Kiss The Rain, Billie Myers

These are great! I gotta go to bed now but will check again tommorrow! Thanks!

Say Goodbye - Dave Matthews Band

Animal Collective's Deacon To Make A Difference In Mali With Music

Joshua Dibb, better known as Deacon of the band Animal Collective, has been invited to perform at 2010's Festival in the Desert, which takes place in Essakane, Mali from January 7-9. He's headed to Mali for more than just music -- he will be supporting the anti-slavery campaign.

Dibb initially started a project on kickstarter.com to fund the trip and the making of a CD of field recordings and a book that brings awareness to Mali's slavery plight. Fans flooded the site and donated in droves.

Now the trip is being funded by Paw Tracks, a record label affiliated with Animal Collective's early work, so all the money raised through the kickstarter project will be going to aid Africa, making it a truly humanitarian effort.

For $50, supporters will receive a hand-packaged CD with music Dibb is creating with sounds collected from the trip. All donations will be benefiting TEMEDT, a Mali human rights organization working to abolish slavery of the Tuareg people, set up legal support services, create economic development, and provide education opportunities for them. TEMEDT has teamed up with Ashoka projects in order to achieve these goals.

TEMEDT, which stands for solidarity, says there are thousands of people are still living in slavery or slavery-like conditions in Mali, although the government formally ended slavery in the 1960s after independence.

The fundraising goal of $25,000 has to be met by December 31 in order for the project to be funded, so donate here.

I just listened to John Denver and the Muppets' "A Christmas Together." Hands down my favorite holiday album. Besides the obvious nostagia factor, there are some really lovely songs on there that one doesn't really hear elsewhere.

My 2nd fave is Sesame Street*, then Nat King Cole, then Bing.

What are y'all's?

* Can't remember if I shared this before, but for years our album would skip in the same place - during the Bert/Ernie Gift of the Magi story, with Mr. Hooper saying "To get Bert a cigar bocky- to get Bert a cigar bocky- to get Bert..." It finally stopped skipping on its own, and now we miss it.

I've got my copy of that Denver/Muppets CD waiting to get listened to this afternoon!

But my favorite Xmas CD is The Roches "We Three Kings." Such fantastic harmonies, such beautiful music.

I just got a replacement copy of a Starbucks Winterludes CD from the 1990s called Angel Holidays--all instrumental/classical songs, from The Nutcracker to Handel's Hallelujah to Bach, but my favorite track is "Riu Riu Chiu," which is gorgeous.

That same year my sister bought me that CD from Starbucks, she also got me one with more popular music called Cool Holiday Notes (although I doubt it's worth the $143 that Amazon vendor is asking for).

Now is the Caroling Season by Fred Waring & The Pennsylvanians
Winter's Grace by Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum
The Bells of Dublin by The Chieftains
Christmas Cocktails

Jeez, I've got so much Christmas music and my favorite things to put on are my own mixes.

But there are some particularly strong sets that I love.

Two Rhino collections are great, Hipster's Holiday and Doo Wop Christmas. Both are superfun.

There was an independent country label, Giant, that put out some lovely comps. One was called Tinsel Tunes.

Emmylou Harris' Christmas album is gorgeous.

For traditional British xmas music I put on The Players, which was produced by two guys from Roxy Music. Very Dickensian, all instrumental, beautifully played on old timey instruments, including the droning ones like the Hurdy Gurdy. If you like those old minor key hymns, this is excellent.

Five Chinese Brothers did my favorite set of Christmas originals, including my favorite new xmas song of the last 20 years, "And To All A Good Night."

I've got some good big band Christmas collections. It's interesting in part because Christmas has its own fads and trends from generation to generation and certain songs were more common back then. Besides I can always sneak in "It Happened At Sun Valley."

Short Rogers has a fantastic West Coast Jazz version of the Nutcracker that I love, particularly the "Swinging Plum Fairy."

Hec, have you heard the Brian Setzer Orchestra's Nutcracker Suite, which uses the Nelson Riddle arrangment?

David, I was just listening to your Wintergrace mix this morning! I love that one. Other favorites include the Roches CD that Kathy mentioned and Susan McKeown and Lindsey Horner's rather somber album of winter/solstice/Christmas songs, Through the Bitter Frost and Snow. It's very spare, mostly just McKeown's voice and Horner's upright bass, and the songs are about cold and snow and the dark of December, but there's the promise of light as well. To me it's the perfect Solstice album.