The Virgin Sings Her Lullaby

'Tis the season already?! It's going to be 90 today in Des Moines! Jesus! It's time to belt out your favorite holiday tunes, stick 'em on a CD, and puke them out to an adoring fanbase. I've rarely been a fan of holiday albums from pop stars, mostly because it's never anything all that special. Usually the original songs pale in comparison to the timeless classics. So I figure, why not just listen to the classics as done by those who made them famous?

With that said, I have to admit that I'm curious about Sarah McLachlan's first holiday CD Wintersongs. Her voice is spectacular and Pierre Marchand's production just might add some interesting elements to the religious classics like What Child is This? (my all-time favorite xmas tune), Silent Night, and O Little Town of Bethlehem. She's thrown in a couple originals including her old Song For a Winter's Night, which has long made music fans' cool holiday tune mixtapes, and the new Wintersong. The first single is her rendition of Joni Mitchell's River. I've yet to find any previews or downloads of the new album, but it comes out October 17 and do we really need to listen to holiday music before that? With her voice and song-styles, this might make for a good listen while loading (er, while Santa loads) the kids' stockings Christmas eve.

Also of interest for the same kinda crowd, a new holiday CD from James Taylor. And of note for Sarah fans, a new live double-disc set called Mirrorball: The Complete Concert comes out tomorrow. It's the full set from her concert in Portland that ended the tour, which included her best songs from her best albums Fumbling Towards Ecstasy and Surfacing. I saw her on this tour and she was astonishing.