New Christmas Music from CeeLo, Rod Stewart, Tracey Thorn, Paul McCartney, The Shins

CeeLo's Magic Moment
By A.D. AMOROSI

This week’s Halloween’s costumes didn’t even make it to cold storage when – WHOOSH – winter’s chill came roaring in, bringing with it a rush of Christmas albums. Take down the orange and black and yank the “Monster Mash” 45 off of your record player; it’s time for holiday-themed albums by CeeLo Green, Rod Stewart, Tracy Thorn, and a compilation with none other than Paul McCartney.

As far as we’re concerned, CeeLo is the new king of ho-ho-ho. The grainy-voiced Gnarls Barkley singer aka the guy who made a naughty five million copies selling hit of “F**k You,” just released CeeLo’s Magic Moment (Elektra), a soulful work with Green belting out the season’s finest songs by himself (“Silent Night,” “White Christmas”), with his Voice (singing competition) co-judge Christina Aguilera on a sexy “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”, and Rod Stewart for an artfully raucous R&B rendition of “Merry Christmas, Baby.”

Rod the Mod, a guy who’s never met a cover tune that he didn’t like (I’m referring to his five big selling Great American Songbook albums) has his own holiday-themed album out this week, also called Merry Christmas, Baby (Verve). Stewart surprisingly tackles old holy classics (“Silent Night”) and slow reverent songs (“We Three Kings”) along with a few Tin Pan Alley standards (“When You Wish upon A Star”) and the rocking secular likes of “Blue Christmas” and “Red-Suited Super Man.” Silly stuff, but a solid stocking stuffer.

Much warmer and charming is Tracey Thorn’s Tinsel and Lights (Merge). Whether singing solo (albums such as Out of the Woods and A Distant Shore) or with her partner Ben Watt in the alt-pop duo Everything But The Girl (1982–2000), Thorn’s voice is the loneliest, loveliest instrument, a bassoon amidst a field of violins and harps. That same instrument brings the dual sounds of woe and effervescence to a series of holiday standards (“Hard Candy Christmas”), as well as self-penned new classics.

Lastly (for now), there is Holidays Rule (HEAR), a Christmas compilation that would be an icicle-filled indie-rock delight (The Shins, Calexico, Fruit Bats, Punch Bros) if it weren’t for a few crooners: Rufus Wainwright’s yodeling take on “Baby, It's Cold Outside”, soul great Irma Thomas’ loving “May Ev'ry Day Be Christmas”, and pop godfather Paul McCartney, a veteran of the Christmas song stakes, who tackles a crackling version of “The Christmas Song” that rivals Nat King Cole in the “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” department.

Posted on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 7:35 AM