), the gargantuan box set Sufjan Stevens collecting all the mini album out of our Christmas events between 2001 and 2006. In addition to the inevitable classic (the minimal Silent Night, Jingle Bells , O Come O Come Emmanuel The First Noel and , the crescendo of orchestale O Holy Night, the joyful I Saw Three Ships , the traditional melody of yearning We Three Kings , the sweet harmonies of folk-pop The Little Drummer Boy, Joy To The World , Away In A Manger ), there are also original songs from the old rural charm as That Was the Worst Christmas Ever! , It's Christmas! Let's Be Glad! and We're Going To The Country! (all enhanced by the evocative sound of the banjo), delicate folk-pop sketches, enriched by those unpredictable and sometimes bizarre orchestral arrangements that have become the trademark of Mr. Stevens, as Put The Lights On The Tree , How on! Let's Boogey To The Elf Dance! , Did I Make You Cry On Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It!) , Christmas In July, Sister Winter , Star Of Wonder . Una citazione a parte la merita la geniale Get Behind Me, Santa! , caratterizzata da una irresistibile sezione fiati. Come al solito abbiamo l’ennesima dimostrazione dell’esuberante creatività di Sufjan , ormai croce e delizia degli appassionati di musica. Con Stevens non c’è altra scelta: prendere o lasciare. E noi prendiamo volentieri, accettando questo prezioso dono di Natale. Voto: 29/30.
Altro personaggio che non scherza certo in eclettismo musicale, è il buon Conor Oberst che, con la sua più antica e duratura creatura, i Bright Eyes , brought out in 2002 A Christmas Album (Saddle Creek). The album, published a few months after their masterpiece Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground and recorded for noble reasons (the proceeds were donated to charity at the Nebraska AIDS Project), reads, with the typical lo-fi folk and visionary of the band, the immortal classic of the genre. The plaintive and poignant voice of Oberst drama cloaked in melancholy songs like Little Drummer Boy , characterized by a large amount of work and percussive Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas , become a sweet ballad twilight melancholy notes enhanced by di piano e violoncello. L’immancabile Silent Night , così ricca di cupi rumorismi, risulta di straniante fascino. Un indi(e)menticabile Natale con “occhi luminosi” di emozione... Voto:28/30.
Per finire, non si può fare a meno di citare un gruppo che è la quintessenza dell’universo indie: i Yo La Tengo . I nostri, ormai ind(i)efessi paladini dell’alternative rock made in USA da ben 25 anni, si divertono a bazzicare il genere sfornando nel 2002 un EP, Merry Christmas From Yo La Tengo (Egon Records), caratterizzato da uno scatenato Rock’n’Roll Santa , ben interpretato da Georgia Hublay , da una dolce It’s Christmas Time e da una scanzonata Santa Claus Goes Modern . Voto: 27,5/30
Massimo Daziani
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