Yo, It's Christmas, HeatherSong (self-issued)

I'm not sure if HeatherSong is an actual band or just a bunch of people who got together to make this CD. Also, it turns out the folks who are marketing this are encouraging non-profits to buy it in bulk and resell it to raise money. So it's not strictly a fund-raising vehicle, though it's well within the bounds of free enterprise. As for the music, it's kind of a melange of modern styles, mostly hip-hop and R'nB, and it's all covers of familiar carols. The opening track of carolers singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" over a drum machine isn't promising, though it picks up with "Good King HipHop," or Wenceslaus as we know him, a kind of talk-sing of the carol, and is followed up with "Housetop HipHop" or "Up on the Housetop" as we know it. There's a lightly reggae "Feliz Navidad," and the style returns with "Away in a Manger," called "A Reggae Prayer" here. An R'nB "Go Tell It On the Mountain" features Bootsy Collins-style bass playing and "Jingle Bells" gets back to hip-hop. It's mostly well played but has a kind of amateur vibe that works well with alt-rock, less well with R'nB and hip-hop. UPDATE: Heather of HeatherSong lets us know there are no drum machines on her record, and that "Feliz Navidad" is more of a rhumba. Remains in print, download or order hardcopy from Amazon.