Get off my lawn, will ya So, anyway, sorry Im not as quick as I once was. BTW, weve greatly updated The List but some of the stuff weve learned about doesnt have a purchase site, yet. You may click on something and go nowhere. A little like life, in that respect. Updating The List is one reason this has taken me so long. Heres a vintage PreWar Christmas Blues collection. At this late date, there shouldnt be anything here you havent heard before. But all your must haves are here. It really is a rabbit hole, you know. Sure, dip in a toe and youll hit 9. Degrees. Put your whole foot in, and theres Sia. But you dont get to the fun stuff until you dive in and swim to the bottom. And then youre afraid to stop, lest you miss something. So, today, well give you some major artist stuff and, in a few days, Ill tell you about a few things Im far more intrigued by. Deal Oh, and we even got a new Preview up like the Free List, gonna have to continue on last years page, now that Weebly limits pages in their free package. Onward. One holiday feast I know many have been looking forward to is the new one from Herb Alpert. Herb hasnt done a full Christmas album since 1. Christmas Album. My recollection is that Christmas Album had a welcome release but drifted quickly into the discount bins. A few of the tracks hung around, but the album. Then, after the full scale explosion of Christmas music in the late 8. Herbs gem was re discovered and soon became iconic Herb, himself, has always been iconic. Tuff to see how Herb tops himself, but hes pulling out all the stops. The Christmas Wish arrives September 2. Oh, and Richard Carpenter is supposed to be putting in an appearance on Merry Christmas, Darling. Yeah, its a long way from the Tijuana Brass. But Herb knows how to make a song sing, if you know what Im saying. The Christmas Wish will be available on CD and 2 LP vinyl, the latter coming in a gatefold cover. Joy To The World Silver Bells Medley. Let It Snow Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Medley. Santa Baby. 4. Carol Of The Bells We Wish You A Merry Christmas Medley. Ill Be Home For Christmas. Silent Night. 7. Winter Wonderland. Merry Christmas, Darling. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. The Christmas Wish. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. The Christmas Song. White Christmas HERB ALPERT WEB SITE1. What Are You Doing New Years Eve CD from AMAZON1. Jesu, Joy Of Mans Desiring 2 LP from AMAZON Twas not so long ago, we told you that Alabama would be back with Christmas album number three this year. And now we know that American Christmas will drop on October 6. The cover art is pretty cool and I gotta say the group came up with what promises to be an excellent tracklist. There look to be some great originals, and covering Johnny Prestons I Wanna Rock N Roll Guitar is pure genius. Im curious to hear the new version of Christmas In Dixie and Aint Santa Cool cant help but be awesome. Now, heres one presented as a bit of a public service. If you go to just about any of the Big Box internet outlets, youre going to get the impression that this one is a re issue. But its not. It is, in fact, the long awaited follow up to David IansVintage Christmas. To begin with, everyones got the title wrong or, hey, maybe I do I believe the title of the new set is Vintage Christmas Trio. Ah, see Looks totally different, now, doesnt it And we should credit the other members of the David Ian Trio, both of whom get a chance to stretch and solo on the coming recordbassist Jon Estes and drummer Josh. Hunt. Ian born David Ghazarian, you likely recall, was the lead guitarist from the Pop Punk band Superchick. Prior to picking up the guitar, David had been classically trained on the piano and, attracted to the Jazzy feel of the old time Christmas records, he originally threw together a digital Christmas EP as a side project. Vintage Christmas seemed, at the time, to be the culmination of the concept, but it turned into more of a new beginning and Davids been trading in the standards ever since. Vintage Christmas Trio is entirely instrumental and leans a little heavier to the Jazz and a little less to the crooner style of Vintage Christmas. Joy To The World, for example, is said to be done up in Blues. Yeah, I perk up when I hear stuff like that. The record is said to bear Davids signature sound throughout. While I dont have a proper tracklist, I do know that the album contains the following songs at least Deck The Halls. Joy To The World. White Christmas. We Three Kings. Silver Bells. O Come, All Ye Faithful. Look for Vintage Christmas Trio to land in your holiday stocking on November 3 and dont click on mp. Amazon right now, it links to the old one. One of the worst kept secrets in music has been that Gwen Stefani has been working on a Christmas album, with the assistance of fellow Voice judge Blake Shelton. No one has really committed to the fact of it, but everyone knows its coming. Even the folks at the record label are saying its true, but only on the downlow and not for attribution. Personally, Id dig an album that harkens back to Gwens No Doubt days. Im Just A Girl, a little Dont Speak, a little Hollaback Girl, but that probably isnt in the cards sadly. But Gwen seems to be in a good space, these days, so we can probably count on an album thats full of Christmas joy. And her voice is simply dripping in awesome, no matter what shes singing, so Ill take it. What we do know is that a handful of holiday titles, written or co written by Gwen, have been registered with the song publisher people. Christmas Eve, My Gift Is You, Under The Christmas Lights, When I Was A Little Girl, and You Make It Feel Like Christmas. Hmm. Not really sensing an Oi To The World in there. Hey, wouldnt it be awesome if Gwen got ahold of djbc and cut Challahback Girl as a Hanukkah track for real You can see Blake Sheltons co writing credit on the last one possible duet alert. Im sure well be hearing more about this in the weeks and months to come. Australian singersongwriter Sia has announced that her first album for Atlantic, her new label, will be a Christmas album. I know shes had other hits, but Chandelier is the one that always stuck with me. And, of course, she has all those weird face hiding wigs and outfits. Anyway, I think we all know what a strong songwriter she is and Sia promises that every song on her album will be an original. Now thats about all I have to say about that, until we get some details. Sias announcement did result in one of the seasons first of many articles putting down new Christmas music. This one is from The Debrief, written by Jazmin Kopotsha. The title is SIA IS MAKING A CHRISTMAS ALBUM, BUT IS THERE A PLACE FOR IT IN 2. The concept, here, seems to be that Sia is a very talented artist and those talents are wasted on Christmas music because, really, who cares Ms. Kopotsha writes that Christmas musicat least that which can be enjoyedis of another time. Its about the classics, you see. Why would anyone write and sing a new Christmas song when there hasnt been a true classic added to the canon since Wham and Mariah Carey Oh, the 8. Anyone remember, she says, what was on Justin Beibers 2. Christmas album How about the Taylor Swift Holiday Collection Didnt think so. What a load of poop I have been listening to Christmas musicstrike thatseeking out NEW Christmas music to experience for nearly half a century. For the past ten years, Ive listened to almost nothing BUT Christmas music. Year round. It is how I discover new artists. It is MUSIC. Just like any other kind of MUSIC.