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Merry Mixmas
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Tired of the same-old holiday tunes? Ever wish "Santa Baby" had more punch to it? Fear not, a new holiday mix is here to save the day and wreak some Santa sacrilege on the masses.
The disc, aptly titled "Merry Mixmas," includes 15 remixed classics. You won't hear this ripping up the floor at West Hollywood's Factory. Rather, this is a good CD for holiday cocktail parties.
Best Remixes:
Ella Fitzgerald's "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" (Charles Webster Remix) is formidable. Ella could sing us a phone book and it would sound good. So perhaps it's more a testament to her timeless voice than the remixers.
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Kay Starr's "The Man With The Bag" (Tunderball Remix) is updated with a slight techno beat, but the classic orchestration is left in tact. The result - fun, tap-worthy merriment.
The instrumental track, "Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer Mambo" (Malibu Remix), was also quite fun. We're not sure it has anything to do with Rudolph... but mental pictures of the reindeer mamboing earned it a nod here.
Sacrilege:
The worst mix, hands-down, is Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time Is Here" (Markus Enochson). The charm of Guaraldi's treatment was its slow pace, innocence and melancholy. All were stripped in the Enochson remix, leaving cosmic sounding beats and marred, sped-up vocals. The remix of Lou Rawls' "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is another one to skip - the bird-like chirping effects and drowned-out vocals gave us a headache.
Our advice:
Don't get us wrong, this album is a lot of fun. But we think you should cherry-pick your favorite songs from iTunes. Better yet, wait until next week when LAist picks our top 10 best and worst holiday songs.
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