CDs and Songs of the Week: Maybe This Christmas

In the interest of anticipating any possible time-crunch heading into this busiest of weekends, I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone (or "two partridges in one pear tree", as it were), and share with you three songs, and the albums they came from, all in one handy-dandy little post.

I don't really care much for Christmas music, quite honestly. But at the same time, being a music lover, I feel it's my duty to have at least some of the stuff in my collection, and I can't help but listen to it in the days leading up to the holiday. (I can't take much more than four or five days' exposure to yuletide tunes.) There's little denying the fact that Christmas just wouldn't feel complete without some Christmas music.

When I do buy a Christmas album, it almost always has to be something different -- something especially suited to my tastes. Sure, I have all three double-disc volumes of "Now! That's What I Call Christmas", which gives me a very well-rounded distillation of all the classic and contemporary holiday tunes anybody (especially I) could ever want. And I've bought the Christmas albums that some of my most favorite artists have recorded over the years (Hanson, Barenaked Ladies), as well as a small selection of other, more narrowly-focused compilations (novelty songs, '80s rock, etc.).

But this is perhaps the series of holiday albums that I enjoy the most. From 2002 to 2004, Nettwerk Records released a series of three compilations entitled "Maybe This Christmas". Each volume contains a wide variety of traditional carols, covers of 20th-Century holiday classics, and new original tunes, all recorded by current and recent indie-pop and rock artists, such as Phantom Planet, Coldplay, Vanessa Carlton, Barenaked Ladies, Ben Folds, Rufus Wainwright, Avril Lavigne, Death Cab For Cutie, The Polyphonic Spree, and many others. If ever there were a Christmas music compilation series that was right up my alley, this would be it.

Nearly all the tunes are enjoyable, with a few great standouts (Loreena McKennitt's hauntingly beautiful original "Snow", Guster's jaunty rendition of "Donde Esta Santa Claus?"), and the occasional exception (The Flaming Lips' take on "White Christmas", which they made so avant-garde that it just ended up sounding crappy, and Avril Lavigne's and Chantal Kreviazuk's okay but totally forgettable duet on "O Holy Night"). In the spirit of giving that is Christmas, I thought I'd share three selections with you this season, one from each album.

"Bizarre Christmas Incident"
by Ben Folds
from "Maybe This Christmas" (Nettwerk, 2002)





"The Winter Song"
by Eisley
from "Maybe This Christmas Too?" (Nettwerk, 2003)





"Bittersweet Eve"
by Belasana
from "Maybe This Christmas Tree" (Nettwerk, 2004)





You'll hear from me again before next Tuesday, but for now ... to everyone of every religious, ethnic, and cultural derivation, I wish you the happiest of holiday seasons. Spend it with someone you love, 'cause that's the most important thing.