Christmas Music in The Artist Shop

Annie's breathtakingly beautiful long awaited Christmas CD is now available to order. Annie's voice lends an original and fresh approach to some well known classics. Produced and arranged by Rave Tesar the songs contain lush orchestral arrangements, complemented on several pieces by a male voice choir. The title track 'It snows in heaven too' was written by Rave and is sure to become a classic Christmas song in the future. This CD will touch you like no other, Annie's voice is superb and overflowing with emotion. A perfect gift for the holiday season. Have a wonderful holiday, you will be able to spend it listening to the voice of an Angel, what better way could there be!

The ultimate Christmas album! The world's greatest instrumentalists on one CD, with some fantastic Christmas music including rare and unreleased tracks! The lineup reads like a "Who's Who?" of instrumental composers;

Kitaro - "Joy To The World/The First Noel". Big orchestral/choral track from US-based Japanese new age megastar.
Rick Wakeman - "Babylon". Unreleased 1975 track from the White Rock sessions which has had Wakeman fans queuing up for the album.
Keith Emerson - "Troika". A classical Christmas favourite given typical treatment from the world's top rock keyboardist.
Sally Oldfield - "Mystic Drum". Enchanting vocal piece reminiscent of her worldwide chart hit "Mirrors".
David Bedford - "Godrestya". Mike Oldfield's orchestral arranger goes all drum'n'bass!
White Noise - "Peace On Earth". Floating ambient track from psychedelic band recently namechecked by The Orb, co-composed and with vocals by Alquimia.
Zyklus - "Christmas Morning".A new and appealing soft techno jazz track from Neil Ardley's band.
Paul Nagle - "In The Bleak Midwinter". Leading UK new age artist does an Xmas favourite in the style of Erasure.
Mark Jenkins - "Technoel!". UK space music composer drives a medley of Christmas favourites into the next millenium.
Alquimia - "The Little Drummer Boy".The ethereal voice of Alquimia in an entrancing techno ambient style.
MC Russell - "Silent Night".Very, very deep ambient drum'n'bass treatment of a Christmas classic.
Mesmerise - "What Child Is This?". Trio of Mark Jenkins, Alquimia and MC Russell with another spooky ambient track.

Keith Emerson is, without a doubt, right at the upper eschelon of rock keyboardists today. From The Nice to ELP, from his film scores to his solo albums, Keith Emerson continues to create his own musical language. If ELP fans don't recognize the tune in the above excerpt, then shame on them! But truthfully, this solo album by Keith is a joy all year round. And now we have an autographed version as well!

Robert Berry discovered The December People, practically in his backyard. With a little help from Magna Carta's Peter Morticelli and Robert Berry, they have produced an album of traditional Christmas tunes, arranged as though the classic rock bands of yore had performed them. Guest vocalists: Steve Walsh (Kansas), Jake Livgren (Kerry's nephew), Trent Gardner (Magellan, Explorers Club), Mike Baker and Gary Wehrkamp (Shadow Gallery), John Wetton (King Crimson, Asia), Lisa Bouchelle (Leonardo) and Robert Berry. Includes a special bonus track written and performed by Kansas.

Keyboard wizard Jordan Rudess was recently commissioned by the Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center to create a score for their performance of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Keep in mind that this is not only the world's most popular Christmas story, but also the world's most popular GHOST story and you'll realize that the composer of this score has to be the master of many moods. Rudess was more than up for the task as evidenced by this delightful and sometimes eerie score, certainly enjoyable any time of year!

Rick Wakeman/The New Gospels - A Modern Oratio ....import double CD $21.99	Rick Wakeman/Orisons ....import CD $15.99	Rick Wakeman/The Word And His Music ....import CD $15.99

(excerpt from 'The Lord's Prayer' - Orisons) Download Stream

Rick Wakeman was a member of the Strawbs before he started working with David Bowie in the Ziggy Stardust line up playing keyboards on the hits 'Space Oddity' and 'Life On Mars'. He joined the group Yes after having worked with Cat Stevens playing keyboards on the hit 'Morning Has Broken'. Rick's playing is brilliant on this recording and he is joined by the English Chamber Choir as well as talented guitarist David Paton (Fish, Pilot). The tracks "I Can Hear You", "Stay With Me", "The Answer" and "A Cry Without Tears" were originally written and recorded between February and July 1992 and appeared on an album entitled "Prayers". During June and July of 1996 on each of these tracks additional guitars and choir were digitally recorded and all titles were remixed. Hymn Of Hope" was originally recorded in February 1991 and was initially called 'The Battle Hymn" which appeared on the "Softsword" album. It had additional guitars and keyboards added in March 1992 and with its new name of "Hymn Of Hope appeared on the "Prayers" album. In July 1996 the guitars were replaced yet again and the English Chamber Choir added before remixing the track for "Can You Hear Me ?" "Running Away", "Why Keep Hiding", "A Little Piece Of Heaven", "Part Of The Crowd" and "Believe Me" were written and recorded between May and August 1996. The English Chamber Choir conducted by Guy Protheroe, were recorded at The Music Centre in Wembley on July 1996. Remastered with beautiful artwork this album will appeal to Rick's large fanbase.

Since 1984, Neal Morse has been writing and recording a Christmas song and sending it to family and friends as a gift. Now Neal's re-recorded some of those songs and written a few new ones to make a Christmas CD for your tree-trimming pleasure. This record is for your wives! Styles range from children's songs to jazz, pop, gospel and traditional. It even includes a Sinatra and Elvis parody. Made at home, Neal's even included some of the original 4 track demos dating back to 1984. The perfect stocking stuffer!

This is the second part of Mike's trilogy of children's stories. These are inspiring, uplifting and imaginative stories and myths that speak to the child within us all. And the music is mysterious and beautiful.

This album was recently a finalist for the Benjamin Franklin Award for Excellence in Audio as an oustanding children's recording! Remember all those really neat bits of spoken poetry on the early Moody albums? Well it was Mike who did most of those. This collection of children's stories really taps into Mike's speaking talents. Including multi-cultural background music, this album is a must for children of all ages and is the first part of a trilogy of story albums.

Note - the two Mike Pinder CD's above are not actually Christmas albums, but they do make excellent gifts for young children to love to hear stories!

Over three decades ago, "Switched-On Bach" revolutionized music with the first electronic realizations of the timeless compositions of J.S. Bach. It was acclaimed as "real music" by musicians and the listening public alike. As a result, the Moog Synthesizer was catapulted into the musical mainstream. This marked the birth of a new genre of music -- baroque music, accessible to a new audience, realized with impeccable musicianship on synthesizer and tape recorder. "Switched-On Bach" was a phenomenon; the First Platinum-certified Classical recording, it won three Grammy Awards including "Album of the Year - Classical" in 1969. Since its release, it has influenced countless musicians. Here is the original S-O B, meticulously remastered by Wendy Carlos herself in Hi-D 20-bit sound, and only recently available until now as a part of the deluxe Switched-On Boxed Set (which you'll find below). This is a staple release for any classical or electronic music enthusiast, and with the remastering, it sounds better than any previous CD edition of S-O B.

With selections by Monteverdi, Scarlatti, Handel, and Bach, this follow up recording to Switched on Bach has never before been available on a single CD. It's many fans and critics favorite title in the Wendy Carlos catalog. The creation of this album marked two developments. First, the methods and technical skills used expanded with experience and confidence. Second, the actual Moog Synthesizer itself had developed and expanded.

Music that changed the world: a gorgeous collector’s deluxe edition of a decade of revolutionary recordings by "original synth" Wendy Carlos. Hear the actual master tapes for the first time, painstakingly transferred, cleaned and optimized, using ultra-high fidelity 20-bit “Hi-D” sound. “Carlos’s realization of the Fourth Brandenburg Concerto is, to put it bluntly, the finest performance of any of the Brandenburgs—live, canned, or intuited—I’ve ever heard.” —Glenn Gould

Collect the Grammy-award family of Switched-On Bach, which propelled the synthesizer to fame in 1968 and became the first Platinum-selling classical album, with The Well-Tempered Synthesizer, Switched-On Bach II, and the Switched-On Brandenburgs.

* Four 20-Bit CDs
* Two colorful books with hundreds of pages
* Dozens of photos
* The “lost” audio tracks
* Behind the S-OB scenes
* History of the Moog Synthesizer
* More images of the texts for your computer
* A working analog synth computer program
* MIDI files of Carlos’s Bach performances

Before there was something called New Age music and ambient recordings, and before there were nature CD's or relaxation music, CBS released a 2-LP set by Wendy Carlos called Sonic Seasonings. Beautifully packaged in a gatefold sleeve featuring a lovely Japanese print, many remember the graphic as much as the music itself. And that music was unlike anything heard before: Electronic synthesizers and nature sounds recorded "in the field" so perfectly meshed that it was hard to distinguish which was which. Now over 25 years since its original release, comes the first CD release of this extraordinary work, with details and sonic depth not attainable until now, painstakingly remastered by Wendy herself using "Hi-D 20-bit" technology. This is a landmark recording of the New Age, Ambient, and Nature/Relaxation genres, created long before those genres had a name. As a bonus, this 2 CD set contains an alternate ending to Winter, and a major work from 1986 previously unreleased. Land of the Midnight Sun depicts breathtaking polar light displays over a crystalline, frozen tundra, full of beauty and danger. Altogether there is 45 minutes of previously unreleased material!

Gordon Giltrap represents a unique British musical talent, having evolved a guitar style which is as individual as his music is recognisable. Gordon's astonishing technique comprises of elements of all musical genres and transcends barriers of style and taste. This has enabled him to compose some of the most stunning acoustic guitar works of recent years. This album was issued as a very limited pressing in 1987, it fulfilled a personal ambition of Gordon's, with it's unique arrangements of Christmas Carols.

James Warren/Jim's Special Edition Easy Listening Christmas Album ....import CD $15.99

James Warren/Jim's Special Edition Easy Listening Christmas Album - James Warren first emerged on the musical scene in the early 70's as part of that essentially English musical group Stackridge. Quirky, amusing, cleverly crafted songs were his trademark then, earning Beatles comparisons for the band and attracting the attention of Beatles producer George Martin, who produced Stackridge's third LP, Man In The Bowler Hat. Real international pop success caught up with James in the 80's, as one half of the mainstream pop duo, The Korgis with the hits If I Had You and Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime which reached #5 in the UK and #18 in the USA. The latter was remixed in 1996,and again was an international chart smash! This album originally appeared as a Christmas gift for friends in 1995. It is a collection of unreleased demos and rarities and is a must for Korgis and Stackridge fans. The tracks on offer illuminate The Korgis and contain the seeds of the re- emergence of Stackridge, which was shortly to come in 1999 with the well received Something For The Weekend. As homage to two heroes, James delivers cover versions of The Beatles If I Fell and The Beach Boys Caroline No, as well as an "Indie" version of Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime. James is currently working on new Stackridge and Korgis material,and is playing dates with Stackridge.

Triakel make small-scale music with strong stories. Their sound has three simple parts: the exquisite voice of Garmarna’s Emma H�rdelin, the fiddle of Hoven Droven’s Kjell-Erik Eriksson, and the harmonium (pump organ) from Janne Str�mstedt. Though the players are members of NorthSide’s loudest bands, this is quiet, thoughtful acoustic music. The band describe this recording as "an alternative to a typical Christmas album, but still with a strong, recognizable smell of Swedish Christmas."

The foundation of the incredible vocal force that is V�rttin�, the Kaasinen sisters lovingly present their favorite Finnish Christmas songs, arranged by JPP's Timo Alakotila and performed with an all-star band.

Kevin Kling built his reputation in the Twin Cities during the 1990s with his groundbreaking plays "21A" and "Fear and Loving in Minneapolis" and toured a one-man show of "Home and Away" across the US in the early part of the decade. Today, he has probably become best known for his regular story-telling contributions to NPR’s "All Things Considered." "Kling's stories fall somewhere between David Lynch's perversity and Garrison Keillor’s home-spun humor..." – Denver Post "Stories Off the Shallow End" is a new collection. It includes pieces from his holiday show entitled "Tales From The Charred Underbelly of the Yule Log" and four stories that were originally recorded for "All Things Considered."

An extraordinary record: old Italian melodies, dedicated to Christmas. Popular Italian Christmas tunes, released on records of 78 rpm between 1916 and 1955.

Digitally remastered reissue of 1968 album includes five bonus tracks, 'Sunshine Day', 'Aeroplane', 'One For John Gee', 'Love Story' & 'Christmas Song'.

David Bowie's family & close personal friends received a special present for Christmas, 1993, a CD of the Thin White Duke's instrumental ambient works! This import-only release is an updated & amended reissue of that Yuletide gift. Amongst the 16 tracks are several cuts currently unavailable anywhere else, including 'Crystal Japan', 'Abdulmajid' and 'All Saints'. This collection, which spans the '70s through the '90s, features numerous recordings from his seminal albums 'Low' and 'Heroes', as well as material from 'The Buddha Of Suburbia' sound track and his most recent album 'Hours...'. Closing the disc is the Philip Glass Low Symphony version of the 'Low' outtake 'Some Are'. A unique compilation that fans of Bowie, ambient and/or abstract modern music won't want to miss out on.

American Boychoir/On Christmas Day ....CD $9.99
Edhels/Oriental Christmas ....import CD $15.99
F.M. Einheit and Casper Brotzmann/Merry Christmas ....CD $13.99
Ethan James/The Ancient Music of Christmas ....CD $11.99
Arthur Lyman/With A Christmas Vibe ....CD $11.99
The New York Pro Music Antiqua/English Medieval Christmas Carols ....CD $11.99
Man/Christmas at the Patti ....import CD $15.99
Richard Purvis/Music For Christmas ....CD $11.99
Jerry Jeff Walker/Christmas Gonzo Style ....CD $11.99

And what are the holidays without family sing alongs? Need some sheet music to play or sing along? The click the link below to find over 6,000 music books featuring Christmas music!

Of course, you might find it a bit daunting to wade through 6,000 titles if you're trying to find something specific. If that's the case, just use the sheet music search engine below to find what you want.

Merry Christmas!!!

For those of you looking for some progressive holiday music to spread some cheer

Available Now!!!

Can't think of what to get that special prog fan for Christmas? Do they already have so many CD's in their collection that you're afraid you're just going to buy them something they already have? Well, here's your solution!

The Artist Shop Gift Certificate

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