Various Artists

Allow me to be frank: I fucking hate Christmas.

Not to be a Scrooge about the whole holiday season but about the only thing I appreciate at this time of year is getting extra pay for working on Christmas Eve and since I won't be getting even this small titbit of noel merriment, my hatred of all things jolly in this season is fuelled considerably well.

If nothing else, I hate the onslaught of Christmas carols and songs, relentlessly played over and over and over again in shopping malls, doctors' surgeries, dentists' waiting rooms, on the radio, Hell they'd even play them in funeral parlours if they could get away with it. And what's with starting the damn things so early in December?

I'm sure I'm not alone with my animosity, and if this assumption is correct I have a wonderful Christmas surprise for you. For if you reach into Silber Records' long latex stocking this Christmas you may just find their second Christmas compilation. That's right folks, Silber Media, the people who bring you such groups as Kobi, Remora and Lycia have accumulated a plethora of musicians to strip bare, experiment and make anew all of the old Christmas time classics!

Ok so perhaps the compilation doesn't really do that much in the way of cover versions (though there are some gems dotted about) but fans of the label will appreciate that Silber's Sounds of Christmas II has a majority Drone theme to it, with ‘Remembrance', the opening track from Origami Tacet using violins to full brooding effect. This is followed by Immune's 'The Gleams Remained after the Blast', sounding like a lost track from Basil Kirchin's Worlds within Worlds projects.

It's not all doom and gloom however (it is Christmas after all) as Rachel Goldstar provides a more mellow, shoegazer sound with 'Christmas Day', a sound synonymous with the post punk/ grunge scene that the mainstream would have you believe had its last Christmas a long time ago.

Living in Photographs, as well as having a cool name, also provide a departure from Silber's usual Drone based sounds by adding an ambient electronica influence to their track 'Barabbas' and while still fitting to the ambient atmosphere of the compilation supply just enough variety to keep it all from going a little stale.

Those still waiting for Plumerai's new album can get some musical morphine in the shape of their one track contribution, 'Crucifixed', a track fused with a slightly more Darkwave feel than their previous outings and a style that fits them and the compilation comfortably.

'O Come, O Come Emmanuelle' by Remora is a supremely strong track, powering through a superfluity of weird noises that awakens you to a concept that Christmas is not always a time of good tidings. This followed by Sailor Winter's white noise polluted 'What Child is this?' and the unkind atmosphere is well and truly accomplished.

Slap on the second CD and you'll be welcomed by Bokor's ambient track, 'Secrets'. An interestingly conceptual name for a track on a Christmas themed album. I have a tendency to over examine things but with such a name on such an album and with the tranquil sound of the sea ever-present in this brooding ambient piece it is hard not to let such things rankle the psyche.

For a much more classical sound look no further then Duane Pitre and Pilotram's 'Piano Improvisation for Mr. Cage'. Exactly what it says in the title, this concise number by all accounts should stand out of place with the rest of Silber's Christmas content. On the contrary, it highlights just how diverse the label's talent and interests can be, showing a warmer, benevolent side rarely seen on Silber releases.

Mars Fields' following track also shows a less highlighted sound provided by Silber Media, with 'Jesus Christ' certainly belonging more to the American Neo Folk/ Country scene than to Drone or Ambient Noise, its off kilter sound having more akin with Black Happy Day (recently released on Silber) than some of the more established artists on the label such as Small Life Form or Remora.

My Ambient Nature Girl's track, however, brings the album straight back to Silber's roots, with 'Handel's Messiah Part 4' sounding like a cross between the melancholic euphoria of Sigur Ros drowned out by the strange beats and sounds of The Gasman on Planet Mu records, creating an altogether unique mixture of minimalist beats and warped notes with a tender, for lack of a better word, backdrop of sound.

And to top it off, my favourite of the entire collection and one that I'll be making my family's ears bleed to this Christmas; The Upside Down Stars version of 'Hark The Herald Angels Sing' a Drone/ Doom ladled piece that with its mixture of low vocal howls and repetitive distorted riffs should be played to maximum capacity on that day, the most sacred of days. Alas if only they played this sort of material in shopping malls.

It's hard to make a really good Christmas album, and in their way Silber have cheated slightly by including more than just reinventions of already existing Christmas material. But then as it was obviously their intention not to buy into the Christmas frivolity it's hardly a negative side. On the contrary this is perhaps the perfect Christmas album as the two CD collection encompasses all moods of the season and while some people wake up to nice presents and a loving family some will wake up to terminal illness and bereavement. It's nice to see an album cover those two extremes of moods via music. I envy those who live in the great open spaces of Canada and the Pacific North West, for if I did I would have the perfect album to drive to while viewing its halcyon winter landscape.

Michael Byrne

Silber Sounds of Christmas

Silber, 2006

Track Listing

Left Hip Music Player [Pop Up]