Holiday Songs and Lullabies, Shawn Colvin (Columbia)

You have to give Shawn credit for putting a lot of thought into this 1998 album, making a point of choosing less well-known tunes for her first holiday album, "Silent Night" being the exception. And the Maurice Sendak cover art compliments the concept. Her previously recorded version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," with its swingy piano-driven sound, was a little bit more of what I was hoping for, but that tune didn't fit the concept, so it's not here. The album does make a good Christmas gift for new mothers (like Shawn herself at the time), but this doesn't really rock out in any meaningful way.