Various Artists “A Kool Kat Kristmas”
Wow! A real gift this season is this album full of great original power pop compositions with a Christmas theme. Maple Mars “Christmas Time In The City” has California-styled harmonies and brilliant melodies. The Smith Brothers give us “Every Day Is Like Christmas” with requisite hand claps in the catchy chorus. The Parallax Project gives us a tender rockin’ “All I Want For Christmas Is A Chance.”And I love the Britannicas hilarious “Chris Hillman Christmas” full of country twang and side-splitting lyrics (“I’d rather go to jail than see The Eagles re-form again”). Andy Goldberg does great double-duty with The Sun Kings “Santa’s Calling” and the positively wonderful “Channukah Guy.” Every artist puts forth a good track, so there’s no filler or coal to be found in this stocking. You should get this CD for another reason: $5 of every purchase will be donated to The Susan Giblin Foundation, named for the late wife of Mike Giblin (Parallax Project) who’s goal was to support animal wellness and welfare. Get this excellent compilation and an angel gets it’s wings too (really!)
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Various Artists “Popboomerang 2010 X-Mas Party Sampler”
Popboomerang Records is an Australian music label formed by Scott Thurling that specialises in all forms of melodic pop and rock (power pop, jangle, folk & punk pop). I’m familiar with many past artists, but Scotty’s got a new crop of talent for this compilation. This holiday season we get a free sampler from the label with a few standouts, including Celadore’s exciting version of “Rocking Around The X-Mas Tree” and the solid vocals and horns of D.Rogers “Knocked Down The House.” Almost no traditional holiday music here but, fans of punk-pop like Shonen Knife will appreciate The Solomons “Evening Empire” and Georgia Field’s gentle folk ballad “Christmas Ribbon.” It’s a free download, so drink it in and be merry!