Christmas

Today's Surprisingly Tolerable Holiday Music is Christmas, by Low. This album was given to me as a gift, partially because I mentioned it some time ago, but possibly a little bit to make me dislike the holidays less. Yes, I'm something of a Grinch, particularly about Christmas music. I suppose I wouldn't dislike it so much if I wasn't browbeaten with it from the moment Thanksgiving ends until the moment Christmas Day ends.

Anyway, this album sounds exactly like what would be expected from a reserved, semi-minimalist band writing Christmas songs. They're not festive, exactly, but more like Low songs that happen to be about Christmas. There are a couple covers here, which don't sound out of place, but the album is mostly originals.

This isn't really Bing Crosby Christmas music, nor is it music for a warm Christmas with your loved ones. It's more Christmas music for softly falling snow and cold winds, the kind of music that wants to celebrate the holidays but which brings a mood more fitting for a chilly night spent inside. I'm glad Low put out this album when they did, as the band's sound has changed a little, and the overall effect of a Christmas album put out under a vintage Low sound is more powerful than something under their modern ideas (which aren't bad, just more accessible).

In Other News:
Man this week has been a struggle. Maybe the weekend will lift my spirits? Who knows. But even as I complain, somewhere, people are outside in this frigid December, working or just trying not to starve or freeze to death. My 'problems' are all relative, whether they seem that way all the time or not.