FOR FOLK’S SAKE IT’S CHRISTMAS

For Folks Sake Its Christmas Album

Ah, Christmas. ‘Tis the season to be jolly, eat lots of food, drink lots of booze (please drink responsibly etc.) and sigh ‘not AGAIN’ as Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ plays on the in-store speaker system for the fifteenth time as you rush to do some last minute shopping.

This year, though, you can escape the traditional malaise of heard-them-a-billion-times before Christmas songs thanks to the ‘For Folk’s Sake it’s Christmas’ album.

Counterproductive as it may seem to promote the work of another online music magazine, the good folk at For Folk’s Sake have compiled an excellent festive themed album. And it’s all the more excellent because it features a band from Kent.

Amidst an impressive array of musicians (Kathryn Williams, Darren Hayman, The Leisure Society) appears Deal’s very own Cocos Lovers.

Cocos Lovers will be familiar to RockKent regulars as the progenitors of two rather fine albums, ‘Johannes’, with its Deep South folk influences, and ‘Elephant Lands’ whose sound crossed the Atlantic to explore sub-Saharan African textures.

In a break with their musical globe-trotting, the band takes two traditional Christmas songs of their native country, merging them together to create something very special.

They perform a beautifully sparse version of ‘Christmas is Coming’ using a gorgeous harmony of female vocals over guitar and piano before introducing an extra layer of ‘God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen’ weaving between the lines of the first tune.

It is the simplest of tunes – a homemade, rustic sounding affair made all the more homemade with the clonking of something in the background, suggesting they might have recorded the song while someone was getting dinner ready.

Such a thing would normally be frowned up. You won’t find the sound of Ringo doing a bit of light dusting or Paul sorting out the laundry in the background of ‘Eleanor Rigby’. But it does, nevertheless, give this Christmas song something of a lo-fi charm that Coldplay’s ‘Christmas Lights’ lacks.

The rest of the album should not concern a website with such seeming parochial concerns as the music of Kent. But, nevertheless, some mention of the rest of ‘For Folk’s Sake it’s Christmas’ should be made.

Kathryn Williams, Caitlin Rose and The Leisure Society offer original songs about Christmas going wrong while Adam Killip and Mi Mye, Laura Boyle and Paper Aeroplanes offer fresh interpretations of age old Christmas carols.

It’s a fantastic album with a fresh approach to Christmas music. It’s sure to appeal to anyone tired of the same old tunes, but is equally a Good Thing in its own right. Plus, the proceeds from the album go to the Integrated Cancer Centre charity.

So buy this collection of festive tunes and everyone’s a winner.

For Folk’s Sake It’s Christmas 2011, which came out on the 28th November 2011, is available to buy now at forfolkssake.bandcamp.com.

1. Howard Carter – Christmas Blues
2. The Leisure Society – Christmas Mistakes
3. Caitlin Rose with Keegan DeWitt – You Never Come Home For Christmas
4. Cocos Lovers – Christmas is Coming/God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
5. Devon Sproule – Send Me To Coventry
6. Darren Hayman – Lost In The Snow
7. Paper Aeroplanes – In The Bleak Midwinter
8. Kathryn Williams & Neill MacColl – Christmas In Hell
9. Fiona Bevan – Love In A Cold Climate
10. Hollows – Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing
11. Adam Killip & Mi Mye – O Come All Ye Faithful
12. Laura Boyle – Silent Night