| 1. Falling Like Snow 2. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer 3. Go Tell It On The Mountain 4. Cead Mile Failte Romhat, a loosa loosa 5. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas CANARIES IN THE COAL MINE WEBSITE DOWNLOAD AT NOISETRADE |
I came across this one on Noisetrade and decided to give it a shot because A) it's getting cold here in North Carolina (definitely "scarf weather") and B) I thought I recognized the group name. Scratch "B" because, apparently, "Scarf Weather" is the first ever release from Canaries In The Coal Mine (though both members of the duo have released solo albums). And, as for "A", I'm guessing you have little sympathy for me because wherever you are is likely colder than it is here (but, man, this is North Carolina and its in the teens; its not supposed to do that here before January).
Anyway, I previewed "Go Tell It On The Mountain" first (just cuz) and I was thinking, they sound nice, but it's basically just "Go Tell It On The Mountain". But, one verse in, they went somewhere else with it, entirely ...and...I...LOVED IT! Yes, I did!
Canaries In The Coal Mine is made up of two independent singer/songwriters--Chase Gassaway and Jordan Whitmore--and they are basically Indie Folk Pop, but they also manage to weave in some jazziness in their arrangements. "Falling Like Snow", an original, is a delightful Indie Pop song. "Rudolph" gets a bit of a Jazz/Blues reworking (they call it a "New Orleans groove", but I wouldn't go that far). "Cead Mile Failte Romhat, a loosa loosa" (say that five times fast), starts out Gaelic Folk and ends up Indie Rock. And, though they didn't really bring anything new to "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas", they do it so beautifully that you're glad that they didn't.
If I had one complaint, its that I wanted more. Of course, being free and all, its kind of hard to complain about that. You can download "Scarf Weather" via Noisetrade or at the Canaries In The Coal Mine website.