cairistiona's place

I was checking Facebook and someone had posted this video:



I've never heard of this tradition, called semantron or toaca, but it's mesmerizing.

Really, really getting tired of having to RIP so many legends of late. This time it's one of my favorite vocalists/guitarists, Glenn Frey, one of the founders of The Eagles. I think I played and replayed Seven Bridges Road on my bedroom record player a million times... along with Desperado, my favorite Eagles song ever.

Thank you, Glenn, for so many hours of wonderful music.

Day 24... Christmas Eve!

Pentatonix again, because I can't quit listening to them this year, and their version of Silent Night is so incredibly peaceful.

Here's is the album version, which I love because it really brings out Avi Kaplan's buttery-smooth bass voice, which I can listen to all day.



And here is the official video, a live version, also very beautiful. Slight changes in a few harmonies, and you get to see who sings what (including Kevin Olusola, who usually does the beatboxing--it's nice to hear him sing).



I love the reverence they show in the live version, but I like the "perfection" of the studio version. Which do you like most?

Merry Christmas Eve!

Something a wee bit different... I'm a big fan of blues music, so have some Christmas blues, from the US, Freddie King, circa 1950s...

I have long loved music from the 1940s, and ever since I first heard "In the Mood" when I was about 7 (so it predates my current fascination with Captain America--I can hear you thinking!!!), Glenn Miller vaulted to the top of my favorite bandleader of that era. So I went digging for any Christmas music from him from the actual era, which turned out to be surprisingly easy and difficult at the same time. Easy because there are a lot of recordings of original Christmas broadcasts from the early 1940s, but no individual tracks, and most of them are in the 30+ minutes category. This one is one of the shorter ones, at 14 minutes, but it's original to the era and has that sound that the modern iteration of the Glenn Miller Orchestra doesn't really capture because modern recording methods are just too... clean and shiny, I guess? I'm weird but I like the tinny, gigantic-radio-in-the-corner-of-the-living-room sound of recordings from the 1940s and the vocals have a very unique intonation and blend that you just can't find these days. So, give it a listen as long as you want and transport yourself to the 1940s...



(A couple of other good programs are here and here. Also, if you want to watch a terrific but will rip out your heart and stomp on it until it's nothing but a pile of unrecognizable molecules on the floor heartwrenching movie for the holidays is Jimmy Stewart's The Glenn Miller Story. I sob at the end of that one and still get a lump in my throat when I hear Little Brown Jug. *sigh*)

Day 18... classic A Charlie Brown Christmas special music!

Tradycyjne Polskie Kolędy... a traditional Polish carol:

Day 14... France....

Day 12 and now to Mumbai! The song is actually a modern American Christmas song, but I love how it's been embraced by other cultures. The video is a bit shaky but the sound comes through just fine.



Just a note about the song: it was written by David Meece (his version here if you're interested) when he was only 14 years old (although I think it wasn't copyrighted until he was 19). When I was 14, I think I was mooning over cute boys, not penning stirring, soon-to-be-beloved Christmas songs. :/

Now to Russia...



Info from the youtube page:

1 - Kaliadka / Калядки - Moscow Chamber Choir

Holy Russia Celebrates the Festival of Christmas in the cathedrals, monasteries and sacred places in Moscow, the Golden Ging and New Jerusalem.
(Part 11 of 15)

Music - folk song
Director - Georges Gachot
2006

Christmas Night Mass at the Epiphany Cathedral with His Holiness the Patriarch Alexi II. Orthodox Christmas is on 7th of January.