A Very Little Christmas

Apparently SuBo, aka Susan Boyle, is releasing a Christmas album this year. Don’t bother. The Auckland music scene has something a lot better to offer, namely through an early yuletide present humbly entitled ‘A Very Little Christmas’…

Apparently SuBo, aka Susan Boyle, is releasing a Christmas album this year. Don’t bother. The Auckland music scene has something a lot better to offer, namely through an early yuletide present humbly entitled ‘A Very Little Christmas’.

Created entirely in Oratia-based producer David Parker’s bedroom, (better known as Little Monster Studios), the compilation comprises of mainly original songs from Auckland’s finest musicians. I’ve had a sneaky listen to what’s inside this 18 track monster, and it’s all sounding very promising.

Highlights thus far include the brassy jubilance of Bannerman’s ‘Lost Christmas’, the Beach Boys influenced haze of The Gladeyes’ ‘Carols and Parties’, Alaska’s twitchy cover of that ultimate Christmas carol ‘O Holy Night’, and a saucy duet entitled ‘French Kissmas’ by Chelsea Jade and James Duncan.

In ‘Grown Up’s Christmas’, Cool Rainbows ask some of the more serious questions of the season, e.g. ‘Why does Santa ride a sleigh in the summer?’, ‘How do reindeer fly without wings?’, poignant queries a smarter child would think to ask. The Phil Spector inspired, ‘This Christmas, All I Really Want Is to Love Somebody’, by Bear Cat builds and builds with multi-layered inspiration, and Luckless set a dream-pop scene around the Yule tree on ‘Christmas Morning’.

Mr Parker has emptied his bag of creative tricks for ‘A Very Little Christmas’; the production is borderline flawless, resulting in a seamless, cohesive record that I will be thrashing until at least mid-January, (or whenever the Christmas decorations get put away for another year *sigh*). The record is a definite keeper, and would make a great Christmas present for a loved one or two.

Here’s the album’s track list in its entirety.

1. Bannerman – Lost Christmas
2. Hold Dear – Anthem For An Orphan
3. The Crawley Christmas Singers – I Don’t Wanna Think About It
4. The Gladeyes – Carols and Parties
5. Dear Time’s Waste – The Drink
6. Glass Owls – December
7. Bear Cat – This Christmas, All I Really Want Is To Love Somebody
8. Alaska – Oh Holy Night
9. Cool Rainbows – Grown Ups Christmas
10. Chelsea Jade & James Duncan – French Kissmas
11. Canadia – Apparently It’s Christmas
12. The Bayonets – Winter Bells
13. Timothy Blackman – Christmas Bells
14. Luckless – Christmas Morning
15. Tono and the Finance Company – Orphans
16. Great North – A Guiding Star
17. Jocee Tuck – Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree
18. Artisan Guns – This Year

‘A Very Little Christmas’ is released on the 6th of December and will be up for free download at www.littlemonsterstudio.co.nz. Alternatively you can fight for one of the very limited edition CDs. These will be available at various music stores around the place on the same date.

The record launch party is on the 15th of December at the Wine Cellar and Whammy Bar from 7:30pm, and will be featuring many of the artists on the compilation. It’s $10 on the Door, or $20 with the CD. Additional CD’s will be $15 each.
A premature Merry Christmas to everybody! Enjoy.

Theo Sangster, 6 December 2010. (Ed- Theo’s violin playing features on the album! Worth a listen.)