To the casual observer, the holidays are the happiest, jolliest time of the year: the blinking lights, the merry carols, the parties, the good cheer on every street corner and in every shop. However, the statistics tell us that, for many, the holidays are the time of year when depression reaches its annual peak. It is for these people, then, that American slow-core three-piece Low have released Christmas, their collection of heartbreakingly downbeat holiday songs. The eight songs on this mini album are a mix of new compositions--"If You Were Born Today", the sparkling "Just Like Christmas"--and traditional favourites--"Silent Night" and their sublime take on "Little Drummer Boy". Their version of Elvis Presley's "Blue Christmas" is particularly gorgeous: Mimi Parker's vocals drawing out the pain of holiday loneliness over the sparsest of arrangements, the whole thing sounding like Mazzy Star on tranquilisers. This is not an album for festive gatherings; rather, it's the perfect escape from the mania of the season. Quietly compelling, touching and, above all, perhaps the most moving and sincere Christmas album you're likely to hear. --Robert Burrow

For Christmas Past Present and Future, 24 Dec 2007
Christmas again - what better time to review Low's superb festive album which portrays a more common Christmas experience for many than the forced jollity of your Slade or Wizzard mega-hit.

This eight-track CD is a beauty. Four original Low songs show great variety - from the pure pop of `Just Like Christmas' with its sleigh bells ringing to the hauntingly spiritual telling of the Nativity in `Long Way Around the Sea'.

The cover versions of old (roast) chestnuts are simply inspired. `Silent Night' has wonderfully simple acoustic arrangement whilst `Little Drummer Boy' has never sounded like this before. It is drenched in guitar reverb and feedback a la My Bloody Valentine but is incredibly moving.

`Christmas' obviously has special resonance at this time of year but the CD can be enjoyed as much in July as December. It is by turns melancholy, thoughtful, reflective and beautiful. Can you ask for more for Christmas?


Too beautiful to stay awake too, 15 Nov 2006
Even my mum was bowled over by the beauty of the tracks on this albumn - it has been the back drop to some of the most wonderful Christmas days we have ever had. If you ever wanted 'something more' out of Christmas, then put this on once you're full up of turkey and pudding.

Just Like Christmas - All year round, 24 Sep 2004
Oh, the pain of christmas - you can't help thinking that the music perenially droning in the shops and incessantly on Radio and TV helps to explain why Christmas is the season of the year with the highest rate of suicide.

Low's 'Christmas', on the other hand, like Spector's 'Christmas Album' is music to warm your soul instead - an absurdly cheap mini-CD which is one of Low's most pure, self-contained and poignant efforts. Their original compositions here are all full of such emptional depth and a haunting, childlike innocence and honesty - no other band on this planet could produce a jaunty, sleigh-bell driven singalong like 'Just Like Christmas' without being laughed off the face of the earth.

The traditionals are just beautiful: 'Little Drummer Boy', with it's slowed down wall of distorted guitar and thumping drum set against perfectly levelled vocals is an absolute gem and 'Silent Night'- a simple vocal (Alan and Mimi in total intuitive harmony) and acoustic version of this tired standard, is turned into a thing of pure majesty. Likewise, their drastic revision of "Elvis's" 'Blue Christmas' retains the spirit (not the schmaltz)of the original, but takes on a whole other dimension with the minimalistic instrumentation and Mimi's almost sultry vocals. There's more - but you should really hear it yourself.

To be fair, most of Low's CDs leave their listeners only partially won over (some tracks appeal instantly, whilst others just don't resonate with people) but for me, 'Christmas' captures the essence and spirit (and I guess, spirituality) of Low at their absolute best on every single track here - vocal perfection, stark, austere instrumentation, and that special sound (shared in spirit, with the likes of Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, Jesus & Mary Chain, Big Star, Joy Division, Brian Wilson and Phil Spector) that hits you in the head and the heart. Put it this way: any Christmas LP that you want to play (and which still sounds good) in August is got to be worth having. And I've had this for a few years now too...

A glimpse of Christmas when it meant something., 08 Oct 2003
You know, do you ever feel at Christmas times, that you are deeply unhappy with how things are, and you long for a nostalgic glimpse at when Christmas meant something to people?
Please buy this record - it has got me through the last three Christmasses, and I can foresee my reliance on it continuing for the next ten (until appocalypse).
It'll make you sad, though...

It's Christmas time..., 11 Dec 2002
I first heard Just Like Christmas on Marc&Lard's Radio 1 show in the late 1990's- this lead me to this divine e.p. (and albums like Secret Name, which features such mindblowing songs as Two Step & Immune). This is the album to play after Phil Spector's collection, Jesus Christ by Big Star, Last Dance by The Cure & Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley (feel I've forgotten an American Music Club song...)- a reminder that Xmas can be a heartbreaking time: how it never measures up to the memory of those that have passed, how it is set in the darkest winter, how the seasonal affects, how people come together over the barcode rather than out of common decency,how archaic notions such as faith appear somewhat absurd in a world where people are going to be turned to mincemeat in the New Year over oil , how many people commit suicide etc (god, I'm sounding like Ingmar Bergman after listening to the Joy Division boxset). Well, this is the ideal music for all that (and more...)

Low compose half this release- the gorgeous Just Like Christmas (Sunday Morning meets the Carpenters in heaven); Long Way Around the Sea (as sparse as Starfire); Alan stays on vocals for If You Were Born Today with its heartfelt "Joy to the world" & the final track One Special Gift (a sense of foreboding when this one ends). The remaining songs are well known Xmas songs- the version of Little Drummer Boy recalls My Bloody Valentine's Glider, while the cover of Elvis's Blue Christmas is as great as Cowboy Junkies Blue Moon Revisted (on the classic Trinity Sessions album). Silent Night recalls the sparse acoustics of Nick Drake and Robert Wyatt, Mimi & Alan's voices coming together (recall The Smiths's Asleep- an ode to suicide ends with this tune also). The final track is Taking Down the Tree, which evokes the happysad emotions of Xmas and the sense that the seasons move on regardless: "seems before it's over it's begun".

Low's Christmas is an album that HAS to be owned at this price and one of those releases you will be guaranteed to come back to at least once a year. Divine stuff...

For Christmas Past Present and Future, 24 Dec 2007
Christmas again - what better time to review Low's superb festive album which portrays a more common Christmas experience for many than the forced jollity of your Slade or Wizzard mega-hit.

This eight-track CD is a beauty. Four original Low songs show great variety - from the pure pop of `Just Like Christmas' with its sleigh bells ringing to the hauntingly spiritual telling of the Nativity in `Long Way Around the Sea'.

The cover versions of old (roast) chestnuts are simply inspired. `Silent Night' has wonderfully simple acoustic arrangement whilst `Little Drummer Boy' has never sounded like this before. It is drenched in guitar reverb and feedback a la My Bloody Valentine but is incredibly moving.

`Christmas' obviously has special resonance at this time of year but the CD can be enjoyed as much in July as December. It is by turns melancholy, thoughtful, reflective and beautiful. Can you ask for more for Christmas?


Too beautiful to stay awake too, 15 Nov 2006
Even my mum was bowled over by the beauty of the tracks on this albumn - it has been the back drop to some of the most wonderful Christmas days we have ever had. If you ever wanted 'something more' out of Christmas, then put this on once you're full up of turkey and pudding.

Just Like Christmas - All year round, 24 Sep 2004
Oh, the pain of christmas - you can't help thinking that the music perenially droning in the shops and incessantly on Radio and TV helps to explain why Christmas is the season of the year with the highest rate of suicide.

Low's 'Christmas', on the other hand, like Spector's 'Christmas Album' is music to warm your soul instead - an absurdly cheap mini-CD which is one of Low's most pure, self-contained and poignant efforts. Their original compositions here are all full of such emptional depth and a haunting, childlike innocence and honesty - no other band on this planet could produce a jaunty, sleigh-bell driven singalong like 'Just Like Christmas' without being laughed off the face of the earth.

The traditionals are just beautiful: 'Little Drummer Boy', with it's slowed down wall of distorted guitar and thumping drum set against perfectly levelled vocals is an absolute gem and 'Silent Night'- a simple vocal (Alan and Mimi in total intuitive harmony) and acoustic version of this tired standard, is turned into a thing of pure majesty. Likewise, their drastic revision of "Elvis's" 'Blue Christmas' retains the spirit (not the schmaltz)of the original, but takes on a whole other dimension with the minimalistic instrumentation and Mimi's almost sultry vocals. There's more - but you should really hear it yourself.

To be fair, most of Low's CDs leave their listeners only partially won over (some tracks appeal instantly, whilst others just don't resonate with people) but for me, 'Christmas' captures the essence and spirit (and I guess, spirituality) of Low at their absolute best on every single track here - vocal perfection, stark, austere instrumentation, and that special sound (shared in spirit, with the likes of Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, Jesus & Mary Chain, Big Star, Joy Division, Brian Wilson and Phil Spector) that hits you in the head and the heart. Put it this way: any Christmas LP that you want to play (and which still sounds good) in August is got to be worth having. And I've had this for a few years now too...

A glimpse of Christmas when it meant something., 08 Oct 2003
You know, do you ever feel at Christmas times, that you are deeply unhappy with how things are, and you long for a nostalgic glimpse at when Christmas meant something to people?
Please buy this record - it has got me through the last three Christmasses, and I can foresee my reliance on it continuing for the next ten (until appocalypse).
It'll make you sad, though...

It's Christmas time..., 11 Dec 2002
I first heard Just Like Christmas on Marc&Lard's Radio 1 show in the late 1990's- this lead me to this divine e.p. (and albums like Secret Name, which features such mindblowing songs as Two Step & Immune). This is the album to play after Phil Spector's collection, Jesus Christ by Big Star, Last Dance by The Cure & Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley (feel I've forgotten an American Music Club song...)- a reminder that Xmas can be a heartbreaking time: how it never measures up to the memory of those that have passed, how it is set in the darkest winter, how the seasonal affects, how people come together over the barcode rather than out of common decency,how archaic notions such as faith appear somewhat absurd in a world where people are going to be turned to mincemeat in the New Year over oil , how many people commit suicide etc (god, I'm sounding like Ingmar Bergman after listening to the Joy Division boxset). Well, this is the ideal music for all that (and more...)

Low compose half this release- the gorgeous Just Like Christmas (Sunday Morning meets the Carpenters in heaven); Long Way Around the Sea (as sparse as Starfire); Alan stays on vocals for If You Were Born Today with its heartfelt "Joy to the world" & the final track One Special Gift (a sense of foreboding when this one ends). The remaining songs are well known Xmas songs- the version of Little Drummer Boy recalls My Bloody Valentine's Glider, while the cover of Elvis's Blue Christmas is as great as Cowboy Junkies Blue Moon Revisted (on the classic Trinity Sessions album). Silent Night recalls the sparse acoustics of Nick Drake and Robert Wyatt, Mimi & Alan's voices coming together (recall The Smiths's Asleep- an ode to suicide ends with this tune also). The final track is Taking Down the Tree, which evokes the happysad emotions of Xmas and the sense that the seasons move on regardless: "seems before it's over it's begun".

Low's Christmas is an album that HAS to be owned at this price and one of those releases you will be guaranteed to come back to at least once a year. Divine stuff...

A Christmas Cracker for Metalheads!, 05 Nov 2008
Well, you just have to look at the track listing to see this is probably the best Christmas CD you're ever going to buy! Imagine having Heavy Metal Christmas songs playing when your friends and family drop around during the festive season. Honestly, this is the best Christmas CD I've heard, ever!
Lemmy, ZZ Top, Alice Cooper, Ronnie James Dio, Girlschool, Doro Pesch; and the list doesn't stop there. Go on and click, it's a corker!

For Christmas Past Present and Future, 24 Dec 2007
Christmas again - what better time to review Low's superb festive album which portrays a more common Christmas experience for many than the forced jollity of your Slade or Wizzard mega-hit.

This eight-track CD is a beauty. Four original Low songs show great variety - from the pure pop of `Just Like Christmas' with its sleigh bells ringing to the hauntingly spiritual telling of the Nativity in `Long Way Around the Sea'.

The cover versions of old (roast) chestnuts are simply inspired. `Silent Night' has wonderfully simple acoustic arrangement whilst `Little Drummer Boy' has never sounded like this before. It is drenched in guitar reverb and feedback a la My Bloody Valentine but is incredibly moving.

`Christmas' obviously has special resonance at this time of year but the CD can be enjoyed as much in July as December. It is by turns melancholy, thoughtful, reflective and beautiful. Can you ask for more for Christmas?


Too beautiful to stay awake too, 15 Nov 2006
Even my mum was bowled over by the beauty of the tracks on this albumn - it has been the back drop to some of the most wonderful Christmas days we have ever had. If you ever wanted 'something more' out of Christmas, then put this on once you're full up of turkey and pudding.

Just Like Christmas - All year round, 24 Sep 2004
Oh, the pain of christmas - you can't help thinking that the music perenially droning in the shops and incessantly on Radio and TV helps to explain why Christmas is the season of the year with the highest rate of suicide.

Low's 'Christmas', on the other hand, like Spector's 'Christmas Album' is music to warm your soul instead - an absurdly cheap mini-CD which is one of Low's most pure, self-contained and poignant efforts. Their original compositions here are all full of such emptional depth and a haunting, childlike innocence and honesty - no other band on this planet could produce a jaunty, sleigh-bell driven singalong like 'Just Like Christmas' without being laughed off the face of the earth.

The traditionals are just beautiful: 'Little Drummer Boy', with it's slowed down wall of distorted guitar and thumping drum set against perfectly levelled vocals is an absolute gem and 'Silent Night'- a simple vocal (Alan and Mimi in total intuitive harmony) and acoustic version of this tired standard, is turned into a thing of pure majesty. Likewise, their drastic revision of "Elvis's" 'Blue Christmas' retains the spirit (not the schmaltz)of the original, but takes on a whole other dimension with the minimalistic instrumentation and Mimi's almost sultry vocals. There's more - but you should really hear it yourself.

To be fair, most of Low's CDs leave their listeners only partially won over (some tracks appeal instantly, whilst others just don't resonate with people) but for me, 'Christmas' captures the essence and spirit (and I guess, spirituality) of Low at their absolute best on every single track here - vocal perfection, stark, austere instrumentation, and that special sound (shared in spirit, with the likes of Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, Jesus & Mary Chain, Big Star, Joy Division, Brian Wilson and Phil Spector) that hits you in the head and the heart. Put it this way: any Christmas LP that you want to play (and which still sounds good) in August is got to be worth having. And I've had this for a few years now too...

A glimpse of Christmas when it meant something., 08 Oct 2003
You know, do you ever feel at Christmas times, that you are deeply unhappy with how things are, and you long for a nostalgic glimpse at when Christmas meant something to people?
Please buy this record - it has got me through the last three Christmasses, and I can foresee my reliance on it continuing for the next ten (until appocalypse).
It'll make you sad, though...

It's Christmas time..., 11 Dec 2002
I first heard Just Like Christmas on Marc&Lard's Radio 1 show in the late 1990's- this lead me to this divine e.p. (and albums like Secret Name, which features such mindblowing songs as Two Step & Immune). This is the album to play after Phil Spector's collection, Jesus Christ by Big Star, Last Dance by The Cure & Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley (feel I've forgotten an American Music Club song...)- a reminder that Xmas can be a heartbreaking time: how it never measures up to the memory of those that have passed, how it is set in the darkest winter, how the seasonal affects, how people come together over the barcode rather than out of common decency,how archaic notions such as faith appear somewhat absurd in a world where people are going to be turned to mincemeat in the New Year over oil , how many people commit suicide etc (god, I'm sounding like Ingmar Bergman after listening to the Joy Division boxset). Well, this is the ideal music for all that (and more...)

Low compose half this release- the gorgeous Just Like Christmas (Sunday Morning meets the Carpenters in heaven); Long Way Around the Sea (as sparse as Starfire); Alan stays on vocals for If You Were Born Today with its heartfelt "Joy to the world" & the final track One Special Gift (a sense of foreboding when this one ends). The remaining songs are well known Xmas songs- the version of Little Drummer Boy recalls My Bloody Valentine's Glider, while the cover of Elvis's Blue Christmas is as great as Cowboy Junkies Blue Moon Revisted (on the classic Trinity Sessions album). Silent Night recalls the sparse acoustics of Nick Drake and Robert Wyatt, Mimi & Alan's voices coming together (recall The Smiths's Asleep- an ode to suicide ends with this tune also). The final track is Taking Down the Tree, which evokes the happysad emotions of Xmas and the sense that the seasons move on regardless: "seems before it's over it's begun".

Low's Christmas is an album that HAS to be owned at this price and one of those releases you will be guaranteed to come back to at least once a year. Divine stuff...

A Christmas Cracker for Metalheads!, 05 Nov 2008
Well, you just have to look at the track listing to see this is probably the best Christmas CD you're ever going to buy! Imagine having Heavy Metal Christmas songs playing when your friends and family drop around during the festive season. Honestly, this is the best Christmas CD I've heard, ever!
Lemmy, ZZ Top, Alice Cooper, Ronnie James Dio, Girlschool, Doro Pesch; and the list doesn't stop there. Go on and click, it's a corker!

Simply a Stunning set of Carols, 20 Nov 2008
There are different versions of these carols on different cds. This is one of the few collections, where you really get the best of the best. As the other reviewer said it's too good just for Christmas, such beauty in every carol, and the moment I hear them it lifts me, in a way no other music does. If you listen to any Christmas music this year, make sure it's these carols, because I assure you won't be disappointed with the quality, and the beauty of what's on offer. It is Christmas Music at its best. 10 Stars forget 5.

excellent selection, poor sound quality, 16 Dec 2007
Brilliant choice of carols and great quality singing, however the recordings are very old (from the 1950s and 1960s) and in places this affects the quality. One of the carols (o little town)distorts slightly when it gets very loud and for Once in Royal the first verse is incredibly quiet.
As a soprano, I was also disappointed that Once in Royal didn't include the descant in the last verse.
I can't find a better selection of carols on one CD so get this if you don't mind the odd problem with sound quality.

A work of art, 11 Oct 2006
Possibly the best recording of it's kind out there. Oh, and to the reviewer who has written below mine, I didn't know King's recordings had ladies in the choir? *smirk* Unless you were referring to the male soprano's, of course! Buy it!

Carols By King's College Choir, 09 Aug 2006
This is well sung. It sounds beautiful when the men's voices make counterpoint with the ladies' voices. I love the way how they sing the last two verses of the Sussex Carol because the men sing the words to the tune of the first two verses and the ladies sing the harmony at the same time which I think sounds beautiful. They do it with many other carols as well.

The real spirit of Christmas, 02 Jan 2004
A truly delightful and atmospheric 2 disc collection, some of which were new to me but are now family favourites- especially 'past three o'clock' which has become known as 'Frosty the dog' by my children.
The older more Medieval ones are superb in particular, but really a collection with no weak tracks.
Ideal! Magical.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sets the tone for what Christmas albums should sound like, and Joy to the World upholds their exacting standard of excellence. Rereleased from two concerts recorded in 1970 and 1977 and repacked with three bonus tracks, this collection is as perfect as it gets, thanks to pristine production, gorgeous vocal arrangements, and stately accompaniment by the Philadelphia Brass Ensemble, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra. This record will set the mood for revelling, both with more contemporary carols such as "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", and "The Christmas Song" and sacred numbers such as Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" and "O Holy Night". Joy to the World qualifies as a truly essential yuletide album. --Jaan Uhelszki

For Christmas Past Present and Future, 24 Dec 2007
Christmas again - what better time to review Low's superb festive album which portrays a more common Christmas experience for many than the forced jollity of your Slade or Wizzard mega-hit.

This eight-track CD is a beauty. Four original Low songs show great variety - from the pure pop of `Just Like Christmas' with its sleigh bells ringing to the hauntingly spiritual telling of the Nativity in `Long Way Around the Sea'.

The cover versions of old (roast) chestnuts are simply inspired. `Silent Night' has wonderfully simple acoustic arrangement whilst `Little Drummer Boy' has never sounded like this before. It is drenched in guitar reverb and feedback a la My Bloody Valentine but is incredibly moving.

`Christmas' obviously has special resonance at this time of year but the CD can be enjoyed as much in July as December. It is by turns melancholy, thoughtful, reflective and beautiful. Can you ask for more for Christmas?


Too beautiful to stay awake too, 15 Nov 2006
Even my mum was bowled over by the beauty of the tracks on this albumn - it has been the back drop to some of the most wonderful Christmas days we have ever had. If you ever wanted 'something more' out of Christmas, then put this on once you're full up of turkey and pudding.

Just Like Christmas - All year round, 24 Sep 2004
Oh, the pain of christmas - you can't help thinking that the music perenially droning in the shops and incessantly on Radio and TV helps to explain why Christmas is the season of the year with the highest rate of suicide.

Low's 'Christmas', on the other hand, like Spector's 'Christmas Album' is music to warm your soul instead - an absurdly cheap mini-CD which is one of Low's most pure, self-contained and poignant efforts. Their original compositions here are all full of such emptional depth and a haunting, childlike innocence and honesty - no other band on this planet could produce a jaunty, sleigh-bell driven singalong like 'Just Like Christmas' without being laughed off the face of the earth.

The traditionals are just beautiful: 'Little Drummer Boy', with it's slowed down wall of distorted guitar and thumping drum set against perfectly levelled vocals is an absolute gem and 'Silent Night'- a simple vocal (Alan and Mimi in total intuitive harmony) and acoustic version of this tired standard, is turned into a thing of pure majesty. Likewise, their drastic revision of "Elvis's" 'Blue Christmas' retains the spirit (not the schmaltz)of the original, but takes on a whole other dimension with the minimalistic instrumentation and Mimi's almost sultry vocals. There's more - but you should really hear it yourself.

To be fair, most of Low's CDs leave their listeners only partially won over (some tracks appeal instantly, whilst others just don't resonate with people) but for me, 'Christmas' captures the essence and spirit (and I guess, spirituality) of Low at their absolute best on every single track here - vocal perfection, stark, austere instrumentation, and that special sound (shared in spirit, with the likes of Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, Jesus & Mary Chain, Big Star, Joy Division, Brian Wilson and Phil Spector) that hits you in the head and the heart. Put it this way: any Christmas LP that you want to play (and which still sounds good) in August is got to be worth having. And I've had this for a few years now too...

A glimpse of Christmas when it meant something., 08 Oct 2003
You know, do you ever feel at Christmas times, that you are deeply unhappy with how things are, and you long for a nostalgic glimpse at when Christmas meant something to people?
Please buy this record - it has got me through the last three Christmasses, and I can foresee my reliance on it continuing for the next ten (until appocalypse).
It'll make you sad, though...

It's Christmas time..., 11 Dec 2002
I first heard Just Like Christmas on Marc&Lard's Radio 1 show in the late 1990's- this lead me to this divine e.p. (and albums like Secret Name, which features such mindblowing songs as Two Step & Immune). This is the album to play after Phil Spector's collection, Jesus Christ by Big Star, Last Dance by The Cure & Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley (feel I've forgotten an American Music Club song...)- a reminder that Xmas can be a heartbreaking time: how it never measures up to the memory of those that have passed, how it is set in the darkest winter, how the seasonal affects, how people come together over the barcode rather than out of common decency,how archaic notions such as faith appear somewhat absurd in a world where people are going to be turned to mincemeat in the New Year over oil , how many people commit suicide etc (god, I'm sounding like Ingmar Bergman after listening to the Joy Division boxset). Well, this is the ideal music for all that (and more...)

Low compose half this release- the gorgeous Just Like Christmas (Sunday Morning meets the Carpenters in heaven); Long Way Around the Sea (as sparse as Starfire); Alan stays on vocals for If You Were Born Today with its heartfelt "Joy to the world" & the final track One Special Gift (a sense of foreboding when this one ends). The remaining songs are well known Xmas songs- the version of Little Drummer Boy recalls My Bloody Valentine's Glider, while the cover of Elvis's Blue Christmas is as great as Cowboy Junkies Blue Moon Revisted (on the classic Trinity Sessions album). Silent Night recalls the sparse acoustics of Nick Drake and Robert Wyatt, Mimi & Alan's voices coming together (recall The Smiths's Asleep- an ode to suicide ends with this tune also). The final track is Taking Down the Tree, which evokes the happysad emotions of Xmas and the sense that the seasons move on regardless: "seems before it's over it's begun".

Low's Christmas is an album that HAS to be owned at this price and one of those releases you will be guaranteed to come back to at least once a year. Divine stuff...

A Christmas Cracker for Metalheads!, 05 Nov 2008
Well, you just have to look at the track listing to see this is probably the best Christmas CD you're ever going to buy! Imagine having Heavy Metal Christmas songs playing when your friends and family drop around during the festive season. Honestly, this is the best Christmas CD I've heard, ever!
Lemmy, ZZ Top, Alice Cooper, Ronnie James Dio, Girlschool, Doro Pesch; and the list doesn't stop there. Go on and click, it's a corker!

Simply a Stunning set of Carols, 20 Nov 2008
There are different versions of these carols on different cds. This is one of the few collections, where you really get the best of the best. As the other reviewer said it's too good just for Christmas, such beauty in every carol, and the moment I hear them it lifts me, in a way no other music does. If you listen to any Christmas music this year, make sure it's these carols, because I assure you won't be disappointed with the quality, and the beauty of what's on offer. It is Christmas Music at its best. 10 Stars forget 5.

excellent selection, poor sound quality, 16 Dec 2007
Brilliant choice of carols and great quality singing, however the recordings are very old (from the 1950s and 1960s) and in places this affects the quality. One of the carols (o little town)distorts slightly when it gets very loud and for Once in Royal the first verse is incredibly quiet.
As a soprano, I was also disappointed that Once in Royal didn't include the descant in the last verse.
I can't find a better selection of carols on one CD so get this if you don't mind the odd problem with sound quality.

A work of art, 11 Oct 2006
Possibly the best recording of it's kind out there. Oh, and to the reviewer who has written below mine, I didn't know King's recordings had ladies in the choir? *smirk* Unless you were referring to the male soprano's, of course! Buy it!

Carols By King's College Choir, 09 Aug 2006
This is well sung. It sounds beautiful when the men's voices make counterpoint with the ladies' voices. I love the way how they sing the last two verses of the Sussex Carol because the men sing the words to the tune of the first two verses and the ladies sing the harmony at the same time which I think sounds beautiful. They do it with many other carols as well.

The real spirit of Christmas, 02 Jan 2004
A truly delightful and atmospheric 2 disc collection, some of which were new to me but are now family favourites- especially 'past three o'clock' which has become known as 'Frosty the dog' by my children.
The older more Medieval ones are superb in particular, but really a collection with no weak tracks.
Ideal! Magical.

Sweeping, seductive, and superlative!, 24 Feb 2006
Figueras offers the listener a triumphant collection of evocative songs. Let's dispense with a possible concern. This CD is sub-titled "Lullabies". Anyone going to sleep listening to Figueras should see either a hearing or a brain specialist. While they may pacify children, adult listeners will be exhilarated by the sweeping range of her voice and exquisite presentation. Figueras' expressive style simply transcends descriptive praise. From soaring appeals to the heavens to quiet, soothing reassurances, she demonstrates the magnitude of her evocative skills. One can sense constrained passion in each song as she moves from one culture to another through the collection. That one of the pieces was commissioned for this collection is further proof of the extent she provides the listener - she's not confined to neither time nor place.

What is most clearly manifest in this musical anthology is Figueras' professionalism and her Catalan background. Unlike the operatic divas who have deigned to release popular renditions, she demonstrates how someone who truly understands the music of mountain villages or plains communities in any nation can elevate even the most "common" music. The selections range over five centuries or more, reinforcing the impression that nothing exceeds the capacity of her elegant voice to convey feeling to the enraptured listener. Each of us will likely settle on a favourite selection. Predictably, my own is a Catalan piece of an anonymous composer. Perhaps because the lullaby is in her native tongue, the richness of Figueras' rendition evokes intense emotional response. Would that i'd been born a Catalan!

Alia Vox was launched to give fresh impetus to the recordings of Figueras, her husband Jordi Savall and the groups they have created together. This CD will remain a testimony to their efforts to produce the highest quality discs. The sound is excellent, clearly imparting voice and background instruments alike. With 18 selections from a variety of eras and locations, the notes for this CD are extensive. The text of each tune is given in the original and seven other languages. Could scholarship and the universality of music be given finer endorsement? [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

An exquisite gem of a desert island CD, 10 Jun 2005
Every time I catch sight of a Vox Alia CD with its distinctive packaging I find resistance is futile and I end up buying it. This gorgeous collection of lullabies delivered much more than I had ever dreamt possible.

What gives this CD its magic is the fact that this is music making amongst friends and family. In fact the record label is Jordi Savall's own, Monserat Figueras is his wife, and Arianna Savall his daughter - so it really is an all family affair. The whole of Hesperion XXI play like they know each other intimately and we are just privileged eavesdroppers who were lucky enough to have overheard them. If some of the major record labels are increasingly marketing their music like MacDonalds hamburgers then this is like being invited to dine at a lovely family run Spanish restaurant. There is a heartwarming homeliness here the majors could never emulate in a hundred years. So it is entirely appropriate that this should be a collection of lullabies, for this is a celebration of family intimacy of the most deeply poetic and affectionate kind.

The selection of music might strike a casual listener as being unusual - exotic is a better term - yet they are all so instantly attractive that I think this would make a lovely gift (especially given the beautiful booklet that comes with it) to a child, a mother, a partner, a friend, a music lover; even people who know nothing about the composers here would surely be enchanted. I was particularly delighted by the reviewer who wrote that her daughter listened to this at night - oh, how fortunate it would be to grow up with music like this with its imaginatively chosen collection of music from so many countries and centuries - you would carry this music in your heart for the rest of your life! Amongst the songs is a Greek song, a Catalan song, a 16th century English song, a song by William Byrd, Max Reger, Moussorgsky as well as two by Arvo Part, both of which carry dedications to Monserat Figueras, Arianna and Jordi Savall (in the photograph reproductions of the first pages of the handwritten score Arvo Part has written in German 'gewidmet an...' if you were wondering where this info comes from).

Typical of the CD is how difficult it is to hold back a tear listening to Reger of all composers - I would have never thought it possible, especially when it would have been simply all too easy to choose some all to well known Schubert Lied, but here it is, they have picked Reger and it is PERFECT. Yet that is only one gem amongst so many more here. I am speechless, for this CD is indeed a rare treasure made for people who truly love beautiful music making - a CD to cherish and to weep for joy over.

I should add that as usual from Vox Alia the recorded sound is audiophile quality, and a notch above what you get from about 95% of record labels. In my opinion they even surpass some boutique audiophile labels like Linn, which is really saying something. So if you love to luxuriate in rich sound this will fit like a glove.

If you fall in love with this recording please, please may I suggest you BUY it for someone you love, rather than burning it, just as a way of saying 'thank you' to this family of musicians. This is a family run label rather than some huge impersonal coorporation and I have seen too many private boutique record firms go bust over the years, so please help ensure that these artists continue to make lovely recordings such as this one.

I am adding this CD to my desert island collection.

when love and music meet, 09 Aug 2004
Nothing can ever be said about this Cd that is enough. Not only voice and orchestra, but feeling and musiciaship here are at their pic.
I loved this Cd and since I bought a copy for myself I byt for every single person on my list that has a new baby coming in. It is from grown ups as well bit I think the best way ti indulge the youngsters with some beautiful music.

A Must-Have-One, 18 Mar 2004
This is the disk I'd carry alone to a desert island...
It includes the brilliant performance of Monserat and Hesperion XXI interpreting lullabies from all over the Mediterranean.
We can clearly compare the musical differences between each region represented. Some songs aren't actually lullabies but the theme is always the relation between the mother and the baby.
No words can, however, describe the listning experience this cd provides you.

Mesmerizing music for the heart, 18 Oct 2003
Rarely has there been a more beautiful collection of lullabies than those presented in Ninna Nanna. Clearly a labour of love of Montserrat Figueras and her family, it brings together songs that mothers have been singing to their infants over the centuries - whatever their culture or language. “It is like food for the young child” reflects Montserrat Figueras in her dedication, the most intense reflection of affection and tenderness.

Lullabies in this collection, come from cultural backgrounds as diverse as Russia, Morocco, Greece, England and, of course, the Iberian Peninsula. They span from the Renaissance to contemporary music. Most of the musical versions have been masterly arranged by Jordi Savall, suited to fit the extraordinary voice of his wife. We also find some arrangements by well-known composers such as Moussorgski, Reger or de Falla.

Being lullabies, the songs show similarities: above all their tunes are beautifully soft and melodious. Yet, the tunes show considerable diversity in rhythm and tonality. Some are melancholy and almost haunting, others joyful and jubilant. Montserrat Figueras’ voice is, as always, in a class of her own, radiating with richness and intensity. The music touches the deeper cords in the listener’s consciousness. Her voice is superbly and sensitively accompanied by Hesperion XXI, the accomplished team of musicians under the leadership of Jordi Savall.

The informative booklet accompanying the CD is well presented and includes the songs’ texts in eight languages, including the original. This is a CD you will not get tired to listen to many times, whether you play it for your children, your family and friends, or just for yourself. [Friederike Knabe, Ottawa, Canada]

For Christmas Past Present and Future, 24 Dec 2007
Christmas again - what better time to review Low's superb festive album which portrays a more common Christmas experience for many than the forced jollity of your Slade or Wizzard mega-hit.

This eight-track CD is a beauty. Four original Low songs show great variety - from the pure pop of `Just Like Christmas' with its sleigh bells ringing to the hauntingly spiritual telling of the Nativity in `Long Way Around the Sea'.

The cover versions of old (roast) chestnuts are simply inspired. `Silent Night' has wonderfully simple acoustic arrangement whilst `Little Drummer Boy' has never sounded like this before. It is drenched in guitar reverb and feedback a la My Bloody Valentine but is incredibly moving.

`Christmas' obviously has special resonance at this time of year but the CD can be enjoyed as much in July as December. It is by turns melancholy, thoughtful, reflective and beautiful. Can you ask for more for Christmas?


Too beautiful to stay awake too, 15 Nov 2006
Even my mum was bowled over by the beauty of the tracks on this albumn - it has been the back drop to some of the most wonderful Christmas days we have ever had. If you ever wanted 'something more' out of Christmas, then put this on once you're full up of turkey and pudding.

Just Like Christmas - All year round, 24 Sep 2004
Oh, the pain of christmas - you can't help thinking that the music perenially droning in the shops and incessantly on Radio and TV helps to explain why Christmas is the season of the year with the highest rate of suicide.

Low's 'Christmas', on the other hand, like Spector's 'Christmas Album' is music to warm your soul instead - an absurdly cheap mini-CD which is one of Low's most pure, self-contained and poignant efforts. Their original compositions here are all full of such emptional depth and a haunting, childlike innocence and honesty - no other band on this planet could produce a jaunty, sleigh-bell driven singalong like 'Just Like Christmas' without being laughed off the face of the earth.

The traditionals are just beautiful: 'Little Drummer Boy', with it's slowed down wall of distorted guitar and thumping drum set against perfectly levelled vocals is an absolute gem and 'Silent Night'- a simple vocal (Alan and Mimi in total intuitive harmony) and acoustic version of this tired standard, is turned into a thing of pure majesty. Likewise, their drastic revision of "Elvis's" 'Blue Christmas' retains the spirit (not the schmaltz)of the original, but takes on a whole other dimension with the minimalistic instrumentation and Mimi's almost sultry vocals. There's more - but you should really hear it yourself.

To be fair, most of Low's CDs leave their listeners only partially won over (some tracks appeal instantly, whilst others just don't resonate with people) but for me, 'Christmas' captures the essence and spirit (and I guess, spirituality) of Low at their absolute best on every single track here - vocal perfection, stark, austere instrumentation, and that special sound (shared in spirit, with the likes of Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, Jesus & Mary Chain, Big Star, Joy Division, Brian Wilson and Phil Spector) that hits you in the head and the heart. Put it this way: any Christmas LP that you want to play (and which still sounds good) in August is got to be worth having. And I've had this for a few years now too...

A glimpse of Christmas when it meant something., 08 Oct 2003
You know, do you ever feel at Christmas times, that you are deeply unhappy with how things are, and you long for a nostalgic glimpse at when Christmas meant something to people?
Please buy this record - it has got me through the last three Christmasses, and I can foresee my reliance on it continuing for the next ten (until appocalypse).
It'll make you sad, though...

It's Christmas time..., 11 Dec 2002
I first heard Just Like Christmas on Marc&Lard's Radio 1 show in the late 1990's- this lead me to this divine e.p. (and albums like Secret Name, which features such mindblowing songs as Two Step & Immune). This is the album to play after Phil Spector's collection, Jesus Christ by Big Star, Last Dance by The Cure & Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley (feel I've forgotten an American Music Club song...)- a reminder that Xmas can be a heartbreaking time: how it never measures up to the memory of those that have passed, how it is set in the darkest winter, how the seasonal affects, how people come together over the barcode rather than out of common decency,how archaic notions such as faith appear somewhat absurd in a world where people are going to be turned to mincemeat in the New Year over oil , how many people commit suicide etc (god, I'm sounding like Ingmar Bergman after listening to the Joy Division boxset). Well, this is the ideal music for all that (and more...)

Low compose half this release- the gorgeous Just Like Christmas (Sunday Morning meets the Carpenters in heaven); Long Way Around the Sea (as sparse as Starfire); Alan stays on vocals for If You Were Born Today with its heartfelt "Joy to the world" & the final track One Special Gift (a sense of foreboding when this one ends). The remaining songs are well known Xmas songs- the version of Little Drummer Boy recalls My Bloody Valentine's Glider, while the cover of Elvis's Blue Christmas is as great as Cowboy Junkies Blue Moon Revisted (on the classic Trinity Sessions album). Silent Night recalls the sparse acoustics of Nick Drake and Robert Wyatt, Mimi & Alan's voices coming together (recall The Smiths's Asleep- an ode to suicide ends with this tune also). The final track is Taking Down the Tree, which evokes the happysad emotions of Xmas and the sense that the seasons move on regardless: "seems before it's over it's begun".

Low's Christmas is an album that HAS to be owned at this price and one of those releases you will be guaranteed to come back to at least once a year. Divine stuff...

A Christmas Cracker for Metalheads!, 05 Nov 2008
Well, you just have to look at the track listing to see this is probably the best Christmas CD you're ever going to buy! Imagine having Heavy Metal Christmas songs playing when your friends and family drop around during the festive season. Honestly, this is the best Christmas CD I've heard, ever!
Lemmy, ZZ Top, Alice Cooper, Ronnie James Dio, Girlschool, Doro Pesch; and the list doesn't stop there. Go on and click, it's a corker!

Simply a Stunning set of Carols, 20 Nov 2008
There are different versions of these carols on different cds. This is one of the few collections, where you really get the best of the best. As the other reviewer said it's too good just for Christmas, such beauty in every carol, and the moment I hear them it lifts me, in a way no other music does. If you listen to any Christmas music this year, make sure it's these carols, because I assure you won't be disappointed with the quality, and the beauty of what's on offer. It is Christmas Music at its best. 10 Stars forget 5.

excellent selection, poor sound quality, 16 Dec 2007
Brilliant choice of carols and great quality singing, however the recordings are very old (from the 1950s and 1960s) and in places this affects the quality. One of the carols (o little town)distorts slightly when it gets very loud and for Once in Royal the first verse is incredibly quiet.
As a soprano, I was also disappointed that Once in Royal didn't include the descant in the last verse.
I can't find a better selection of carols on one CD so get this if you don't mind the odd problem with sound quality.

A work of art, 11 Oct 2006
Possibly the best recording of it's kind out there. Oh, and to the reviewer who has written below mine, I didn't know King's recordings had ladies in the choir? *smirk* Unless you were referring to the male soprano's, of course! Buy it!

Carols By King's College Choir, 09 Aug 2006
This is well sung. It sounds beautiful when the men's voices make counterpoint with the ladies' voices. I love the way how they sing the last two verses of the Sussex Carol because the men sing the words to the tune of the first two verses and the ladies sing the harmony at the same time which I think sounds beautiful. They do it with many other carols as well.

The real spirit of Christmas, 02 Jan 2004
A truly delightful and atmospheric 2 disc collection, some of which were new to me but are now family favourites- especially 'past three o'clock' which has become known as 'Frosty the dog' by my children.
The older more Medieval ones are superb in particular, but really a collection with no weak tracks.
Ideal! Magical.

Sweeping, seductive, and superlative!, 24 Feb 2006
Figueras offers the listener a triumphant collection of evocative songs. Let's dispense with a possible concern. This CD is sub-titled "Lullabies". Anyone going to sleep listening to Figueras should see either a hearing or a brain specialist. While they may pacify children, adult listeners will be exhilarated by the sweeping range of her voice and exquisite presentation. Figueras' expressive style simply transcends descriptive praise. From soaring appeals to the heavens to quiet, soothing reassurances, she demonstrates the magnitude of her evocative skills. One can sense constrained passion in each song as she moves from one culture to another through the collection. That one of the pieces was commissioned for this collection is further proof of the extent she provides the listener - she's not confined to neither time nor place.

What is most clearly manifest in this musical anthology is Figueras' professionalism and her Catalan background. Unlike the operatic divas who have deigned to release popular renditions, she demonstrates how someone who truly understands the music of mountain villages or plains communities in any nation can elevate even the most "common" music. The selections range over five centuries or more, reinforcing the impression that nothing exceeds the capacity of her elegant voice to convey feeling to the enraptured listener. Each of us will likely settle on a favourite selection. Predictably, my own is a Catalan piece of an anonymous composer. Perhaps because the lullaby is in her native tongue, the richness of Figueras' rendition evokes intense emotional response. Would that i'd been born a Catalan!

Alia Vox was launched to give fresh impetus to the recordings of Figueras, her husband Jordi Savall and the groups they have created together. This CD will remain a testimony to their efforts to produce the highest quality discs. The sound is excellent, clearly imparting voice and background instruments alike. With 18 selections from a variety of eras and locations, the notes for this CD are extensive. The text of each tune is given in the original and seven other languages. Could scholarship and the universality of music be given finer endorsement? [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

An exquisite gem of a desert island CD, 10 Jun 2005
Every time I catch sight of a Vox Alia CD with its distinctive packaging I find resistance is futile and I end up buying it. This gorgeous collection of lullabies delivered much more than I had ever dreamt possible.

What gives this CD its magic is the fact that this is music making amongst friends and family. In fact the record label is Jordi Savall's own, Monserat Figueras is his wife, and Arianna Savall his daughter - so it really is an all family affair. The whole of Hesperion XXI play like they know each other intimately and we are just privileged eavesdroppers who were lucky enough to have overheard them. If some of the major record labels are increasingly marketing their music like MacDonalds hamburgers then this is like being invited to dine at a lovely family run Spanish restaurant. There is a heartwarming homeliness here the majors could never emulate in a hundred years. So it is entirely appropriate that this should be a collection of lullabies, for this is a celebration of family intimacy of the most deeply poetic and affectionate kind.

The selection of music might strike a casual listener as being unusual - exotic is a better term - yet they are all so instantly attractive that I think this would make a lovely gift (especially given the beautiful booklet that comes with it) to a child, a mother, a partner, a friend, a music lover; even people who know nothing about the composers here would surely be enchanted. I was particularly delighted by the reviewer who wrote that her daughter listened to this at night - oh, how fortunate it would be to grow up with music like this with its imaginatively chosen collection of music from so many countries and centuries - you would carry this music in your heart for the rest of your life! Amongst the songs is a Greek song, a Catalan song, a 16th century English song, a song by William Byrd, Max Reger, Moussorgsky as well as two by Arvo Part, both of which carry dedications to Monserat Figueras, Arianna and Jordi Savall (in the photograph reproductions of the first pages of the handwritten score Arvo Part has written in German 'gewidmet an...' if you were wondering where this info comes from).

Typical of the CD is how difficult it is to hold back a tear listening to Reger of all composers - I would have never thought it possible, especially when it would have been simply all too easy to choose some all to well known Schubert Lied, but here it is, they have picked Reger and it is PERFECT. Yet that is only one gem amongst so many more here. I am speechless, for this CD is indeed a rare treasure made for people who truly love beautiful music making - a CD to cherish and to weep for joy over.

I should add that as usual from Vox Alia the recorded sound is audiophile quality, and a notch above what you get from about 95% of record labels. In my opinion they even surpass some boutique audiophile labels like Linn, which is really saying something. So if you love to luxuriate in rich sound this will fit like a glove.

If you fall in love with this recording please, please may I suggest you BUY it for someone you love, rather than burning it, just as a way of saying 'thank you' to this family of musicians. This is a family run label rather than some huge impersonal coorporation and I have seen too many private boutique record firms go bust over the years, so please help ensure that these artists continue to make lovely recordings such as this one.

I am adding this CD to my desert island collection.

when love and music meet, 09 Aug 2004
Nothing can ever be said about this Cd that is enough. Not only voice and orchestra, but feeling and musiciaship here are at their pic.
I loved this Cd and since I bought a copy for myself I byt for every single person on my list that has a new baby coming in. It is from grown ups as well bit I think the best way ti indulge the youngsters with some beautiful music.

A Must-Have-One, 18 Mar 2004
This is the disk I'd carry alone to a desert island...
It includes the brilliant performance of Monserat and Hesperion XXI interpreting lullabies from all over the Mediterranean.
We can clearly compare the musical differences between each region represented. Some songs aren't actually lullabies but the theme is always the relation between the mother and the baby.
No words can, however, describe the listning experience this cd provides you.

Mesmerizing music for the heart, 18 Oct 2003
Rarely has there been a more beautiful collection of lullabies than those presented in Ninna Nanna. Clearly a labour of love of Montserrat Figueras and her family, it brings together songs that mothers have been singing to their infants over the centuries - whatever their culture or language. “It is like food for the young child” reflects Montserrat Figueras in her dedication, the most intense reflection of affection and tenderness.

Lullabies in this collection, come from cultural backgrounds as diverse as Russia, Morocco, Greece, England and, of course, the Iberian Peninsula. They span from the Renaissance to contemporary music. Most of the musical versions have been masterly arranged by Jordi Savall, suited to fit the extraordinary voice of his wife. We also find some arrangements by well-known composers such as Moussorgski, Reger or de Falla.

Being lullabies, the songs show similarities: above all their tunes are beautifully soft and melodious. Yet, the tunes show considerable diversity in rhythm and tonality. Some are melancholy and almost haunting, others joyful and jubilant. Montserrat Figueras’ voice is, as always, in a class of her own, radiating with richness and intensity. The music touches the deeper cords in the listener’s consciousness. Her voice is superbly and sensitively accompanied by Hesperion XXI, the accomplished team of musicians under the leadership of Jordi Savall.

The informative booklet accompanying the CD is well presented and includes the songs’ texts in eight languages, including the original. This is a CD you will not get tired to listen to many times, whether you play it for your children, your family and friends, or just for yourself. [Friederike Knabe, Ottawa, Canada]

As good as The Phil Spector Xmas album, 01 Jan 2006
This is Dion, as back to Runaround Sue as you can get with Christmas standerds. Listern to the opener youalmost expedt it to break in to Sue'.if Phil Spector had produced this album who knows what the out come would had been...it as good as the old Spector xmas album. a must for the die hard Dion fan and the genral music fan. this one "rocks"

Dion does a dozen Christmas songs in rock 'n roll style, 10 Mar 2005
For his "Rock 'n Roll Christmas" album Dion DiMucci exhausts the holiday rock standards with the first three tracks: "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," and "Jingle Bell Rock." After doing "Santa Clause Is Coming to Town," in the manner of but not quite as well as Bruce Springsteen, he turns to standard Christmas songs, from the seasonal ("White Christmas," "Winter Wonderland"), to the novelty ("Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"), to the religious ("Silent Night/What Christmas Means," "O Holy Night"). Obviously the last category are the ones where have to check your (play) list twice. Dion's "Rock 'n Roll Christmas" is not going to be to everybody's taste, but it should have appeal a bit beyond the fans of Dion to more general rock fans. An interesting change of pace Christmas collection to say the least.

For Christmas Past Present and Future, 24 Dec 2007
Christmas again - what better time to review Low's superb festive album which portrays a more common Christmas experience for many than the forced jollity of your Slade or Wizzard mega-hit.

This eight-track CD is a beauty. Four original Low songs show great variety - from the pure pop of `Just Like Christmas' with its sleigh bells ringing to the hauntingly spiritual telling of the Nativity in `Long Way Around the Sea'.

The cover versions of old (roast) chestnuts are simply inspired. `Silent Night' has wonderfully simple acoustic arrangement whilst `Little Drummer Boy' has never sounded like this before. It is drenched in guitar reverb and feedback a la My Bloody Valentine but is incredibly moving.

`Christmas' obviously has special resonance at this time of year but the CD can be enjoyed as much in July as December. It is by turns melancholy, thoughtful, reflective and beautiful. Can you ask for more for Christmas?


Too beautiful to stay awake too, 15 Nov 2006
Even my mum was bowled over by the beauty of the tracks on this albumn - it has been the back drop to some of the most wonderful Christmas days we have ever had. If you ever wanted 'something more' out of Christmas, then put this on once you're full up of turkey and pudding.

Just Like Christmas - All year round, 24 Sep 2004
Oh, the pain of christmas - you can't help thinking that the music perenially droning in the shops and incessantly on Radio and TV helps to explain why Christmas is the season of the year with the highest rate of suicide.

Low's 'Christmas', on the other hand, like Spector's 'Christmas Album' is music to warm your soul instead - an absurdly cheap mini-CD which is one of Low's most pure, self-contained and poignant efforts. Their original compositions here are all full of such emptional depth and a haunting, childlike innocence and honesty - no other band on this planet could produce a jaunty, sleigh-bell driven singalong like 'Just Like Christmas' without being laughed off the face of the earth.

The traditionals are just beautiful: 'Little Drummer Boy', with it's slowed down wall of distorted guitar and thumping drum set against perfectly levelled vocals is an absolute gem and 'Silent Night'- a simple vocal (Alan and Mimi in total intuitive harmony) and acoustic version of this tired standard, is turned into a thing of pure majesty. Likewise, their drastic revision of "Elvis's" 'Blue Christmas' retains the spirit (not the schmaltz)of the original, but takes on a whole other dimension with the minimalistic instrumentation and Mimi's almost sultry vocals. There's more - but you should really hear it yourself.

To be fair, most of Low's CDs leave their listeners only partially won over (some tracks appeal instantly, whilst others just don't resonate with people) but for me, 'Christmas' captures the essence and spirit (and I guess, spirituality) of Low at their absolute best on every single track here - vocal perfection, stark, austere instrumentation, and that special sound (shared in spirit, with the likes of Spacemen 3, Spiritualized, Jesus & Mary Chain, Big Star, Joy Division, Brian Wilson and Phil Spector) that hits you in the head and the heart. Put it this way: any Christmas LP that you want to play (and which still sounds good) in August is got to be worth having. And I've had this for a few years now too...

A glimpse of Christmas when it meant something., 08 Oct 2003
You know, do you ever feel at Christmas times, that you are deeply unhappy with how things are, and you long for a nostalgic glimpse at when Christmas meant something to people?
Please buy this record - it has got me through the last three Christmasses, and I can foresee my reliance on it continuing for the next ten (until appocalypse).
It'll make you sad, though...

It's Christmas time..., 11 Dec 2002
I first heard Just Like Christmas on Marc&Lard's Radio 1 show in the late 1990's- this lead me to this divine e.p. (and albums like Secret Name, which features such mindblowing songs as Two Step & Immune). This is the album to play after Phil Spector's collection, Jesus Christ by Big Star, Last Dance by The Cure & Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley (feel I've forgotten an American Music Club song...)- a reminder that Xmas can be a heartbreaking time: how it never measures up to the memory of those that have passed, how it is set in the darkest winter, how the seasonal affects, how people come together over the barcode rather than out of common decency,how archaic notions such as faith appear somewhat absurd in a world where people are going to be turned to mincemeat in the New Year over oil , how many people commit suicide etc (god, I'm sounding like Ingmar Bergman after listening to the Joy Division boxset). Well, this is the ideal music for all that (and more...)

Low compose half this release- the gorgeous Just Like Christmas (Sunday Morning meets the Carpenters in heaven); Long Way Around the Sea (as sparse as Starfire); Alan stays on vocals for If You Were Born Today with its heartfelt "Joy to the world" & the final track One Special Gift (a sense of foreboding when this one ends). The remaining songs are well known Xmas songs- the version of Little Drummer Boy recalls My Bloody Valentine's Glider, while the cover of Elvis's Blue Christmas is as great as Cowboy Junkies Blue Moon Revisted (on the classic Trinity Sessions album). Silent Night recalls the sparse acoustics of Nick Drake and Robert Wyatt, Mimi & Alan's voices coming together (recall The Smiths's Asleep- an ode to suicide ends with this tune also). The final track is Taking Down the Tree, which evokes the happysad emotions of Xmas and the sense that the seasons move on regardless: "seems before it's over it's begun".

Low's Christmas is an album that HAS to be owned at this price and one of those releases you will be guaranteed to come back to at least once a year. Divine stuff...

A Christmas Cracker for Metalheads!, 05 Nov 2008
Well, you just have to look at the track listing to see this is probably the best Christmas CD you're ever going to buy! Imagine having Heavy Metal Christmas songs playing when your friends and family drop around during the festive season. Honestly, this is the best Christmas CD I've heard, ever!
Lemmy, ZZ Top, Alice Cooper, Ronnie James Dio, Girlschool, Doro Pesch; and the list doesn't stop there. Go on and click, it's a corker!

Simply a Stunning set of Carols, 20 Nov 2008
There are different versions of these carols on different cds. This is one of the few collections, where you really get the best of the best. As the other reviewer said it's too good just for Christmas, such beauty in every carol, and the moment I hear them it lifts me, in a way no other music does. If you listen to any Christmas music this year, make sure it's these carols, because I assure you won't be disappointed with the quality, and the beauty of what's on offer. It is Christmas Music at its best. 10 Stars forget 5.

excellent selection, poor sound quality, 16 Dec 2007
Brilliant choice of carols and great quality singing, however the recordings are very old (from the 1950s and 1960s) and in places this affects the quality. One of the carols (o little town)distorts slightly when it gets very loud and for Once in Royal the first verse is incredibly quiet.
As a soprano, I was also disappointed that Once in Royal didn't include the descant in the last verse.
I can't find a better selection of carols on one CD so get this if you don't mind the odd problem with sound quality.

A work of art, 11 Oct 2006
Possibly the best recording of it's kind out there. Oh, and to the reviewer who has written below mine, I didn't know King's recordings had ladies in the choir? *smirk* Unless you were referring to the male soprano's, of course! Buy it!

Carols By King's College Choir, 09 Aug 2006
This is well sung. It sounds beautiful when the men's voices make counterpoint with the ladies' voices. I love the way how they sing the last two verses of the Sussex Carol because the men sing the words to the tune of the first two verses and the ladies sing the harmony at the same time which I think sounds beautiful. They do it with many other carols as well.

The real spirit of Christmas, 02 Jan 2004
A truly delightful and atmospheric 2 disc collection, some of which were new to me but are now family favourites- especially 'past three o'clock' which has become known as 'Frosty the dog' by my children.
The older more Medieval ones are superb in particular, but really a collection with no weak tracks.
Ideal! Magical.

Sweeping, seductive, and superlative!, 24 Feb 2006
Figueras offers the listener a triumphant collection of evocative songs. Let's dispense with a possible concern. This CD is sub-titled "Lullabies". Anyone going to sleep listening to Figueras should see either a hearing or a brain specialist. While they may pacify children, adult listeners will be exhilarated by the sweeping range of her voice and exquisite presentation. Figueras' expressive style simply transcends descriptive praise. From soaring appeals to the heavens to quiet, soothing reassurances, she demonstrates the magnitude of her evocative skills. One can sense constrained passion in each song as she moves from one culture to another through the collection. That one of the pieces was commissioned for this collection is further proof of the extent she provides the listener - she's not confined to neither time nor place.

What is most clearly manifest in this musical anthology is Figueras' professionalism and her Catalan background. Unlike the operatic divas who have deigned to release popular renditions, she demonstrates how someone who truly understands the music of mountain villages or plains communities in any nation can elevate even the most "common" music. The selections range over five centuries or more, reinforcing the impression that nothing exceeds the capacity of her elegant voice to convey feeling to the enraptured listener. Each of us will likely settle on a favourite selection. Predictably, my own is a Catalan piece of an anonymous composer. Perhaps because the lullaby is in her native tongue, the richness of Figueras' rendition evokes intense emotional response. Would that i'd been born a Catalan!

Alia Vox was launched to give fresh impetus to the recordings of Figueras, her husband Jordi Savall and the groups they have created together. This CD will remain a testimony to their efforts to produce the highest quality discs. The sound is excellent, clearly imparting voice and background instruments alike. With 18 selections from a variety of eras and locations, the notes for this CD are extensive. The text of each tune is given in the original and seven other languages. Could scholarship and the universality of music be given finer endorsement? [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

An exquisite gem of a desert island CD, 10 Jun 2005
Every time I catch sight of a Vox Alia CD with its distinctive packaging I find resistance is futile and I end up buying it. This gorgeous collection of lullabies delivered much more than I had ever dreamt possible.

What gives this CD its magic is the fact that this is music making amongst friends and family. In fact the record label is Jordi Savall's own, Monserat Figueras is his wife, and Arianna Savall his daughter - so it really is an all family affair. The whole of Hesperion XXI play like they know each other intimately and we are just privileged eavesdroppers who were lucky enough to have overheard them. If some of the major record labels are increasingly marketing their music like MacDonalds hamburgers then this is like being invited to dine at a lovely family run Spanish restaurant. There is a heartwarming homeliness here the majors could never emulate in a hundred years. So it is entirely appropriate that this should be a collection of lullabies, for this is a celebration of family intimacy of the most deeply poetic and affectionate kind.

The selection of music might strike a casual listener as being unusual - exotic is a better term - yet they are all so instantly attractive that I think this would make a lovely gift (especially given the beautiful booklet that comes with it) to a child, a mother, a partner, a friend, a music lover; even people who know nothing about the composers here would surely be enchanted. I was particularly delighted by the reviewer who wrote that her daughter listened to this at night - oh, how fortunate it would be to grow up with music like this with its imaginatively chosen collection of music from so many countries and centuries - you would carry this music in your heart for the rest of your life! Amongst the songs is a Greek song, a Catalan song, a 16th century English song, a song by William Byrd, Max Reger, Moussorgsky as well as two by Arvo Part, both of which carry dedications to Monserat Figueras, Arianna and Jordi Savall (in the photograph reproductions of the first pages of the handwritten score Arvo Part has written in German 'gewidmet an...' if you were wondering where this info comes from).

Typical of the CD is how difficult it is to hold back a tear listening to Reger of all composers - I would have never thought it possible, especially when it would have been simply all too easy to choose some all to well known Schubert Lied, but here it is, they have picked Reger and it is PERFECT. Yet that is only one gem amongst so many more here. I am speechless, for this CD is indeed a rare treasure made for people who truly love beautiful music making - a CD to cherish and to weep for joy over.

I should add that as usual from Vox Alia the recorded sound is audiophile quality, and a notch above what you get from about 95% of record labels. In my opinion they even surpass some boutique audiophile labels like Linn, which is really saying something. So if you love to luxuriate in rich sound this will fit like a glove.

If you fall in love with this recording please, please may I suggest you BUY it for someone you love, rather than burning it, just as a way of saying 'thank you' to this family of musicians. This is a family run label rather than some huge impersonal coorporation and I have seen too many private boutique record firms go bust over the years, so please help ensure that these artists continue to make lovely recordings such as this one.

I am adding this CD to my desert island collection.

when love and music meet, 09 Aug 2004
Nothing can ever be said about this Cd that is enough. Not only voice and orchestra, but feeling and musiciaship here are at their pic.
I loved this Cd and since I bought a copy for myself I byt for every single person on my list that has a new baby coming in. It is from grown ups as well bit I think the best way ti indulge the youngsters with some beautiful music.

A Must-Have-One, 18 Mar 2004
This is the disk I'd carry alone to a desert island...
It includes the brilliant performance of Monserat and Hesperion XXI interpreting lullabies from all over the Mediterranean.
We can clearly compare the musical differences between each region represented. Some songs aren't actually lullabies but the theme is always the relation between the mother and the baby.
No words can, however, describe the listning experience this cd provides you.

Mesmerizing music for the heart, 18 Oct 2003
Rarely has there been a more beautiful collection of lullabies than those presented in Ninna Nanna. Clearly a labour of love of Montserrat Figueras and her family, it brings together songs that mothers have been singing to their infants over the centuries - whatever their culture or language. “It is like food for the young child” reflects Montserrat Figueras in her dedication, the most intense reflection of affection and tenderness.

Lullabies in this collection, come from cultural backgrounds as diverse as Russia, Morocco, Greece, England and, of course, the Iberian Peninsula. They span from the Renaissance to contemporary music. Most of the musical versions have been masterly arranged by Jordi Savall, suited to fit the extraordinary voice of his wife. We also find some arrangements by well-known composers such as Moussorgski, Reger or de Falla.

Being lullabies, the songs show similarities: above all their tunes are beautifully soft and melodious. Yet, the tunes show considerable diversity in rhythm and tonality. Some are melancholy and almost haunting, others joyful and jubilant. Montserrat Figueras’ voice is, as always, in a class of her own, radiating with richness and intensity. The music touches the deeper cords in the listener’s consciousness. Her voice is superbly and sensitively accompanied by Hesperion XXI, the accomplished team of musicians under the leadership of Jordi Savall.

The informative booklet accompanying the CD is well presented and includes the songs’ texts in eight languages, including the original. This is a CD you will not get tired to listen to many times, whether you play it for your children, your family and friends, or just for yourself. [Friederike Knabe, Ottawa, Canada]

As good as The Phil Spector Xmas album, 01 Jan 2006
This is Dion, as back to Runaround Sue as you can get with Christmas standerds. Listern to the opener youalmost expedt it to break in to Sue'.if Phil Spector had produced this album who knows what the out come would had been...it as good as the old Spector xmas album. a must for the die hard Dion fan and the genral music fan. this one "rocks"

Dion does a dozen Christmas songs in rock 'n roll style, 10 Mar 2005
For his "Rock 'n Roll Christmas" album Dion DiMucci exhausts the holiday rock standards with the first three tracks: "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," and "Jingle Bell Rock." After doing "Santa Clause Is Coming to Town," in the manner of but not quite as well as Bruce Springsteen, he turns to standard Christmas songs, from the seasonal ("White Christmas," "Winter Wonderland"), to the novelty ("Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"), to the religious ("Silent Night/What Christmas Means," "O Holy Night"). Obviously the last category are the ones where have to check your (play) list twice. Dion's "Roc