Tag: Christmas music

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: DMX Does “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”/Ahmed Sirour’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Up In Here” Remix

I’ve dabbled a bit in the holiday spirit around here as a handful of acts have written and recorded a number of Christmas-themed originals, as well as versions of Christmas standards. And in a semi-continuing tradition here, you may recall that several years ago DMX was being interviewed by someone at Power 105.1 had jokingly asked him if he knew the lyrics for “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and in the interview Dark Man X quickly responds by reciting the lyrics of the song — from memory. And it’s arguably one of the strangest, most endearing and funniest moments in hip-hop history. ”
I recently stumbled on the Ahmed Sirour Remix of DMX’s rendition of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” which he titled “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Up In Here.” It’s the remix, we always needed.

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. Also Happy Hanukah! And Happy Holidays everyone!

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Canadian Singer/Songwriter Terra Lightfoot’s Gorgeous Rendition of a Christmas Season Classic

Lightfoot’s sophomore effort Every Time My Mind Runs Wild was released earlier this year through Sonic Unyon Records and if you’ve been frequenting this site, you may recall that I had written about the Canadian singer/songwriter’s bluesy and heartfelt single “All Alone,” a single reminiscent of a more muscular version of Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” and “Walkin’ After Midnight,” complete with the same heartache at its core. Just in time for the holidays, Lightfoot released an understated solo rendition of the Christmas season classic “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” which she played for the first time at CBC’s Sound of the Season last year and she recently recorded live at McMaster University’s LIVELab. Interestingly, Lightfoot’s self-accompanied guitar arrangement draws from Chet Atkins’ instrumental rendition.

As Lightfoot explains in press notes about her rendition of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas: “I think I feel comfortable delivering a song like ‘I’ll Be Home For Christmas’ because I can really live inside that gentle mood and melody. The heartfelt lyrics, that sense of fragile security. The melody and chords are stunning, but as a songwriter I also appreciate the uncertainty and underlying tension in the plot: you’re not sure if you’ll make it home, or maybe your home is long gone and you’re wishing you could go back. I don’t know if I would be able to deliver a song like ‘Joy to the World’ with quite as much conviction. ” Interestingly, in some way the tension within the song shouldn’t be surprising as the song was originally written from the perspective of troops separated from their families by war — and considering that families are being uprooted from their homelands and separated from each other by seemingly unending conflict or from politics, Lightfoot’s understated rendition gives the song a subtly modern context, while sounding as though it could have been released in 1957.

Personally, I think what makes Lightfoot’s rendition one of the more compelling renditions I’ve heard in some time is that the Canadian singer/songwriter’s voice conveys a painfully lonely ache and longing — the sort of longing that comes from lengthy periods apart from loved ones and from home.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Currently comprised of founding members Alan Sparhawk (guitar, vocals) and Mimi Parker (drums, vocals) along with Steve Garrington (bass), the Duluth, MN-based indie rock trio Low have a long-held reputation for slow-burning and heartfelt material comprised of minimalist arrangements, which showcase Sparhawk and Parker’s harmonizing. Just as the band was about to embark on a UK and Ireland tour in which they’ll be playing their critically applauded Christmas EP, the members of the trio released a Christmas season original “Some Hearts (at Christmas Time).” And  the latest single will further cement the band’s reputation for crafting slow-burning, minimalist and thoughtful indie rock in which a strummed, plaintive guitar motif and swirling electronics are paired with Parker’s ethereal vocals harmonizing with Sparhawk’s gently processed vocals in a song that looks at the close of the year with a hopeful look ahead.  Certainly, while this year has thrown many of us quite a few punches, there are a couple of things that we cannot forget — that through fate or plain dumb luck we’re still here to love, to dream, to fight yet another day; that sometimes hope may be the only thing that gets us out of bed; and that in difficult times, we may only have each other to depend on.

 

 

Video by William Ruben Helms

Throwback: DMX Does “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”

Continuing with the holiday spirit around here, as many of you would likely recall, a couple of years ago, DMX was being interviewed by the folks at Power 105.1 when someone asked him if he […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: LCD Soundsystem Reunites for a Christmas Original

Since their breakup following a massive series of farewell shows at Terminal 5 and Madison Square Garden in 2011, the members of New York-based dance punk act LCD Soundsystem have spent the past few years […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

So if you’ve been frequenting the site over the last few months, you’d likely be familiar with the Los Angeles-based quintet Lady Low have become something of a mainstay, as I’ve written about the band a handful of times over the past few months. Of course, because there are almost always new folks to the site — or some folks who need their memories refreshed, let’s discuss some backstory: Comprised of founding member Jimmy Sweet (guitar, vocals), who as once a member of the San Francisco, CA-based punk band Richmond Sluts and a touring member of Hot Hot Heat, Rachel Maxann (vocals, synth and bass), Eden Lee (vocals, drums), Kaitlin Wolfberg (violin) and Hannah Blumenfeld (violin), the quintet have received quite a bit of attention from this site and across the blogosphere for a sound that the members of the band has dubbed “Romance rock.” Sonically, they combines s straightforward, old-school, rock ‘n’ roll three chord, 12-bar blues approach with gorgeously lush string arrangements which gives their material a gritty yet swooning (and of course, dramatic) feel that also manages to indirectly channel Phil Spector’s classic “Wall of Sound.”

They’ve recently released a moody and swooning Christmas-inspired song that sounds as though it could have been released in 1962 as soaring strings are paired with layers of plaintive harmonies. Lyrically, the song concerns itself with a relationship ending right around the holiday and how miserable the holiday season can be when you’re single and heartbroken. Although kitschy as most Christmas-inspired pop songs are, it possesses a heartfelt sentiment that should be familiar to anyone who actually has been heartbroken during the holidays when everyone else seems to be happy.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

If you’ve been frequenting JOVM over course of its history, you may recall coming across several posts on Brooklyn-based quintet Super Hi-Fi, who were something of a mainstay act on this site back in 2012. The core members of the band led by Ezra Gale (bass) features Rick Parker (trombone). Jon Lipscomb (guitar) and Madhu Siddappa (drums) can actually trace their origins to a rather unlikely start. Gale, who was a founding member of the acclaimed San Francisco-based Afrobeat act, Aphrodesia had relocated to Brooklyn and was collaborating with Quoc Pham in Sound Liberation Front when Gale was asked to get a band together for Pham and Gale’s then-monthly Afro-Dub Sessions parties in Williamsburg. The parties would pair the live band with several top-name dub producers and DJs including Victor Rice, Prince Polo, Subatomic Sound System, the Beverley Road All-Stars and others.

With the release of their critically applauded debut effort, Dub to the Bone released through Electric Cowbell Records in 2012, the Brooklyn-based quintet won quite a bit of attention locally and nationally as they’ve played renowned local venues such as the Mercury Lounge, the now-closed Zebulon and Brooklyn Bowl and have opened for nationally known acts including Rubblebucket, Beats Antique and John Brown’s Body. Over the past couple of years, Super Hi-Fi have recorded and released two 45s on Electric Cowbell, a split 7 inch with Ithaca, NY-based act Big Mean Sound Machine through Peace and Rhythm Records and  Yule Analog, Vol 1.,  a dub-inspired take on Christmas standards.

Super Hi-Fi’s soon-to-be released new album Yule Analog, Vol. 2 picks up on where Yule Analog, Vol 1. left off  — with dub-inspired takes on another batch of holiday classics and a holiday-inspired original dub composition. Featuring contributions from renowned trombonist Curtis Fowlkes, best known for his work with The Lounge Lizards, Bill Frisell and Charlie Hunter; Mitch Marus, best known for his work with Donovan, The Dean Ween Group, and Aphrodesia; as well as Adrian Harley and Alex Castle, who collaborate with Gale in the old school groove project, The Get It. And much like their previously recorded effort, Prince Polo took up production duties, recording the material on analog tape and mixed the album using vintage reverb and tape delay units — in the fashion of legendary dub masters King Tubby and Lee “Scratch” Perry.

Yule Analog Vol. 2′s latest single, which I have the unique privilege of premiering here is a trippy, dub rendition of an old time Christmas classic “O Come All Ye Faithful” which features the trombone-led compositions that won the attention of the blogosphere — the trombone gives the song a regal, old-timey feel while the reverb and bass heavy dub pushes the song towards a funky shoegazer territory. It’s a sunny and playful rendition of an extremely familiar song that puts a completely different spin on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of Andrew Poirier (guitar), Anand Greenwell (saxophone), Chris Mackenzie (drums), William Farrant (bass), and Piers Henwood (guitar), the  Victoria, BC-based quintet Astrocolor decided that they wanted to tackle Christmas songs for their forthcoming album Lit Up: Music for Christmas. Featuring guest vocals from Kandle, Rykka, Jets Overhead‘s Antonia Freybe-Smith, and Abi Rose and co-produced by the Canadian quintet and Colin Stewart, best known for his work with Black Mountain, Dan Mangan and AC Newman, the approach to the album was largely inspired by jazz great Stan Getz’s Getz Au Go-Go, as well as Massive Attack, Air and St. Germain. As the band explained in press notes, Stan Getz’s rendition of “Summertime,” ” became a jumping off point for what we were trying to do, taking the classic ‘summertime and the livin’ is easy’  hook and reshaping it into an exploratory piece. We too wanted to create a sense of familiarity and exploration within the context of a Christmas album.”

“We Three Kings,” the first single off Lit Up: Music for Christmas is a noir-ish and moodily atmospheric song that sounds as though it owes as much of a sonic debt to jazz as it does to dubstep and trip hop as Abi Rose’s seductive, jazz standard vocal stylings are paired with a mournful horn line, swirling electronics, angular, funk guitar and bass, and plinking keys submerged in layers upon layers of reverb to craft a rendition of a familiar song that’s hauntingly mournful and cinematic — while being simultaneously intimate and sensual.

I’ve played the song a number of times before writing this post, and every time I can picture the three kings with their gifts riding through moonlit, desert skies to Bethlehem to see the baby Christ. But perhaps more important, it puts a modern spin on to a song that many of us have heard so much that its meaning and importance has been reduced to background music at the mall or in a commercial.

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Continuing with the holiday cheer, I recently came across this live footage of Brooklyn-based indie rock darlings Lucius covering John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas (War is Over)” during a show a few weeks ago at the […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Merry Christmas! And I’m marking the holiday with what I hope will be an annual tradition for The Joy of Violent Movement – the official video for RUN DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis.” Since this song’s […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Writing and performing under the moniker of Victory, the Los Angeles, CA-based artist Robert Fleming’s debut effort, Victory Is Music was released to critical praise for Fleming’s self-described “sun bleached rock ‘n’ roll with a pop sensibility.” Along with […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

“The Screaming Eagle of Soul,” Charles Bradley was recently on  George Stroumboulopolous Tonight‘s Christmas Eve Music Special to perform what may well be on the most seductive and most inspired Christmastime tunes i’ve heard.  Throughout the […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Writing and performing under the moniker of Victory, the Los Angeles, CA-based artist Robert Fleming’s debut effort, Victory Is Music was released to critical praise for Fleming’s self-described “sun bleached rock ‘n’ roll with a pop sensibility.” […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

At the beginning of this year, I had interviewed Morgan Christopher Geer who writes and records under the moniker of Drunken Prayer about his fantastic 2012 release Into the Missionfieldand other subjects, and the interview was […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

It’s Christmastime and we all know what that means — that everyone in the Western world will be inundated with Christmas songs and Christmas compilations of increasingly questionable musical worth. However, one of the more […]