Holiday

Michéal Castaldo's 'Extravergine': a review [VIDEO]

Artist: 
Michéal Castaldo
An up-and-coming Andrea Bocelli?

With the vocals to shake the pillars of modern music, Michéal Castaldo’s voice is a complete replication of what I imagine an Italian angel would sound like, belting his heavenly notes from atop the choir. His voice is a celestial entity springing forth from the unknown depths of an Italian-born Canadian who now resides in New York.

Tanya Tucker's 'Merry Christmas Wherever You Are'

Artist: 
Tanya Tucker

Tanya Tucker’s new Christmas song couldn’t be better, let alone more timely.

The lyrics of “Merry Christmas Wherever You Are” can only be described as uplifting, like the lyrics of all classic Christmas songs. The song can also be interpreted as a love song since it refers to being separated from a loved one. It is now digitally available.

Ironically, the song, written by Mack Vickery and Jerry Laseter, was in Tucker’s proverbial drawer for a while.

Reviewer Rating: 
4.00Stars

Various Artists - 'Celtic Christmas'

Artist: 
Various

Dreaming of a "Celtic Christmas?" Putumayo has just released new music release, Celtic Christmas, just in time for this holiday season.

Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes

Artist: 
Pitom

Pitom’s Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes is an album with a distinctive sound that pays homage to Yom Kippur, the Jewish holiday of repentance. “PITOM” in Hebrew means “Suddenly,” which is an apt title for an album filled with penetrating sounds that musically reflect the psychological and divine forces that are associated with the holiday. Pitom’s lineup includes guitarist and bandleader Yoshie Fruchter, bassist Shanir Blumenkrantz, who also produced the album, violinist Jeremy Brown and drummer Kevin Zubek.

Christmas Gift

Artist: 
Scott Miller

Scott Miller gets into the holiday spirit with a new music release.

Miller's title, Christmas Gift, presents covers of personal favorite John Prine, Neil Young, and an interpretive musical piece for a poem by T.S. Eliot. Highlighted, also, is a "dueling banjos" arrangement of classical musician Ludwig Van Beethoven's "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee."

Reviewer Rating: 
3.50Stars

Christmas

Artist: 
The Isaacs

The Isaacs’ new holiday album Christmas is not that much different from any other collection of Christmas standards. It follows the standard formula of classic Christmas songs peppered with a few originals from the family group. It’s certainly not anything original from the Isaacs since it’s their third Christmas album.

Reviewer Rating: 
3.00Stars

Xmas Vibe

Artist: 
Charles Xavier

Xmas Vibe is the latest release from Charles Xavier, also known as Xman. This album is primarily all instrumental. It includes many Christmas classics performed with a unique sound. Guitars, bells, piano and other sounds complete the tracks to make it a festive relaxing

There are only three tracks on this album that include vocals:

A Coko Christmas

Artist: 
Coko

Former SWV member and current gospel/soul singer Coko has released a holiday album. The album, A Coko Christmas, is nine tracks of new and old put together with Christmas cheer. It's unfortunate that out of the nine tracks, only four are new.

The new tracks are produced well. Each song is a good break from the traditional Christmas songs. They all have a great, positive message. The song, "Give Love on Christmas Day," features former American Idol contestant George Huff, and it's nice to see his continued success. His smooth voice complements Coko's shrill voice.

Reviewer Rating: 
3.50Stars

A New Thought for Christmas

Artist: 
Melissa Etheridge

A New Thought for Christmas is a personal tale of Christmas from Melissa Etheridge. The album is a hopeful and loving look on the winter holiday. With a mix of well-written original songs and soulful classics, Etheridge brings a little peace on Earth. Anyone who listens to this album all the way through will feel hopeful about the future of man.

The classic songs that Etheridge selected are arranged perfectly to fit her rock sound. Each song sounds fresh and she connects to each of the songs like it was her own.

Reviewer Rating: 
4.50Stars

And Winter Came

Artist: 
Enya

Winter or not, Enya's newest album And Winter Came transports you into a beautiful world of ice and snow. Each track still has the regular Enya/Celtic sound, it's almost an add on that this album is a holiday album. Enya has a great variation of tempo in her songs creating many different arrangements. If you are already an Enya fan, this album is a no brainer. If you aren't this album is a great holiday album because it doesn't sound like every other seasonal album. It can break the monotony of boring pop Christmas albums.

Reviewer Rating: 
5.00Stars
Syndicate content