After Christmas, all Christmas pop songs are forgotten. For a reason – they normally stink.
So how would my pick for Christmas album of the year back in 2017 sound as Easter rears its eggy head?
I am listening to it right now, and it honestly remains every bit as good as it was back when there was a dead fir blinged out with plastic balls in my living room.
I am talking about “The Winter Garden Playtest” by the Radiophonic Tuckshop, a band recently put together by Joe Kane, from Dr Cosmo’s Tape Lab, the Owsley Sunshine and other bands.
Hastily conceived and recorded – altogether over three weeks if we are to believe the lyrics – this is a concept album about Christmas (and the coming of the January sales). It is not particularly politically correct and outright stupid at times. Cliches abound. Some of the spoken parts are also seriously cringeworthy…
Nevertheless, this is pop heaven. Minus the religious part. Simple as that.
An alternative take on the concept of this album is: “Take a bunch of amazing tunes, and stick silly Christmas lyrics on them to make sure the whole thing is instantly forgotten.”
But you really should not forget this album. Heck, I’ll be just as happy playing it while dancing around the maypole this summer! I will just ignore the C-word.
http://shop.lastnightfromglasgow.com/product/radiophonic-tuckshop-the-winter-garden-playtest-cd
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