{"id":234,"date":"2008-12-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-12-22T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2010-10-29T16:17:38","modified_gmt":"2010-10-29T21:17:38","slug":"review_a_very_slambovian_christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/review_a_very_slambovian_christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"CD Review: “A Very Slambovian Christmas”"},"content":{"rendered":"

They only get played one month out of the year, so Christmas CDs seem like a boxful of new presents when I unpack them with the rest of the holiday paraphernalia every end-of-November. There are obvious favorites like Bruce Cockburn’s “Christmas” and the Vince Giraldi trio’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, neither of which leave our player until mid-January. But this year “A Very Slambovian Christmas”<\/a> has been added to the frequent-play mix. <\/p>\n

This is the new Christmas release from “Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus”<\/a>, a band which even the casual visitor to this web site probably knows that I’m quite fond of. And as any fan of the band can tell you, “every day is Christmas in Slambovia”. Seriously. What other band could mash up “Angels We Have Heard on High (Gloria)” with Them’s “G-L-O-R-I-A” and play it at festivals in the middle of summer? (That’s the closing track on this record, by the way.)<\/p>\n


\n
\n\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/center><\/p>\n

“A Very Slambovian Christmas” is a collection of live performances, featuring serious takes on classics like “Silver Bells” and “The Christmas Song”, a straight telling of “The Night Before Christmas”, and originals like “Suddenly It’s Christmas”, which has some of the best lyrics I’ve heard in a contemporary Christmas song:<\/p>\n

“Take us back to when wishes came true if you were good \/ And we tried to stay awake all night to see him if we could” \/ Take us back to places that could set our hearts on fire \/ Where the inner world was glowing with the purest of desires.”<\/p>\n

You can learn more about the band by digging into a couple of previous “Songs and Stories” podcasts. (I interviewed Joziah Longo, their lead singer and songwriter, in episode eight<\/a> and episode forty-six<\/a>.) In the meantime, even though the big holiday is just a day or two away, you can order “A Very Slambovian Christmas” on either a limited CD pressing <\/a>or as an MP3 download<\/a> (so you can have it in time to play over and over on Christmas morning.)<\/p>\n

Have a very Slambovian Christmas, everyone.<\/p>\n

\"\" Subscribe to this blog<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n

www.michaelgaither.com<\/a>
\n<\/center><\/p>\n