By: Matt Wright
You may have noticed the holidays are nearly upon us, which of course means now would be a good time start rocking some seasonal holiday jams. But you know, maybe that old Bing Crosby LP is getting a little tired isn’t it? And as amazing (truly, immortal) as Mariah’s “All I Want For Christmas” is, even it gets old after the 500th repeat listen (take it from me). So how about something new? Well my friend, I’ve got just the thing. That would be this comp, curated by the charming and talented Daniel Gill. It’s got selections from a bunch of great indie and electronic bands, and what’s more, ALL OF THE PROCEEDS GO TO AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL. How great is that? Here’s Daniel’s description of the record:
“Unless you happen to belong to one of those rare, perfect, Norman Rockwell families, spending the holidays with your loved ones can have its ups and downs, its highs and lows – this Christmas album which benefits Amnesty International serves as a soundtrack to such an experience, documenting and representing the entire spectrum of emotions and feelings you might face during the most wonderful time of the year.
Wanting to avoid an overly cheery tone, and instead provide a more realistic, somewhat somber feel, I’ll Stay ‘Til After Christmas compiler Daniel Gill chose artists for this album who would paint an audio portrait not of present day Christmas celebrations, but rather hazy memories of childhood Christmas experiences and the often bittersweet emotions that accompany them.
Appropriately enough, Au Revoir Simone opens the album with a perfect cover of the Vince Guaraldi classic “Christmastime is Here” and Le Loup follows with a dark and haunting take on the traditional “Shenandoah.” Jimmy Tamborello’s pre-Postal Service group Figurine offers up “The Holidays Behind Us,” a break-up song about a couple that calls it quits just as the holiday season is beginning. Other stand out tracks are My Brightest Diamond’s “Nature Boy,” No Kids take on “Another Winter in a Summer Town” which is taken from the musical Grey Gardens, Blitzen Trapper’s “Christmas is Coming Soon” and Au’s bizarre take on “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.” The album also includes tracks from Arthur & Yu, Parenthetical Girls, Radar Bros., Man of Arms (the new solo project of Kevin Robinson of Viva Voce and Blue Giant), The Papercuts, Bosque Brown and Turk Dietrich of Belong.
I’ll Stay ‘Til After Christmas is a homespun affair if there ever was one – the idea for the album came from a recent tradition that Gill and his wife Reda Rountree have had for the past several years where they would make a compilation CD of Christmas music to give out as a gift to friends and family – and, since the two are friends with plenty of musicians, they decided to compile an original Christmas album to share with the masses. The album cover was also designed by Rountree and the photo on the cover was taken by Gill’s younger brother, Andrew.”
You can find some more info here. And here are a couple sample tracks for you. Yule love ‘em! (knee slap)
Blitzen Trapper
“Christmas Is Coming Soon” (mp3)
Le Loup
“Shenandoah” (mp3)
from “I’ll Stay ‘Til After Christmas”
(Animal World)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Stream from Rhapsody
More On This Album
