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A Christmas Album from Yo-Yo Ma, and More B&N Exclusives on Vinyl
This week’s three new and upcoming vinyl releases are all Barnes & Noble exclusives, and perfect for the approaching colder weather and shorter days. Two of these albums are specifically meant for winter holidays, but all three of them are great soundtracks for snuggling in front of a fire (or a radiator unit, if you live in an older apartment building).
Songs of Joy & Peace, by Yo-Yo Ma
This massive double LP is a Christmas album, in which Yo-Yo Ma collaborates with an impressive list of guest artists (including James Taylor, Allison Krauss, and Dave Brubeck) for 22 tracks of holiday cheer. Many of the songs here are traditional winter holiday songs like “Dona Nobis Pacem,” “The Wassail Song,” and “Joy to the World,” but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few pop surprises sprinkled in to keep things lively. This album features two songs written by Beatles members—George Harrison’s “Here Comes the Sun” and John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over),” which he wrote with Yoko Ono—and Diane Krall cameos on a lovely rendition of “You Couldn’t Be Cuter.”
Elemental, by Loreena McKennitt
McKennitt’s first album, released in 1985, is notable for two reasons. The first is that it’s really, really good. The second is that it’s really, really good in a way that first albums usually aren’t. A lot of very talented singers take a few albums to find their own unique voice, but McKennitt basically arrived with hers right from the start. Her clear, sharp soprano voice takes center stage here, backed by sparse arrangements that blend Celtic melodies and instrumentation with New Age ambiance. Standout tracks include “Kellswater,” “Stolen Child,” which is based on a poem by William Butler Yeats, and “Lullaby,” which references a poem by William Blake, and was originally written for a Stratford Festival of Canada production of Blake.
To Drive The Cold Winter Home, by Loreena McKennitt
McKennitt’s second studio album, released in 1987, isn’t a holiday album so much as a winter music album, drawing on her memories of the church songs and carols she heard as a child. As one might expect, this album also features simple arrangements, and was recorded in a series of three great halls (two Canadian, one Irish) to capture a bigger, more communal sound. This approach really works, bestowing warm echoes and natural reverb on most of the songs here. Speaking of, her vocals on “In Praise of Christmas” are bright enough to win over the most belligerent humbug, and “Let All That Are To Mirth Inclined” is, despite the name, beautifully haunting, with bells as the only accompaniment to McKennitt’s ethereal voice.