{"id":3396,"date":"2018-12-22T08:39:20","date_gmt":"2018-12-22T13:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/?p=3396"},"modified":"2019-12-17T19:57:43","modified_gmt":"2019-12-18T00:57:43","slug":"album-review-spotify-singles-christmas-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/2018\/12\/22\/album-review-spotify-singles-christmas-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"ALBUM REVIEW: Spotify Singles: Christmas Collection"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Olivia Malek<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s that time of year again.<\/span><\/p>\n

As we approach into finals season we approach another important season of the year: the season where Michael Bubl\u00e9 rides on the only album that\u2019s given him substantial fame. We\u2019re nearing Christmas, and I\u2019m here today to talk about Spotify\u2019s Christmas singles for this year. They have 15 singles which range in genre, song, and artist. Let\u2019s tackle these singles from worst to best to see which artists nailed the art of covering a Christmas song.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

15. \u201cBaby It’s Cold Outside\u201d – <\/span>Paloma Faith<\/span><\/i> &<\/span> B.B. Bones<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

People need to stop covering this song. It\u2019s 2018. Nothing about this song is good; Paloma Faith just did not fit with this song whatsoever. This song physically upset me. Next.<\/span><\/p>\n

14. \u201cWhite Christmas\u201d – <\/span>Meghan Trainor\u200b<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

If a Hallmark movie were put into song form, it would be this song. <\/span>Meghan Trainor <\/span>has a very, very pop oriented voice, and they tried too hard to put her on a song that is very jazzy by nature. This song lost something that \u201cFeliz Navidad\u201d nailed: they failed to adapt the song to a pop artist. This was a big miss for me. <\/span><\/p>\n

13. \u201cLast Christmas\u201d – <\/span>Pale Waves<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

1) This song is meant to be fun. 2) They made this song sad. Pass.<\/span><\/p>\n

12. \u201cIn the Bleak Midwinter\u201d – <\/span>Fenne Lily<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Fenne Lily<\/span><\/i> has a beautiful, hollow, folk-y voice, but overall this song was pretty unremarkable. <\/span><\/p>\n

11. \u201cGive Love On Christmas Day\u201d – <\/span>John Legend<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

This is the acoustic <\/span>John Legend<\/span> cover we all knew it was going to be. It definitely highlights his vocals and has a lovely message, but it\u2019s unsurprising and bland. <\/span><\/p>\n

10. \u201cLittle Drummer Boy\u201d – <\/span>Joan Jett & The Blackhearts<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The song definitely matches the artist; <\/span>Joan Jett & The Blackhearts<\/span><\/i> stayed true to their roots and did a good job with this song. That being said, it didn\u2019t feel Christmas-y to me, so I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be coming back to this one. <\/span><\/p>\n

9. \u201cChristmas Must Be Tonight\u201d – <\/span>Amy Helm & The Wood Brothers<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

If you like folk rock you\u2019ll love this. The artists redid the song perfectly for the genre, it just wasn\u2019t that up my alley.<\/span><\/p>\n

8. \u201cHave Yourself a Merry Little Christmas\u201d – <\/span>Jon Batiste <\/span><\/i>&<\/span> Danielle Brooks<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

This took another jazzy turn on a classic, which<\/span> I\u2019m not so sure was successful. <\/span>Batiste<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Brooks<\/span><\/i> are an excellent pairing for a duet, but they could\u2019ve done without the jazz elements of this song. If they had kept the classic music it would\u2019ve been an excellent cover. It\u2019s disappointing to see the duet of two talented artists go to waste.<\/span><\/p>\n

7. \u201cSanta Claus Is Comin’ to Town\u201d – <\/span>Tony Bennett <\/span><\/i>and<\/span> Diana Krall\u200b<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The Jackson 5<\/span><\/i>\u2019s cover of this song will forever be my favorite rendition, but that\u2019s not to say that this isn\u2019t a good one too. It takes a very jazzy approach to the song, which feels very fitting with the this song\u2019s style and makes a very nice cover. <\/span><\/p>\n

6. \u201cFeliz Navidad\u201d – <\/span>Why Don\u2019t We<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

It\u2019s the clich\u00e9 boy band cover you expect which isn\u2019t necessarily a bad thing; it\u2019s fun, youthful, very catchy, and even has a rap solo. That being said, I don\u2019t know if I\u2019ll personally be listening to this all season long, but it\u2019s worth a shot if you\u2019re into poppier Christmas music. <\/span><\/p>\n

5. \u201cEl Burrito Sabanero\u201d – <\/span>Aloe Blacc\u200b<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Blacc<\/span><\/i> goes back to his Panamanian roots for this unexpected cover. It starts traditional, and then has some Spanish side-dialogue before switching it up to be funkier, with guitar that\u2019s almost reminiscent of the <\/span>Beach Boys<\/span><\/i>. This is one of the more unique covers of the bunch, and one that\u2019s unique for the better. <\/span><\/p>\n

4. \u201cOh My Christmas Tree\u201d – <\/span>Jim James<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

This is song made me sad in the best way. Out of the acoustic covers this one nailed it. I will be back to listen to this while I\u2019m missing setting up the Christmas tree back home and studying for finals. <\/span><\/p>\n

3. \u201cChristmas Time Is Here\u201d – <\/span>Devin Dawson<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

This song is <\/span>really<\/span> good, but that being said it wasn\u2019t that original or unique. This is a beautiful cover and <\/span>Dawson<\/span><\/i>\u2019s voice floats over the melody so nicely and it stays true to the melancholy feel of the original, just after listening to all of the songs this one didn\u2019t strike me as a new take. Nonetheless, it\u2019s a fantastic cover. <\/span><\/p>\n

2. \u201cOh Holy Night\u201d – <\/span>Nina Nesbitt\u200b<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

This song is the perfect modern remake of a Christmas classic. It blends <\/span>Nesbitt\u2019s<\/span> airy indie pop voice with the more traditional piano, gospel, and harp of this song flawlessly. I cannot get over this song and will be continuing to listen to it all holiday season.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. \u201cLinus and Lucy (A Charlie Brown Christmas)\u201d – <\/span>Anderson .paak<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Three F\u2019s to describe this song: Fresh, Funky, (my) Favorite. Do yourself a favor and go listen to this yourself. \u00a0Bravo <\/span>Anderson .paak<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Olivia Malek   It\u2019s that time of year again. As we approach into finals season we approach another important season of the year: the season where Michael Bubl\u00e9 rides on the only album that\u2019s given him substantial fame. We\u2019re nearing Christmas, and I\u2019m here today to talk about Spotify\u2019s Christmas singles for this year. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15726,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1524],"tags":[157,654],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3396"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3396"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3400,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3396\/revisions\/3400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/wtbu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}