Disc of the day
Heaven 17 - Penthouse And Pavement
From Sheffield, synth pop and funk to stick it to Thatcher. Currently being played live!
Features Disc of the day
Various
Blue Christmas
(MOJO CD, 2005)
Our week of Xmas records begins, shamelessly, with a MOJO covermount. Cue "faith, hope and seasonal misery"!
Yes, it could be considered blowing our own novelty plastic party hooter, but the fact is that round at our house MOJO's free CD from December 2005 has become as necessary a part of Christmas as the Doctor Who special, the Alastair Sim Scrooge and The Two Ronnies. A fine selection of Christmas tunes by the likes of The Staple Singers, Davids McAlmont and Arnold and Diana Ross, somehow the time of year amplifies those familiar sentiments of peace and goodwill to all, making it a dependable and subtle antidote to the vapid kakola that can pass for the Yuletide entertainment experience. It's expertly sequenced as well, going straight for the jugular when, on The Flaming Lips' opening A Change At Christmas (Say it Isn't So), soulful Wayne Coyne sings about how at this time, "there is sympathy for those who are suffering/And the world embraces peace and love and mercy/Instead of power and fear". And while you're letting these momentous sentiments sink in, we're off into Rufus Wainwright's chirpy wassail Spotlight On Christmas, which excitedly declares "It's Christmas!" My God! It is! There are sweetly melancholic, third-double-whiskey numbers up next from Marvin Gaye, The O'Jays and A Girl Called Eddy before James Brown turns up to advise Let's Make Christmas Mean Something This Year (Soul Brother Number One recommends thinking back to being a kid. OK, then). And so it continues, with Ed Harcourt's In The Bleak Midwinter another highlight and The Ventures' gambolling take on Jingle Bell Rock rounding things off. And when the fun's over, the decorations are back in the loft and it's back to reality, this CD will go back on the shelf, only to radiate again this time next year.
Ian Harrison
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 21/12/2009
Further Listening
James Brown – Funky Christmas (Polydor, 1005)
Elvis Presley – Elvis’ Christmas Album (RCA Victor, 1957)
Various – Where Will You Be Christmas Day? (Dust To Digital, 2004)
Previous Disc of the day
-
Heaven 17 - Penthouse And Pavement
From Sheffield, synth pop and funk to stick it to Thatcher. Currently being played live!
6:00 AM GMT 18/03/2010
-
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River
Essence De Choogle from John Fogerty and crew. Badass!
9:54 AM GMT 17/03/2010
-
The The - Soul Mining
Matt Johnson's self-excoriating - but tunepacked! -classic.
6:00 AM GMT 16/03/2010
-
-
Various Artists - Axe Attack Vol II
Metal Britannica inspires MOJO metal amnesty. Studded leather wristbands aloft!
2:32 AM GMT 12/03/2010
-
The Pop Group - Y
For connoisseurs of pop-as-rupture-in-the-space/time-continuum
6:00 AM GMT 11/03/2010
end of body content back to top
Footer
Join us on:
© Copyright Bauer - all
rights reserved.
Reproduction of this
website, in whole or in
part, in any form or
medium without express
written permission from
Bauer is prohibited. All
use is subject to our
Terms of Use
|
|
Comments
Comment on this post
Comment on this post