Some Christmas CDs for Your Consideration

[Above: One of our favorite Christmas CDs with an awesome cover influence.]

"It's the most wonderful time of the year," they say. Certain seasonal releases make us inclined to agree. In fact, we thought, given the impending holiday, we might point you in the direction of some of our favorite and best-selling titles. Peruse the short list below and let us know what you need; we keep all of the below in stock at all times.

In the Christmas Groove: From the cover sticker, "Original stone cold soul, funk and rare grooves from Christmas paste, featuring rare festive 45s by Jimmy Reed, Wild Honey, The Harlem Children's Chorus, Zebra, Milly & Silly, Electric Jungle & more." It's so good, people.

Sting - If on a Winter's Night

Bob Dylan - Christmas in the Heart: Reviews have been pretty mixed on this one, from the raving to the, well, the not-at-all-raving. But hey, we all love a little Dylan right? Why not invite the jolly old man into your home like you do with Santa?

Trisha Yearwood - The Sweetest Gift

Where Will You Be Christmas Day?: It's a release from the ATL's own, Dust-to-Digital, which you know means we're psyched about it. From their description: "Just as Goodbye, Babylon showed the many sides of gospel music, Where Will You Be Christmas Day? shows many sides of Christmas – from Jesus born in the manger to Leroy Carr spending the holiday in jail. Some of the artists featured include Alabama Sacred Harp Singers, Butterbeans and Susie, Fiddlin' John Carson, Cotton Top Mountain Sanctified Singers, Lightnin' Hopkins, Los Jibaros, Kansas City Kitty, Lead Belly, Lord Executor, Maddox Brothers and Rose, and Bessie Smith. Together they provide a compelling contrast to the commercialized Christmas we know today."

Andrea Bocelli - My Christmas

James Brown - Christmas: Ten Christmas tracks from the Godfather of Soul for $9? You better believe it.

Sugarland - Green and Gold: Seems like, when people buy this, they can't buy just one. Most folks walk out of the store with somewhere between two and four. It's cool; we don't mind reordering them often.

Sufjan Stevens - Songs for Christmas: Face it, superfans. Dude ain't making another state album. Why not instead enjoy this festive and nifty-looking box set? Plus, $21 for five discs is a crazy deal.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Have Yourself a Meaty Little Christmas: Question: What's better than a song called "Santa Left a Booger in My Stocking"? Answer: Said song features Neko Case.

Bright Eyes - A Christmas Album: We've only got three copies of this hard-to-find release, so get 'em while you can! Critical reactions to it are across-the-board positive.

Yule Be Miserable: From the back-of-the-album blurb: "'Tis the season to be jolly? Hardly! The holiday season is really the time for dysfunctional families, useless knickknacks, and expanding waistlines. Why fool yourself with the run-of-the-mill music of the season and its sugar-coated themes of love and understanding? Add a dash of reality to your holiday proceedings while thumbing your nose at the putrid sentimentality with music that cries out 'back out and leave me alone!'" Featuring songs from Louis Armstrong, Spike Jones, Ella Fitzgerald, B.B. King, Aaron Neville, Billie Holiday and more.

Songs to Make Dogs Happy: Wait, what's that? Well, if it's not a Christmas title, then why do we have it facing out in the Christmas section? Sheesh!

An open letter to Sugarland

Dear Sugarland,

About five minutes before we started writing this letter, a customer walked in and inquired about your new CD/DVD release, Live on the Inside. “Do you know if it’s out yet?” she asked. We said that, yes, it was released Tuesday, but that we were not allowed to sell it. She’d have to go to Walmart to get it. “Walmart?” she replied, with an incredulous look. “Really?” She left disappointed, and frankly, we’re disappointed as well.

You guys have been around roughly as long as Decatur CD, and we’ve been supporters of your music from day one. We’ve put your releases on listening stations, given away tickets to your shows and so on. After all, what is a local music scene if not an extended family of sorts? We have to take care of each other.The point is that by shutting the door on independent record stores, you’re in effect shutting the door on your hometown.

We’re not naïve. We understand that exclusively releasing your music with Walmart means big, fat, non-returnable, guaranteed sales, a wide reach, a truckload of money, etc., but what do you get by cutting us out? We’ve read the articles; we understand you think we're insignificant, offhandedly commenting that there are only "two or three" record stores left. But a lot of your fans in the city where you got your start think rather highly of us. They like to buy local. They like to support independent business. Eddie's Attic, another local/independent business, is right down the street. A lot of the people who saw you there in the early days frequent Decatur CD. It’s impossible for us to serve them if you won’t let us.

Take Pearl Jam as an example. For their forthcoming album, Backspacer, Target will be the only big-box retailer who stocks it. But guess what? Independent stores like us, Criminal, Grimey’s, Waterloo, Other Music, Reckless Records and the like (Look, we just listed more than two or three!), real brick and mortar stores that care more about music than any big box ever will (we live for music; we don't merely stock it as a loss leader), can still order the album through an independent distributor. If you insist on striking a deal with a major brand, that's the way it should be done.

Not ones to gripe about a problem without bringing a solution to the table, we present the following proposal: Since we can’t get your new release through our usual means, how about you bring it by the store? Just stop by and sell it to us direct. You know, like a local band. We won’t tell Walmart and you won’t either. Everybody wins! We think this is a fair compromise. According to the tour dates on your website, you’ll be in the area (Alpharetta, to be exact) on Sept. 26th. We hope to see you then. In the meantime, we’ll be turning away customers when they ask for your new album, which is not good for you or for us.

Sincerely,
Decatur CD