Jingle All the Way
There's more than a bit of delightful holiday camp and irony afoot in the Crash Test Dummies'Jingle All the Waycollection, from Brad Roberts' slow-mo delivery of "White Christmas"--with its heavy Hammond Organ--to Ellen Reid'sPatsy Clinetake of "O Little Town of Bethlehem," done in a convincing country-western style complete with pedal steel guitar. Still, there's serious business in the group's take on "We Three Kings" with the genuine Oriental influence of Ming Xioo-Fen's pipa playing, and Reid's readings of the traditional songs "The Huron Carol" and "In The Bleak Midwinter" are as reverent as standard Christmas songs get. Roberts' basso profoundo, on the other hand, is an acquired taste and he puts it to wickedly good use in "Jingle Bells," which is delivered like a medieval chant or rugby cry that's certain to put the fear in jolly old St. Nick. --Martin Keller