silver bells by she and him

so, christmas! christmas! christmas!

i love me some christmas music, which is in direct contradiction to the husband, who finds it to be an assault on his music snob sensibilities. we have a deal in our family - no christmas tunes until thanksgiving dinner is eaten. i think he'd prefer december first, but i managed to weasel this date in.

anyway! yes! i am already listening to it. and i'll be the first to admit that these sort of season tunes are hit and miss. there are some amazing versions out there to listen to and enjoy. and then there are those that make your ear bleed while cringing.

ahem. you know who i mean. the warblers? the shriekers? the ones who think that they're singing some kind of monstrous masterpiece that will be played at every single christmas party, when in actuality, is played only in retail because they're being payed to play it?

yeah, those. i won't name names. this is the season to be charitable, after all.

there is a fun new album out for you all to ooh and ah over at your christmas parties. and i'm talking about she and him, the musical collaboration between zooey deschanel and m. ward.

sidenote - have you heard that zooey d. and ben gibbard of my beloved death cab over their overpriced handcrafted ales. as for me, there was no sobbing, but more of a weird sense of, "it had to be zooey's fault, right? because . . . as adorable as she is, and as much as i covet her wardrobe and love her television show, it couldn't really be ben's fault, right? because . . . he's the lead singer of death cab, and he writes beautiful songs, and . . . and . . ."

yeah, totally nonsensical. and ridiculous. and unfair. and despite all this, i still adore me some zooey d, because it'd take a brain dead fool to not find her irresistible. and that's what her music is like--irresistible.

which is exactly what her she and him christmas album is like--utterly irresistible.

simple in many regards, without all the wailing and choirs and whatnot that others use to create a sense of seasonal majesty, a very she and him christmas is like a happy christmas surprise. there are ukuleles (readers, you know how i love me some ukulele), retro-vibes a-plenty, and general adorableness. listening to this makes you want to dress up in sequins (don't ask--i'm obsessed with sequins lately, it's really frightening, truly) and go and drink cocktails at some swanky, fabulous location, surrounded by people you genuinely like while surrounded by christmas lights. seriously. that's the vibe.

today i'm going to share the she and him version of silver bells. it is simplicity taken to near perfection: zooey's earnest yet lovely vocals set to a ukulele. there's a sense of true christmas spirit here, one not manufactured by hallmark (no offense, hallmark).

thoughts?

(mp3) silver bells by she and him

here they are, on jay leno, performing the delectable christmas waltz:



go HERE to buy a very she and him christmas album. do it quickly, so it can join your rotation, and your friends will thank you for putting something classy and clever on, as opposed to the shrieking, warbling albums. just you wait!