Christmas Remixed, Vol. 2

Various Artists (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 11, 2005)
• Original Release Date: October 11, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Six Degrees
• ASIN: B000A2H1ZU
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #16,872 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In the age of the digital cut and paste and sonic download, these assorted mixers prove that good taste in source material will get you a cooler result no matter how many rhythm tracks, horn blasts, repeated phrases and other techno smoke and mirrors you can throw at a song. Producers Jeff Daniel, Doug Bernheim, and David Hargis expertly picked some prime time pieces from the likes of jazz singer Joe Williams, the mighty organ master Jimmy McGriff, bebop king Charlie Parker and pop jazz crooners, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald and Rosemary Clooney, to name a just few. There are even some symphony and philharmonic orchestras whose big recordings are overlaid with alluring new flourishes that sound like they might have always been there in "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and "Good King Wenceslas." You will probably never hear anything like Clooney's "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas," being channeled through a distant galaxy with a wreath of rhythmic and melodic aural affects, or Mahalia Jackson's saintly gospel voice turned into an etheric presence on "Silent Night." But it's guaranteed that you will be repeating again and again every alchemical track when the CD is over. Hot. --Martin Keller

Product Description

In 2003, Six Degrees Records released the first volume in the Christmas Remixed holiday series. The concept of taking Christmas classics as performed by such luminaries as, Bing Crosby, Mel Torme, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong and handing them over to a cast of the world's best modern dance, hip-hop and electronic producers yielded one of the most entertaining holiday records in recent memory. In fact, the All Music Guide went so far as to comment, "There will probably not be a better new Christmas album this year than this one, and there may not be a better one for many years." The Los Angeles Times added, "Any group of tracks that yields as many smiles as this deserves a spot in the holiday CD rotation".

Christmas Remixed 2 follows in the wake of its predecessor's success with the same winning formula guaranteed to please fans of the first volume while winning over new converts. Once again such holiday favorites as, "Jingle Bells", "The Christmas Song", "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" and "Silent Night" are performed by a dream team of interpreters like Ella Fitzgerald, Mahalia Jackson, Patti Page, Rosemary Clooney and Charlie Parker. These tracks are then remixed and re-grooved into fun and accessible modern versions sure to please even the most hardened of holiday scrooges. Christmas Remixed 2's great cast of remixers includes Kaskade, John Beltran, King Kooba, Future Loop Foundation and the Bombay Dub Orchestra.

Thanks to Christmas Remixed 2, the holidays will be fun and funky once again!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars battle of the Christmas remixers..., December 3, 2005

By	svf - See all my reviews

With the glut of remix albums flooding the market these days, it should come as no surprise that there are a slew of them showing up in the Holiday music bins... two of the more promising new ones (despite the awful cover art on both) are Merry Mixmas on Capitol/EMI and Christmas Remixed 2 from Six Degrees. Will either of them have you hip-hopping arond the tree?

Turns out the real party is happenin' on Christmas Remixed 2 where our holiday mixmasters seem to know how to make something new and fresh out of a familiar tune. This new collection lives up to (and perhaps even improves upon) the original Christmas Remixed from Six Degrees released in 2003. Each track has a distinct personality, and there's a good mix of vocal and instrumental selections (unlike the all-vocal Merry Mixmas). Highlights include:

*Bombay Dub Orchestra's jazz/funk wah-wah guitar drenched "Jingle Bells" perfectly blended with Joe Williams' vocal
*tasty twists on Jimmy McGriff and Charlie Parker by TONAL and King Kooba
*the head-bobbin' beat of "Frosty the Snowman" remixed by the Rondo Brothers (with Patti Page's hilariously looped "thumpity-thump-thump" refrain)
*Charles Brown's "I'll Be Home for Christmas" mutated into a strange retro-synth hip hop ballad by Ohmega Watts
*the sinister funky drumming superimposed upon "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" by Red Baron
*46bliss' ethereal, spooky "Silent Night" with the echoing vocals of Mahalia Jackson and backing choir (this one would have been even better without the backbeat, though...)

Sure, there are a few tracks that coast and go on a little too long, but overall this is a perfect example of what a good remix album should be: originals reimagined in interesting, creative ways with plenty of stylistic variety and thoughtful track sequencing. Hey, I bet grandma would even get a kick out of this stuff (especially after a couple Tom and Jerrys...) [Note to Santa: How about a Christmas Remixed 3 in my stocking next year?]

Decision: Christmas Remixed 2 (break)beats Merry Mixmas, y'all... word (and so forth...) [see my Amazon review of Merry Mixmas for more details...]

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!, December 20, 2005

By	Bill Busse "in the attic at bill's" (Fairmont, MN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The only word needed here! Too bad that the majority of listeners will never hear the original cuts (other than White Christmas by Bing). But this CD at least brings these artists back to the forefront. Who'd have thought we'd hear Patti Page THUMP THUMPING with a real beat behind her on FROSTY THE SNOWMAN or the totally other worldly sound of Rosemary Clooney's HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS. This is a Christmas season must. It will be in our 400 CD changer for New Year's eve dancers!!!!

5.0 out of 5 stars fresh and new music, February 8, 2009

By	J. Carter (chitown) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have a ton of Christmas music and am always looking for new.This is new.