Record Reviews
Fri., Dec. 20, 1996
WILL TAYLOR
A Peaceful Christmas
D.I.Y. meet J.A.Z.Z. Got yerself a holiday? No problem, just have the ol'
master stringman and arranger, Will Taylor, slap a little here, dash a little
there -- maybe an overdub or two -- and presto! Instant 6-song Christmas
tape. And it's still better than those other reindeer games. The long
suffering ache of Taylor's viola, combined with Steve Zirkel's very blue
trumpet playing on "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" or Julie Noble's icy cry on
"Silent Night" stills the mood quickly -- as do the other four laments --
laying a carpet of snow at your feet and the smell of pines in the air. Ever
hear Lorenna McKennit's Christmas EP? Envelope yourself in its Canadian winter
landscape? Taylor finds that same clearing -- here in Austin.
(3.0 stars) -- Raoul Hernandez
FESTIVAL OF LIGHT
(six degrees)
Because there's a traditional dearth of Chanukah-specific music, this
holiday-inspired compilation starts with timelessness on its side --
particularly since the theme here is more often overall Judaism than mere
seasonal celebration. And yet, given instrumental talent such as the Klezmatics
and Masada String Trio, it's somewhat surprising that Festival of
Light's non-specific approach works best on the few vocal performances. In
fact, Marc Cohen's fresh, neo-folk take on "Rock of Ages," and an original
Peter Himmelman and David Broza deep blues duet ("Lighting Up the World") not
only bookend the album, they also hint that Festival of Light might have
been better served as a Triple-A split single. Together, the pair of uplifting
tracks are the adult vaccine to the self-hating alternative radio pox of Adam
Sandler's "Hanukkah Song." Unfortunately, the producer's dutifully sandwich
nine mostly forgettable Klezmer, folk, and classical compositions, plus an
awful Jane Siberry throwaway. Don Byron's semi-moving "Oi Tata" and the
Klezmatics somber "Dybbuk Shers" almost salvage things, and while Festival
of Light is generally not a bad listen, it's also eight days short of
permanently filling the celebratory Chanukah void.
(2.5 stars) -- Andy Langer
ETHAN JAMES
The Ancient Music of Christmas (Hannibal)
 |
(3.5 stars) -- Christopher Gray
¡ESQUIVEL!
Merry Xmas From the Space-age Bachelor Pad (Bar None)
On one hand, this is a fine collection of holiday atmosphere, loaded with
sleigh bells, string sections making those great bootstomps-in-the-snow sounds,
other-worldly classics, members of Combustible Edison, and fine mixed boy-girl
Fifties jingle choruses. But jingle in this context feels more like
Jingle/advertising than "Jingle All the Way." And for that reason I can only
recommend it to three types of folks: 1) The lover of ¡Esquivel!
and all things lounge -- this is your true pledge of allegiance; 2) For the
wacky risk taker who yearns to perpetually re-live the end of the Macy's
Thanksgiving Day Parade, Manhattan, circa 1962, or; 3) For the schlub who wants
to impress, if not weird out, his parents. Just slap this baby on and after
daddy gives mommy her little pill, your grandparents'll embrace your return to
the flock and brag to the neighbors that "Junior's combing his hair, tucking in
his shirt, and doesn't listen to that awful heavy metal anymore." Ultimately,
this is a Christmas record. Zu-zu-zoom carefully.
(2.0 stars) -- Kate X Messer
A CLASSIC CARTOON CHRISTMAS
(Nick at Nite/Epic)
What's not to like about songs from Dr. Seuss and Vince Guaraldi that not only
are true Christmas classics, but haven't been burned directly into your
ears through decades of overplaying? It's quite handy to have the three tunes
included here from A Charlie Brown Chrismas, since the remainder of that
soundtrack, while prime Guaraldi, isn't really Christmas music. Add a healthy
dose of selections from How the Grinch Stole Christmas and several
Rankin/Bass holiday chestnuts and you're left with just one query: since when
are the Muppets (represented here twice) cartoon characters?!? Even the
album's liner notes address (but don't answer) that burning question.
(3.0 stars) -- Ken Lieck
CHRISTMAS ON DEATH ROW
(Death Row)
 |
(1.0 star) -- Andy Langer
THE VANDALS
Oi to the World: Christmas With the Vandals (Kung Fu)
If anyone still needs proof we're four years away from the millennium and in
need of serious help, look no further. Thanks to the Vandals, we can now add
"Christmas Time for My Penis" to the pantheon of Yuletide carols. Apparently,
it's not a very merry one either, because two songs later comes "My First Xmas,
as a Woman" and its refrain, "Chop it off! Chop it off! Chop it off!" Christmas
should be the perfect punk-rock holiday (when else can you get to vent about
God, capitalism, and commercialism while taking a week off work?), but here it
comes in a spray of mixed messages. Singer-songwriter Warren Fitzgerald can't
seem to make up his mind, defending his Xmas booty with "Stay the fuck away
from my crap or I'll bust a cap in your ass" one minute, then speaking of
Santa, "his corporate image forced upon the blinding masses, to enslave the
lower classes with obligatory gifts to cleanse a year of guilt and shame" the
next. Talk about guilt and shame; Fitzgerald closes the album with "Hang Myself
From the Tree." By track 12, though, he's not the only one thinking that.
(1.5 stars) -- Christopher Gray
JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH: NEW WAVE XMAS
(Rhino)
 |
(3.0 stars) -- Raoul Hernandez
O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL:
ROCK FOR CHOICE
(Columbia)
JUST SAY NöEL
(Geffen)
Can we no longer count on our alternative rock heroes to be heathens? With two
records of Christmas cheer, apparently not. Nevertheless, on O Come All Ye
Faithful... we can still count on our rock stars to be pretentious (Bush),
predictable (The Presidents of the United States), self-righteous (Henry
Rollins), and sullen (the Cranes). And while Shudder to Think's quaint reading
of the traditional Hebrew "Al Hanism" nicely repents for the sins of Wool, Mike
Watt, Deep Forest, and Juliana Hatfield, only the Dance Hall Crashers inject
some irony into the proceedings with the hilarious "I Did It for the Toys," a
rollicking ode to a horny Santa. Geffen's Just Say Nöel, meanwhile,
may only draw from one label's roster, but it's still the less disposable of
the two -- beginning with Beck's psychedelic Chanukah anthem and ending with a
painfully straight Ted Hawkins reading of "Amazing Grace." In-between, the
Posies, Southern Culture on the Skids, and Elastica fall into nice, but
forgettable, Christmas grooves, although nobody on either volume is as
beautifully irreverent as The Roots and Sonic Youth; the former lowjack De La
Soul's "Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa," while the latter pull a sick `n'
noisy reading of Martin Mull's "Santa Doesn't Cop Out on Dope." Actually,
Just Say Nöel does say something about the state of alternative
rock: Like, how pathetic it is that a Christmas record has three or four more
passable tracks than most of the contributing artist's real records.
(O Come All Ye...) (2.0 stars)
(Just Say Nöel) (3.0 stars) -- Andy Langer
KWANZAA PARTY!
(Rounder)
 |
(3.5 stars) -- Raoul Hernandez
ARTHUR LYMAN
With a Christmas Vibe (Rykodisc)
 |
(3.0 stars) -- Greg Beets
TINY TIM
Tiny Tim's Christmas Album (Rounder)
Recent Tim albums (there's been four or five in the last two years) have been
of varying quality, but overall have focused on reminding people that the
large-beaked tulip tiptoer has not only been around since 1969, he's been a
performer much longer than his 15 minutes in the spotlight might suggest. Part
of the secret has been letting Tim do what he's always done best -- sing the
pop songs of the early part of this century. As best realized on last year's
Girl, Tim strove to keep alive the memory of lost favorites from before
your mother was born. Christmas Album is better suited to those who see
Tim as nothing more than an unpleasant joke. Of course you've heard all these
songs before, sung by the greatest voices of several generations. Here, the
aging Tim's warbled falsetto is almost gone, and coughing fits and rambling
sermons are left intact. Though I'm sure the producers of this album (released
mere weeks before Tim's death) were sincere, the end result is an album that
seems to mock its singer behind his back.
(2.0 stars) -- Ken Lieck
JAZZ FOR JOY:
THE VERVE CHRISTMAS ALBUM
(Verve)
The major jazz labels seem to alternate from year to year as to which one puts
out a Christmas album. This year it's Verve's turn to dust off the cobwebs.
What makes for a special holiday treat here is the label's triumvirate of jazz
singing grande dames -- Betty Carter, Abbey Lincoln, and Shirley Horn --
who lend their incomparable touch of class to the whole affair. Otherwise, this
is a warm, listener-friendly and, yes, predictable gathering together of the
Verve family, featuring predominantly young, neo-bop instrumentalists playing a
stocking-full of straight-ahead yuletide standards. Nothing particularly
adventurous or surprising here save for bassist Christian McBride's solo turn
on "Double Decker" (Deck the Halls), which was issued exclusively for radio
airplay last year. The label's big gun, saxophone giant Joe Henderson, is
conspicuous in his absence and could have provided the set with a needed kick
in the butt. Oh well, maybe if you jazz fans are well-behaved throughout the
year we'll be treated next time to a Xmas album that's both a little naughty
and nice.
(3.5 stars) -- Jay Trachtenberg
CYRUS CHESTNUT
Blessed Quietness: A Collection of Hymns,
Spirituals and Carols
(Atlantic)
Because Ebenezer Scrooge decreed his scribes could no longer put quill to
parchment over matters of sacred music, he was visited by three spirits. The
first, the Ghost of Christmas past, took Scrooge back to a simpler time, when a
neighborhood choir would stand on the fresh snow below his window and fill the
air with holiday cheer. The second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, took
ol' Eb down to the drag, man -- Tower Records -- and stuck Jimmy Buffet's
Christmas Island in his face. "Look at this, man! Fuck
this!" said the spirit, getting in the geezer's face. The third spirit of
the night, The Ghost of Christmas Future, a large jolly fellow by the name of
Cyrus, took his cynical charge to a dimly lit basement tavern, The Elephant
Head, and played him the Blessed Quietness of Christmas; the hyms, the
spirituals -- "Jesus Loves Me," "Walk With Me Jesus," and "What a Friend We
Have in Jesus" -- solemnly, on the piano. The next morning, Ebenezer Scrooge
awoke to a new world, one full of wonder and joy. Dressing quickly, he hastened
to Bob Crachet's house, bearing with him a feast. And it was in the middle of
much merriment that the Crachet's youngest child, little Tiny Tim, stood up and
in his wee voice announced, "Jimmy Buffet can blow me. Cyrus is dope. God bless
us everyone."
(3.0 stars) -- Raoul Hernandez
