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ForeverAutumn
12-15-2009, 06:31 PM
About 15 years ago, I decided that I needed to have a Christmas CD collection. So I vowed to purchase at least one new Christmas CD a year. This is the first year that I haven't bought a Christmas CD since I started.

Over the years, I've picked up a few good CDs and a few duds. But there are a couple that stand out as favourites year after year.

Sister Hazel - Santa's Playlist. This was last year's purchase. I've been a fan of this band for years. So I just knew that I would love their bluesy rock versions of traditional tunes and I was right. Although I still get a chuckle each time I listen to a bunch of southern christian boys sing their version of Dreidel, Dreidel as though it were a fiddle tune. :D

http://cover7.cduniverse.com/MuzeAudioArt/Large/52/999452.jpg

One of my all-time favourite Christmas CDs is one of the very first ones that I bought. The proceeds went to the Special Olympics and that alone seemed to capture the essence of Christmas music and spirit. The CD is chock full of great tunes too!

http://cover7.cduniverse.com/MuzeAudioArt/200/200003.jpg

And, of course, no self-respecting metalhead's Christmas would be complete without the kickass tunes from,

http://cover7.cduniverse.com/MuzeAudioArt/Large/71/610471.jpg
:3:

What'll be spinning at your house as you celebrate the holidays?

HoJo Hand
12-15-2009, 07:24 PM
http://acrylick.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/6a00c22521073e8e1d00cdf3a8e911cb8f-500pi.jpg

http://www.vinylexchange.co.uk/images/pics/0808beckclock.jpg

http://www.shanemacgowan.com/covers/fairy2.jpg

Troy
12-15-2009, 09:03 PM
http://www.carriehoffman.com/gloryblog/philspectorachristmasgiftforyou.jpg

http://www.bar-none.com/images/esquixmas_cover-big.jpg

Smokey
12-15-2009, 10:17 PM
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51YvROZNXpL._SS400_.jpg

Stone
12-16-2009, 05:39 AM
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drh800/h838/h83810h2qe1.jpg

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dre300/e313/e313083xuox.jpg

3LB
12-16-2009, 06:06 AM
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/514c73pMJHL._SL500_AA240_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000ICLSMY/sr=1-2/qid=1260972168/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=5174&s=music&qid=1260972168&sr=1-2)

Prolly the only Christmas CD I'd listen to out of season

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/516A57GZWWL._SL500_AA240_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B0000027WR/sr=1-1/qid=1260972296/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=5174&s=music&qid=1260972296&sr=1-1)

One of the best sounding CDs I own

I also like a handful of Mannheim Steamroller songs. I have two christmas CDs by these guys but their mix of traditional and reimagined holiday tunes are a tad long in the tooth. I'd only recommend the first one anyway.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41T6TKVSFPL._SL500_AA240_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B0000005MV/sr=1-3/qid=1260971858/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=5174&s=music&qid=1260971858&sr=1-3)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41EKY1HR82L._SL500_AA240_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000002QWD/sr=1-1/qid=1260972415/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=5174&s=music&qid=1260972415&sr=1-1)
I grew up listening to this one and its still one of the better ones ever made.

ForeverAutumn
12-16-2009, 06:34 AM
http://www.bar-none.com/images/esquixmas_cover-big.jpg

Is that Al Franken on the cover? Sure looks like him.

BarryL
12-16-2009, 06:43 AM
Wow. You guys are good at dropping images in. I haven't taken lessons yet.

Vince Guiraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas

Ray Charles' The Spirit of Christmas

Oscar Peterson's Christmas

Michael Martin Murphy's Cowboy Christmas

Ella Fitzgerald's Ella Wishes You A Swingin' Christmas

poppachubby
12-16-2009, 06:47 AM
http://www.womansday.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/galleries-slideshows/21-all-time-favorite-christmas-albums/20th-century-masters-the-christmas-collection-the-best-of-stevie-wonder/49296-4-eng-US/20th-Century-Masters-The-Christmas-Collection-The-Best-of-Stevie-Wonder_slideshow_image.jpg

Mr MidFi
12-16-2009, 07:52 AM
Mr. MidFi's Merry Christmas 2001.
One of the first CD comps I ever made.

Auricauricle
12-16-2009, 08:04 AM
Anybody know Buster Poindexter...Zat You, Santa Claus?

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3bqdP6GuAvM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3bqdP6GuAvM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

Luvin Da Blues
12-16-2009, 08:10 AM
And how could we forget.....

Hyfi
12-16-2009, 09:01 AM
That comp with the damn Cat Song:cryin:

dean_martin
12-16-2009, 09:15 AM
Every year I load up the 5-disc changer with these:

A Christmas Gift for You (the Phil Spector album)
Esquivel - Merry Christmas from the Space Age Bachelor Pad (no, that's not Al Franken)
A Charlie Brown Christmas - Vince Guaraldi
Yule Struttin' (Blue Note)
Christmas Cocktails (Ultra Lounge series)

dean_martin
12-16-2009, 09:20 AM
Oh, I'm considering ordering this one:

MindGoneHaywire
12-16-2009, 10:58 AM
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_SJQzkWpa6bQ/R0GLNJt3BzI/AAAAAAAAA4g/_5iY19KyDVQ/s400/Bummed%2BOut%2BChristmas.jpg

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/images/2007/12/20/christmas_elvis_3.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_djlz3uv6eFg/R2KfZN1zWiI/AAAAAAAAAbM/xCydB3BhqlI/s320/roxmasn.JPG

http://p.dada.net/cspv/76-31-74-00-00-MetaPreview-Cover-JPEG256x256/andy-williams/the-andy-williams-christmas-album.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b5JNXpQycZs/STG9gezXjQI/AAAAAAAAAN0/zsFLrSuGTAg/s400/Beach+Boys,+The+-+Christmas+Album+-+front.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CAmt5iBfKhg/SvXtisCOTeI/AAAAAAAAFcE/bHad1KxnaF0/s320/A+Motown+Christmas_Vol._01-%5BFront%5D+FP.JPG

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Gmg0cBzfziY/SKTt4ciT5NI/AAAAAAAAAK8/w5ylWyWKfls/s320/Darlene+Love_A+Christmas+Gift+For+You+From+Phil+Sp ector.jpg

http://www.meta-dad.com/wp-content/themes/connections/img/JW_christmas.jpg

Finch Platte
12-16-2009, 01:19 PM
About 15 years ago, I decided that I needed to have a Christmas CD collection. So I vowed to purchase at least one new Christmas CD a year. This is the first year that I haven't bought a Christmas CD since I started.

Sounds to me like you should pick up the Dylan Xmas disc. It's the first one he's made since he started making records, way back in 1882.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/7/2009/08/500x_custom_1251300513672_29817381-29817386-slarge.jpg

ForeverAutumn
12-16-2009, 01:25 PM
Sounds to me like you should pick up the Dylan Xmas disc. It's the first one he's made since he started making records, way back in 1882.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/7/2009/08/500x_custom_1251300513672_29817381-29817386-slarge.jpg

Does he sing The Little Drummer Boy on it? Because that would be freakin' AWESOME!

02audionoob
12-16-2009, 03:59 PM
Very nice stuff...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Vanessa_Williams_-_Star_Bright_album_cover.jpg

bobsticks
12-17-2009, 06:47 AM
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41Pbs3CNLcL._SL500_AA240_.jpghttp://cn1.kaboodle.com/hi/img/c/0/0/82/c/AAAADHVPPtgAAAAAAILMdw.jpg
http://img.amazon.ca/images/I/51SJ0VGWBBL._SL500_AA240_.jpghttp://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HD8Do8FWL._SL500_AA240_.jpg


...and despite the ****train of grief I shall surely incur for typing these words, Michael Buble's latest offering is a pretty solid holiday album...

http://cdn2.overstock.com/images/products/P10825390.jpg

ForeverAutumn
12-17-2009, 06:53 AM
Well, I can see that my collection is not yet complete. :)

Stone
12-17-2009, 07:40 AM
I have a Nat King Cole Christmas album that's really good too.

Mr Peabody
12-17-2009, 08:48 PM
I 2nd and highly recommend the Phil Spector, Gift For You. Features Darlene Love, Ronnie Spector and other Spector girl bands whose names escape me now.

I also like Jethro Tull's Christmas Album. Not terribly traditional but very good if you are a Tull fan.

For the best in traditional Christmas hits from over the years Billboard has some various artists discs out that are great.

Last but not least another one of my favs is the Cincinnati Pops. let me know if any one is interested and I can pull the disc later and post more info.

As far as I know only available on an EP Greg Lake, Father Christmas. Not sure why I don't hear this any more at Christmas, did every one forget?

Well that's what I grab when I need a hit of Christmas tunes. I do have the Manheim Steamroller LP.

frenchmon
12-18-2009, 04:01 PM
Well At the moment I have Handels Messiah by the London Philharmonic Orchestra playing. Its a very good recording. If anybody here is into classical, this particular version is put out by the Thomas Kinkade Company.

frenchmon

frenchmon
12-18-2009, 04:06 PM
And thank you Mr. Bobsticks. I recieved the CD's thursday, and I really love the Ella. Its great that you sent two of my favorite girls....Ella and Billy....I'll have to return the favor.


frenchmon

Auricauricle
12-20-2009, 04:27 PM
The 1959 RCA recording of Sir Thomas Beecham and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is perhaps the finest rendition of The Messiah that I have ever listened to. While the tempo of this work is closer to majesto than other recordings, the austere and grandiloquent style is not plodding and certainly not boring. The chorus is simply terrific and echoes through the chambers of the venue with ease and grace. Plenty of room also is given to the featured soloists, Jennifer Vyvyan, Monica Sinclair, Jon Vickers and Giorgio Tozzi, each of whom contributes a voice that is spot-on in intonation and (great) affection.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41476PT5JVL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

For those who want to get away from Christmas music but wish to maintain the mood, Nikolai Korniev and the St Petersburg Chamber Choir’s recording The Angel Cried is a wonderful listen to anyone. Recorded for Philips in 1997, this disc captures all the wonder and awesome depth of sacred Russian music. This is a very nicely recorded album—after all it is a Philips—and is quite easy to listen to. Like the Beecham, this recording is rather dense and lush, with voices echoing and booming through the recording chamber like the ghosts of the featured composers, including Chesnokov, Kalinnikov and Shvedov…

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41MX5WW88VL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

My favorite recording is, like the Korniev, not a Christmas recording, but one of sacred Russian music. Entitled, appropriately, A Collection of Sacred Russian Choral Music, this MCA Classics recording is rather hard to come by. Featuring the great Russian mezzo soprano, Irina Arkhipova, and the Glinka Choir, the disc includes many of the great early Russian composers listed above and others including Degtyrev, Vedel, and Beresovsky. This is a live recording, and what lucky folks those who attended were! The choir is a true wonder to listen to, booming through the venue in grand, sweet gracefulness. Likewise, Arkhipova’s voice lifts beyond the clouds, seating both the audience and listeners like me, right next to the throne of Heaven where we sit, rapt and entranced!

http://itrackmine.com.s3.amazonaws.com/ItemImages/091/4810091.jpg

Feanor
12-20-2009, 05:00 PM
In case there's any interest I'm going to recommend a few of my favorite traditional choral, (i.e. classicalish), albums. These are pretty superb music, performance, and sound. I'm listening to the Rutter / Cambridge Singers, (the last one), right now: great.

Andrew Parrott /Traverner Consort - Choral Album: Seven Centuries of Christmas Music ...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51YH89CE25L._SL500_AA240_.jpg

Andrew Parrott /Traverner Consort - Choral Album 2 ...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/314NSPJPCML._SL160_AA115_.jpg

Paul Hillier /Theatre of Voices - Carols From the Old & New Worlds, (N.B. superb sound!)...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51J9924P5VL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

Paul Hillier /Pro Arte Singers - Traditional & Modern Carols ...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/513TSGYwiIL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

Pro Cantione Antiqua - Medieval Christmas ...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61c0EN0bV2L._SL500_AA240_.jpg

King's Singers - A Little Christmas Music ...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51H1P5HM07L._SL500_AA240_.jpg

King's Singers - Deck the Halls: Songs for Christmas ...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/619twfTMUuL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

Aulos Ensemble - In Dulci Jubilo ...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41LHTidDqVL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

John Rutter /Cambridge Singers - Chritmas Album ...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/619J54VQDQL._SL500_AA240_.jpg