"Paul's Alternative Christmas Mix" (Virtual CD)

Here's a small collection of Christmas and winter-themed tunes by some well-known (and not so well known) indie / alternative acts as mixed by yours truly to enjoy as we close in on Christmas.

Paul's Alternative Christmas Mix - 2005

CBS Special Presentation Theme (Morton Stevens)
Winter Is Coming (Elf Power)
Holiday For Jane (Dan Haas)
Winter Song (The Fairways)
Piano D'Hiver (Jeff Sharel)
Hawaiian Christmas Holiday (The Hula Monsters)
Call Collect For Christmas (Blue Moon Cowgirls)
Snow White (Ryan Long)
Gifts We Bring (Dan Haas)
Snow Like This (The Softies)
Joy To The World (The Reverbs)
O Holy Night (The Ocean Blue & Don Peris)
Silent Night (Eddie From Ohio)

So, who are all of these people? Well, first off Morton Stevens was a prolific film and television composer, most well known for his music for Hawaii Five-O. His composition for the CBS Special Presentation promo is a favorite of any child of the 1970s & 1980s, as this was the spot that ran just before holiday specials like Rudolph and Frosty aired.

Elf Power was founded by muli-instrumentalists and vocalists Andrew Rieger and Laura Carter, who issued their debut, the extremely lo-fi Vainly Clutching at Phantom Limbs in 1995. In 1997, they released, Lord of the Ringsish When the Red King Comes, and signed on additional core members Bryan Poole, aka Brian Helium (who has since left the band after three albums) and Aaron Wegelin. Two years later, Elf Power returned with their landmark A Dream in Sound, for which they recruited acclaimed Flaming Lips producer Dave Fridmann, who did a great job bringing out the plaintive, poignant psychedelic pop buried beneath the group's fuzzed-out, lo-fi veneer.

Dan Haas is a member of the Maryland band known as Bens Bones. His debut album, GOOD bye Moon , was called "an acoustic pop smorgasboard - delectable melodies, sensitive arrangements, expressive vocals - all served up with plenty of smarts and soul" by Rolling Stone.

San Francisco quintet The Fairways are all about making pop music delicious. Their songs really do sound good enough to eat: sweet but tart, tender but firm. Their dreamy, ethereal melodies float through the clear blue skies of your consciousness like lazy cirrus clouds on a slow Sunday afternoon, leaving you wanting nothing more than to stay where you are, feeling the way you feel, forever. It will only take a single listen for their golden vocals, delicate guitars, and lilting rhythms to be permanently embedded in your consciousness.

Jeff Sharel is a leader in the blossoming nu-jazz-house scene proliferating in the clubs of Western Europe. On a nightly basis, in clubs like The Rex in Paris, L'Anfer in Dijon, and The Marquise in Lyon, crowds gather to experience the sound of house combined with live instrumentation.

The Hula Monsters have been performing in the Mid Atlantic area since 1988. Originally formed as a trio with Dave Giegerich on steel guitar and dobro, Moe Nelson on bass, and Tom Mitchell on guitar, the group has grown to a quintet with the addition of Ben Holmes on drums and Mark Noone on guitar and ukulele. When Tom Mitchell's national touring with Dan Hicks increased to a heavy schedule, Dave Chappell joined the band on lead guitar. Currently, either Tom Mitchell, Dan Hovey or Andy Rutherford perform as lead guitarist on most gigs. All five members sing.

The Blue Moon Cowgirls, four Washington-area musicians with their own refreshing approach to country music. A shimmering trio of female voices backed by flexible acoustic instrumentation, the Blue Moon Cowgirls blend front-porch directness with neon-lit sophistication as they sing about home and highways, heaven and honkytonks, heartbreak and hope. Their repertoire stretches from the 1920s Appalachia to the 1990s California, with stops along the way at several decades' worth of prairie roadhouses and bayou dance halls.

Ryan Long started playing guitar and writing songs at nineteen while studying engineering technology at East Tennessee State University. His great love of story songs was inspired by James Taylor and Garth Brooks, but it is his unique twist on Appalachian folk-pop that has made him a light in the same music circles supporting John Gorka, Pierce Pettis, and David Wilcox.

The Softies got started in 1994 when Rose Melberg, formerly of the celebrated twee outfit Tiger Trap as well as Go Sailor, and Pretty Face alumna Jen Sbragia got together and started playing together. After only a handful of practices they realized how well their voices and sensibilities complemented one another, borrowed the name of a little-known late '70s British New Wave outfit, and started touring.

The Reverbs are a Washington-DC area group which appeared on Holiday Feast VI, which features some of D.C.'s best bands, instrumentalists, and songwriters.

The Ocean Blue (a band I played religiously on college and commercial radio back in the day) began in the late 1980's in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Teenage friends David Schelzel, Steve Lau, and Bobby Mittan came together for the love of new wave and the college radio of the day that simmered beneath the mainstream of popular music. If The Smiths hailed from Pennsylvania, they'd have sounded like this. I love these guys. Don Peris was a member of another great band, The Innocence Mission, hailing from Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the late eighties bearing a folkish, atmospheric, airy-guitar style that owed as much to 10,000 Maniacs as it did to Simon and Garfunkel. Comprised of four schoolfriends, Mike Bitts (bass), Steve Brown (drums), Don Peris (lead guitar, keyboards) and his newlywed wife Karen Peris (vocals, guitar, keyboards), the band found a niche on A&M Records's roster upon the strength of the ep Tending the Rose Garden. Peris' solo work is outstanding.

Eddie From Ohio is a band that I remember promoting on the radio when I was still on the air at 99.1 The Sound in North Carolina. They were pretty popular among the local clubs. A Virginia-based band that began in 1991 playing covers in neighborhood bars when three James Madison University graduates (Robbie Schaefer, Eddie Hartness & Michael Clem) teamed up with Virginia Tech alumnae Julie Murphy (now Murphy Wells). After more than a decade, with the same four members in tact, EFO graduated from town taverns to renowned listening rooms and concert series throughout the country, where their tight harmonies and humorous lyrics, set against an eclectic array of musical forms, can be featured to best advantage. Since signing with a national booking agent in 1996, the band has covered the country, from The Bottom Line in New York City to The Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, CA - from The Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, GA to The Boulder Theatre in Colorado.