Having been liberated from a previous colleague's taste in schmaltzy pop Christmas music (Do They Know It's Christmas? How could they miss it? You've played the song 12 times so far today!), my iPod has been keeping things festive in my office. Please note: I'm NOT inflicting this on anyone else.
Kate Rusby: Sweet Bells
The peerless Ms. Rusby (whose songs fit v. nicely within my range) sings traditional Yorkshire folk arrangements of the Christmas carols you know (and some you don't). It always reminds me a little of the Sutton Manor versions of Christmas carols, which must seem very strange to outsiders...
Tori Amos: Midwinter Graces
A bunch of really traditional Christmas songs, Tori-fied. She kicks butt. And pianos. The album does rather over-use chimes to invoke church bells, but I'll forgive her.
Benjamin Britten: Ceremony of Carols
Way funkier than people give him credit for. We're rehearsing this for our concert on the 20th (shameless plug!), and I really love it. We're doing the SATB version with organ or piano (I can't remember which), but the recording I have is of the SSAA version, and I have to say I prefer it. My favorite movement: "This Little Babe". The lyrics start out seemingly harmless, but it's sung in a crazy fugue and comes across as complete chaos.
Sesame Street Christmas
We've been through this. I love it. Everyone else thinks I'm crazy. I'm ok with that.
Showing posts with label folk music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label folk music. Show all posts
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Tea
Went back to work yesterday - I was in for a few days between Christmas and New Year's so it was really nice to not have zillions of work emails to catch up on. Plenty of work to do, but not the usual inbox inundation that I get after a break.
Our 'tea lady' broke her wrist in December, and the usual sub is out this week, so I've been making the teas and coffees with my old boss. It's been kind of fun - I wouldn't want to do it every day but it's an interesting diversion. One more day tomorrow and then back to regular purchasing. At least we have a dishwasher so I don't have to wash all the cups...
I usually listen to the Mike Harding folk show on BBC radio 2 on Wednesday nights, and they've been pushing podcasts quite a bit recently. I subscribed to the podcast and started listening to it tonight. "That's funny," I thought, "the show's usually an hour and the podcast is only 17 minutes." Turns out that's because the podcast is an abridged version of the show where it's edited down and the songs get faded in and out. *^#% that! I'm listening to the 'listen again' stream, which is the full version. Harumph.
Our 'tea lady' broke her wrist in December, and the usual sub is out this week, so I've been making the teas and coffees with my old boss. It's been kind of fun - I wouldn't want to do it every day but it's an interesting diversion. One more day tomorrow and then back to regular purchasing. At least we have a dishwasher so I don't have to wash all the cups...
I usually listen to the Mike Harding folk show on BBC radio 2 on Wednesday nights, and they've been pushing podcasts quite a bit recently. I subscribed to the podcast and started listening to it tonight. "That's funny," I thought, "the show's usually an hour and the podcast is only 17 minutes." Turns out that's because the podcast is an abridged version of the show where it's edited down and the songs get faded in and out. *^#% that! I'm listening to the 'listen again' stream, which is the full version. Harumph.
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