The Witchery

One of my favorite versions of Carol of the Bells is Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 - a cheerfully head-banging version of an oh-so traditional carol. But what many people don't realize is that the album it came from "Christmas and Other Stories" has a very different sound. It also has a storyline.

The first song that get's me is "Old City Bar", about a bartender helping a lost runaway girl find her way home...

http://youtu.be/TsWlrkboY0k

The story picks up a few songs later with "This Christmas Day" which follows the father's reaction on learning that his runaway daughter is on her way home.

http://youtu.be/yF5H8I5Z4hE 

Both make me teary-eyed every time.

Along with my Winter Songs collection, I thought I'd also post a few of my favorite Christmas songs that for one reason or another are never played on mainstream radio.

I first heard of Celestial Navigations on the local NPR station in New Hampshire back in the late 80's. After a day of news and classical music, the evening DJs would play whatever they felt like - giving me the best music education ever. Late one winter's night, driving alone back to my dorm, this came on:

http://youtu.be/ITrwCNq9iBI


The next day I bought every album they had recorded at that point. I'm still a major fan.

Here's the Amazon page that lists all 10 of their albums. If you're a sucker for an incredible story teller, buy 'em all.

http://www.amazon.com/Celestial-Navigations/e/B000APWMX8/ref=ntt_mus_dp_pel

As much as I like Christmas music (not before Thanksgiving please) I also simply like songs with winter themes. I'll be posting a few links to snowy songs that make me happy.

First up, from when I was 8 - Gordon Lightfoot's "Song for a Winter's Night"

http://youtu.be/_yQc-wGeYvk

Er.. also, the real lyric in the song is "where whorls of snow are falling" - but I like the version my eight-year-old sang along to.

Saw these guys at City Hall in NYC this past Thursday. This was my second time seeing them, and they can still bring the house down. As someone once described them, think of watching The Who perform in Italian and you get the general gist. It's a rock band that treats famous arias like they were power ballads. It shouldn't work, but it does.

Check out this selection: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=6JEQKKZW

The note she hits (and sustains) near the end makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up every time I hear it.

You can order their latest album from Amazon