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Album Of The Day: Drummer Boy by Jars Of Clay
Released 30 years ago in the past few months and less than 6 months after their acclaimed self-titled debut album, this EP contains two Christmas songs and a few other recordings from one of my all-time favorite bands. "The Little Drummer Boy" is of course the focus of this EP, with a quiet, keyboard-heavy bed, some strings with acoustic guitar and vocals, then later a drum loop joins in. A "Grinch Mix" version of the title track is also included as Track 4, with a bit more of a dance beat and some unexpected elements. And a beautiful though unremarkable version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" is also here. Finally, there's an acoustic version of the song "He" from their first album, which is beautiful and the lyrics heartbreaking. This EP was re-released in 1997 and instead of "God Rest Ye" and "He", there's a remix of the song "Blind" and a 3-minute instrumental called "Wicker Baskets", which is why I have two versions of this on CD. And in 2019, it was released on vinyl. This is a short EP that captures the earliest days of Jars of Clay and gives them a bit of Christmas material. Over the years, they added much more Christmas music to their repertoire with a full album and a few more EPs.
Release Year: 1995
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Album Of The Day: Joy by Steven Curtis Chapman
This is Steven Curtis Chapman's 3rd Christmas album and 17th studio album. Opening with "Joy To The World" and with a bit of a throwback look on the cover, this album is more upbeat and has a bit more of a classic vibe than his previous Christmas albums, though I like his first Christmas album the best. Nearly half the songs are originals that mix really well with the beautiful arrangements of classic carols and standards. "Christmas Kiss" is a beautiful love song and "Christmas Time Again" is a fun song about the festive season returning. Throughout the '90s and into the '00s, Steven Curtis Chapman was one of the best artists in Christian music, and his Christmas albums including this one are very life-giving to me this time of year.
Release Year: 2012
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Album Of The Day: Sleddin' Hill by August Burns Red
This is a very different style of instrumental from yesterday's orchestra and guitar of Phil Keaggy. This is instrumental rock from metalcore band August Burns Red. There is some bells, keyboards and even some strings, but it's mostly walls of guitars and lots of drums and bass on these heavy instrumentals. Classic carols like "O Holy Night", "Little Drummer Boy" and "Got Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" are performed here in a blistering pace along with more recent songs like "Frosty The Snowman" and standards like "Winter Wonderland" and "Jingle Bells". The title track, one of two original instrumentals, actually gets a bit country/bluegrass too. Oh yes, "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" has gang vocals, so I guess the whole album is not instrumental. It's a fun listen if you're looking for some heavy metal vibes to your Christmas celebrations, and who isn't looking for that? And it looks like streaming has 2 tracks my CD does not. Interesting.
Release Year: 2012
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Album Of The Day: Majesty & Wonder by Phil Keaggy
This is another Top 5 in my collection of Christmas albums. It's a beautiful instrumental collection of songs on guitars by Phil Keaggy backed by the London Festival Orchestra to produce a very full, classical sound. It's an excellent 50 minutes of music including some classic instrumental versions of carols like "What Child Is This?", "O Holy Night" and "O Come O Come Emmanuel", but also some original new tunes like "For Hearth And Home" and the "Nativity Suite" comprised of 3 different tracks. It's a beautiful album to put on in the background during your Christmas events but it's also really fun to listen to in the foreground and turned up loud. It sounds just as excellent today as it was when it was released 26 years ago.
Release Year: 1999
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Album Of The Day: Your King Has Come by Various Artists
Released 25 years ago this past October, this album is in my Top 5 Christmas albums of all time. Matthew Smith and his friends put together a beautiful collection of songs to celebrate the Christmas season, both songs new and old. Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken open it with a new folk melody to "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus". Matthew Perryman Jones, Jill Phillips, Mandy Ihrig and Billy Cerveny deliver beautiful renditions of fairly common carols. I really love the middle of the album with Jeremy Casella's guitar-heavy original "Joyful Fire". And then Andrew Osenga does a very interesting version "Of The Father's Love Begotten"; it's a bit sad and is mostly just electric guitar and vocals, and some of my family doesn't like it, but I find it unexpected and fun. The best part is Matthew Smith's version of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" that leads right into his original response to the hymn, "Your King Has Come", a beautiful new modern song celebrating Jesus's birth. Katy Bowser also sings a beautiful variation on the translation of "Silent Night" called "Still The Night". If you're looking for some independent, folk-rock music to get you into the Christmas spirit, look no further than this album.
Release Year: 2000
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Album Of The Day: TOPxMM by Twenty One Pliots & Mutemath
Released 9 years ago today as a free download and a YouTube video, this digital EP captured the musical duo performing 5 of their songs in a studio with the help of the band Mutemath. They start off with the song "Heathens" from The Suicide Squad soundtrack, and perform some of the best songs from their Blurryface album. The members of Mutemath provide guitar, effects, keyboards and much more to recreate much of the sounds Twenty One Pilots had put down in the studio, with some definite variations and extended jams in a few songs too. This was a complete surprise when it was released and it's probably my favorite recording from Twenty One Pilots, maybe at least partially because of my love of Mutemath, but primarily because these live arrangements are so energetic and dynamic.
Release Year: 2016
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Album Of The Day: Smile In The Mystery by John Mark McMillan
This seventh album from John Mark McMillan is a bit of a seasonal affair. This mini-album combines a number of new and old Christmas tunes with a few standards that are not really Christmas, but they fit well. Songs like "Baby Son" and "Lights" are new, original songs celebrating the season of Christ's birth. "Make You Feel My Love" and "What A Wonderful World" are not really Christmas songs in my opinion, but they fit here and are well-done covers. "Silver & Gold" from the "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" TV special of old is sung here by Sarah McMillan and it's beautiful. "Silent Night" has a special coda to with the "Smile In The Mystery" new ending reminding us of the magic of Jesus coming to earth. And this album of slow rock songs ends with "Joy To The World". I love John Mark McMillan's unique musical style and this is a fun collection of songs to listen to in this special season.
Release Year: 2018
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Album Of The Day: Happy Christmas Vol. 3 by Various Artists
Released 24 years ago this past October, this is Tooth & Nail/BEC's third volume of Christmas recordings from their rock/alternative artists and other friends of the label. The O.C. Supertones kick it off with a rousing version of the ballad "Heaven's Got A Baby", a cover of a bit softer version written and recorded for Happy Christmas Vol. 1 just 3 years before by Sarah Masen. Kendall Payne, Cadet, Hangnail and Poor Old Lu offer up versions of classic Christmas carols. Earthsuit, Starflyer 59 and Skyline Drive offer up their covers of more modern Christmas classics. Bleach, Joy Electric, Ace Troubleshooter and Dension Witmer pen brand new songs about the Christmas season and do a good job to add to the variety. I love Aaron Sprinke's cover of Randy Stonehill's classic "A Christmas Song For All Year Round" too—It's a nice nod to the CCM genre's roots. And then, well, Relient K must have been in a very Debbie Downer mood this year, because there's two songs of very snarky original Christmas tunes from them, "Santa Claus Is Thumbing To Town" and "I Hate Christmas Parties" (not actually by Relient K, but by their lead singer's other band, Matthew Thiessen & The Earthquakes). It's a good collection of rock/pop Christmas songs new and old with a bit you might not expect, and it's unfortunately not available on streaming, so you might have to find a used CD copy out there if you want to give it a listen.
Release Year: 2001
Album Of The Day: Advent by Rachel Wilhelm
Released 5 years ago this month, this is an EP by independent singer-songwriter and worship leader Rachel Wilhelm. She takes traditional church texts and classic hymn texts and sets them to a bit more modern, contemplative music. These are fairly simple arrangements, with guitar, banjo, cello and vocals. These songs were recorded during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic as a way to give those not gathering in their church buildings music to reflect on, and they still are great music for reflecting on the mysteries of the Advent season before celebrating the joy of Christ's birth on Christmas. Thanks, Rachel, for providing such music for this time of preparation and waiting.
Release Year: 2020
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Album Of The Day: Fielder by Fielder
"Don't overthink it baby." Released this past August, this is the first album from Fielder, a duo of young women—Skye Peterson and Addison Agen—who, despite their age, have both been performing as solo artists for many years. They craft chill indie pop tunes with beautiful harmonies and lots of songs about friendship and relationships. These two also sing about the unexpected things in life and that they don't have all of it figured out. It's a nice album for some quiet contemplation on a dark winter night, i think. This is a pretty good album and I think it will be fun to see these young women improve their craft over time.
Release Year: 2025
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