Neil Diamond Plans "Acoustic Christmas" release

Capitol Records has announced the global release of Acoustic Christmas, a new holiday collection from Neil Diamond.  Arriving on October 28 with a vinyl version arriving November 19, pre-orders are now available. Acoustic Christmas will feature new recordings of holiday classics. 

“With Acoustic Christmas, Neil has created a classic holiday album that brims with his singular artistry and an intimate warmth that’s so perfectly suited to these timeless Christmas songs,” says Capitol Music Group Chairman & CEO Steve Barnett. “This a great present for the upcoming holiday season, from Neil to all of us.”
This new collection was produced by Don Was (Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan) and Jacknife Lee (U2, R.E.M.), the pair behind Diamond’s 2014 acclaimed Melody Road. "One need look no further than Neil's earliest hits to know that something special happens when you set his voice in the middle of a few acoustic guitars: the vibrant expression that lives in the nuances of Neil's singing moves to the forefront and creates a profoundly intimate experience,” says Was. “The vibe in the studio seems inspired by the folk scene of Neil’s early years in Greenwich Village. We had a stellar cast of musicians sitting around in a circle of microphones, eclectic acoustic instruments and Christmas lights! We had a wonderful time making this record and the good vibes permeate every track.”

Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets Vist With Conan, Watch!

Last week, Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets took to the stage of Conan to perform two songs from The Quality Holiday Revue.

Check out “Christmas At The Airport,” and the web-exclusive “Half A Boy And Half A Man” below.

Placido Domingo Brings In The Holiday Season With The Release Of His New Album, "My Christmas"

A heart-warming world of Christmas magic comes alive on Placido Domingo's new holiday album, My Christmas (available now on Sony Classical). Available now, the album is filled with seasonal favorites, plus duets with a variety of special guests including Idina Menzel, Jackie Evancho, Placido Domingo Jr., The Piano Guys and others.

My Christmas features Domingo performing his favorites numbers like "Guardian Angels," the haunting song composed by Harpo Marx and made famous by Mario Lanza with Idina Menzel, fresh from her triumph as the voice of Queen Elsa in Disney's Frozen; "Pie Jesu" the pure, ethereal melody from Andrew Lloyd Webber with Jackie Evancho, the 15 year-old American singing phenomenon, who is also the youngest top-10 debut artist in USA history; "White Christmas," the evergreen Irving Berlin classic with his son Placido Domingo Jr.; and "Silent Night" with The Piano Guys, whose witty mash-ups of classical favorites and pop standards have been seen over half a billion times on YouTube.

Other artists featured on My Christmas singing holiday classics with Domingo include the German superstar Helene Fischer ("What Child Is This"), whose albums have sold more than 9 million copies to date; the French heart-throb tenor Vincent Niclo ("Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"); and the New Zealand singer Hayley Westenra performing "Loving Christmas," a new song written by Placido Domingo Jr.

Warm Up with Quadriga Consort's New CD, Winter's Delights

Early Christmas Music and Carols from the British Isles, France and Canada Performed on

Period Instruments

Packed full of engaging and appealing seasonal offerings, Winter's Delights is Quadriga Consort's new album and welcome addition to Yuletide.

English composer and poet Thomas Campion (1567–1620) famously wrote 'Summer hath his joys and Winter his delights,' and the consort has taken this memorable line as its starting point for this attractive collection of popular and lesser-known winter melodies.

The album includes traditional English carols such as "The First Nowell," "The Three Kings" and "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," together with Scottish tunes such as "Gloomy Winter," "The Traveller Benighted in Snow" and "Leanabh an Aigh" (The Blessed Child), better known in recent years as the hit song "Morning has Broken." From Ireland comes the traditional jig "A Merry Christmas" as well as the medley consisting of "Early in the Morning" (trad. hornpipe) / "The Ivy Leaf" (trad. reel) / "Christmas Comes But Once A Year" (trad. jig). Nova Scotia beckons with "The Stormy Scenes of Winter" and France happily presents "Noel Nouvelet – Sing We Now of Christmas."

There is a charm and freshness to this unconventional edition and, most importantly, a sense of joy and delight in music-making that cannot fail to cheer and lift the spirits, even on the bleakest of winter nights.