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"Brand New Year"
The award for the most original Christmas
album for 2000 goes hands down to the three Osborn sisters--Kristyn,
Kelsi, and Kassidy--of Shedaisy for their ambitious pop-rock
mini-masterpiece Brand New Year. Exemplary rewrites, rearrangements,
and rewired standards such as "Jingle Bells," "Deck
the Halls," "Sleigh Ride," and others may tug
at your holiday heartstrings for a whole other set of reasons.
Add a handful of memorable and sometimes mesmerizing originals
and rediscovered gems such as "Christmas Children"
from the 1969 musical Scrooge and you've got a record that, at
times, almost tries too hard to be too innovative, arty, and
occasionally even Beatles-inspired (check that dense harmony
and musical interplay/production on "Tinseltown" and
the breathtaking arrangement of "Hark! The Herald Angels
Sing/Carol of the Bells"). Still, this is an immensely gratifying
album even with its slight misses: creative, sometimes caustic,
playful, and always full of changes that demand your attention.
You won't be disappointed; its rewards for those who stay tuned
are many (including a ghost track of a stirring a cappella arrangement
at the end). Wow! --Martin Keller |
