Merry XMas
December 16th, 2004




Last month I sang the praises of XM satellite radio–nothing less than a beacon of hope for those who have tired of obnoxious five-minute long commercials. And I still love my XMRadio and continue to explore its more than 120 stations. Currently two stations are playing Christmas music around the clock, presumably from now until New Year’s. This is great but it is not enough. The Christmas genre is actually quite broad and these channels simply cannot accommodate everyone from Duke Ellington and Tchaikovsky to Run DMC and Merle Haggard. The result has been chaos. On one night I was enjoying the London Symphony Orchestra’s rendition of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” followed by a beautiful, almost ethereal performance by a woman soloist singing “Ave Maria.” I glanced at the display to find out who this angel was and to my horror discovered it was Celine Dion. Feeling ill to my stomach, I immediately switched to the Alternative ’80s channel, listened to some INXS, and cleansed my spirit.

P.S.: Thanks to Galley reader “jk” for pointing out XM has four stations devoted to Christmas. But how about one for jazz and crooners?

  1. Anonymous December 16, 2004 at 4:31 pm

    I think you mean Celine Demon.

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  2. jk December 16, 2004 at 4:32 pm

    Actually, they have four Christmas stations:Sunny – XM Channel 24 Your Traditional Favorites The Holly – XM Channel 23 Contemporary Classics Nashville – XM Channel 11 Music City Christmas Special X-Mas – XM Channel 83 A Holiday Mix of Novelty Songs

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  3. Dan Edelen December 16, 2004 at 5:07 pm

    If you want to hear an ethereally beautiful rendition of Gounod’s “Ave Maria,” I would suggest picking up a copy of Kathleen Battle’s _A Christmas Celebration_.The rest of the CD is also excellent. One of the better Christmas collections out there…and what a voice!

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  4. Anonymous December 16, 2004 at 6:04 pm

    Can I get a what what for Josh Groban? : )SL

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  5. Lawjedi December 16, 2004 at 10:30 pm

    VMKindly tell my wife what a boon XM is. She’s grinching me for Christmas. Doesn’t understand why I might not survive 2005 without it…

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  6. Westmont December 17, 2004 at 4:40 pm

    Be sure to get a copy of ODB’s (Ol Dirty Bastard) Chrimmas rap collection. Great tunes like “Santa, please” and “Hoe,Hoe,Hoe’s,in my crib”…. It’s sure to become a classic.Sorry JVL, I couldn’t resist the temptation.

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  7. jk December 19, 2004 at 8:55 pm

    Absolutely — a jazz XMas station would be ideal. To tide you over, I have a few MP3s at http://www.berkeleysquarejazz.com/mp3s.htmlMerry Christmas,jk

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