Just because it’s Christmas doesn’t mean we all have to gather round the fire while we listen to Christmas carols eagerly awaiting the chestnuts that Papa brought home from the market to roast on the fire. Grab your mp3 player, iPod, zune or whatever you use to drown out the sounds of nagging families, screeching kiddies and bubbling pots – it’s Christmas time at the @rcade but not as you know it. We’ve compiled a perfect playlist of music for the holidays, everything from rock to rap and not a single song features tinsel, holly or George Michael, this is just good music to keep you company over the holidays.
Marina and the Diamonds – Starstrukk
This is Marina’s second time in our featured sounds and her cover of ‘3Oh!3’s Starstrukk is a perfect way to wake up any morning over the holidays. Since we last covered Marina, she has been nominated for Best UK and Ireland Music Act and claimed the title, she has also been nominated for a Brit Award as Critic’s Choice. 2010 and has been a very busy for the Welsh singer and we can only hope that her success will continue on right through 2011.
Melanie C – Northern Star
Depending on who you ask, Melanie Chisholm/Mel C/Sporty Spice has been the most successful of all her former band mates, musically anyway. This track is taken from her first album ‘Northern Star’, the album, going Platinum in the UK and Gold in over four countries. It also happens to be the most successful solo album released by any of the Spice Girls.
Coolio – Gangsta’s Paradise
We’re certainly not street enough to be able to break down rap but all we know is that comparing rap music from today to stuff in the late 80’s and 90’s can and should be considered a crime. This is where the real heart of rap came from and a statement can be made without bleeping every second lyric and dressing some girls up in bikinis and gold (not that we have a problem with that). If you can’t place what film this is from, it’s Dangerous Minds, starring Michelle Pfeiffer who also features in the video.
Within Temptation – Ice Queen
This is the prelude to an Epic Christmas and could feature as the soundtrack to a family spat over the last few roast potatoes! We’ve been following Within Temptation since we were only pre-adolescent geeks desperately seeking something to make us cool and what better way than a Dutch metal rock band with the operatic and powerful vocals of Sharon den Adel.
Preachers Son – Should Have Been Gone
Continuing with the rock vibe but take things down to a more grounded and rhythmic sound we bring you Preachers Son. We recently covered their album ‘Love Life & Limb’ and if you are still searching for a Christmas gift for a loved one with exquisite taste in music then you can’t go wrong with the gift of music especially Preachers Son music.
Black Sheep/Brie Larson – Metric
So you’ve opened your presents and you are looking for the right track to get you into that geeky moody, something that should be your backing track for the next seven hours of nonstop gameplay (we encourage you to take breaks from the computer by the way and cannot endorse a marathon of gameplay… *cough*)… well from one of the BEST movies of the year we bring you Brie Larson’s cover of Black Sheep’s Metric.
Sigur Rós – Glósóli
The Icelanders in Sigur Rós have always been in our music library, Glósóli is taken from their fourth album Takk which was released in 2005. The band has always had a very unique sound but the perfect accompaniment to a long walk in the frosty fog and snow covered countryside.
Cats/Elaine Paige – Memory
We’re winding down now and are imagining ourselves in our brand new Star Wars jammies and a stack of books towering higher than the half dead tree in our living room. Memory is from the Weber musical Cats, a show about… Cats… there isn’t much else we can say about it… it’s a musical… about… cats… *blank stare*
Ellie Goulding – Your Song
We’ve fallen in love once more with Ellie Goulding thanks in part to her cover of Elton John’s ‘Your Song’, yourself and herself or yourself and himself are snuggled up on the couch, too tired to watch a movie, the fire is dying and your eyes are getting heavy and your lost in each other’s company, this song is perfect for the pair of you… (for those of us dying alone… mince pies go very well with a gallon of vanilla ice cream and we’re sure the cat could do with a cuddle)
Beethoven – Moonlight Sonata
We’re at the end of our Christmas Sounds and so we leave you with one of the most powerful and influential pieces of music we’ve ever been privileged to listen to and we’ve got Jill Valentine to thank for it. Drift off to sleep to the music of the classic Moonlight Sonata.
