I'm back again trolling randomly through my Christmas music collection, hopefully uncovering hidden gems and rediscovering old favorites.
Presente De Natal (2003) - naomi & goro
Pleasant acoustic holiday offering from Japanese Bossa Nova Duo naomi & goro. Highlights include Presente De Natal and Borboleta
The Molly Burch Christmas Album (2019)
A nice collection of, often Americana-influenced, holiday songs from indie pop singer Molly Burch
The Glory of Christmas (The Sound of Magnificence at Christmas) -101 Strings
Despite the grandiose title this classic slice of vintage "Beautiful music" makes for perfect background music during the holidays for those times you need a little more oomph in the atmosphere. The 101 Strings were marketed as the first "Stereo Scored Orchestra" so this would have ended up on myriad holiday turntables as the Hi-Fi craze took off. of There are no bravura performances or sophisticated arrangements and there don't need to be. This and other music like it is a big part of the soundtrack of Christmas Past and I cherish it.
Ring Christmas Bells - Arthur Lynds Bigelow (1956)
Bell choir with organ accompaniment, a big genre back In the day that produced a bunch of certified snoozers, but this collection of mellow tunes is a winner. A wonderful nostalgic mood setter.
Christmas Dance Party - Jan Garber (1960)
A nice little big band record that just misses out on being a Festive Fave.
Audrey Landers Winter Wonderland (1992)
Best known, along with sister Judy, as a stereotypical amiable, ample blossomed, ditz in countless TV shows and movies, Audrey Landers also sings. Despite her screen persona, this collection of familiar holiday staples isn't a campy novelty album but a decent, if unexceptional, showcase for Ms. Landers vocal aspirations. If you walked into a nice restaurant or a second-tier cabaret and heard her sing you wouldn't be disappointed, but I can't see myself ever revisiting it, though the track "You Came To Me on Christmas" is the most interesting track here. The inclusion of a number of German language tracks makes me wonder if she was a bit of a Hasselhoff over there.
Upon further research, it would seem I have an English language version of Das Audrey Landers Weihnachtsalbum and that Landers has a number of releases and tens of thousands of monthly listeners on Spotify. TIL.
Christmas - Berdien Senberg (1986)
Pleasant enough Classical-lite record from Dutch flutist Berdien Stenberg. Nothing earth shattering but made for nice background music.
Christmas Music Box Favorites - A Study in Stereophonic High Fidelity Sound
I don't mind a nice little music box tune hear and there during the holidays, though I'm not sure I'd want to sit through an entire album of them in one sitting. This is pretty good for the genre.
