24 — Wednesday, December 14, 1988 - North Shore News

BY NOW, a lot of us are besotted with Christmas. Music is
intrinsic to the seasonal ritual. Hoping to fill the space in
the rack beside your well-worn copies of Handel’s Messiah
and Bing “Der Bingle” Crosby’s White Christmas are the
following new Christmas releases.

Rita MacNeil — Now The Bells
Ring, Virgin Records 1988

The big woman from Big Pond
has put out a comforting Christmas
collection. The album includes
several of the classics, Silent Night,
O Holy Night!, Away In A Manger,
as well as many MacNeil originals.

The self-penned songs sing of
remembrance of the basic joys of
friendship and the promise of
hope. MacNeil manages to come
off as sincerely sentimental
without the:maudlin excesses so
often at the core of many a_
Christmas album.

The California Raisins —
Christmas With The California
Raisins, A&M Records, 1988-

Those crazy shrivelled little fruits
escape balmy California for a trip
to.the winter wonderland. The
Raisins are on a record-releasing
binge this year, quickly churning
out the vinyl before tire concept
turns stale.

A notch above being just ©
another novelty cash-in, the festive
installment contains some truly fun
moments, if upbeat, uptempo R&B
versions of Christmas standards
appeal, then the release is worth
checking out. Top of the polar
pops is Rudolph The Red-Nosed
Reindeer wrapped up rapping
style. The liturgical songs are ab-
sent. The Raisins favor secular
tunes like Santa Claus Is Coming
To Town and White Christmas.
The release also includes a cover
version of John Lennon's Happy -
Christmas.

31. Marine. Dr.,

| INTERSECTIONS

North

MICHAEL
BECKER

music reviewer

Mannheim Steamroller — A Fresh
Aire Christmas, American
Gramaphone Records, 1988

Composer-conductor Chip Davis
follows up the hugely successful
1984 release of the Mannheim
Steamroller Christmas album. The
first one has sold 1.3 million
copies. The latest has posted ad-
vance sale orders of over 738,000
copies: : -

And the interest is merited. The
12 carols on this one are, for the
most part, familiar standards.
Usually lumped in to the catch-all
New Age music category, the
Steamroiler melds synthesizers
with classical-period instruments.

‘The new Christmas release ex-

. plores a wider field of sound than

its predecessor. Davis includes
symphonic and choral input,
courtesy of the Chicago Symphony
Orchestra and the Cambridge
Singers. The crisply-recorded col-
lection conjures an exultant and
reverent spell — joyfully pure
Fresh Aire to feed the spirit.

Windham Hill Artists — A
Winter’s Solstice Il, 1988

A departure from the usual carol
fare, the collection offers seasonal,
fireside music without a hint of
commercialism. The string of in-
strumentals features a bit of Bach,
original compositions and many

Entertainment. Store:

n, Norgate Plaza

TAKE YOUR TIME
NOT YOUR CHANCES

CICBC

TRAFFIC SAFETY

reworkings of obscure period
pieces,

Highlights include a reflective
dulcimer rendition, by Malcolm
Dalglish, of a 19th century
American Shaker hymn entitled
Come Life Shaker Life; a Basque
carol, This Rush Of Wings, per-

formed by Metamora; a cascading

acoustic guitar solo, Abide The
Winter, by Windham Hill label
co-founder William Ackerman;
Salve Regina, a Middle Ages song
once sung by Crusaders and
reworked here with harp, tenor
recorder and voices by Therese
Schroeder-Sheker. ,

Michael Christie and Wayne Pet-
tie — Olive The Other Reindeer,
Sonrise 1988

This children’s package comes
with an original narration, song
and coloring book. Remember -
how “all of the other reindeer’
(read: Olive The Other Reindeer).

- used to laugh at poor Rudolph and

call him names? Expanding on a
tricky bit of word play, the Port
Coquitlam-based Christie and
Capilano music teacher Pettie
have spun a charming tale about
Rudolph’s female, sleigh-pulling

- counterpart.

Dinner

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Year's Eve Party. And hope
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HELP US RING IN
THE NEW YEAR

KENNY COLMAN held over for a special New Year’s Eve show
with the 6 piece Linton Garner Combo. Reserve your tickets for

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KENNY COLMAN

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