A Commons Holiday Music Guide Part One
It’s that time of year when many people focus on holiday events: parties, get togethers, etc. And of course one of the things that goes into having a successful party or event is the music sound track. In the spirit of the holidays, The CerebralRift has put together a a compendium of releases of music for your holiday activities.
In A Commons Holiday Music Guide Part One, we focus on releases from Jamendo. Over the next several days we’ll publish a series or articles collecting releases from several different sites and labels. In all I’ve managed to comb through over seventy-five releases in compiling this list.
Electronic
Artist: Various Artists
Title: Winter Love
Label: Luna The Cat
License: CC BY-NC-ND
First up on this list of releases is Winter Love from the Luna The Cat label. This release might not be specifically Christmas or Holiday themed, but the mix of chilled downtempo and techno goodness makes for a great party groove. Download Winter Love here.
Artist: Out of Orion
Title: A Child’s Christmas
Label: Jamendo
License: CC BY-NC-SA
To quote the artist: “A Child’s Christmas is a musical Christmas card to both young and old on Jamendo.com. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.” This is a nice, mellow arrangement of Christmas time listening suitable to any setting or gathering you might be having during the holiday season. Download A Child’s Christmas here.
Artist: Out of Orion
Title: A Child’s Christmas Gift
Label: Jamendo
License: CC BY-NC-SA
Not to be confused with A Child’s Christmas this release is another installment of holiday music from Out of Orion. It picks up where the first release left off with ten more selections of original holiday music for your listening pleasure. Download A Child’s Christmas Gift here.
Artist: Kate Orange
Title: Christmas
Label: Jamendo
License: CC BY-SA
Kate is a DJ and Mezzo Soprano from the Netherlands who brings her own unique twist to a selection of five Christmas pieces in this collection. Download Christmas here.
Easy Listening
Artist: Frozen Silence
Title: Christmas Carols
Label: Jamendo
License: CC BY-NC-SA
This mixture of piano and acoustic guitar interpretations is a nice relaxing way to spend the holidays with family and friends. Download Christmas Carols here.
Artist: Frozen Silence
Title: Heart of Winter
Label: Jamendo
License: CC BY-NC
This release from Frozen Silence is seasonal, and yet non-holiday specific. All of the compositions on this are original works. As with the performances on Christmas Carols Frozen Silence alternates between piano and acoustic guitar based arrangements.
Artist: Maya Filipic
Title: Lonely Night
Label: Jamendo
License: CC BY-NC-ND
Maya has the ability to transform even the most standard Christmas Carol to another level with her piano arrangements. While there are are only four selections on this release they will add a special flavor to any playlist of holiday music you might put together. Download Lonely Night here.
Artist: The Sound System
Title: The Christmas Story
Label: Jamendo
License: CC BY-NC-ND
This is the most diverse release on the list for today. It contains pieces that are ambient and almost new-age in style, but also includes some very dance-able arrangements, and a few that are a little more difficult to put your finger on. But no matter how you want to classify it, it’s still a nice release to add to your holiday music collection. Download The Christmas Story here.
Classical
Artist: Ralph Rousseau
Title: Christmas Carols
Label: Jamendo
License: CC BY-NC-ND
Ralph Rousseau performs this selection of sixteen carols on Viola da gamba, which brings forth a more rustic sound than many modern interpretations of of these pieces. Download Christmas Carols here.
Artist: Vladimir Sterzer
Title: Christmas in minor – Weihnachten in Moll
Label: Jamendo
License: CC BY-SA
This release features sixteen Christmas pieces, some well know and some lesser known, arranged in minor keys. This provides a bit of a darker, more subdued tone than the traditional major key arrangements. This is more suitable for a low-keyed get together, but is in no way depressing. Download Christmas In Minor here.
Artist: Ronny Matthes
Title: Oh Holy Night (Volume One)
Label: Jamendo
License: CC BY-NC-ND
This is really a release in that cross-genre area of classical and easy listening music. A collection of seventeen tracks on this release have Ronny’s unique arrangements that work well with any setting. Download Oh Holy Night (Volume One) here.
Artist: Ronny Matthes
Title: The First Noel (Volume Two)
Label: Jamendo
License: CC BY-NC-ND
Another cross-genre release of easy listening / classical arrangements from Ronny Matthes. This release features arrangements of fourteen more holiday pieces for your listening pleasure. A nice addition to Oh Holy Night Volume One from Ronny Matthes. Download The First Noel (Volume Two) here.
Artist: Ronny Matthes
Title: Silent Night (Volume Three)
Label: Jamendo
License: CC BY-NC-ND
Yes, it’s another Ronny Matthes release. This is the third volume in his genre-crossing Christmas music series. Another fourteen tracks of fine classical arrangements await the listener on this release. A fine companion to the first two volumes in this series. Download Silent Night (Volume Three) here.
Artist: Ronny Matthes
Title: Color of Christmas
Label: Jamendo
License: CC BY-NC-ND
More Christmas music from Ronny Matthes. On this release he has teamed up with four vocalists to add another dimension to these Christmas classics. While the vocals are in German, the music is every bit as gorgeous as his other releases. Another worthy addition to your holiday music collection. Download Color of Christmas here.
Artist: Ronny Matthes & Linda Heins
Title: My Christmas Album
Label: Jamendo
License: CC BY-NC-ND
It might seem that I’ve gone crazy for Ronny Matthes in this list. However this release is not the same as the other releases by Ronny. Instead this is really focused on vocal performances by Linda Heins, and she has a wonderful voice. And, these tracks are in English, instead of German. Download My Christmas Album here.
