Count Your Blessings I

A holiday mix by Laurel Krahn, created in December 2001. Part 1 of a 2 disc set.

This is meant to be mellow, non-traditional holiday and winter fare. I had a hard time deciding on a mood or any kind of theme this year and then "Count Your Blessings" inspired me, I guess. You can find liner notes (heh) for Count Your Blessings II over here.

1) Count Your Blessings - Jane Siberry, Holly Cole, Rebecca Jenkins, Mary Margaret O'Hara, & Victoria Williams

This is from the wonderful live album Count Your Blessings, which is a recording of a concert featuring the above fabulous artists, recorded in Canada a few years back.

2) The Closing of the Year (Main Theme) - the cast of Toys, featuring Wendy & Lisa

This is the main theme from the soundtrack to the film Toys. Various artists perform on it, including Wendy & Lisa, Seal, Peter Gabriel, Jane Siberry, lord knows who all else. Soundtrack is by Hans Zimmer.

3) Song for a Winter's Night - Sarah McLachlan

Ms. McLachlan's version of a song by Gordon Lightfoot. It's appeared on a number of compilations by now, including a collection called simply Christmas Songs which features tracks by a lot of Canadian artists, mostly.

4) 2000 Miles - the Pretenders

An original by the Pretenders from their 1984 album Learning to Crawl, one of my favorite original holiday tunes from the '80s, not that this is saying a whole heckuvalot. It's also on the New Wave Xmas-Just Can't Get Enough compilation which is pretty darn cool.

5) River - Joni Mitchell

Another Christmas-themed original, this one by Joni Mitchell from her 1971 album River. TV trivia: Robert Downey, Jr. played this song during the 2000 Christmas episode of Ally McBeal. It's on the Ally Christmas album and isn't awful (but I prefer the original).

6) December 24th - Julia Fordham

Recorded for the excellent Winter, Fire, & Snow holiday album.

7) Christmas Blues - Holly Cole Trio

I adore Ms. Cole, she's from Canada and she swings. She's very fond of holiday tunes, in addition to being part of the Count Your Blessings concert mentioned earlier, she's also done whole holiday tours on her own. This is from her excellent EP called Christmas Blues.

8) Fairytale of New York - the Pogues with Kirsty MacColl

Another contemporary holiday classic from the classic Pogues album If I Should Fall from Grace with God.

9) Home for Christmas - Kate Bush

Fairly rare holiday song by Kate Bush. I've got it on one of the U.S. singles for "Rubberband Girl."

10) All of My Angels - Mary Jane Alm

This is from a holiday compilation I picked up one year at a used CD shop. It's called "Decorations: A Gift of Music from Southdale" which was presumably a giveaway or something they sold cheaply during the holidays at the Southdale Mall in Edina, Minnesota back in 1993. Mary Jane Alm is a local country artist; words & music for this song are by Mike Poukey & Brad Schultz and that's all I know.

11) A Holy Thing - Victoria Williams

Victoria Williams reportedly wrote this song mere hours before the Count Your Blessings concert (mentioned earlier) where it was recorded (and immortalized). It doesn't surprise me. Ms. Williams is a brilliant songwriter, though her voice can definitely be an acquired taste.

12) Green Branch - Chan Poling

This is another obscure track from the aforementioned Decorations Southdale CD. Chan Poling is best known for being part of the band the Suburbs (who I love dearly and desperately). Poling has remained in the Twin Cities and reportedly now does music for theater productions, TV, and other stuff. He's worked on albums by various locals, too. The liner notes say that "The song 'Green Branch' is part of a musical score written for the Theatre de la Jeune Lune production of The Nightengale." I like it a whole lot.

13) Thanks for Christmas - Three Wise Men (a.k.a. XTC)

Released as a single in the U.K. in 1983, also featured on the cool holiday compilation New Wave Christmas - Just Can't Get Enough. I like XTC more than I like this song, but it's still kindof fun.

14) Horizontal Hold - Peter Ostroushko

Yup, another song from that Southdale Decorations CD. Words & music by Garrison Keillor, Peter Ostroushko, & Butch Thompson. Apparently a favorite on Prairie Home Companion, it's available on Ostroushko's album Blue Mesa. More a song about winter, than a holiday tune, but I like it.

15) Christmas Evermore - Mary Margaret O'Hara

From O'Hara's sometimes hard to find Christmas E.P. It's an original track by O'Hara, pretty simple.

16) It's Christmas Time - Stoney Lonesome

Would you believe this is yet-another-track from that Southdale Decorations CD? Um, yeah. I guess I dig the obscure. Stoney Lonesome are a Minnesota-based bluegrass band. This song is by Kate MacKenzie. I was gonna let the Ostroushko song lead into this, but I thought maybe that was too much twang altogether like that. Heh.

17) Christmas at Molly's - Paul Metsa

Um. This is an original holiday tune by Paul Metsa, who is a Minneapolis-based songwriter and okay, okay, this track is also from that darn Southdale CD. I really like this song, too. I'm amused by how if you search for Metsa on amazon, you find one thing listed and then a link to an mp3 of a song called "Robots on Death Row."

18) The Christians and the Pagans - Dar Williams

I debated long and hard about whether to include this song, since most people I know have heard it a zillion times and many may feel they've heard it too many times. But . . . I still like the song, I can't help it. And I figure not everyone knows it. So here it is, so I won't have the dilemna next year (next year's compilation won't feature any duplicate tracks, of course). I have this song on a promo single, it's from Dar's album Mortal City.

19) (Not Just Until) The Season Ends - Mary Karlzen

Another cool track from Winter, Fire, & Snow. I like Karlzen, it should figure I'd like her contribution to this compilation.

20) Auld Lang Syne - Kate Taylor

I bought this CD single off the internet a year ago and I like the song heaps. The arrangement is by some guy named James Taylor, who also plays guitar and sings along on this. I guess he's Kate's brother or something. One of the best versions of Auld Lang Syne I've heard, the lyrics are by Robert Burns.

21) The Twentieth Century is Almost Over - Steve Goodman

Yeah, I know, it's over already. I'd meant to end a holiday compilation with this, um, back in '99. But I never got around to it, you see. And I still love the song and think it's a good way to end a compilation and so here it is. From Goodman's album Say It In Private.