Wednesday, 9 November 2016
Band of Merrymakers - A Very Merry Medley
46 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!
Buy Welcome To Our Christmas Party (Deluxe Edition) here (iTunes UK)
Read my review of Welcome To Our Christmas Party here
Coming out of Election USA 2016, I really do believe that the world needs a healthy dose of ace supergroup Band of Merrymakers right now. For the past few years their sole mission has been to bring joy and happiness to the most wonderful time of the year (and let's face it, as festive as Christmas is, it can be a time of aching loneliness so a whole band of merrymakers is very often needed). Their album, Welcome To Our Christmas Party, is a community invitation for you to get your good cheer on and have a rollicking time with friends and family. It is being re-released as a deluxe edition for 2016 with the most riotous, feel good addition you can imagine - A Very Merry Medley. The song features a plethora of talent, including Mark McGrath (Sugar Ray), Tyler Glenn (Neon Trees), Kevin Griffin (Better Than Ezra), Lisa Loeb, Michael Fitzpatrick (Fitz & The Tantrums), Constantine Maroulis and many more. For American audiences it will remain them of the giddy halcyon days of Stars on 45 style medleys, where popular song refrains were fused together in 3 minutes of galloping glee. For British people, this may be the greatest collection of Christmas music since Jive Bunny topped the charts in 1989 with Let's Party. It is an eclectic mix of genres (pop, hip hop, disco, funk) and cultural influences (Spanish, British, urban America) that is a constant squealing delight for everyone listening. I won't spoil what lies ahead but the way the vocalists sing with unfettered childlike wonder and gay abandon has you turn your frown upside down and reveling in Yuletide euphoria. The trick is not only the gloriously relentless onslaught of songs you know and love (interspersed with equally memorable original moments - including a ridiculously addictive rap), but the way the Band of Merrymakers encourage and invite you to be one of their own. It is a convivial group hang singalong that sucks you in from the first "Ho ho ho" and refuses to let go. And neither do you want it to because every single second of this is just brilliant. Play loud. Play often. Play happy.
**Ghosts of Christmas Past**
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