Best Public Service Announcement Ever
It seems as if both Coldplay and The Killers were competing last week for the award (given out and invented by me, of course) for best Christmas song ever. And they both won, a lot. As Christmas is the greatest time of the year (besides NAMM), I give you…the winners of my imaginary but oh so real award:
(And sorry about the ads. The internet is now cable tv.)
And a live version…not The Killers playing behind him, but Brandon Flowers threw it in on his current solo tour, and the quality of whomever is on tour with him is fantastic:
Mmmm…Christmas. And in reality, it was a three-way tie for the best Christmas song ever, because of U2′s cover of ‘I Believe in Father Christmas.’ But as I’ve posted that video 2 years in a row, I am trying desperately to win the battle with myself not to post it again.
Merry Christmas. 
Splendid.
Karl.
P.S. I lose. And quite happily, too.
-
-
nice … i like your imaginary awards
one of my latest favs from a few years ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rim0I1cHg_Y
and definitely, Oh Holy Night! We had a guest sax player last Sunday who did his rendition of this … powerful & moving!
-
Is it just me or is Boots’ chorus eerily similar to Moment of Surrender?
I love Coldplay’s song even more every time I hear it though! Great picks Karl.
And, for Christmas this year I am getting something even better than gear… a beautiful daughter! Everyone please say a prayer for my wife and soon-to-be-here child. =) -
-
#9 written by Ben G 2 years ago
-
-
#12 written by Ben G 2 years ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoshUj_lL50
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6u8iABIlm0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yhMRM9MkSA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT5ciwyP-no
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIzTkeZ5WWY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMwBFq0VjvQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98heIerUKIE (THIS ONE ESPECIALLY!! Crazy version of Silent Night!
-
#16 written by Jared 2 years ago
Christmas songs are always great, just not the same 15 on the radio. Good picks, I also enjoy the killers “dont shoot me Santa” from a couple years back.
Gear demo request:
Can you check out the new Vox VR amps? The only demos or videos I find are product ones from salesmen or just some dude jamming. Would like some other opinions other then the dude at guitar center. -
Sam–right on! Me too! We usually do a less cheesey instrumentation of Emmy Rossum’s version.
Rhoy–very cool! And O Holy Night on sax? Right on! I love the different stuff that comes out at Christmas time. Nice to get out of the drums and delay box every once in a while. But just every once in a while.
heheNick–absolutely! Praying for you and your family, and congratulations!
And I think you’re right on Moment of Surrender a bit…the preluding melody follows the same arc, although different intervals. I feel like Boots is the way Moment of Surrender should have gone, without Eno’s awkward chords at the end. hehe
Chris–ya, ’80′s!! Can I throw in The Pretenders’ 2000 Miles? I love that song!
Ben G–lol That album is literally sitting right next to my computer right now. Some good stuff on it for sure!
Dan Price–sweet!! Just downloaded all their Christmas songs a couple nights ago. I was quite out of the loop; I didn’t know they did one each year!
Mark Colvin–seriously!! I think it’s just good song-writing. Anthems are birthed in the melody, not the instrumentation. For instance, I think an accapella Amazing Grace is huger than 90% of any full band song ever written. Just my humble views on it. I’ve never written a melody that good, or a song that huge, so I don’t know for sure. hehehe
Nater2–right on! I’ll have to check out more of him.
Jared–yes, they can get overplayed…at least those 15 like you said. hehe
As for the VR amps, I’ve not played through them, but I’m very, very suspect of any marketing campaign that goes to such lengths to describe the benefits of one 12ax7 tube. I’m gonna guess that their Night Train sounds worlds better than the VR series. But I’ll try to get to a store to try one out.
-
#19 written by David 2 years ago
Funny how when you are a kid, you don’t ever listen to the same music your folks do, but it can change when you grow up. Now my parents love Coldplay and Travis and stuff. Every time I go to my parents’ house, my mom is blasting her Coldplay. Ha. I’m not a fanatic for them, but they never disappoint.
By the way, I just got a Blue Sky Reverb. Karl, why don’t you have one of these? I promise, if you get one, it will be really hard for you to ever turn it of. Fabulous pedal!
-
#22 written by Randall 2 years ago
-
#27 written by Randall 2 years ago
-
-
Hey everyone!
I just posted a new blog on my site:http://bigb94.webs.com/apps/blog/show/5556904-deltalab-launches-new-pedals-
Although I normally do blogs on Bible study lessons, I thought that I would post and let others know about these incredible pedals… Check it out! I’d like to get some discussion going!
-
#31 written by Randall 2 years ago
-
Sam–hehehe I’m kinda with ya on that. (Apologies to any Barlowe Girl fans out there!
)David & Sam–ya, that’s actually one of the things I love about Coldplay’s music is how it seems to span both age and stylistic preference sometimes.
As for the Blue Sky…ya. Strymon is a wonderful company, but the Blue Sky did not do it for me. I’ve tried really hard to keep that a secret and only answer when people email me about it, but it’s starting to get out there; so I may as well admit that I had one and sold it. So many people are making beautiful music with it though, and just love it; so more power to them! I’m sure it’s a fantastic pedal, just not in my hands, my rig, etc. With apologies to probably every reader of this blog. heheDon–right on with O Holy Night! And you’ve got snow?! So jealous. You’re in Canada, right?
Randall–nice! And his voice annoys me because it is so good. haha
Brandon–a good majority of acoustic players plug into boards before the direct box. Check out Tommy Emmanuel for some lovely acoustic with delay. Kevin Max’s guitarist also has a killer setup for acoustic.
Chris–sweet! I’d love to hear a live version! Such a killer song.
Brandon–very cool, I”ll have to check it out.
Dan–nice! I need to listen to more Future of Forestry anyway.
Randall–ah, you got that one.
Thanks!Brandon–it depends on what you mean by ‘heavier.’ If you mean a more ‘metal-ish’ heavy, than the OCD. It has the scooped mids sound that makes heavy guitar work such as In Flames. However, it also means that it won’t work as well if you’re going for a very present, heavily distorted sound such as some of Jimmy Page’s stuff. In which case, the Fulldrive is probably ‘heavier.’ Hope that helps!
Randall–Tim is so choice.
And I also didn’t bond with the Fulldrive or any of the OCD versions.-
#34 written by Craig 2 years ago
-
-
Has anyone else seen this? It’s awesome!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9XNfWNooz4&feature=player_embedded
Now we can all go to fully digital rigs on our ipads instead of buying a Prariewood and a Matchless!!
I kid, I kid. How is the Prariewood btw?
-
Rhoy, Craig, & Sam–wow! I guess it’s never perfect anywhere. We’re having a heat wave here which kind of sucks, but I guess it also sucks to have to shovel snow or deal with floods.
Nate & Brandon–haha Oh yikes. I can’t remember where I was, but someone was trying to talk me into selling my whole rig because the iPad now rendered that archaic technology obsolete. I love it when folks explain these things to you as if the only reason you play through an amp and pedals is because you’ve never heard of a computer. lol I think I’m gonna pass on that app.
-
#40 written by Craig 2 years ago
Karl,
Y’all are welcome to some of the 14-20″ of snow we got today. Although I did manage to make it safely back and forth from rehearsal this morning.
The driveway has been shoveled three times and still no plows on our street. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
BTW Minnesota is pretty much perfect from May-September
-
-
-
Craig–haha Wow! Ya, when I was in Minnesota last year, it was June, and it was spectacular.
Brandon–haha In all honesty, I was trying to skip that comment where you mentioned your blog post on DeltaLab, as I’m not a huge fan and didn’t want to come off as a jerk. hehe Doesn’t mean they’re not awesome pedals, I just wasn’t overly impressed when I tried them. But if they’re giving you great tone for great music, then rock on! Plus, I most definitely just could’ve been using them incorrectly.
-
-
Brandon–what amp are and guitar are you using them with in your setup?
And currently I’m using two Fulltone Fatboost’s at 12 volts each and a This1smyne Super Duper clone to drive my Matchless.
It’s fairly decent for the time being, but always checking around. 
Mark Colvin–ah, no worries! Hope you guys have a great time! Be sure to check out True Tone in Santa Monica if you have a chance.
-
- Comment Feed for this Post
I was VERY disappointed! But EVERYONE who went said he was an amazing “worship leader”, not artist but “worship leader!” If I was a recording artist I would want people to say that!
I think Boots wins in my book. Also, you should check out Green River Ordinance’s cover of O H Holy Night.
http://greenriverordinance.bandcamp.com/track/o-holy-night