Okay, so here's one of my all-time favorites: "The Chieftains: Bells of Dublin."
Stop here if you don't like traditional Irish music or if your prefer your Christmas Carols on the more "Santa Claus-y" side.
The Chieftains, as you may know, are Ireland's traditional music Beatles; they rock out tradional Irish ditties with a semi-modern flair on traditional Irish folk instruments. Decades old, this band of minstrels holds the torch for Irish folk, yet is known for collaborating successfully with the likes of Sting, the Rolling Stones, Roger Daltrey and superstars from across the globe. They are always a favorite of mine, and this album of old traditional and newly minted seasonal carols is exactly why.
The tunes are strong and evoke a specific mood from the start; the bells of Dublin pealing on Christmas Eve giving way to the strains of a small band of revelers. There are voice choirs here and there, small Welsh vocal ensembles and spoken word deliveries over haunting flute and pipes. There are pop stars contributing their singular talents for modern carols, from Elvis Costello's hilarious "St. Stephen's Day Murders" to Jackson Browne's thoughtful "Rebel Jesus."
But it's the last 20 or so minutes of the album that sends me dreaming of holiday cheer. A suite of carols recorded live in a party setting truly transports me to a snowy evening on a quiet street where the last house down is throwing a simple holiday shindig. There's dancing, singing, drinking and merriment that quietly leads into what I imagine to be the musical selections of a small local church's midnight Christmas Eve mass. There's a choir and a massive organ mixed with the sounds of the Chieftains bringing us home and welcoming the Child of Christmas.
This is music that makes me dream about the treasured moments of the season, the things that I hold dear at Christmas. The Bells of Dublin reminds me of wonderful Christmases past, while gently prodding me to bring those traditions into the future holidays. And that's FAR more than music is obligated to give to us.
Give it a try!
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Thanks for this, the girls are especially fond of irish music and I was clueless as to what to get them. (Don't know why I didn't ask you??) Becca took an irish soft shoe dance class last year and loved it. Unfortunately the teacher she had had a baby and didn't return, but if she gets the chance she wants to do it again and so does Kenzie. Anyway I downloaded several songs from this album onto my ipod and the girls had a blast dancing around the house!
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