Wrapping Up Holiday Music What’s Hot For Christmas Giving

Record companies only want one thing for Christmas: your cash.

Every year, labels big and small bank on certain releases and bands to make them a lot of money over the holiday season - the time of year when business is best. In their efforts, they glut the market with releases.

Shelves are stocked with bushels of box sets, tribute albums, new compilations of old Christmas songs, greatest hits packages and new albums.

Often consumers buy at the last minute and usually don’t have time to sift through the mediocrity. The following is a list of mostly new releases that should be heard this holiday season.

Absolute musts

Patti Smith “Gone Again” (Arista)

Patti Smith’s latest album, her first in eight years, has received little fanfare. Too bad, because it’s a masterpiece. Much of her inspiration for the turbulent material stemmed from the deaths of friends and husband Fred “Sonic” Smith, of the groundbreaking punk band MC5. The overall mood is haunting, weepy and dismal. Smith’s enthralling voice is so full of passion and emotion it rivets your ears to the speakers. “Gone Again,” with music ranging from straight-up rock to folk, features the talents of longtime Patti Smith guitarist and producer Lenny Kaye as well as acclaimed solo artist and Television guitarist Tom Verlaine.

Cake “Fashion Nugget” (Capricorn)

Cake’s ascent into the mainstream, thanks to the hit “The Distance,” is a tasty surprise. The Sacramento rock combo isn’t conventional by any means, embellishing its music with a melting-pot of styles, including country, funk, R&B and the blues. Couple that with sharp-witted, beautifully crafted songs and you’ve got a winner. No other band on the radio today sounds like Cake. Hallelujah.

Christmas albums

Various Artists “Just Say Noel” (Geffen)

Usually Christmas compilations featuring “today’s” artists are just fluff designed to make a fast buck. On these albums, labels recruit a handful of arty bands for the credibility, some obscure rarities to lure collectors and some commercially proven bands so the darn things sell. Yet, “Just Say Noel” actually contains some good songs, such as XTC’s “Thanks for Christmas,” Elastica’s “Gloria,” The Roots’ “Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa” and Sonic Youth’s “Santa Doesn’t Cop Out on Dope.” And it’s for charity, no less.

Tiny Tim “Tiny Tim’s Christmas Album” (Rounder)

If you’re looking for some off-kilter, comic relief in your CD player this holiday season, give this disc a whirl. Listening to it is like watching a freak show. You’re not sure if you should laugh, feel sorry for the person or derive enjoyment from the display.

Tiny lends his over-exaggerated, upper-register falsetto to the playful songs like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth.” On the more serious carols, the late ukulele-wielding singer employs his seasoned baritone. This could be Tiny’s last album, and I think I speak for most people when I say, “God bless us one and all.”

Esquivel “Merry X-mas from the Space Age Bachelor Pad” (Bar-None)

Earlier this year, in the midst of the cocktail-nation revival, the genre’s leader, Juan Garcia Esquivel, died. Like the martini and cigar, his music continues to be a staple among hipsters. “Merry X-mas from the Space Age Bachelor Pad,” recorded during his heyday between ‘59 and ‘62, marks the perfect holiday cocktail companion. It even comes with a recipe for a cocktail known as the “Sleigh Ride.”

The Blue Hawaiians “Christmas on the Big Island” (Restless)

As you might have guessed from their moniker, the Blue Hawaiians hang ten and shoot the curl on some traditional standards. Turns out Santa turned in his sleigh for a surf board. The surfy fare gives a new spin to tunes such as “Jingle Bells” and “White Christmas.” Some of the original songs on this disc, like “Christmas Time is Here” and “Blue Christmas,” might never become holiday favorites, but they should.

Country and roots music

Dave Alvin and the Guilty Men “Interstate City” (Hightone)

From production to performance, rarely do live albums translate into good albums. There’s no better way, however, to absorb Dave Alvin’s rootsy jaunts than inside a smoky roadhouse. This live album truly relays the feeling of freedom one gets traveling on open rural highways. In the ‘80s Alvin was known for his work in the country-punk combos the Blasters and X. Today, he’s on his own. Alvin’s voice is that of someone who’s seen a thing or two over the years. His guitar work is unrestrained, and it tastefully conquers the blues and country.

Gillian Welch “Revival” (Almo)

Like the grainy, black-and-white portraits included in the CD booklet of “Revival,” Gillian Welch’s music conjures up images of the past - a plaintive singer with a pocketful of songs, sitting on the porch with a broken-down six-string and singing gritty Appalachian songs into the wind. Welch’s outstanding debut indicates that there’s a genuine and beautiful soul behind the music. There’s also some truth to the album’s title.

Iris Dement “The Way I Should” (Warner Bros.)

Iris Dement sings in a pure, hill-country voice that quavers and breaks and pries into your heart with steely determination. “The Way I Should” is her breakthrough record, a collection of songs so completely realized that it is an instant classic. Perhaps invigorated by her newfound friendship with the obstreperous Merle Haggard, she lets the anger fly with songs about the Vietnam Wall and the injustices of capitalism. She sings honky tonk blues, praises the Lord and offers up a vision of a world that functions because of faith and the dream of reconciliation. (reviewed by Don Adair)

BR5-49 Self-titled (Arista)

Finally, a band from Nashville who hasn’t been coaxed into plowing baron, creatively bankrupt country pop. Much like Wylie and the Wild West Show (based in LaCrosse, Wash.), BR-549 reminds us country music was once about music, not big hair, hats and hot rods. BR-549 can swing, they can honky tonk and they can rock. This authentic combo gives Nashville a much-needed injection of tradition.

Hip hop

The Roots “Illadelph Halflife” (DGC)

With so much media attention paid to Tupac Shakur’s death, Deathrow Records, Snoop Doggy Dogg and Dr. Dre, hip-hop combos like the Roots have gone virtually ignored. Hopefully that will change based on the merit of this combo’s new socially conscious, non-recycled second outing. The Roots, with their organic, rhythm-saturated grooves and skilled, non-gangsta rhymes, show that rap still has a future.

Mainstream rock

Presidents of the United States of America “II” (Columbia)

So now it’s cool to dislike the Presidents of the USA. Funny how trends go. Not even seven months ago, the band was still considered cool. Now apparently the joke has worn off. Seems like people forgot why the Presidents vaulted up the charts in the first place. The Seattle band writes fun and funny rock songs about bugs and fruit. They aren’t a novelty as much as they are an oasis in an industry clogged with half-baked, faux angst bands. On “II” the three presidents rock harder and are even more clever. “Volcano,” a tune dedicated to Mount Rainier, is an instant classic.

Smashing Pumpkins “The Aeroplane Flies High” (Virgin)

The heavily hyped Smashing Pumpkins box set will likely find its way under many a tree this Christmas. The zebra-striped compilation culls five singles from “Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness,” a bundle of B-sides and a smattering of covers. Among the standouts are “The Last Song” and “The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right).” It’s mainly for the hard-core fans. But even the most casual Pumpkins listener won’t think of it as a $42 box of coal.

Tool “AEnima” (Zoo)

Tool has always called to mind two Los Angeles bands - Jane’s Addiction and the lesser-known Failure. Maynard James Keenan’s animation and presence rivals that of former Jane’s frontman Perry Farrell. However, Keenan, the mind behind Tool, operates on a totally different plane. He’s not earthy or spiritual. Keenan’s performance is at its best when he wallows in the muck. Failure’s penchant for slow-building drones is also present in Tool’s sound. Is it coincidental that the two bands have played shows together and former Tool bassist Paul D’Amour moonlighted with Failure?

The last thing “AEnima” needs is more hype. But it should be heard, although the overpowering album is best in small doses.

Eclectic

Polly Jean Harvey and John Parish “Dance Hall at Louse Point” (Island)

There are few female singers as transcendent and compelling as PJ Harvey. There are few voices as vivid, too. This album isn’t as raucous as her other three, and that’s due largely to the velvety song-writing of John Parish. Harvey puts forth an amazing performance, purring, howling, wailing and crooning her way through the moody, atmospheric soundscapes.

Silver Jews “The Natural Bridge” (Drag City)

The Silver Jews has long been a Pavement side project featuring singer-guitarist Steve Malkmus and percussionist and synthesizer wiz Bob Nastanovich. It doesn’t appear that the two are featured on this album, however. Which can explain why the band, led by singer-guitarist D.C. Berman, has taken a turn from lo-fi, damaged art rock to folk. Just like previous efforts, the songs are still missing a coat of polish. They’re still disjointed, if not as chaotic. Plus, singer-guitarist D.C. Berman’s tenor still falls off the notes regularly. Somehow all of their imperfections add to the aesthetic.

Chokebore “A Taste for Bitters” (Amphetamine Reptile)

After producing a marvelous debut album called “Motionless” in 1993, the band stumbled in ‘95 with “Anything Near Water,” an album that droned like a directionimpaired, emotional vagabond. “A Taste For Bitters” pulls the listener into the grips of singer-guitarist Troy Miller’s unsettling mood swings. This time, the band has the brawny, monster chords to drive Miller’s flailing vocals and cryptic lyrics home.

Jazz

Charlie Haden Quartet “Now Is the Hour” (Verve)

Those who know Charlie Haden as Ornette Coleman’s bass player, or as the leader of the left-leaning Liberation Orchestra, may be surprised to find that Haden also has the soul of a romantic. “Now Is the Hour” is a lush evocation of post-war jazz, when strings added depth, not sweetening, to the music. A full string orchestra, arranged by pianist Alan Broadbent, lends substance and warmth, while saxophonist Ernie Watts soars with ripe, full-toned solos. A record to play for folks who think they don’t like jazz. (Don Adair)

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 4 Photos (3 Color)