Day Eight: Merry Melodies with McRoberts, Isaak, Kensrue, and Groban

I realized last night as I was posting my Christmas experiences of the day that, for whatever reason, my experiment thus far had been rather estrogen-heavy.  I'd listened to Jewel, Mariah, and more but, for whatever reason, the fellas hadn't really been represented. 

So today I grabbed a handfull of records geared toward righting the balance.

The day kicked off with Chris Isaak's simply titled, Christmas.  It's easily one of my most favorite albums in the collection and one more listen only solidified it's status that much more.  Isaak, in his signature style, captures a sound from long ago but manages to deliver it in a way that transcends generations, appealing to early rock n' roll as well as something more contemporary.  Smooth vocals, killer musicians, and a great sense of humor lend themselves to a simply great listen.

It was a great album to lead through a day of work-filled business.  We taught, we assisted, we ran here and there.  But, I've gotta tell you, through it all, this little bit of Christmas cheer I'm kickstarting my days with is giving me a little bit of extra juice.  Kind of a nifty realization throughout.

When "second work" rolled around I had to intersperse Christmas among some more current albums as my review schedule is fairly littered with work right now.  But the experiment must go on so I sallied forth with Dustin Kensrue and This Good Night Is Still Everywhere. The Thrice frontman does a fine job working solo, showcasing something of a moody take on old and new songs alike and offers a nice, indie flavored record that plays well out of season as well as in.

Next up was my buddy Justin McRoberts Christmas EP, another recording that is definitely on the top tier of my collection.  McRoberts delivers no-frills acoutic Christmas with a heartfelt poignance that hammers home the power of Christmas with earnest honesty.  It's a set of songs that deserves a careful listen and that's not something I was able to afford it this evening.  I'm thinking this one will get a repeat listen this year.

In honor of his guest spot on The Office tonight as Andy Bernard's brother, I had to grab Josh Groban's Noel.  As you'd expect, Groban's record is flawless, orchestrated to the max, and arranged masterfully by David Foster.  Groban is spot on throughout, sharing some nice duets, and, for whatever reason, really sets the tone for fireside chats and who knows, maybe a bit more?

Thus far, I'm still wrestling with why I'm doing this.  I'm pretty much deferring to the idea that it's building in me a sense of discipline for writing which, thus far, it has as I've been pretty consistent and have seen it influence my other work which has flowed a little more freely.  It's also helped me to work toward multi-tasking my writing as well.  All in all, I guess that can't be a bad thing, right?

But should I be concerned that I'm starting to mentally put together a Christmas list for me and the family?  Too soon?  Or can we ever start too soon?