Xmas 2012

Christmas is a time for giving, sharing and buying. While the shelves of commerce are stocked with CDs of Xmas music, there are other musicians who use the season as a chance to freely give away their work.

This past week, at Star Maker Machine, contributing bloggers have been posting “Holiday Horrors” – the topic title says enough. However, not all about the holiday must needs be horrible.  Personally, once a year, I don’t mind re-visiting Christmas classics. And, from time to time, I run across a new interpretation of an old song. They often both bring back fond memories of family and December 25th at the same time that they provoke new emotions on account of their novel approach to a classic tune.

Over at Star Maker, I posted one song from a large collection of Cigar Box Christmas songs, but there are many more where that came from. As I said there, some of the music is not so good – but there are a few that are worth sharing. In general, the quality of the cigar box music leaves much to be desired (out of tune and amateurish). But not all. For example:

Here are two takes on “Twas the Night Before” from Denys Lord from the Cigar Box Collection

Music only

View video that pairs the above music only with the story

Some time ago, I brought up the issue of mashups: DJ-mixed and adjusted songs that offer a new perspective on a well-known song. Although they include bits and pieces of copyrighted material, DJ mashups appear exempt from take-down notices in that they fall within fair use guidelines: not sold commercially, using limited segments, new interpretation of old material. What better time of year to take another look?

I offer up Yultide Led Zeppelin – a mix of classic Led Zeppelin and strains of Yule. From "A Bootie Christmas".

Yuletide Zeppelin

More Bootie Xmas here