The charts are littered with Christmas albums right now – most of them resurrected from previous years, though new releases this season have included everything from an all-original-material album from Sia, a Gwen Stefani album in which she swoons over her beau Blake Shelton, a breakthrough from violinist/dancer Lindsey Stirling, an EDM release from DJ Kaskade and several re-releases that feature new tracks from the likes of Pentatonix, Josh Groban and Reba McEntire.
Concord Music’s compilation “Holiday Music 2017” is a relative latecomer to the festivities, but like a big bowl of fresh party mix, it has a little something everyone should like - although also like a bowl of party mix, it isn’t likely to be anybody’s favorite attraction.
Obviously, the iconic Vince Guaraldi Trio treat “Linus and Lucy” is the biggest crowd-pleaser here, despite the millions of times we’ve all heard the buoyant theme.
The other 16 tracks, however, are the epitome of variety.
Folk- and bluegrass-based Americana fuel the Valerie June jaunt “Winter Wonderland,” the Indigo Girls’ spunky “Happy Joyous Hanukkah,” Andrew Bird’s plucky “Auld Lang Syne” and a wry “Strangest Christmas Yet,” by Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers, that pays tribute to the colorful characters every family seems to have.
R&B/soul offerings range from the late Isaac Hayes’ luxuriant “The Mistletoe and Me” to a sleek new “Baby It’s Cold Outside” duet by Fantasia and Ceelo Green, and instrumentals include Stirling’s “Angels We Have Heard on High” and Booker T. & The M.G.’s earthy guitar-and-organ-based “Winter Wonderland.”
There’s also the bittersweet country flavor of “Blue Christmas Lights” by Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen, Paul Simon’s stomping “Getting Ready for Christmas” and the straight-ahead pop thriller “Sleigh Ride” by fun.
Yet the eye-opener (ear-opener) is a “Santa Baby” by a growling/rasping Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats – a homoerotic flirtation that is as coy as any woman’s version of the song. (Could Santa be a daddy bear?)
Again, not every track is for everyone, but anyone should find something they like in this holiday grab-bag.
various acts
"Holiday Music 2017"
Rating: 3-1/2 (out of 5)
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Shovels & Rope dig into covers, hang up in quirk
As might have been expected from the title of 2015’s “Busted Jukebox Volume 1,” South Carolina duo Shovels & Rope revisit the covers-album-with-guests concept with their new “Busted Jukebox Volume 2.” And as might be expected from the unconventional alt-folk/rock act, the collection is eccentric.
“Volume 2” intrigues, enchants and exhausts – sometimes all on the same song – as it slides through a hodgepodge of songs both familiar and obscure with help from a bright and varied group of singer-songwriters. And the Shovels & Rope duo of Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst lend their voices, as well as their instruments, in support.
It couldn’t be more self-indulgent, as is often the case with such projects, yet it’s fitfully rewarding
Sometimes the song choice is inspiring – the album’s offbeat bent is an excellent platform for a rather faithful cover of the Breeders’ slow-burn “Do You Love Me Now,” handled adroitly by guest singer Rhett Miller (of Old 97’s), and the ecstasy of The Hollies’ “The Air That I Breathe” is largely recaptured here thanks to Owen Beverly (of Indianola). Plus Shovels & Rope go it alone for the finale, an inspired, X-ish, hyper-rock cover of Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell.”
Guests who particularly shine include John Fullbright, who submerges himself in the noir vibe of Leonard Cohen’s “I’m Your Man,” and John Moreland, who taps into an underlying tension for “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” (penned by Fred Rose and popularized by Willie Nelson). Unfortunately, Trent and Hearst get in the way of their guest singers on a couple of other tracks: Nicole Atkins is note-perfect on Concrete Blonde’s “Joey” until the duo saunters in and deflate the atmosphere with quirkiness, and Lera Lynn is sinisterly captivating on a stripped-down cover of “Epic” that eventually unravels in a gratuitously protracted fade.
Also, Brandi Carlile gives her all on lesser material – the original “Cleanup Hitter” by Shovels & Rope with Bill Carson – but you can’t blame Trent and Hearst for slipping in one of their own songs.
It’s their party, after all.
Shovels & Rope
"Busted Jukebox Volume 2"
Rating: 3-1/2 (out of 5)
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Willow Smith makes shallow effort at deep thinking
Willow Smith is living her truth on “The 1st.”
Unfortunately, the truth hurts.
The painfully earnest release from the just-turned 17-year-old is undoubtedly an authentic snapshot of where her head is, but her honesty is unavoidably off-putting.
To be fair, it’s not her fault that she happens to be the daughter of Hollywood power couple Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith and little sister of Trey and Jaden Smith. It’s not her fault that her privileged place in society allows her to indulge in the self-important musings of an amateur philosopher on her mainstream-unfriendly ‘The 1st.”
What’s more, Willow’s earthy voice is beguiling when she isn’t tormenting her enunciation, and the song arrangements – a blend of jazz, folk and world music – are first rate apart from a few stretches of overwrought coffee-shop stridency.
Also, kudos to her for getting herself so far away from “Whip My Hair,” a novelty hit when she was only 10.
Willow isn’t too young to be a heavy thinker – everyone from Kate Bush to Lorde dealt provocative lyrics as teenagers – but she doesn’t go much deeper than what might come out of a Philosophy 101 class. And her most dead-on line comes when she’s not overthinking herself: On “Boy,” she sings of crushing on a conflicted young man and frets about the possibility, “He thinks I’m boring ’cause I come from a cluster of super bright stars.”
She is boring – not because of the “cluster,” because of her self-involvement. As she carries on about the energy in trees, paradigms and something about Neptune and blue tears, she demonstrates her powers of observation. However, she can’t process what she sees, so we get limp conclusions like, “I’m just a caterpillar in this cocoon” (on “And Contentment”) and “We’re all just fishies (yes, “fishies”) in the ocean we call life” (on “A Reason”).
Of course, most adults suffered from intense emotions and false clarity as teens and still managed to turn out OK.
And so will Willow, if and when she escapes that cocoon.
Willow
"The 1st"
Rating: 2-1/2 (out of 5)