Customer Reviews

Wonderland: A Winter Solstice Celebration

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I ordered this CD by mistake thinking I was ordering a Windham Hill Winter Solstice CD. I am so glad I decided to keep it and give it a chance. I was very pleasantly surprised. It is not your usual collection of music that you find on various artists collections. I particularly enjoy Peter Mulvey rendition of Joni Mitchel's The River and Pete Nelson's You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch. This CD is becoming one of my favorite Xmas CDs.

I came across this album because it contained performances by a couple of my favorite modern folk artists, but the surprise was that the tracks I came to love the most were not actually by those same artists (though I still enjoy them). This compilation is well paced and thoughtfully arranged, featuring both original material as well as covers of holiday/winter songs that are well off the beaten track. You'll find none of the typical overplayed fare here. The overall mood is mellow, warm, full of light. Some of my friends who usually detest "holiday" music have commented on how much they enjoy this album. Plus, it's a great introduction to many talented independent artists you may have otherwise never heard of. Two that particularly stand out for me are the cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "Song for a Winter Night" by Erica Wheeler and Peter Mulvey's re-sketching of Joni Mitchell's "River". A rare and lovely collection.

One of the advantages of an anthology or compilation CD is that every song and every artist can be chosen based on their strengths. Signature Sounds took advantage of this is creating this CD. It remains, even after nine years, one of my favorites. I don't think that there is a weak cut in the bunch and the variety of themes and emotions developed on the CD is more far-ranging that on the vast majority of holiday CDs.

Wonderful album with rare renditions of lovely songs. Standouts include "American Noel" (my favorite) and "The Tree." There's not a track to skip on this album.

This is not a Windham Hill collection. All tracks have vocalists.