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Songs for Christmas

Artist: Sufjan Stevens
Label: Rough Trade
Category: Music

List Price: ~~£16.99~~
Buy Used: £10.00
You Save: £6.99 (41%)

Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars

2 reviews
Sales Rank: 4683

Format: Box Set
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 5
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 5.2 x 1.3

EAN: 5050159845095
ASIN: B000K9L3IO

Release Date: November 19, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days

Tracks:

Disc 1

•	Silent Night
•	O Come O Come Emmanuel
•	Were Goin To the Country! *
•	Lo How A Rose Eer Blooming
•	Its Christmas! Lets Be Glad! *
•	Holy Holy, etc.
•	Amazing Grace

Disc 2

•	Angels We Have Heard on High
•	Put the Lights on the Tree *
•	Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
•	I Saw Three Ships
•	Only at Christmas Time *
•	Once in Royal Davids City
•	Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!
•	What Child Is This Anyway?
•	Bring A Torch, Jeanette, Isabella

Disc 3

•	O Come, O Come Emmanuel
•	Come on! Lets Boogey to the Elf Dance! *
•	We Three Kings
•	O Holy Night
•	That Was the Worst Christmas Ever! *
•	Ding! Dong! *
•	All the Kings Horns *
•	The Friendly Beasts

Disc 4

•	The Little Drummer Boy
•	Away In A Manger
•	Hey Guys! Its Christmas Time! *
•	The First Noel
•	Did I Make You Cry On Christmas Day? (Well, You Deserved It!) *
•	The Incarnation *
•	Joy To The World

Disc 5

•	Once in Royal Davids City
•	Get Behind Me, Santa! *
•	Jingle Bells
•	Christmas in July *
•	Lo! How A Rose Eer Blooming
•	Jupiter Winter *
•	Sister Winter *
•	O Come O Come Emmanuel
•	Star of Wonder *
•	Holy, Holy, Holy
•	The Winter Solstice *

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Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars

Perfect. January 6, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

It's 6th January and I'm going to play this one last time before I put the Christmas decorations away. Have played this again and again all through the holidays since it arrived.
It is perfect Christmas music, I think, even/especially if your have mixed feelings about the "festive season". The traditional carols are done in his kind of weird, jangly, sincere-but-cool, home-made kind of way (esp on the earlier cds), just beautiful. But nothing at all like carols sung by soaring-voices-of choristers, far from it!
The light hearted stuff is catchy and fun, but not in a tacky commercial way so you can surrender to the silliness of the season without feeling you're selling out, if you know what I mean.
I have two favourite tracks, a poignant song called Sister Winter (on the last cd) and the one that had my kids dancing round the Christmas tree every time, Get Thee Behind me Santa. No, seriously, that's what it's called, but it's great! My children would have put it on repeat all day long for a fortnight if I'd let them. That's also on the last cd and it is the soud of Christmas 2007 for us.

5 out of 5 stars

I heard the pop on Christmas day February 10, 2007
21 out of 21 found this review helpful

For some years now, Sufjan Stevens has been recording little EPs of Christmas songs for people he knew, to "make himself appreciate Christmas more."

Now thankfully he's sharing these songs with his eager listeners, in a five-disc collection that includes his folky reinterpretations of classic carols -- and then the festive ones he made himself. This is not the treacly garbage they put on the radio or in malls -- this is enchanting, festive, fresh music for the holidays.

The first EP -- recorded in 2001 -- is very much old-school Sufjan. Much folkier and banjoey, especially in the lo-fi "O Come O Come Emmanuel," folksy little songs about going to the country, and "Amazing Grace." But there are exceptions -- a shimmering reinterpration of an old hymn, and some bouncy sleigh bell pop.

But the collection blossoms with the sparkling "Angels We Have Heard on High," which is the lead-in to his more polished style. In the four EPs that follow, Sufjan flourishes out into synthy pop, xylophone tunes, dancey holiday music, mellow folk, and exquisite piano balladry. There's the occasional banjo tune, but they grow rarer as time goes on.

And as the collection moves forward, Stevens' music becomes more accomplished with each passing year. His music becomes more complex and more enchanting, right up to the rather pensive and downbeat fifth disc -- which is album-length -- with the shimmering piano of "Winter Solstice" and the offbeat synthpop of "Jupiter Winter."

Sufjan does repeat himself occasionally -- there are multiple versions of "O Come O Come Emmanual," "Lo! A Rose E'er Blooming," and "Once in Royal David's City." Fortunately each time he records the same song, it's radically reimagined. And even songs that most people are heartily sick of -- like "Jingle Bells" -- lose that appalling shopping-mall feeling when Sufjan plays them.

As well as the traditionals and classics, Sufjan injects a lot of his own songs. He makes a festive mishmash of instrumentals -- Hammond, guitar, a little flute, banjo, and lots and lots of bells! Lyrically this is right up his street. He can switch effortlessly from "K-Mart is closed/So is the bakery" to singing about the little Lord Jesus laying down his head in a manger.

And Stevens isn't afraid to look at the side of Christmas that isn't filled with love, joy and goodwill ("Our father yells/Throwing gifts in the wood stove... Silent night/Nothing feels right"). But then, he also has whimsical pop tunes like "Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance!" which is suitably jolly for the holidays. Not to mention the sweetly romantic side as well ("I might kiss you on the back of your neck/Because it's Christmas time."

Sufjan Stevens is in excellent form with his collection of Christmas tunes. Old songs get a new spin, and new songs are absolutely enchanting in his psychfolky way. Now that it's Christmas time...

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