Spanish Christmas Songs

‘A Tiempo Real’ is the new album from the traditional Spanish folk band Vigüela. It is a double-disc of almost 100 minutes of carefully arranged traditional folk songs and is as much album as a lively preservation project. ‘A Tiempo Real’ is a cultural contribution to Spanish folk music as performed in village life in homes, festivities and celebrations in the province of Castilla-La Mancha and beyond.

This plentiful selection from Alan Lomax's field recordings will change the way you think of Christmas. Spoken narratives, mummers' plays, fife-and-drum recordings, Scottish lullabyes, liturgical chants, French a cappella hymns, Alabama sacred-harp gatherings, wassail songs, and Virginia fiddle tunes drawn from diverse geographical regions, languages, and performing styles are all represented. And yet the collection somehow weaves together a coherent story of primary, emotional responses to the symbols and stories of this holiday. The mood is frequently exuberant, capturing the sound of festivals, gatherings, and worship in small towns. Other times the mood is spiritual. Vera Ward Hall, whom Lomax considered one of the greatest singers he recorded, performs a soulful blues inspired by the Bethlehem pilgrimage. And you've likely never heard anything akin to the voices recorded on the Spanish Balearic islands–their message of glad tidings comes in a quavering, throaty cry, accompanied by rapping swords, no less. The emotions behind such voices will leave you in wonder. Songs of Christmas may even restore your faith in the mystery of the season itself.

The Animals' Christmas is the sixth solo studio album and the first Christmas album by vocalist Art Garfunkel, released in December 1985 by Columbia Records. The album was written by Jimmy Webb and features vocals by Garfunkel, Amy Grant, and Wimbledon King's College Choir. The Animals' Christmas tells the story of the Nativity of Jesus from the perspective of the animals present. The album received positive reviews, with one writer calling it "one of the best Christmas albums of the '80s."

Christmas with The King's Singers New music, old music, music from the Renaissance and Baroque, spirituals, folksongs, jazz and pop… The Beatles, David Bowie, swing, classical avantgarde, waltzes by Strauss, and musical theatre songs. Which genre of music are the King's Singers actually yet to interpret? Which style have they not yet captured within their unique global reach and within their transparent and intimate six-voiced sound world? One thing is for sure - when the King's Singers came together at the end of the 1960s in Cambridge, no one would have believed the success story that lay ahead of them. Some musical experts were scathing: a male-only vocal sextet was most likely to be found in the pop sector.

There are so many classic songs on here, and with three CDs, there's a lot of variety, as well. Some of the songs are funny, others are sweet, and still others are fun.