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Those of you who already have problems with the alleged “child-like” nature of Daniel Smith’s voice are really gonna hate this one. Not only does Smith sing, there are actual children on this track. If that sounds like some creepy record hipster parents would buy their toddlers for Christmas, don’t worry, it isn’t that. Rather, it is kind of like some wacko experimental song that Smith recorded at a family get-together the night before Christmas. Given the nature of Danielson as a band and Smith’s recording style, that just might be how this went down.
The track has Smith singing, except for moments when the kiddies pop in, with a pretty cool deconstruction about half-way through, with the keyboard stuttering and little kiddie voices rapping “Hey, hooray” – if you’d described this song to me before and left out the Danielson connection, there’s no way I’d predict liking it. As it is, though, I’m loving it and plan to put it on one last time before hitting the hay myself tonight.
Danielson – Christmas Eve Nite
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Today’s holiday cheer comes to you all the way from Scandinavia, a drippy and dribbly retro rocker from Norwegian rockers I Was A King. Before reaching you, the track took detour through New Jersey, appearing on the 2008 Christmas sampler from Daniel Smith’s Jersey-based Sounds Familyre label. The track could have just as easily come off the band’s 2009 self-titled sophomore effort, though, as “Over Mountains” would fit in with any of the more delicate tracks on that record, like “Stay Warm” or “It’s All You.” Though the Mascis-style shredding that infuses some of that records most notable tracks is absent, the band replaces it with a nice mid-psych fuzz that somehow feels just like Christmas, at least following Tom & Jerry #2.
I Was A King – Over Mountains
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Merry Christmas, David Eugene Edwards-style.
For those of you unfamiliar with the work of Woven Hand or, prior to that, 16 Horsepower, that means decking the halls with old-world darkness and suffering, with a little hellfire and brimstone added in for good measure. Edwards has always produced art that was, to varying degrees, tinged with his Christian worldview – a trend that has grown more pronounced in recent years with Woven Hand.
So, it wasn’t a surprise to me, when I heard the Woven Hand contribution to the 2007 Sounds Familyre Christmas album. “I Wonder As I Wander” hits the listener immediately with its religious influences (I wonder as I wander/Out under the sky/How Jesus the Savior/Did come for to die). However, rather than play through all three of the stanzas, Edwards continues to repeat the first two lines, adding more feedback and natural distortion swells as he drizzles his recognizable tenor over the top. By the time you start wondering about the heritage of the song, asking why a devotee of all things ancient and unusual like Edwards would pick this song to sing, the track ends, with an abrupt yet smooth fade.
The heritage of the song is worth discovering, though. Published in 1933 by folklorist and performer John Jacob Niles in Songs of the Hill-Folk, the basis of the song is actually credited as an Appalachian folk creation he discovered when hearing a young girl singing a few of the lines at an outdoor evangelical rally.
Woven Hand – I Wonder As I Wander
