Customer Reviews

Maybe This Christmas Tree

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The third in the series of indie-alternative-folk rock Christmas albums, Maybe This Christmas Tree combines more of the most eclectic and funky tracks for you to enjoy. A breakaway from the standard "Jingle Bells" all of the songs are uniquely song and performed, with a few originals or unfamiliar songs.

"Happy Christmas (The War Is Over)" kicks off the album with a chorus of singing children and a full orchestra, a strong contrast with the vintage psychadelic guitar and lead vocals. The Ravonettes rock "The Christmas Song" in a sultry duet that'll have you tapping your feet.

Kings of mellow, Death Cab For Cutie, contribute an echoey yet slightly awkward track that is out of sort with their usual sound. Pedro The Lion is more successful with their ultra chilled "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" that captures the spirit of a never-ending snowy Christmas day with your family. Belasana's song is a bit off-topic Christmas wise, but is a nice track regardless, cool guitars and vocals.

Ivy do an awesome rendition of "Christmas Time Is Here" that sounds as though its streaming out of a radio circa 1935, really beautiful and simple with string accompianment. Royal Crown Revue keep up the vintage-sound with the classic "Baby It's Cold Outside" that'll warm your insides.

Tom McCrae crawls his way through "Wonderful Christmastime" that really doesn't match the song at all, unless you are manic-depressive and in the mood to whimper through a Christmas Carol. Pilate's "Fairytale of New York" is another ironic look at the 'joys' of Christmas. The opening line "It was Christmas eve, your in the drunk tank..." says it all.

Lisa Loeb's "Jingle Bells" is a funky upbeat take on the original, but Loeb sounds like shes trying a bit too hard to be more indie then she actually is. Jars of Clay "Christmas For Cowboys" has some nice guitars and the vocals of the lead singer are enjoyable as always. An interesting stand-out on the album as nothing else really has a banjo-picking sound, very sweet and mellow despite the odd choice of topic. Copeland's "Do You Hear What I Hear" has some great vocals and is truly catchy, a definite plus for the album overall, look out for the breakdown after each verse as it really switches up everything.

Overall Maybe This Christmas Tree is a pretty decent collab, combining a variety of sounds, themes, artists, and styles. Not every song is directly about Christmas and thats exactly the way it should be, makes a great disc to play when your chilling by yourself or as background for when you've got friends over for a late night of Egg Nogg and cookies ;)

Anyone else sick of the old rock and roll christmas mixes with the Smithereens and Queen? Finally some modern ones.

This is a good compilation for those who like this genre (meaning indie). Fairytale of New York was a descent cover, but I prefer the original Pogues version. The Maybe This Christmas... trio is definitely worth the money. None of the 3 are solid all the way through - somes songs are lacking a bit, but on the whole you could make 2 really good CDs from the 3 combined.

What a great CD if you like your xmas music fresh, new, and out of the ordinary. I recommend this album especially for two outstanding tracks in particular. Most importantly is the fantastic take of Vince Guiraldi's "Christmastime is Here" (yes, from the Charlie Brown cartoon), done by Ivy. Dominique Durand's voice sounds fabulous no matter what she sings, and she makes this song really shine. Also worth checking out is Death Cab for Cutie doing "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)", a must for any fan. The other songs all fit well within this compilation, strangely enough, Amazon doesn't list the songs on the product page. But, for a complete listing and streaming audio of the whole album, go to www.maybethisxmas.com. Enjoy!

This weekend I was looking for some Christmas music to add to my iTunes library when I came across Nettwerk's MAYBE THIS CHRISTMAS TREE, a collection of Xmas music by a group of indie pop bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Pedro the Lion. I was intrigued and I checked out the cd. I have to say that this is one of the better modern Christmas compilations I have heard. There are not a lot of Christmas cds from the alternative genre that I find enjoyable. I like how every artist on the cd gave their song its own unique twist like Royal Crown Revue did with "Baby It's Cold Outside" by giving it a swing flavor. Ivy's trip hop interpretation of the Charlie Brown classic "Christmas Time is Here" had a seductive element thanks to its laid back electronic grooves. I loved The Polyphonic Spree's cover of John Lennon's classic "Happy Xmas (War is Over)". There isn't one song on the album I didn't like. Despite not being a fan of Jars of Clay and Lisa Loeb, they did alright with the songs they covered. MAYBE THIS CHRISTMAS TREE has quickly become one of my favorite Christmas cds of all time.

I haven't heard the earlier volumes in this series but I'd certainly like to. The copy I've been listening to doesn't include the cover of the John Lennon classic (Happy Xmas war is over) that everybody else seems to have so I can't comment on that track although I'm familiar with several other versions of the song. As far as the rest of the album is concerned, I wasn't impressed on first listen but the album grew on me with each play. It just gets better and better. I like hearing different interpretations of familiar songs but some work better than others.

Highlights include Death Cub for Cutie with their cover of the Phil Spector classic, Christmas (Baby please come home), Royal Crown Revue featuring Vicky Tafoya with their cover of the forties classic, Baby it's cold outside, Pilate with a cover of the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl classic, Fairytale of New York and Jars of Clay with a cover of Christmas for cowboys, which I first heard on John Denver's album, Rocky Mountain Christmas. However, my favourite is Lisa Loeb's superb version of Jingle bells, whe she sings at a slower than usual tempo in a really sexy voice. Tom McCabe's version of the Paul McCartney classic, Wonderful Christmastime, is very melancholy contrasting sharply with the bright and cheerful original. Personally, I don't think this song suits such an interpretation but I know that others think it's brilliant. You must make up your own mind.

If you're looking for standard versions of Christmas classics, you are advised to look elsewhere. If, however, you enjoy hearing familiar songs given (for the most part) very distinctive interpretations, you should seek this out. Even if (like me) you find that one or two don't sound quite right, you'll find that the others provide plenty of compensation.

I loved Maybe This Christmas - the first in the series - and while the second (Maybe This Christmas Too) was somewhat of a disappointment, the third installment came right back up to the standard set by the first.

In particular, I recommend the haunting "Christmas Time is Here" by Ivy, and the melancholy "Wonderful Christmastime" by Tom McRae. But be warned - this isn't a cheerful, upbeat album (despite the best efforts of The Polyphonic Spree, who, as always, seem to be enjoying themselves tremendously). If you're looking for great alternative interpretations of classics, then pick this up. But if you just want mindless happy music, pass this by.

I am always on the look-out for original Christmas music and have a rather large number of such CDs in my collection, especially those tunes that, over the years, also became hit singles for the artists concerned. You won't find any of those in this volume which, certainly, is one of the most unusual seasonal compilations I have. I picked my copy up about three years ago, primarily because of the obvious originality of many of the tracks, as well as the fact some proceeds go to a charity.

In the insert, which contains no other details except publishing credits for each of the artists, there is a small note saying "A portion of the proceeds from this record will go to the Marine Toys For Tots Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that our nation's most needy children will experience the joys and wonder of the holidays with gifts that are bought with charitable contributions."

As for the music, I like most but found that I could do without these three: I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day, a traditional seasonal tune done horribly by Pedro The Lion, an indie rock band based in Seattle, Washington led by vocalist David Bazan; Christmas Time Is Here, the now-classic Vince Guaraldi composition first featured in the animated A Charlie Brown Christmas, done here by Ivy, a NY City trio consisting of Andy Chase, Adam Schlesinger and Dominique Durand, who sings it in a manner obviously meant to conjure up visions of an old 78 rpm recording - not horrible by any means - just not to my liking; and Do You Hear What I Hear? first made famous by Bing Crosby back in 1963, but poorly rendered here by Copeland, a Lakeland, Florida pop/alternative band led by vocalist Aaron Marsh, backup singer James Likeness, guitarist Bryan Laurenson and drummer Jonathan Buckley.

On the other hand, I thoroughly enjoy the cover of the John (Lennon) and Yoko (Ono) & The Plastic Ono Band with The Harlem Community Choir 1971 hit, Happy Xmas (War Is Over), by The Polyphonic Spree, a large band directed by Tim DeLaughter with a 10-person choir from Dallas, Texas that boasts two keyboardists, a percussionist, bassist, trumpeter, trombonist, harpist, violinist, drummer, guitarist, flute player, French horn player, and one electronic-effects coordinator. Among the original cuts is The Christmas Song, a different tune than the familiar one with the same name composed by Mel Torme in the 1940s. Guitarist/vocalist Sune Rose Wagner, who wrote it, is one half of this Danish duo with bassist/guitarist/vocalist Sharin Foo who took the name Raveonettes by combining part of the name of The Ronettes with Buddy Holly;s big hit, Rave On.

Another indie rock band, this time from Bellingham, Washington, is Death Cab For Cutie, and they perform Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), a tune written by Ellie Greenwich, Jeff Barry and Phil Spector, with leader Ben Gibbard on vocals and guitar, while Chris Evanson and Brett Detar, who wrote Bittersweet Eve specifically for this album, function as Belasana. The Royal Crown Revue, formed up in L.A. in 1989 and are often cited as the group that sparked a return of the Swing Era tunes, and do a great job on the old standard, Baby, It's Cold Outside.

The soft vocals of Tom McRae, born in Essex, England in 1969, highlight the cover of Paul McCartney's Wonderful Christmastime, the four-piece Canadian band Pilate contribute their composition, the haunting Fairytale Of New York, and from actress Lisa Loeb, who, with her group Nine Stories, had five hit singles in the 1990's, including the # 1 Stay (I Missed You) from the film Reality Bites, we get her unique interpretation of Jingle Bells. And finally, there's a cover of John Denver's Christmas For Cowboys, written by Steve Weisberg, by the oddly-named
Jars of Clay, formed at Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois. Vocalist Dan Haseltine, pianist/keyboardist Charlie Lowell, lead guitarist Stephen Mason, and rhythm guitarist Matthew Odmark, had a 1996 # 37 hit with Flood and created their name from a new translation of a passage from 2 Corinthians 4:7.

An oddity, to be sure, and maybe not to everyone's taste, but this old traditionalist likes it very much - except for those three tracks mentioned.

we have recommended this cd to several of our friends and plan on buying the others in the series. loved the musicians featured on this compilation and the choice of songs. as mentioned above...this is an awesome christmas cd!!

This is the third volume in the Maybe This Christmas series. It features mostly alt-rock performers doing Christmas music. Most of the performances are decent, but not really anything special. But Lisa Loeb does do one of the better versions of "Jingle Bells" that I've heard.

I love the first Maybe This Christmas cd so was psyched to pick this up but so many of the songs on it are such total downers that I can't imagine I'll be listening to it much next Christmas.