Christmas Music 2010

Each year I like to blog my favorite new Christmas music. I'm a little slow getting to it this year, but here's what I added to my Christmas music collection in 2010.

First of all, I want to thank iTunes for starting the 90 second samples for songs. If only you had started it sooner, I might not have bought this first album in it's entirety . . . sigh.

I wanted to add a nice album of instrumentals, so my first purchase was "The Christmas Album" by Hagood Hardy.
He composed the music for Anne of Green Gables and I love that, so I figured I couldn't go wrong. I played it while putting up the Christmas decorations. It definitely has a 1970s vibe!
Out of 16 songs, 5 of them were way over the top and immediately deleted from the library, 6 I really like, and the rest are tolerable. If you are interested in any, I would say that the following had the "Anne" quality I was looking for and are worth buying:

Silent Night - this has an underlying melody much like the "Anne" soundtrack
Christmas Song - this is another great arrangement most anyone could like
When the First Snow Falls - this song bridges the gap between the songs with piano vs. vibraphone leads.
Warning: if you don't like the vibraphone, these next songs are not for you : ) I, however, do like it, so here are my next 3 picks.
Winter Time - not for everyone, but I love that style of male vocal
White Christmas - a nice drum/vibraphone jazzy feel
Christmas Waltz - similar to White Christmas

After a week of listening to my play list, I found that I have many wonderful versions of the exact same songs. I love the Christmas classics, but it was time to add some new songs to keep from hearing the same ones over by different artists.

I finally bought the song Joseph's Lullaby by MercyMe on "The Christmas Sessions". If you don't already own this song, go directly to iTunes and buy it. It's one of my all-time favorites!

I also bought "It's a Wonderful Christmas" by Michael W. Smith. He has several Christmas albums, but this has the variety I was looking for. There are original vocal songs as well as instrumentals. It's a great mixture. I tried to make a favorite song list, but I just couldn't narrow it down.

Next was "Brand New Year" by SHeDAISY. I have liked this album since high school. Don't ask why it took me 10 years to buy it. Their version of Jingle Bells has always been my favorite. How Can I Keep from Singing is also a must.

Today while reading my sister's blog, I heard the song It Snowed by Meaghan Smith. Her EP is "Wish Upon a Star".
I can't say I loved the others enough to buy them, but I may revisit them next year to see if I feel differently. This is a super happy song. It captures my feelings when it snows!

Finally, "Winter Comes Again" by Keri Noble. This is a bit more on the pop side. I liked that even the classic songs have a slightly different sound than other versions I own. I liked all of the songs enough to buy them, but I would say that if you're picking a few, skip "River" and stick with with Sarah McLachlan's version. But don't skip "Winter Comes Again" because I think it's really beautiful and I hope you do, too!

All the album photos came from amazon.com.