Some people like to sit by the fire and listen to holiday music this time of year. Others like to hit the dance floor and shake their ass. Maybe they want to rock out a bit too. Either way, there’s a lot out there to keep your sleigh bells a-ringing and a-jingling.
So warm up your iPod — you’ve got some downloading to do.
Dir en Grey “The Unraveling” Firewall Division/SMJ
We recently caught Japanese rock band Dir en Grey on a short tour of the U.S. and … wow!
Despite that all the songs are sung in Japanese, the group never fails to impress with its latest EP — a good place to get introduced to the group with a rabid and dedicated global following — as it consists of a new song and reworked versions of past hits.
Technically it’s a hard-rock band but it casts a wide net, creatively incorporating elements of progressive, goth, metal and alternative-rock styles. The track “Unknown.Despair.Lost.” takes listeners on a twisted roller-coaster ride of sound and showcases singer Kyo’s versatile range as he effortlessly goes from ferocious growling to soaring operatic harmonies, making both sound as if they belong in the same song. Other tracks like “Bottom of Death Valley” and “The Final” are beautifully melancholy with their intricate guitar harmonies.
If you want something exciting to broaden your musical horizons (and maybe freak yourself out a bit), give this EP a listen.
Donna Summer “Love To Love You Donna” Verve Music Group
The queen of disco is gone but her music lives forever, most recently on this new album of remixes by some of today’s top DJs.
We expected a hot mess, as remix albums tend to be predictable and unsatisfying in respect to the original material. But there are some pleasant surprises on this collection.
The best tracks are the ones that manage to retain the soulfulness of Summer’s vocal performances while working magic with beats and song structure. Giorgio Moroder revisits “Love To Love You Baby,” a song he co-wrote and produced for Summer, and gives it a propulsive and bionic upgrade without sacrificing its sultry, classic feel. He works similar magic with the more low-key remix of “La Dolce Vita.”
Frankie Knuckle’s remix of “Hot Stuff” has a ’90s New York techno feel that is upbeat and fun. Also a blast is Chromeo & Oliver’s shiny makeover of Summer’s ’80s hit “Love Is In Control,” which has the feel of a Daft Punk song. Hot Chip’s version of “Sunset People” is subdued and elegantly sexy with its bass-infused fluidness. Afrojack cranks up the Teutonic beats of “I Feel Love” to ridiculously punishing levels that somehow work to the song’s advantage.
Beyond those tracks, the rest of the album is Summer’s vocals dropped into a sea of the electronic-dance flavors of the day, which is kind of disappointing, as more could have been done with such a rich catalog of songs and amazing vocals.
Still, there is much to love about this album. And fans of Donna Summer should add this to their collection.
Erasure “Snow Globe” Mute
Erasure lays down snowy-cold synthetic textures on its holiday album.
“Snow Globe” is the dark and moody antidote to the syrupy-happy and/or dramatic, overwrought holiday music that bombards our eardrums in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
At times lush and at other times retro and minimalist, this compilation might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but there is something refreshing about the synthpop duo’s gloriously haunting electronic renditions of “Silent Night,” “Silver Bells” and an especially ghostly “White Christmas.” Other tracks like “The Christmas Song” and “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” are playful in their simplicity.
And those are the bright moments on this album.
Erasure delves into the darker corners of the holidays on tracks like the taut “Blood on the Snow” and the gothic overtones of “Gaudete” and “Bleak Midwinter.”
If you are looking for something closer to Erasure’s usual uplifting booty-shaking party music, tracks like “There’ll Be No Tomorrow” and “Loving Man” will have you dancing in your snow boots.
Yeah, Erasure can come caroling to our houses any time.
Kelly Clarkson “Wrapped in Red” RCA
Over the river and through the woods to a bunch of musical genres we go.
Kelly Clarkson bounces back and forth between pop and Christmas-song traditional on this collection of holiday-themed tunes.
“Wrapped in Red” tries to be all things to all kinds of Christmas-song fans. There are songs for people who dig her pop leaning on the surf-rocking “4 Carats” and the blues-rock of “Run, Run, Rudolph.” There’s the retro Motown meets E Street Band vibe of the tracks “Underneath the Tree” and “Every Christmas.” If you like crooning Christmas standards, Clarkson’s renditions of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “White Christmas” are by the book.
For the most part, the songs hit the mark, but the least-inspired moments come when Clarkson makes forays into jazz, like on “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” Also, at times things get a bit too predictable. Clarkson’s low-key take on “Blue Christmas” is far preferable to the calculated and sterile guest-star-laden balladry on “Silent Night.”
If you don’t mind the frequent changes in tone and genre, “Wrapped in Red” is a solid, yet sometimes predictable, holiday album.
Sky Ferreira “Night Time, My Time” Capitol
The debut album by the model, actor and singer-songwriter does a great job of straddling indie rock and pop music — which is refreshing, seeing how many young rising singers, even without an acting or modeling gig to fall back on, seem content to copy whatever the sonic cash cow of the moment is, without any spark of individual panache.
Not the case here. Ferreira infuses the pop sensibilities of her songs with the grittiness of indie-garage rock and a European sense of laidback electronic swagger. Part of the album’s charm is that the electronics are always in your face and turned up to 11. Backed by massive walls of synth, tracks like “I Will” and “Nobody Asked (If I Was OK)” have the punk-ish new-wave urgency of a cyborg-enhanced Blondie. Elsewhere, tracks like “24 Hours” and “You’re Not The One” throb with a danceable intensity. “Love in Stereo” and the title track both have a dreamy, ethereal quality, like a mechanized version of The Cardigans.
If this album is indicative of things to come, Ferreira can give some serious thought to quitting her day jobs.