Disc #3: Amy Swift (A Christmas Gift of Song)

Artist: Amy Swift (and Friends)
Album: A Christmas Gift of Song
Released by Amy Swift in 2008

Before I begin my rantings(as my sister has labelled them), I want to point out two things. First, you might have noticed this, the second CD at the top of the alphabet, is Amy Swift, which means that my collection is alphabetized by first name. This was not my decision, and I was appalled when Nora organized the CDs. However, it was something I just hadn't gotten around to doing, and was grateful that she had done it. After I got over the initial shock, which was mostly music snobbishness, it really didn't bother me at all. If you know what method your CDs are organized in, it's not hard to find what you want. I don't really care that they're not organized by last name. We will revisit this issue once again when we get to the "The" bands.

Second, you will also notice that all our Christmas CDs are mixed in with the rest of the collection. That of course means that I will be listening to all of them during this experiment, despite the fact that it is the middle of April. This creeped me out at first, but as soon as I put this CD on I simply remembered that I love Christmas music, especially when it's not being butchered 24/7 on CHFI 98.1 for 30 days straight. Just had to make those two things clear. On to Amy's CD.

According to my all-remembering wife, this CD was a fundraising exercise her cousin (Amy) was doing at Christmas time in 2008. I don't know how much funds she was able to collect, but I think it was a great idea as it seems to have paid of in a number of ways. Amy is now attending arts school in New York City, has already appeared in at least one off-Broadway production, and is currently touring the U.S. with a children's production. Go Amy!

Amy has a wonderful voice, perfectly suited for music theatre. I was impressed with her tone, pitch control, and the timing of her switch to vibrato. You can tell that the background tracks are pre-recorded, and there's really not a whole lot to the arrangements. Nonetheless, it was still a very enjoyable listen. You can get away with that sort of thing when you're doing familiar songs that everyone enjoys singing along to.

I wasn't a huge fan of the male a-capella quartet that does a couple tracks on the album. I love this style of vocal music and I'm rather skeptical when I hear it, so don't take it too personally boys. They seemed to be in pitch with each other for the most part, but I found the arrangements to be rather shallow at times. The parts often over-lap each other. In some instances I think it was intentional, but at other times it just sounds lazy (on the part of the person who arranged it, who remains unknown).

All in all, this was an enjoyable listen, and quite suitable for any Christmas gathering. If Amy has improved even a little bit during her time at school, I think she has a wonderful career in music ahead of her. Even though I liked this CD, the amateur nature in which it was produced forces me to give it a:

5

on the MIKE JONES SCALE OF DISC AWESOMENESS. And yes, I do recognize the nature of the production and the reason behind it, which justifies how it was made. However, it is what it is, and it will remain in my collection and probably take a spin this Christmas season.

Join me next time as the experiment continues and we dive into the marvelous world of 1970's rock with Disc #4: Yes.