Search - Mary O'Hara :: Xmas

Xmas
Mary O'Hara
Xmas
Genres: Folk, Special Interest, Pop, Classical
 
  •  Track Listings (4) - Disc #1

Mary Margaret O'Hara is Canada's other kind-of-arty, kind-of-country cult figure. In contrast to k.d. lang, however, O'Hara is a little less country and a lot cultier; think Patsy Cline crossed with David Byrne. This brief...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Mary O'Hara
Title: Xmas
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Koch Records
Release Date: 8/20/1996
Genres: Folk, Special Interest, Pop, Classical
Styles: Holiday & Wedding, Singer-Songwriters, Opera & Classical Vocal
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 099923793526

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Mary Margaret O'Hara is Canada's other kind-of-arty, kind-of-country cult figure. In contrast to k.d. lang, however, O'Hara is a little less country and a lot cultier; think Patsy Cline crossed with David Byrne. This brief seasonal treat is the long-delayed follow-up to her 1987 debut, Miss America. Recorded in 1991 and long unavailable in the U.S., the Christmas EP consists of one original (the simple but insistent "Christmas Evermore"), plus incandescent treatments of "Blue Christmas," "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" and "Silent Night." All are calm; all are bright. --Steven Stolder

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CD Reviews

The uniquely talented Mary Margaret O'Hara
deepbluesky | London, United Kingdom | 01/10/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)

"The miserly ratings given by other reviewers demand some counter-balance! The music on this CD is intimate, sweet, warm, joyful, cool, jazzy, country, ethereal, melodic, divine. The only Christmas music I could ever imagine buying, from one of the best singers I've ever heard in my life."
A corrective
deepbluesky | 12/26/2003
(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is being written on Christmas because the record needs a corrective AMAZON review since that knucklehead who gave it one star hadn't, apparently, even heard it. Look, anyone who has heard O'Hara's "Miss America" ranks it with the elite pieces of music in their collection, I promise you that. The voice is ethereal, heartbreaking, otherworldly, and the music veers from haunted country atmospherics, to Crimson like guitar workouts punctuated by the guttural cries of a woman on the edge of madness. Accessible, though, and thrilling. This Christmas EP is what you seek out when you simply must -- must -- have more of her, since for various reasons she has been silenced as a lead recording voice for years now. This is by all means warm and harmless. It is not relavatory, people, it is Christmas music, a bouquet to fans."
Oh OK! I could get to like Christmas listening to this......
Geoff Hall | Borehamwood, UK | 06/12/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)

"[...]

This reason is simple. This EP by Mary Margaret O'Hara is just about the most perfect slice of Christmas I have ever heard and is, I have no doubt, better than any other Christmas recording I have ever heard.



MMO sings in her own inimitable style and gives a quite fabulous rendition of Billy Hayes's brilliant "Blue Christmas". "Silent Night" is a surprise because of the subtle use of a lap-steel guitar which is exquisite and adds a new dimension to the song. "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" is a gentle and tender version which works beautifully (I love the bass clarinet), but could have been a little longer. As for "Christmas Evermore", this is an original MMO and typical of the keening beauty which she effects so well. It's a beauty and gives an alternative message to Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" with the wish for war to be over - quite pertinent at the moment.



So, even if, like me, you dislike Christmas and act the old killjoy, the humbug, you could not help but to love this 16- minute gem - if you can find it!

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