Forth vs. Songs for Christmas

I finally tried out Verve's "Forth" for the first time last week, and I thought this review was going to be easy. But I decided to give it another listen. And then another, and it grew on me. Since it's taken me 6 months to write this review, perhaps I should take a little more time to get the names of all the songs that I liked...but I know that if I wait for that, it's going to be at least another month. I'm in spit-and-a-promise mode, so that will have to be enough. What's good: great first song, no clunkers on the album, interesting music, no "Bittersweet Symphony" ad nauseum. What's not as good: no songs that I want to put on repeat (no "Bittersweet Symphony"), not an album that I want to rush out to buy.

Forth is set against my favorite Christmas album(s), and we've recently dusted off the cobwebs to get our tree trimmed and our minds in the right state. I love the evolution of the project--long before the hipsters knew about him, Sufjan got together with a few friends to record songs for Christmas presents for friends and family. The first album predates Michigan by ~2 years...for all I know he may have been thrilled when these recordings started showing up on the internet where I first encountered them. And there are a number of great songs, from covers of Christmas classics (O Come of Come Emmanuel in 3 different versions) to originals that are even better (That Was the Worst Christmas Ever, Sister Winter). I'll be playing this box set when I'm in the old folks' home.

You would think, then, that this would be easy, a walkover for Sufjan. (I was tempted to select Sufjan just to offset Nate's obviously mis-informed bias.) But this is the Death Match, and some of the beauty of the Songs for Christmas project also makes it vulnerable. It's perfectly fine to have one crappy song per album when you're making a project for friends, especially if the trouble often comes from having friends sing along (I believe I know at least one of the guilty parties, so I won't write his name). It's also perfectly fine even if you're selling it, especially if you're giving 5 CDs with some interesting art for only $15. But stickers won't cover any weak spots in Death Match...one false move and you get the shiv to the ribs.

Sorry, Sufjan. I still love you, even if your next 5 disc Christmas set has gone a little more in the crazy direction. But I'm going to give Verve the nod here. I don't think it will be our winner, but it deserves some Sweet 16 love.