This album goes back to 2007 when it was a very limited edition on CD, then the Lips put it online for streaming a couple of years ago (you called up the web address and it started playing wherever it was already playing before you showed up, not Bandcamp or YouTube-type streaming) and then in 2014 provided a vinyl issue for Record Store Day in November. Now it's available for download. Those of you who got to listen to it online, or have had the rare CD copy, already know that it's about one step removed from movie soundtrack music, mostly piano melodies with some spacey touches in the orchestration (a fair amount of sitar appears here), and it's mostly familiar carols except for two originals, "Atlas Eets Christmas" and "Christmas Kindness Song," both of which have lyrics and vocals, although the vocals are set so far back in the mix it's tough to decipher much more than the occasional Christmas platitude. Oh, and one more thing, the entire collection is overlaid with vinyl record static, which would have driven me crazy if I'd bought the vinyl version. This is for Lips fans only, in my humble opinion, or for people who want background music to play next to their Christmas tree.
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