Music: Christmas Special #1

Music: Christmas Extraordinaire (Mannheim Steamroller)

I thought about doing a blogpost or two on Christmas music last year, but didn't end up getting to it. So this year I am going to do a (hopefully) four-part review on by far my favorite group making Christmas music, Mannheim Steamroller. Their music connects me to the season with an intensity beyond any other similar effect in music. Put simply, I can't imagine Christmas without listening to this musical act. I have four of their albums, which I'll review in reverse chronological order; I think there are one or two more but I haven't listened to them yet. As a brief introduction to those unfamiliar with Mannheim Steamroller (yes, both of you), the group is primarily instrumental and uses a unique combination of electronic, modern symphonic, and Baroque-era styles. There is great variation in their arrangements, from major to slight alterations on the originals (and they have a few of their own compositions as well). On to the review!

1. "Hallelujah"

I hate to start off my review of Mannheim on a less than stellar note, but I'm afraid that's how it goes. This arrangement is not bad, but not up to their very high standards. Like the rest of this album, and leans much more on the electronic side of their style than the Baroque-y, featuring a number of synthesizers and drums to keep a pretty steady tempo. Towards the middle, some real strings and brass give a nice change of pace, but the overall vibe is a little like disco (particularly the drum part) which is kind of off-putting and not the best choice for this literally classic piece. A fine album opener, but by no means in the group's upper tier.

2. "White Christmas"

Occasionally, Mannheim adopts a style that is almost too cheesy - but they usually choose the right songs for which to use it. This is one of them. A kiddy-sounding set of bells plays the main melody and is supported by a nice chorus; later a string section takes over to give a tad more weight to the mood. Finally, the chorus takes over for the last major recitation of the theme, and the usual Mannheim electronic instruments show up. This song shows off one of Mannheim's strengths: knowing what style to use in adapting beloved Christmas tunes. Still not a personal preference of mine, I give credit for the quality of the song nonetheless.

3. "Away In A Manger"

Unfortunately for me, here is another song that, regardless of the arrangement, is not one that I especially enjoy. However, the Mannheim touch for style comes through again, perhaps even better this time. Certainly it shows more creativity in the combination of instruments. A lone guitar starts with an intro and continues on to provide support for a recorder playing the melody - a nice combo. The recorder is joined by a pretty oboe in the melody, and a backing string part, all playing well together. Some Mannheim electronics join the party at the song's climax but then fade away. Classic Mannheim, despite my personal lack of fondness for it.

4. "Faeries" (from the Nutcracker Suite)

Here Mannheim goes back to the heavier electronic emphasis heard on the album opener. A deep electronic bass intro precedes the tinkling xylophone-like melody. As the song moves to the second major part of the song more traditional instruments jump in, mostly strings and I think a bassoon. At 2.5 minutes, it's quite short and ends very abruptly so it almost seems like an interlude piece. Nothing wrong with this one, but it last long enough to leave a very significant impression.

5. "Do You Hear What I Hear?"

The tinkling xylophone leads us off again with an intro, backed by a beautiful part in the bass by a string section. A woodwind plays the melody (I believe a clarinet), and the xylophone plays on while the strings are reduced to a quiet but high-pitched backing. Eventually lower-octave strings start a neat plunking rhythm which is quite nice. A return to the stripped-down xylophone/lower strings part ends the song. Certainly one of Mannheim's more passive arrangements, it is one of the album's stronger efforts, fitting very well with the album's sonic themes if not branching out very much (it doesn't hurt that the original is a nice song, anyway).

6. "The First Noel"

A full, beautiful string section intro starts things off, followed by another prelude to the original melody, played by electronic instruments and low, low strings. A violin plays the main melody slowly and somewhat sadly, with only the xylophone still tinkling away beneath it. The second play through gives the oboe a shot at the melody with greater support, with those low, low strings again. The song climaxes with a violin-oboe duet, and it peters out with, again, just the xylophone. Although it's not a bad arrangement, there are several problems. First, the placement is poor, coming after the not much more upbeat "Do You Hear"; second, in my opinion this song's melody tires itself out extremely quickly. Something more creative than xylophone, oboe and violin was in order here.

7. "Silver Bells"

Here we have a more upbeat song, although it's not exactly a rousing rondo, of course. A muted keyboard sound backs the melody throughout and gives it, unfortunately, a rather sleepy feeling (not to mention almost elevator music-like). And guess what instrument plays the melody? Yep, the tinkling xylophone is here again. It isn't until about a minute left that a non-electronic/percussion instrument enters; a single French horn gives the song a little more life. To top it all off, the song is way too long at 4.5 minutes. As you can tell, I'm not a fan of this song. I pretty much skip it every time it comes along.

8. "Some Children See Him"

Ah, no more tinkling xylophone at last! A familiar Mannheim bass drum starts an intriguing beat; overall, in fact, the song feels much more like classic Steamroller than the last few tracks. With strings and keyboard playing an exotic backing, a very high woodwind plays the main melody, one reminiscent of "Pat A Pan." Familiar harpsichord takes over the backing after that and finally some great drumming and a little low brass brings the song to its full energy. The main melody carries on for a good while, though not quite too long, before giving way to the bass drum again and one last solo play through. Perhaps the album's strongest song.

9. "Fum, Fum, Fum"

Lone recorder starts off the quiet, interesting melody, joined by a few siblings after a minute or so. The xylophone makes a return, but the tinkling is toned down and an oboe soon dominates the main melody, anyway, as the song assumes the album's overall instrumental pattern. This one is much like "Faeries," in that it's done before you expect; it's a little bit longer, but has really only two sections in it. Thus, my feelings on it are pretty much the same.

10. "Winter Wonderland"

The heavier electronic theme bounces back for a third round here, with a guitar-like keyboard playing an intro that serves as the backing for the song throughout (sounds a little like a TV intro theme, actually). The main melody is played by a different keyboard, one that sounds more like 80s-style Mannheim, or other similar artists. High strings shimmer and tambourines shakes to give the song yet more of a floaty, whispy feeling. More variety, with harpsichord and French horn, have a bit at the end, but by then it is what it is. I suppose it's a pretty appropriate arrangement for the song, and a fairly strong one at that - but again, here's an original that doesn't rank among my favorites.

11. "O Tannenbaum"

A men's chorus sings a few strains of the melody to start this one, a nice touch. This is followed by a major style change with xylophone, French horn and other electronic effects added in before the most horrifying thing ever heard on a Mannheim record comes in: the voice of Johnny Mathis. This awful decision really overrides everything else, and this is probably the only Mannheim song that I always skip when it comes on.

12. "Auld Lang Syne"

Obviously, this is a very appropriate album closer. I'm not sure what instrument plays the melody here; the best I can think of is perhaps an electronic chime. This is backed by a quiet chorus and high strings from time to time, along with a strange electronic effect. The song ends with a men's chorus, like the one at the beginning of "Tannenbaum", taking over the melody, backed by a deep electronic bass. It's certainly a very Mannheim-y take on the holiday classic, and the sort of minimalist style is a nice touch, symbolizing the reminiscence that takes place at the end of each year. Good finisher.

One reason that I wanted to go backwards in reviewing the Mannheim Steamroller albums was that I could get the worst over with first. This is not a bad album by any means, but I think its songs come across much better when listened to among a mix of other Mannheim songs. The album keeps a nice theme of sound, but sticks to it almost too well in creating more similar songs than you typically find on a Mannheim album (the song selection certainly did not help the group to diversify their sound here). There is still very good quality musicianship and creative arrangement here, but many of the songs are simply not my favorite Christmas tunes. Worth checking out, at least shuffled in among a larger collection of Mannheim music.

Essentials: "Away In A Manger", "Do You Hear What I Hear", "Some Children See Him"

Weak(er) Songs: "Silver Bells", "O Tannenbaum"

Music: Mylo Xyloto (Coldplay)

Album Review: Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay

It's been awhile since I've done an album review, but this was the perfect opportunity: an actually new album! I've listened to Mylo Xyloto a number of times by now, which I think you have to do, for any album, in order to review it properly. I've read a few other reviews for this by "experts," and they clearly listened to this at most once through, and probably only the first minute or so of each song. Anyway, enough about my annoyance with "expert" music critics. This is Coldplay's fifth album, which came an agonizing three years and four months after their last one, Viva la Vida (review to come eventually). The band teamed up with producer Brian Eno again, and created a collection of music largely based around a musical theme of electronic sounds and a bit of modern pop. All songs were written by the band, with some arrangements /effects added by Eno.

As a reminder, I listen to music for the music itself first, second, and so on, and pay attention to lyrics if and when they happen to be prominent. If the lyrics are exceedingly good or bad, I'll comment on them, but if not it doesn't concern me either way. Before I start the song-by-song review, I should mention that there is some neat lyrical continuity that Coldplay built into the album. It isn't a huge thing, but even I noticed it, a non-lyric aficionado. Without further ado...

1. "Mylo Xyloto"

This is the first of three mini-instrumental interludes which basically serve to transition between different parts of the album. They aren't really intended as stand-alone songs, but they're still OK. This one, of course, opens the album, and it immediately introduces the electronic-type sound of much of the album with a shimmery combination of instruments, a high and low part. Sadly, I'm not familiar with these instruments enough to tell you what they are, but I think the high part might be a distorted keyboard. On top of this is added a tinkling xylophone playing a brief but pleasant theme. The last few seconds serve as the lead in to...

2. "Hurts Like Heaven"

... the first real song on the album. It practically explodes out of "Mylo Xyloto" at such a rapid clip that at first you think to yourself, Is this still Coldplay? A lively drum and keyboard rhythm nicely support one of Martin's perkiest vocal performances to date. His voice smoothly transitions from way up high to way down low in a cheerful set of verses. The refrain then bursts in, a classic falsetto croon from Martin, backed by more of the shimmery electronics and drums, before he concludes the stanza using a more relaxed tone for the title lines. The song just coasts along on a bundle of energy and the tight, quick tempo set by the drums and keyboard. Martin uses some clever variations on each verse, and the song fades out, part by part, until all that remains is the guitar in high octave, perfectly symbolizing a journey up to the elusive, weightlessness of heaven. One of the album's best, and a great opener.

3. "Paradise"

This song was released as a single just before the album itself, and it is probably, indeed, the centerpiece song of the album (a la "Viva la Vida"). "Paradise" is worthy of this status. It begins with two different instrumental themes. After this interlude, the main instrumental part crashes in dramatically, a booming electronic bass part and a high-pitched synthesizer. And yet another change as Martin's vocal starts at last, a minute into the song: the backing reduces to drums and piano, supporting Martin's solid singing. Gradually the backing builds up again, and after Martin sings a refrain that mirrors the opening instrumentals, the full band kicks in for the chorus. It is almost a trance-like part, Martin's distorted vocals followed by an "oh"ing chorus and all of it sandwiched between the powerful high-low electronic support. Perhaps not quite as good as "Viva," this one still grows on you quickly.

4. "Charlie Brown"

After a strange opening (I'd do more harm than good by trying to describe it), this one settles into a much more standard Coldplay sound, with little of the electronic theme to be heard. The guitar introduces a neat little hook after the intro, the latter half of which is indeed reminiscent of the "Linus and Lucy" theme from the cartoon strip. Martin starts in on the verses, an unconventional line of music insistently backed by strumming guitars. After a rerun of the guitar hook, a more standard Coldplay refrain composed of the whole group hits the climax of the song. The strange intro is repeated before giving way to the guitar hook, and finally the song ends on a quiet piano solo. A strange song, and one that took me several listens to really get into my head, it's still a good one, although I don't like it as much as the two previous.

5. "Us Against The World"

Here is another song with a more typical Coldplay-like sound (thematically connected to the rest of the album via lyrics), which begins with an indefinite, floaty, soft sort of electric guitar part. This soon subsides and acoustic guitars take over, supporting a simple but beautiful melody sung by Martin. The chorus starts with a distinctive little loop from Martin before settling gently into the title line. The second time through, Martin's vocal is double-tracked and adds a little on at the end before the chorus. A swell composed of electric guitar and the bass of a piano comes in and then fades away, allowing Martin to sing the title line once more. This is a great little song, slower and quieter than its neighbors but very beautiful.

6. "M.M.I.X."

I'm not sure what the acronym stands for, but this is the second instrumental transition song, connecting the slow, quiet "Us Against the World" to the upbeat, electronic-heavy...

7. "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall"

Now the album comes back full-tilt to the electronic sound theme. A techno-y keyboard hammers out the main, very simple theme of the song a few times, before Martin takes over singing it as the song's verses. A bright, cheery guitar part follows this, sounding to me like shades of Viva la Vida, before coming back with the verses with a full backing band, especially a toe-tapping bass part. Martin then begins the refrain, a variation on the theme including more of his trademark falsetto. From there, it's a bit like a song from The Police in that there are several different variations on both the main line, both musically and lyrically. This was a single last summer, and while it's not their best song, it is very, very well done and a nice, upbeat piece.

8. "Major Minus"

Released with "ETIAW" last summer, this is quite a contrast to that brighter, more pop-friendly tune. A very cool, slightly forboding guitar part starts things off in a not very Coldplay like way. Martin then sings over these guitars in the verses, his voice slightly distorted to convey an uneasy tone. A brief but well-placed deep guitar riff leads into a more familiar Coldplay chorus, a little like some of their earlier stuff with the falsetto and guitar style, then some neat fast singing by Martin. A brief refrain, with Martin singing in a strange tone I've never heard him use before, is followed by a lengthy instrumental section to dwell on the unsettling nature of the song. The song abruptly ends after some more of the rapid singing from Martin. A very creative song, this is a great addition to the album and their repertoire as a whole.

9. "U.F.O."

I was not a big fan of this song the first few times through, but it's been growing on me a little. It's another slower, quieter song like "Us Against the World," but it seems quite a bit more similar to some of their earlier songs in the same vein. There are a number of chord progressions that I did not expect, and at first did not like at all, but they grow more tolerable upon further listening. Strings enter midway through to add atmosphere, and then the song ends with essentially a little interlude to lead more smoothly into the next song. It's not really a bad song, but it just reminds me too much of stuff like "Till Kingdom Come," of which one is probably enough for any band.

10. "Princess Of China"

This song was likely inspired by Coldplay's small collaboration with Jay-Z for an alternate version of "Lost!". Here the collaboration, this time with Rihanna, is more comprehensive; it sounds like some random techno/hip-hop song you'll hear on the radio (forgive my ignorance but I tend not to listen to that genre very much) mushed with a bit of Coldplay's style. The electronic sound theme is at its most extreme here, and I have absolutely no idea what most of the instruments used here are (most of them synthesizers of some kind I guess). The song is based on, unsurprisingly, a pretty simple oriental-sounding theme. Still, Chris Martin and Rihanna sound quite good together, and the beat is fun. There's nothing complex here, but it's a change up for Coldplay and perfectly good ear candy.

11. "Up In Flames"

Here's another song that has a similar basic structure to older songs... but it's done much more creatively than "U.F.O." and just sounds much better. It starts off with a lone bass beat that seems like it would be in a usual hip-hop song - but then a piano comes in along with Martin singing one of his slower, pretty melodies. Somehow, this mismatch works really well. He goes to his trademark falsetto for the chorus, one that exudes some hope despite the melancholic lyrics. Strings gradually filter in passively, and then as Martin repeats the chorus towards the end, a neat little guitar part that reminds me of The Beatles for some reason also joins in. I think this is one of the best tracks on the album - creative and pleasant sounding.

12. "A Hopeful Transmission"

The final instrumental interlude. This serves to improve the mood, using higher-pitched strings and a soft bass drum to keep the beat, leading into...

13. "Don't Let It Break Your Heart"

Here is a pretty standard Coldplay tune; it wouldn't have sounded too out of play on X&Y, with some of that album's noisier songs. The band does do a good job of certainly injecting the song with the electronic theme again, and it fits perfectly fine. There isn't a particularly noteworthy melody to it, but it has that nice album closer sound to it. The instrumentals give it good energy, and Martin's vocal gives it the uplift portended by "A Hopeful Transmission". If you like typical Coldplay stuff, you'll like this; if not, it's probably forgettable. I think it's fine, if not one of the album's strongest songs.

14. "Up With The Birds"

This is a rather odd song, particularly as the album's final one. It's essentially two-in-one, like some of those in Viva la Vida ("Lovers in Japan," "Yes"). The first part is, to be honest, pretty bad in my opinion. Martin sings with no particular tune, backed by a little piano and shimmering electronics. Strings burst in after a little while, but the slow-paced singing takes no better structure. Sound effects enter here and there, and at the end of this part are some bird-like guitar calls. The second half, fortunately, is much better. Guitars play an insistent theme, aided by a fiddle (I think) that blends right in. When Martin starts to sing, he does so near the top of his range without going to falsetto. It gives the piece a little more umph, and Martin manages to sound strained yet under control. I wish Coldplay had just dumped the first half of this song and expanded the last half. Oh well.

Score: 4 out of 5

I would say this album is on the upper end of the 4s, nearly a 4.5. If you decide to give it a try, give it some time because I'm confident it will grow on you. Musically, the album holds a nice theme of sounds, but within that realm it has quite a bit of variety. Some things, as I say, may sound quite a bit like older Coldplay, and others are completely new to this band. A very thoughtful, well-made album, and the only thing I'd like Coldplay to change is the time they take between albums: three years is too long!

Also, check out the song "Moving to Mars" from Coldplay's EP last summer (iTunes should have it). I don't know why it wasn't put on Mylo Xyloto, because it would have fit in nicely and it's one of the band's most creative pieces. It really does convey a space-y type feel, almost haunting. It starts slow but builds to a pretty impressive climax. Give it a try.

Essentials: "Hurts Like Heaven," "Paradise," Major Minus," "Up In Flames"

Weak(er) Songs: "U.F.O.," "Up With The Birds"