Comments on: Two Free (Haunted/Subversive?) Christmas Songs from Bifrost Arts

By: David Poe

David Poe — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:27:54 +0000

“This Isn’t Your Grandma’s Christmas Album.”

Funny, I was listening to the version of “Silent Night” and thinking that it’s half a step away from being Patsy Cline. Grandma would be just fine with about half of this album if she grew up with Bing Crosby.

Overall, I’ve had less of a gushing feeling — some of the arrangements are fantastic and deeply reverent. Some of the time it gets dangerously close to being just as “precious” as all of those glistening strings of the past — just made for a contemporary audience. A lot of the vocals are warbly, and/or sentimental. There’s plenty of good in here, so hopefully future endeavors will improve on some of the shortcomings.

And I have to agree with the consensus — this is not a dark album. For the most part it is reverent and straightforward, but not dark, unless one considers a normal Advent service in a liturgical church dark.

By: Scott C

Scott C — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 06:02:42 +0000

This is a feast for the ears and stright to the soul.

By: Michael L. Johnson

Michael L. Johnson — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:28:46 +0000

Our family’s favorite Christmas album: Bruce Cockburn’s Christmas.

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Bruce-Cockburn/dp/B0000028TK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1261117235&sr=8-1

It came out in 1993, and since the birth of our first child in ’94 through our fifth in ’05, this is tops. Runners up: The Roches (We Three Kings) and Harry Belafonte’s (Christmas) and of course Sufjan Stevens’ 5 disc set. (For me, both Over the Rhine’s are also way up there, although the first is too dark for my wife, and the second has a romantic element not quite suitable for kids).

By: Jacob Davis

Jacob Davis — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:13:50 +0000

Stylistically, my initial impression was that the music and overall sound had a haunting, mysterious feel. That’s what I mean by dark. The strings of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” moving into the whispery chant of “Joy! Joy!” set this feel for me and it carries a bit throughout when I listen. It’s a great album, a joyful album, a complex album, but I have to stand by the similar assessments from Steve McCoy and Relevant (check out the whole reviews) that there’s a darkness to its sound. I commend it overwhelmingly, whether one agrees with my initial perception or not. These guys did a great job, and this is an album of real artistry.

By: Looselycult

Looselycult — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:02:01 +0000

You can listen to this whole record as well as that other one all the way through for free on lala.com.

By: Looselycult

Looselycult — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:42:57 +0000

Yeah, this is not dark. This is really good music. With the exception of maybe some Bach, Johnny Cash, or Sufjan Stevens I don’t listen to any Christian music at all, but this, this is good Christian music. Many need to take note.

By: Z. J. Kendall

Z. J. Kendall — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:09:26 +0000

Man oh, man, 2 free songs all over the place! =]

By: David

David — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:09:17 +0000

This is a great album. I’d recommend checking out their other album as well. “Come O’Spirit: Anthology of Hymns & Spiritual Songs”. I’m really encouraged with the direction these guys are going in Christian art.

By: Sean LeRoy

Sean LeRoy — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:56:56 +0000

…I love Bing Crosby…

By: philip

philip — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:00:07 +0000

As much as I agree with the hearty recommendations of this album, I couldn’t disagree with Jacob’s review more. This is not a “dark” album. Mysterious? Sure. Complex? Of course. But the musicianship and lyrical sophistication ensure that the Bifrost album pushes and pulls in all the right ways. The further from Thomas Kincaid and Bing Crosby, the better!

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:52:09 +0000

It doesn’t work if you try it just from your RSS Feeder, but works from the blog.

By: Barry Wallace

Barry Wallace — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:50:27 +0000

The other Bifrost Arts CD (Come, O Spirit) is great, too!

By: Justin Taylor

Justin Taylor — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:48:39 +0000

Thanks, Kristen. Should be fixed now.

By: kristengeri

kristengeri — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:45:52 +0000

Hi, just wanted to let you know that the second mp3 download doesn’t work. It looks like the file name extention is “mp” instead of “mp3.” Thanks for posting these, though!