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Contemporary Christmas music

Thomas Veil

Thomas Veil

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Feb 14, 2004
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Much greener pastures
Every year we host the family Christmas party at my house, and every year it befalls me (among other things) to come up with the music...enough to keep people entertained for five or six hours.

And I have to say, after years of listening to them over and over and over...I'm sick and tired of Mannheim Steamroller and Trans-Siberian Orchestra! They worked for many years, but repetition is causing them to wear out their welcome.

Last year I used iTMS to find some new stuff, and I came up with some jazzy stuff by Code: Indigo and Ramsey Lewis, which I mixed in with the usual Vince Guaraldi ("Charlie Brown Christmas") selections and some old standbys.

Frankly, there are plenty of vocalists I can choose from for the slow, traditional stuff...but does anybody have any good suggestions for jazzy, upbeat stuff which is like Mannheim, TSO or Guaraldi?

Keep in mind that my little group are all Boomers, so rap is gonna be a little too upbeat for us. :D
 
Thomas Veil said:
does anybody have any good suggestions for jazzy, upbeat stuff which is like Mannheim, TSO or Guaraldi?

Keep in mind that my little group are all Boomers, so rap is gonna be a little too upbeat for us. :D
Click to expand...
Well you can get the Rat Pack Christmas album on the iTunes music store. That might be up your alley. I also have a few Bing Crosby & Frank Sinatra chritmas carols from the iTMS that are pretty good too. Sure it isn't that contemporary anymore but it makes my yule... cool. :cool:
 
Harry Connick Jr's latest cd (2004 or 2005??), and Diana Krall's latest "Christmas Songs" (2005) cd will be great!

Those are two of my favorites. Let me know if you need more.
 
Michael Bublé has some good albums, Let It Snow! and It's Time, that works for Christmas time.

Diana Krall - From This Moment On album, is also a nice jazzy album.
 
Those are good suggestions, thanks, but I should've been clearer: I'm going for stuff that's mainly instrumental. Vocals aren't all that hard to find, really, but good instrumental is another story.

I do like the vocalist suggestions made, though. :)
 
Thomas Veil said:
Those are good suggestions, thanks, but I should've been clearer: I'm going for stuff that's mainly instrumental.
Click to expand...

Oh... that does narrow it down a bit. :eek: Now that I'm home I can see that (besides than the names you already mention) I only have 2 instrumental songs:
Carol Of The Bells
Good King Wenceslas

Both of them are from the 'Ambrosian Singers with The London Sympony Orchestra' off the "Repeat The Sounding Joy" album. Apparently the singers took a break for these songs. :p
 
You mean there's something other than "Tijuana Brass"??

Jingle Bells:

Dashing through the bush,
in a rusty Holden Ute,
Kicking up the dust,
esky in the boot,
Kelpie by my side,
singing Christmas songs,
It's Summer time and I am in
my singlet, shorts and thongs

Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia
on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.

Engine's getting hot;
we dodge the kangaroos,
The swaggie climbs aboard,
he is welcome too.
All the family's there,
sitting by the pool,
Christmas Day the Aussie way,
by the barbecue.

Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia
on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.

Come the afternoon,
Grandpa has a doze,
The kids and Uncle Bruce,
are swimming in their clothes.
The time comes 'round to go,
we take the family snap,
Pack the car and all shoot through,
before the washing up.

Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia
on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut!,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.
 
I did make my first "pre-Christmas" visit to iTMS and was pleasantly surprised to find that this year they do have a Holiday section, and it's even broken down into categories like "Jazz Christmas" and "Classic Rock Christmas", so that should make things easier.

But looking through it, I don't think I'm going to find much that sounds like Mannheim or TSO, but is fresher. They're really the only ones doing that kind of sound.

So I think I'll keep some of their better stuff in, along with some of your suggestions, some of my usual vocals...and some fun stuff like "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" and "Holly Jolly Christmas". :)
 
How about The Christmas Cocktails collections from Ultra Lounge. If I remember correctly, those were 90% instrumental. Currently, they're up to 3 volumes.

Incidentally, most of the other Ultra Lounge volumes are pretty cool. And the packaging is phenomenal. I bought a collection of "Las Vegas" style music and the case was a functional roulette wheel. They have a collection of island music with a plastic tiki on the cover, and there are collections covered in faux leopardskin and purple fur!
 
Black&Tan said:
Incidentally, most of the other Ultra Lounge volumes are pretty cool.
Click to expand...

I agree. :) I discovered April Stevens' Teach Me Tiger song from an Ultra-Lounge compilation CD and it's now one of my favourites! It's a great song for Christmas time, too.

luv ya bunches! xoxoxo
 
Thomas Veil said:
Those are good suggestions, thanks, but I should've been clearer: I'm going for stuff that's mainly instrumental. Vocals aren't all that hard to find, really, but good instrumental is another story.

I do like the vocalist suggestions made, though. :)
Click to expand...

I just bought "Christmas Cookies: Jazz Treats for the Holidays" and it's awesome! Great jazz stylings with great piano and trumpet work. All instrumental too! :)
 
Thomas Veil said:
Every year we host the family Christmas party at my house, and every year it befalls me (among other things) to come up with the music...enough to keep people entertained for five or six hours.

And I have to say, after years of listening to them over and over and over...I'm sick and tired of Mannheim Steamroller and Trans-Siberian Orchestra! They worked for many years, but repetition is causing them to wear out their welcome.

Last year I used iTMS to find some new stuff, and I came up with some jazzy stuff by Code: Indigo and Ramsey Lewis, which I mixed in with the usual Vince Guaraldi ("Charlie Brown Christmas") selections and some old standbys.

Frankly, there are plenty of vocalists I can choose from for the slow, traditional stuff...but does anybody have any good suggestions for jazzy, upbeat stuff which is like Mannheim, TSO or Guaraldi?

Keep in mind that my little group are all Boomers, so rap is gonna be a little too upbeat for us. :D
Click to expand...

I never have liked Mannheim Steamroller and TSO. Vince Guaraldi's "Charlie Brown Christmas" is a great start. I also like George Winston's "December." You might go find a copy of "The Nutcracker" as well. I recently downloaded the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra recording from iTunes. It's very good. Those are my suggestions.
 
If you're looking for some offbeat Christmas music, with vocals, I can happily recommend:

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - "Everything You Want for Christmas"
Loreena McKennitt - "To Drive the Cold Winter Away"
The Clancy Brothers - "Christmas"
Jethro Tull - The Jethro Tull Christmas Album

I really like Jethro Tull's take on Christmas music, celebrating the season, but with a slightly cynical take on the holiday.
 
Sufjan Stevens, the musical genius behind the album Illinoise just came out with a fantastic box set of Christmas songs. you can pick it up on iTunes but the CD version comes with all sorts of great extras.

Sufjan Stevens presents Songs for Christmas

Another good one is an album by Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) that's an internet-only album: A Christmas Album

I've also always had a soft spot for the hokey-ness that is Elvis' Christmas albums.
 
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Thomas Veil said:
Every year we host the family Christmas party at my house, and every year it befalls me (among other things) to come up with the music...enough to keep people entertained for five or six hours.

And I have to say, after years of listening to them over and over and over...I'm sick and tired of Mannheim Steamroller and Trans-Siberian Orchestra! They worked for many years, but repetition is causing them to wear out their welcome.

Last year I used iTMS to find some new stuff, and I came up with some jazzy stuff by Code: Indigo and Ramsey Lewis, which I mixed in with the usual Vince Guaraldi ("Charlie Brown Christmas") selections and some old standbys.

Frankly, there are plenty of vocalists I can choose from for the slow, traditional stuff...but does anybody have any good suggestions for jazzy, upbeat stuff which is like Mannheim, TSO or Guaraldi?

Keep in mind that my little group are all Boomers, so rap is gonna be a little too upbeat for us. :D
Click to expand...


Good Gravy that sounds like a huge snorefest.

Tell you what, get the mp3 of the A-Team intro, play it looped and VERY loud for the duration, all whilst (badly) dressed up as Mr T and pretend to sob gently in a corner, only scuttling out occasionally to gorge on mince pies.

There you go, right who's next?
 
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