Artist: Various
Album Title: Maybe This Christmas Tree
Genre/Style: Rock
Release Year: 2004
So far, all of the albums I’ve reviewed have been of the single-artist variety, but the Christmas music market is dominated by compilations. I’ve been trying to ignore them — in the age of iTunes and mp3 downloads, they’re kind of pointless — but I stumbled upon 2004′s Maybe This Christmas Tree (it’s a pun: it’s the third album in the Maybe This Christmas series), and the lineup caught my attention. I don’t normally go for rock and roll carols, but what the hey? It’s got all your favorite slightly underground acts from the early twenty-first century.
Sadly and strangely, I think this is a little too hipster for me, and I live in Portland! For starters, you’ve got covers of both Lennon’s (Polyphonic Spree) and McCartney’s (Tom McRae) Christmas offerings. McRae actually manages to improve on Sir Paul’s version — the easiest feat ever — by basically just mumbling through it. Jars of Clay does a graceful cover of “Christmas for Cowboys”, and the Ravonettes do a nice job on “The Christmas Song” (which is not “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire”).
The rest of the album isn’t as strong. Ivy is my favorite band on this album, but I don’t care for their “Christmastime Is Here”, and “Fairytale of New York” (Pilate) is flat out gross. And I’m already on record detesting “Baby It’s Cold Outside”, sleazily handled by Royal Crown Revue. Death Cab for Cutie and Pedro the Lion acquit themselves nicely, but not memorably. My main problem is that I don’t think I’d want to listen to most of these songs even if they had nothing to do with Christmas. Add in that extra burden of being “holiday” music, and the album falls short.
Rating: 
Finally, a Christmas album for fans of Garden State!
