Christmas Eclectic, various artists (Media Creature Music)

This CD benefits the inner-city mentorship program MOSTE. More dance/house/trance holiday music from 2003, bracketed by three versions of "Snowflakes Falling" remixed by JT Donaldson, Juan Atkins and Ming & FS, which are used to mark the three "movements" of the album. "Jingle Bell Hop" kicks off with the song being played on a phone's touchpad, leading into a funked-up rhythm track and percussive orchestra hits. "Midnight" by Daz-I-Kue with vocalist Rasiyah deconstructs "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" into a jazz melody over percolating beats, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by Platonic is anchored by a violin melody, while speedy beats and whooshes underpin DJ Motiv8's version of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." "We Three Kings" by Josh One vamps over a sample of the song by Cool John Ferguson, a jazzy organ air over a funky handclapping beat. And there's a good old fashioned dub version of "Silent Night" by Ein, a style updated to the modern day. I freely admit it can be tough to tell multiple albums of this stuff apart, but many folks would enjoy having some of this style of music for the holidays, especially anyplace where dancing is on the card.