Not to be grumpy-faced about the holidays, but upon reading this lengthy musicological treatise on the music of the season, I can't help relishing every little of bit Tris McCalls's sarcastic, irreverent yet brilliant writing! Check a selection from the abstract:

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

The least of the five great Christmas carols, “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” is nonetheless an eternal powerhouse: a mead-swinging Old English melody and accompaniment to put “Greensleeves” to shame. This is straight Luke narrative: the angel, the shepherds, the trip to Bethlehem, the manger, the whole tear-jerking yarn. The lustiness of the diapason, however, knocks the starch out of the pathos; you don't come away from the story feeling particularly sentimental. Rather, it's an entreaty to have faith in a God who actually does function as a mighty fortress -- in this Christmas carol, unlike so many others, you're not asked to pity-worship an infantilized object of devotion. “God Rest Ye” does lay on the snow and storm a little thick, but I give it a flier because it's so evidently British, and I am sure the author simply wanted to show off his hardiness and stiff upper lip.

Our back catalogue finally made it up onto Kompakt MP3 this morning. I'm very happy about this development and in light of the full release schedule planned for 2007, excited about the additional visibility for our artists via this important European label/store. Big up!!

Check out this groovy, lil' oldskool website, with *loads* of flash-based virtual drum machines, dating back to the early 70's! The author, a Mr. Joseph Rivers, clearly put in a loads of effort sampling the sounds and recreating the interfaces in flash. Some of these instruments are actually quite playable, while others, particularly older/rarer models, have only the sounds and presets!

Okay, time to go dialup a foxtrot, bossanova or teen beat preset and rockout! haha!