Phil’s Faves: Songs, December 25, 2011

This will be a personal weekly Top Ten list of what I consider to be the best songs that I listened to the previous week. Most songs will be current, but there are no boundaries. I’ve already stated on this web site that I am obsessed with music. I am constantly hunting it down whether it’s online, on CD, from my personal collection, from a library (Yes, I think the library is a great source of music–especially for music that you aren’t sure about.), TV, or radio. Since most of these sources mostly emphasize new music, the odds are pretty good that most of the songs on this list will be new. But in my search, I don’t use any boundaries for the other sources. I am just looking for good music that I haven’t heard, or happened to forget about. Everyone, including myself, has forgotten way more great music than they can ever remember-even if they are also music fanatics.
Also, there will be no rules concerning songs on this list. A song can show up or drop off a number of times. This will be the most volatile of my lists. It all depends on how much music I am exposed to during the week and what I find interesting. On really obscure stuff, I will try to include the source, if I know it.

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The Fab end up topping the final weekly list of the year of what will probably be the only all Christmas list of songs! They end up knocking off Lady Antebellum on a very spirited Christmas ride to the top! Way to go guys! I think this list is a very good mixture of funny/silly and feel good/serious songs!
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Top Ten Songs for the Week of December 25, 2011

1. Santa You Can Drive My Sled—The Fab (Beatles Tribute Band from Las Vegas)
2. Chiron Beta Prime—Jonathan Coulton
3. Arbolito—Tish Hinojosa
4. Jingle Bells (Remix)—Esquivel
5. Very Merry Christmas—Dave Barnes
6. Navidad Y Ano Nuevo—Riders in the Sky
7. Deck the Halls—Lorie Line
8. Christmas Cash—Fred Figglehorn
9. White Christmas—Michael Buble and Shania Twain
10. Walking in My Winter Underwear—Fred Ziwich

1) “Santa You Can Drive My Sled”—Well, it did have enough time to make it to the top! The coolest Christmas song of the season makes the drive without having to slow down for any of the competition! I’m hoping that this is the first track of a forthcoming Christmas CD. Theses guys sound so good on this song that I think they should show their true form and do some Christmas originals of their own! And, you know… some more Beatle covers!
2) “Chiron Beta Prime”—This song, from Coulter’s ingenious CD “Thing a Week Two,” is quickly becoming one of my all time favorite Christmas songs. It’s a sci-fi story about being sent to work in a mine on planet Chiron Beta Prime by the robot overlords…I mean protectors! The premise sounds awfully bleak where the singer has to eat soylent green for Christmas. But it’s so sly and hilarious that it makes you feel good! I’ve heard that there is a video for the song that I keep forgetting to check out. I’ll let you know what it’s …“MESSAGE REDACTED!”……………………
3) “Arbolito”—A very sweet song from her CD “Memorabilia Navidena” that is probably a true personal experience! The song centers on the singer’s history of decorating the Christmas tree over time as her sisters hog putting on the icicles. This song is a sentimental acoustic beauty, and Hinojosa’s voice has never sounded better!
4) “Jingle Bells (Remix)”—Another week of enjoying this silly song! It fits right in with “Chiron Beta Prime!”
5) “Very Merry Christmas”—I can’t help snapping my fingers when this song is on! Believe me, there aren’t too many songs—Christmas or otherwise, that can get me to do that!
6) “Navidad Y Ano Nuevo”—I have no idea what they’re singing, but the harmonies are beautiful as the song lopes along!
7) “Deck the Halls”—Although this instrumental is entitled “Deck the Halls,” it’s actually an interwoven medley that includes “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” I sometimes prefer listening to traditional songs as instrumentals rather than a “ho-hum- going-through-the-motions vocal version. This one fits the requirements—and then some! It is only a sliver on an excellent CD called “Sharing the Season II”—which means that there are other similar albums! The arrangements are crisp and creative! This one moves along at the clip of a runaway sled—but not to worry. Lorie is always in control! The piano lays down the rhythm but also has some very nice upper register “tinkling!” There’s even a fiddle that surprises the listener about halfway through. If someone could have played a kitchen sink, I’m sure she would have thrown that in, too, for good measure! And all of this takes place in slightly more than thirty seconds. I have never heard “Deck the Halls” or “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman” sound happier! It is a true gem!
8) “Christmas Cash”—Ah, the “true” spirit of Christmas! Fred, from his “It’s Hackin’ Christmas with Fred” CD, gets right to the heart of the matter of what people really want for Christmas in a great simbie chorus: “Moneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoney/Moneymoneymoneymoneymoneymoney!” The chorus sounds like it’s sung by the minions from “Despicable Me.” It’s very catchy…and funny!
9) “White Christmas”Michael Buble and Shania Twain breathe needed and welcome new life into a Christmas standard! It is a very welcome alternative!
10) Walking in My Winter Underwear”Fred Ziwich takes a parody turn on a Christmas classic from his “Button Box at Christmas” CD! It’s nice to have a different underwear alternative than the one Bob Rivers did about twenty years ago. Although the subject is still underwear, Fred does a nice job on his accordion to accompany his “dry, tongue-in-cheek” vocal!
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