Z's Music Corner - Christmas Edition

[Z_TheWriter]

In addition to what iwatchus said, it's also just not a style of music that's very popular currently. You can make songs that lend themselves well to people singing them together while going caroling or around the tree, you can make songs which work well singing to your children. You won't make a lot of money on it, however, and not a ton of people will listen to it. So not a lot are made, and the ones which are don't get the reach to become widely adopted.

 

[alohadave]

Carolers want to sing songs that everyone knows. That people expect carolers to sing. Songs your grandmother liked. They might have been new when your grandmother was a kid, but from your perspective they are now classics. In fifty years, I suspect it will still be 70 years ago. Although I can't think of anything from the 90's or 00's that's likely to catch on like that.

And those songs are vocal/choral and can be sung without instruments.

 

[Bamagan]

The way people 'consume' music has undergone a massive shift since the days when carolers were commonplace. The 'classics' were made at a time when there were only a handful of avenues to reach an audience, so the audience reached was relatively monolithic. In the last decade or two, the number of avenues has expanded, which has caused an explosion of artists now that many barriers to recording and distributing music have eroded.

That's good in some ways, but it has the effect of generally reducing the cultural impact of any particular artist or song. Even the biggest stars in music these days, with legions of devoted fans, never reach the ears of a substantial portion of the population. It's easy for us to find and concentrate only on the stuff we like the most, instead of listening to the radio for hours for the two or three tunes we love. Incidentally, that's something Weird Al mentioned in an interview, asking why he doesn't do many parodies anymore. His answer was more or less what I just said: there are far fewer songs these days that transcend the barriers we put up against styles or messages we don't like.

 

[KTrout23]

This video shows as entirely unavailable (not just can't be embedded) for me.

How about this one?

 

[YmaOHyd]

My favorite performance of "Finnegan's Wake," the street ballad that inspired James Joyce's novel. Paddy Clancy introduces the song, Tom Clancy recites a selection from the novel and Liam Clancy plays guitar.

The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem were on the leading edge of the folk revival in Ireland, England and the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, and it's tough to imagine how big a deal they were now. They outsold Elvis in Ireland; in one year, a third of all records sold in Ireland were Clancy Brothers records. They performed on The Ed Sullivan Show and for President Kennedy. Tracked exports of the Aran sweaters they wore increased 700% (and it was more than that, as most were exported unofficially). The Clancy-organized record label Tradition started the career of Odetta, and they helped launch the Newport Folk Festival.

Their biggest influence was on Bob Dylan, who used their arrangements of Irish folk ballads as melodies in his own work. Dylan was a regular guest when the Clancies played in Greenwich Village, and Dylan would later say that Liam Clancy was the greatest ballad singer he'd ever heard. The Clancy Brothers performed at Dylan's 30th anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden, and at the afterparty Liam Clancy asked Dylan if, perhaps, the Clancies could record an album of some of Dylan's music, mostly songs like "Ramblin Gamblin Willie," which was derived from the Clancy Brothers version of "Brennan on the Moor." Dylan enthusiastically agreed, saying "Liam, you don't realize, do you, man? You're my fuckin' hero."

 

[Z_TheWriter]

Not Another Christmas Song by blink-182

This one is for the people who are tired of Christmas.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

 

[Dodola]

 

[Z_TheWriter]

I feel the need to point out that, while those are impressive, we are still in the music thread.

 

[Z_TheWriter]

Rap Jul by Shu-bi-dua

Danish band Shu-bi-dua made this song in which a duck sings about how maybe Christmas isn't so cool if you're a duck, and maybe y'all should eat some more pork.

The name of the song is a pun. 'Jul'=Christmas, 'Rap' is rap, just as in English. It's also the sound a duck makes in Danish, and a slang term for being quick-witted or cool.

At the end of the song we discover that the singer is Anders And aka Donald Duck.

 

[Dodola]

I feel the need to point out that, while those are impressive, we are still in the music thread.

Oh for fucks sake, it's Christmas music with a light show, and at least I was still participating in your thread.
It was fun until just now.
Merry fucking Christmas

 

[Z_TheWriter]

Oh for fucks sake, it's Christmas music with a light show, and at least I was still participating in your thread.
It was fun until just now.
Merry fucking Christmas

I did not mean to offend, I'm sorry you're taking it this way. I was simply poking you a little in an attempt to avoid everything just becoming random Christmas things. Threads very quickly run entirely off the rails in this place. I don't actually have the authority nor the technical privileges to keep that from happening. Everyone can post whatever they want, I can't do anything about it. If they do, however, there's not much point in keeping this thread running. So while I don't see an issue with the single post you made, I hope you can see that if I don't comment on it at all, that can easily become the new topic.

 

[Dodola]

Thanks for the clarification.
Hopefully, the other participants won't try to "derail" your thread as bad as I just did.
Happy holidays.

 

[SenSachiko]

I've been replaying some of the jazz-infused Christmas tracks mentioned—solid picks. If anyone's trying to learn to play this kind of stuff or just improve their timing and feel, music lessons online can really help. I found it easier to follow along with those swingy rhythms after running through a few virtual sessions. Makes pulling off stuff like “Christmas Time Is Here” way less frustrating.

 

[Z_TheWriter]

The Killers - Don't Shoot Me Santa

I discovered this song very recently, it's kinda awesome. I should listen to The Killers more.

 

[alohadave]

Ominous Frosty

 

[Trionyx]

Try this take on Santa Baby from Postmodern Jukebox.

 

[Z_TheWriter]

Marble Machine by Wintergatan

Swedish band Wintergatan became internet famous for this absurdly impressive and very groovy construction. I can't even imagine the work that goes into just coming up with the ideas for how it should work, much less building it.
This is probably not actually a Christmas song... But their name means Winter Street, and the glockenspiel reminds me of snow and Christmas.
I may be struggling a bit finding 25 Christmas songs which I can stand myself.

 

[alohadave]

Marble Machine by Wintergatan

Swedish band Wintergatan became internet famous for this absurdly impressive and very groovy construction. I can't even imagine the work that goes into just coming up with the ideas for how it should work, much less building it.
This is probably not actually a Christmas song... But their name means Winter Street, and the glockenspiel reminds me of snow and Christmas.
I may be struggling a bit finding 25 Christmas songs which I can stand myself.

I read that he basically had one shot at this video and that the machine was falling apart while filming.

It's a pretty kicking tune.

 

[YmaOHyd]

 

[Z_TheWriter]

I saw the title and thought of The Music of the Night from Phantom of the Opera, but Burger.

Roasting, searing
Sweet intoxication
Juicy, spicy
Flavorful sensation
Let the dream begin
Let your darker side give in
To the power of this nocturnal delight
Now help me make the Burger of the Night

 

[BearNextDoor]

Wishing you all a labor solidarity Christmas

 

[Z_TheWriter]

Jul på Vesterbro by Anden

Another more adult oriented (no not like that) Danish Christmas TV show. 'Christmas in Vesterbro' takes place almost exclusively in an apartment in Vesterbro, a sometimes rough neighborhood in the Danish capital. Every role is played by the Danish comedian Anders Matthesen who is known as Anden ('The Duck').

Every episode starts with a strange introduction from a scientist walking around a massive crater, finding the debris of things relevant to the episode. Once the show cuts to the apartment, it mostly starts with Uncle Stewart (white beard and sailor hat) wishing himself merry Christmas while opening his morning beer. During the show, Stewart's son Danny gets out of prison and has a fake pregnancy scare with his girlfriend Randi, social worker Arne has an affair with Stewart's unseen wife, and landlady Greta is always on the verge of throwing them out due to missing rent.

The final episode ends by Stewart accidentally blowing up the entirety of Copenhagen with a bomb built by a (now reformed) terrorist and his Russian arms dealer in Stewart's broken hotdog truck. He was just looking for some more sauerkraut.

 

[HyunnaPark]

Different type of holiday, but f**k it, close enough. "Holiday Road" remade as a fun (used intentionally as an adjective) dance son by Kesha

 

[HyunnaPark]

Not Another Christmas Song by blink-182

BLINK 182!!! BLINK 182!!! BLINK 182!!! BLINK 182!!!