Here's New Music from Mango Island Sound and Tim Gerard & Astro Ranger

One of the benefits of writing a holiday music blog is the steady stream of interesting material I receive from artists and promoters eager to share their latest creations. When I started this blog 12 years ago I had intended to use it simply to share some background on the various tracks from my annual holiday music CDs. Many of the songs I include aren't well known and recipients often have questions about some of the material I feature. Over time, however, I started to post about holiday music more generally, and creators no doubt see blogs like this as potential vehicles to promote their work. I'm happy to help out where I can — after all, it's always fun to share the good stuff with others. However, I don't claim to follow new holiday releases in any sort of systematic way, nor can I promise to promote everything I receive. With those ground rules in mind, here's a quick look at two new releases that may be of interest:

Pineapple & Puddings
Tim Gerard & Astro Ranger

Tim Gerard is a guy who gets around. Raised in South Africa, Belgium and the U.K., he migrated to my hometown of Boston in 2014 to attend the Berklee College of Music before settling in the Los Angeles area to launch his career as a singer, songwriter and session musician. He describes his music as "internationally wrapped with a blues rock stamp," which sounds rather distinctive. Pineapple & Puddings, the holiday album he's released with Astro Ranger, has a distinctive sound, too — upbeat, guitar-driven holiday songs with smart lyrics and melodic hooks that harken back to the pop/rock sounds of the '70s and early '80s. The album features 12 songs, most of them original, each of which offers a delightful portrait of one aspect of the season. This would be a great album to play while driving home for Christmas or watching the snow fall from a warm place by the fire.. 

Listen to the album Pineapple & Puddings, by Tim Gerard & Astro Ranger

So Many Christmases Ago
Mango Island Sound

The magic of Christmas touches people of many diverse backgrounds, so it's hardly surprising to find holiday songs that come in a variety of different musical styles. As of my latest special mix, 21st Century Holiday Classics, I've used a total of 720 different tracks on my various mixes, and you'll find tunes in styles from disco to punk and from bluegrass to ska. Some songs even combine what at first may seem to be incongruous styles. "So Many Christmases Ago" is certainly one of those tunes, as it features a story that might have been illustrated by Norman Rockwell over a steadily building calypso beat punctuated by, of all things, steel drums! The lyrics describe Christmas from the viewpoint of several different generations and the upbeat sound of the tropics wraps the whole thing up with a colorful bow. Not sure what others may think, but it works for me! 

I hope to feature some additional new music as the season rolls on. It's now November (Lord, help us) so the start of the season isn't too far away!