Each year, I allow myself one new Christmas album. In practice, that translates into several impulse buys, although Amazon's many free albums tend to temper that tendency.An easy rationalization is the clearance offer. When I found Christmas with Johnny Cash in the same Christian junk catalogue from which I order last year's Christmas cards, it was easy to add it to my shipment. Unfortunately, there's not much to get excited about here. The Man in Black delivers competent renditions of the classics, along with a sentimental look at an impoverished Christmas. About what you'd expect, but not more than what you'd expect.
Annie Lennox's new Christmas Cornucopia is a real treat, though. She avoids the recent pop material and instead concentrates on ancient hymns and carols, giving each a respectful and powerful performance. As always, she rises to and above the quality of the material and brings out the strengths so often overlooked by less thoughtful singers.
The big surprise this year is The Christmas Gig, available as a free download from Target. Target recruited a bunch of hepsters who've turned in a collection of pop-heavy originals, a couple of which are in Spanish. It's a great deal of fun, and (did I mention?) free!
Yup. Target.
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