Last week I attended
Mental Beast’s Christmas party (read my review over at
Exclaim!), a charity show featuring thirteen Vancouver indie bands. For those unfamiliar with
Mental Beast, it’s a twelve-part web series about a failing radio station, featuring guest appearances and soundtrack contributions from a wide array of local bands (many more than performed at the concert). It’s a funny and touching series, and is well worth watching—even for those unfamiliar with the Vancouver music scene.
Mental Beast recently issued
The Eggnog Experience, a 29-song Christmas soundtrack featuring many of the songs from the show. It’s a mixture of originals and holiday standards, with each track performed by a different band (which must have been a massive organizational undertaking to say the least).
Interestingly, the highlights of the compilation come from the bands that fared worst at the concert.
Nick Krgovich &
Rose Melberg’s “Coldest Night of the Year” is a gorgeously twee ballad, the pair’s soft harmonies supported by a click-clacking electro beat and tinkling bells. Equally touching is
Brasstronaut’s “Diwali Time,” which isn’t exactly seasonally appropriate (Diwali was in October this year), but the sitar-laced ditty is good enough to make up for that oversight; the song will be especially interesting to those (such as myself) with little knowledge of the holiday, as it explains, “Diwali is a time for love and care / A celebration for the gods who fought for us to be here.”
The collection’s most high-profile contributor is
Lightning Dust, as
Black Mountain’s Amber Webber and Joshua Wells offer up “Ho Ho Ho,” a hushed mixture of acoustic guitars and buzzy synth ambience. Also notable (
at least around these parts) are
Apollo Ghosts, who offer up a stomping take on
Chuck Berry’s “Run Run Rudolph.”
As you’d expect from a grab-bag compilation such as this, the collection has its share of duds. Comedian Paul Anthony’s take on “Silver Bells” isn’t funny, but its weak vocals and hokey samples mean that it doesn’t work as anything other than a novelty. Elsewhere,
Basketball’s Eastern-infused “Zima Dodje (Winter’s Come)” contains an out-of-tune piano that’s downright painful.
Then again, perhaps I’m being too critical; after all, this is a holiday compilation with all proceeds going to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. It can be downloaded for free from Mental Beast’s
website, with the option to make a charitable donation.
