Salı 9 Ara 2008, 18:55
Track: Asleep on a Sixpence (full track)
Artist: Isobel Campbell, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
Album: Keep Me In Mind Sweetheart EP (15 Dec 08)
Tags: christmas, alt country, male vocalists, ballads, downtempo, my gang rotw
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31UjRCUjPoL._SL500_AA240_.jpg Last.fm
Sometimes, the only choice at Christmas is either Slade and Bing Crosby. If someone gives you a choice. Usually, people are so Christmas'd up, they're too excited to offer options. So it's either "It's Chriiiiiiiiiiiiiiistmaaaaaaaaaas!!" yelled inches from your face, or crooning. Don't think if you stay at home you'll escape; someone will ring you.
For those of us looking for something a little different, either to impress or, quite simply, a break, there are a few options out there. You will have already heard, or formed an opinion, on Coldplay's Christmas EP, Prospekt's March EP, which, far from being an afterthought, was a clever way of tapping into the Christmas market without asking people to pay full album price. Similarly, Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan kept a few tracks back from their summer release, Sunday at Devil Dirt for their Christmas EP, Keep Me In Mind Sweetheart EP. It isn't available in the UK till next week, 15 December, but Last.fm has all 6 tracks fully streamable, on demand, unlimited play and auto-advance for this promotional period.
http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/500/180074.jpg
I came to this collaboration from the Belle & Sebastien route, so I was already used to Isobel Campbell's style of singing. Mark Lanegan was the revelation for me. He had me at Deus Ibi Est. I tend to focus on him when I listen to them, but from time to time, Isobel grabs my attention with her harmonies. I would say this project is more lovable than the sophisticated and polished Raising Sand, from Robert Plant & Alison Krauss. I think there's more romance and wonder in Campbell/Lanegan. Certainly, Sunday at Devil Dirt sounded like they should get a room. The new EP sounds like they did and now it's breakfast-time.
http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/500/362584.jpg
Someone in Amazon describes Asleep on a Sixpence best: "'Asleep On A Sixpence' is a cello and piano-led vagabond ballad that sounds like Tom Waits gatecrashing a Christmas carol concert, an effect evoked by the appropriation of `While Shepherd's Watch Their Flocks' as an outro." It's like a lullaby gone wrong. It would probably frighten the average toddler, sounding like the monster under the bed trying to be festive. But after years and years of "It's Chriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistmaaaaaaaaaaaaaas!!", it's heaven.
There is one other EP I would recommend for Christmas. I'm trying very hard to get it uploaded in Last.fm for you and have been begging and pleading on your behalf. It is The Arctic Circle That Fuzzy Feeling EP (various artists). I know it's already in iTunes and Boomkat and whatever the other usual digital download outlets are. If you're quick, you might be able to get a limited edition physical copy. You can listen to some tracks on their MySpace, but my favourite, the track I want to show you, isn't there. I hope it is for next week.
Christmas doesn't get any cooler.
Babs My Gang
http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/226591.jpg
Admin - Stats as of today:
Last.fm listeners of this track - 35
No. of plays scrobbled in Last.fm - 54
Position in Last 7 Days: 54 / 11
Position in Last 6 Months: 54 / 11
Stats after 7 days:
Last.fm listeners of this track - 44
No. of plays scrobbled in Last.fm - 82
Position in Last 7 Days: 43 / 16
Position in Last 6 Months: n/a
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