Bitter, cynical, and borderline misanthropic for most of the year, I reform for the holiday season and from mid-November to the last minute of Epiphany I’m all about the season. Readers of Old Road Apples will find themselves under a constant barrage of holiday fare this season–from themed essays to book reviews to a countdown of my very favorite Christmas recordings.
Straight No Chaser: Christmas Cheers
This is at least the second seasonal recording by this group, and I haven’t heard the other. You might have seen Straight No Chaser on a PBS special–they’re a charismatic, all-male A Capella group that sound great. I’m not a music guy, and this isn’t the style of music that I listen to outside of the holidays(which seems to be a theme for my Christmas choices), so I can’t talk about them technically, but the fact that I’ve vaulted them into my “top” list should mean something on it’s own. Indeed, this record is so much fun, and the singing so beautiful, that they may claw themselves up a few slots over performances with which I’m more familiar. The opening number, “The Christmas Can-Can” is hilarious.
They sound great, and they’re fun too : see
Old Road Apples 
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