Amazon.com
O come all ye high-end retailers - rejoice! Your holiday soundtrack is upon you! These gentle instrumentals were cherry-picked from the Grammy award-winning duo's best-selling Christmas collections,
The Gift and
Star Of Wonder, and also offer two previously unreleased bonus tracks,
O Come, All Ye Faithful and
Catalan. The music of Eric Tingstad (guitars, synthesizers) and Nancy Rumbel (oboes, English horn, ocarinas (!), synthesizer, chimes, piano) exemplifies the tasteful, complacent, unassuming esthetic peculiar to certain publicly-funded and widely syndicated radio shows. The artists themselves refer to their style as American acoustic (despite the synthesizers) and like the works of pianist George Winston, their placid easy-listening pastiches defy facile pigeon-holing. But their avowed aim is to encourage relaxation and this they do, almost to the point of immobility. Their interpretations of timeless carols are pretty, tidy and well-recorded - ideal for holiday get-togethers, fireplace gazing or those long drives to-and-from the mall. --
Christina Roden