Billed as the Hometown Heroes in honor of the WSTW-FM radio show that plays local artists, this 2006 collection is the second outing from an ad hoc group of Wilmington, Del.-Philly suburban area bands and singers on behalf of Toys For Tots. Last time around the whole cast gathered for a Band Aid cover, and this time they doubled up with "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" with a modern crunchy percussion track, returning later in the CD for a hard-rock version of the Jackie DeShannon hit "Put a Little Love in Your Heart," which I guess became a Christmas song when Annie Lennox and Al Green dueted it for the Bill Murray flick "Scrooged." Also like the last time, a few originals sneak in among the covers, among them Gina Degnars' "With Light and Love," a piano ballad with just a hint of Tori Amos; Mary Arden Collins sings the folky "Christmas Dream," a finger-picked lilt about the guy she's missing; the also-folky "I Think I've Been Good This Year" by Erik Mitchell; Lori Citro brings us the waltz "Perpetually 25," about people who don't grow up at the same rate; and Otisunk performs the garage-rock "Shopping Wonderland (Egg Nog's Revenge)," with buried lyrics about the hell of Christmas shopping. Among the covers, notice Yes Virginia's faithful "I Believe in Father Christmas," The Autumn Affair's U2-ish "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" that closes the CD, and Lights Out's doo-wopped "Silver Bells." There's a bit of jazz on here as well, with Jabari's "Little Drummer Boy" and a fusion-sounding take on "Santa Baby" by Laura Cheadle. Good value for money if you know anyone in Delaware. UPDATE: Out of print, just a few samples posted to MySpace.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, various artists (WSTW-FM)
Billed as the Hometown Heroes in honor of the WSTW-FM radio show that plays local artists, this 2006 collection is the second outing from an ad hoc group of Wilmington, Del.-Philly suburban area bands and singers on behalf of Toys For Tots. Last time around the whole cast gathered for a Band Aid cover, and this time they doubled up with "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" with a modern crunchy percussion track, returning later in the CD for a hard-rock version of the Jackie DeShannon hit "Put a Little Love in Your Heart," which I guess became a Christmas song when Annie Lennox and Al Green dueted it for the Bill Murray flick "Scrooged." Also like the last time, a few originals sneak in among the covers, among them Gina Degnars' "With Light and Love," a piano ballad with just a hint of Tori Amos; Mary Arden Collins sings the folky "Christmas Dream," a finger-picked lilt about the guy she's missing; the also-folky "I Think I've Been Good This Year" by Erik Mitchell; Lori Citro brings us the waltz "Perpetually 25," about people who don't grow up at the same rate; and Otisunk performs the garage-rock "Shopping Wonderland (Egg Nog's Revenge)," with buried lyrics about the hell of Christmas shopping. Among the covers, notice Yes Virginia's faithful "I Believe in Father Christmas," The Autumn Affair's U2-ish "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" that closes the CD, and Lights Out's doo-wopped "Silver Bells." There's a bit of jazz on here as well, with Jabari's "Little Drummer Boy" and a fusion-sounding take on "Santa Baby" by Laura Cheadle. Good value for money if you know anyone in Delaware. UPDATE: Out of print, just a few samples posted to MySpace.
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