Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Album Review: I'll Stay 'Til After Christmas (On behalf of Amnesty International)

If you're anything like me (and you know you wish you were), you've got to have the right mixtape for everything. The holidays, of course, are no exception. (You should hear my Halloween Zombie Mix. Trust me, you'd be jealous.) Well, it's just about Xmas again, so what are you going to pop onto ye olde iPod? Nobody needs to hear that schmaltzy, traditional stuff because, let's be honest, Xmas hasn't been that money since you were 12 anyway. It's gone from waiting anxiously for Santa to getting into fist fights with your drunken relatives after your Dad yells at everyone. Sure, the latter scenario provides its' own memories, but the question remains, have you prepared the correct soundtrack for the occasion?

Fortunately for us, the good folks at Amnesty International have gathered all our favorite indie kids together to create, quite possibly, the perfect Christmas mix for today's discerning Gen Xers and Gen Yers. Mostly forgoing the traditional songs of yuletide, instead we've got Au Revoir Simone putting their spin on a Vince Guaraldi classic, Le Loup singing about Shenendoah and Blitzen Trapper making their own magic with "Christmas is Coming Soon." Sure, Bosque Brown does an almost creepy (though still quite tasty) version of "Silent Night," and Turk Dietrich (of Belong) performs an almost unrecognizable "Blue Christmas" (the vocals are nearly completely buried underneath layered tracks for a damn cool effect), but nothing here is your parents' holiday music. And that's what makes it pretty damn kick ass.

Plus, picking up a copy puts a few shekels into the bank of Amnesty International, and who doesn't want to do that? Nobody. Not even your grandfather.

Make sure to pick up your digital copy at iTunes, emusic, amazon digital, rhapsody, etc., to make it easier on Santa. The album will be available to the world on Dec. 2.

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