Moot Thoughts & Musings

The dilemma I keep returning to. I reached a transition point in what I like for Christmas music about five years ago, when I was in the middle of my last Madrigals, and just plain tired of it all. I don't know what it was. The magic had worn off. "Silent Night" failed to captivate.

So every year it gets later and later, but I feel like I have to "get in the spirit" and pull out the Christmas CDs. I really do enjoy them, but the fanaticism, the obsession, the warm fuzzies, the exclusion, it's not there anymore. I'm even tired of Charlie Brown! So every year I try to pull out something new, to make it all fresh again. I even taken polls to try to find some new music. I don't like just anything. I've gotten beyond "exclusively classical", but I still am very particular. I really do want to be listening to the Christmas music. Music is such a part of my daily existence that to have it betray me at Christmas time is a bit disconcerting.

But I don't want to be going and buying albums every year, you know? You only listen to the CD for a month. I'm very picky about this. There are a few songs that I really want in my Christmas song repertoire, though, so yesterday I broke down and signed up for iTunes. I don't want to get sucked into iTunes, especially since I don't have an mp3 player of any sort, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and now Louis's "Christmas time in New Orleans" has a happy home on my computer.

I also downloaded "Santa Baby" sung by Eartha Kitt. Last year on the way to airport to pick up my brother and sister who spent Christmas with us, an earlier version of "Santa Baby" came on the radio. I wish I could remember who and when. It was a little more playful and fun than the more well-known polished one, and the lyrics were slightly different.

I must have a thing for Louis this year, because "Baby, It's Cold Outside" also made the cut. I love the close counterpoint of Ella and Louis. And finally, "All I Want for Christmas is You" from Love Actually rounds out the foursome. It's fun. I may get tired of it. But this year, it's fun.

Edited to add
Thanks, katiek, for remding of me of the Sufjan Christmas album on Josiah's site. I'm listening to them now, and it's nice. I do like it. I was looking for something kind of folksy to give a little balance to my Louis. I know a lot of people in my immediate blogosphere are ardent Sufjan fans. I'm new to him, hearing him occasionally on XPN, and I like him. But I'm not crazy about him. Maybe I haven't heard enough, but I don't find him musically edgy enough. On the other hand, the gamelan-esque clatter of banjos and whatever else is beling played is fun and interesting. Plus I'm not one that's not drawn to an artist for their lyrics (half the time I can't even make them out! I think I have some kind of disorder!), but that's not as relevant in the case of Christmas. And sometimes he's so Indie-sounding that it almost a cliche. (I feel the same way about the movie Garden State...which isn't to say that I don't like it or that I'm not entertained by it, just not as fulfilling on a higher aesthetic level.) So in summary, Sufjan is a like, but not an answer to all my musical problems. :-)

I also wanted to say that I'm also currently enjoying this Verve label Christmas album. It's more New Orleans-y.