If you're looking for a beacon of light in the sea of dreadful Christmas cash-in albums, your reviewer would normally point you towards the divine delights of Low's gorgeous "Christmas" mini-LP. It is the very essence of sublime and it's allure refuses to fade from year to year.
However, W&H are always on the lookout for contenders to add to that extremely exclusive shortlist known as the 'non-naff' Xmas album which - like Low's record - will bear repeat visits when Yuletide once again rolls around. Last year we were happy to bring you Viper Records' excellent blues-based "Papa Ain't No Santa Claus, Mama Ain't No Christmas Tree", but this year why not try another credible 'alternative' festive album in KATE & ANNA McGARRIGLE'S "The McGarrigle Christmas Hour."
As you might expect from a duo whose eclectic 30 year career has taken in everything from French Canadian ballads to ragtime and variations on contemporary pop, to call "The McGarrigle Christmas Hour" merely a folk-flavoured Christmas record is a tad simplistic, especially when you consider that the McGarrigles collaborators here include maverick talents such as EMMYLOU HARRIS, VINNIE DOW and CHAIM TANNENBAUM, not to mention Kate's famous children RUFUS and MARTHA WAINWRIGHT and Anna's equally respected daughter LILLY LANKEN.
Admittedly, the traditional, folk-flavoured "Seven Joys Of Mary" throws a curve, but - with the exception of a cover of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" perhaps best described as 'Madrigal-esque' - the remainder of the album is as diverse as you'd expect from the participants involved and puts a typically individualistic spin on Yuletide into the bargain.
There are, of course, other traditional songs included in the seasonal fare, and another of the immediate highlights is Emmylou Harris's lazy, jazzy and predictably sublime take of the hymn "O Little Town Of Bethlehem", while Martha Wainwright and Lilly Lanken hook up to sound surprisingly cute during a charming rendition of the traditional French chanson "Il Est Ne".
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Elswehere, though, both the material and arrangements are a good way from the beaten Xmas track. Jackson Browne's "Rebel Jesus" again finds Martha Wainwright and Lilly Lanken teaming up, this time for a slightly nostalgic pop outing, while Rufus Wainwright makes a masterful appearance to sing the lonesome and blue bar-room ballad that is "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" magnificently and with just the right amount of pathos.
But it's possibly "Merry Christmas & Happy New Year", "Spotlight On Christmas" and "Counting Stars" that deserve the medals in the end. "Merry Christmas..." finds Kate & Anna offering us a neo-Americana folk-pop outing with a typically kooked, family-based storyboard (lyrical sample: "Mum is making dinner for 20 of Rufus's LA friends"). It's unlikely, but excellent, as is the Tom Waits-style monologue "Counting Stars", which very much represents the melancholy side of this joyful time of year. Perhaps the gold (rather than the frankincense and myrrh) ought to be given to "Spotlight On Christmas", however, which is again a Rufus-related highlight and offers this reviewer the opportuity to descibe a Christmas song as 'rollicking' if he may be so bold.
So, as you might expect, "The McGarrigle Christmas Hour" isn't afraid to take a few risks and deviations from the festive norm along the way. It's still not quite up there with the spectral beauty of Low's "Christmas" for me, but is nonetheless a fabulous stocking filler and every bit as generous of spirit as you'd hope for in this increasingly commercial season of goodwill.
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