The Hotel Cafe Presents Winter Songs

Performer: Various Artists
Engineer: Al Sgro; Vaughan Merrick; Mikal Blue; Jonathan Plum; Kevin Salem; Tom Biller; Darrell Thorp; Butch Walker
Producer: Al Sgro; Luke Bullen; Priscilla Ahn; Mikal Blue; Gisli Kristjansson; Sebastian Rogers; John Alagia; Jon Brion; Kevin Salem; Richard Morris; Brandi Carlile; KT Tunstall; Alex Elena; Butch Walker; Holly Conlan
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Butch Walker (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion); Al Sgro (vocals, guitar, drums, percussion); Ingrid Michaelson (vocals, ukulele, glockenspiel); Holly Conlan (vocals, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, glockenspiel, chimes); Sara Bareilles (vocals, piano); Alice Smith (vocals, background vocals); Greg Laswell, Mari� Digby, Anya Marina, Kate Havnevik, Priscilla Ahn, Colbie Caillat, Jesca Hoop, Laura Jansen, Fiona Apple, Tim Jones, Jonah Sonz Matranga, Brandi Carlile, Katy Perry, KT Tunstall, Jim Bianco, Catherine Feeny, Katie Herzig, Joshua Radin (vocals); Jon Neufeld, Topher Mohr, Kevin Salem (guitar); Matt Beck (electric guitar, ukulele, electric piano); Oliver Kraus (cello); Stewart Cole (trumpet); Joseph Conlan (brass); Brad Gordon (piano); Sebastian Rogers (Wurlitzer organ); Rich Mercurio, Ryan MacMillan (drums, percussion); Darren Dodd, Alex Elena (drums). Audio Mixers: Vaughan Merrick; Mikal Blue; Jonathan Plum; John Alagia; Ken Caillat; Kevin Salem; Richard Morris ; Darrell Thorp; Bryan Cook; Butch Walker. Arrangers: Alice Smith; Priscilla Ahn. THE HOTEL CAF� PRESENTS: WINTER SONGS is a made-to-order collection of 15 new Christmas recordings by young female singer/songwriters. Highlights include Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Bareilles' title track, Lenka's playful "All My Bells Are Ringing," and a sweet-natured take on the standard "Sleigh Ride" by KT Tunstall. Other artists include Katy Perry, Colbie Calliat, Fiona Apple, and Catherine Feeny. The song selection tends toward original material, though some old favorites are also covered. Although this Christmas compilation includes tracks by Katy Perry and Colbie Caillat, two hyper-marketable artists for the 2008 holiday season, the true appeal of Winter Songs is the spotlight it gives to emerging musicians. Nicole Atkins channels Roy Orbison's honeyed, vibrato-laden croon during "Blue Christmas," Ingrid Michaelson duets with Sarah Bareilles during the sparse "Winter Song," and Lenka reprises the bubbly sounds of her debut album (almost to saccharine effect) with an original song named "All My Bells Are Ringing." The biggest highlights arrive later in the set list, when Meiko sexily rasps her way through "Maybe Next Year (X-Mas Song)," perhaps the best original composition here, and Priscilla Ahn sings a gorgeous a cappella arrangement of "Silent Night." The latter song is the disc's crown jewel, a lush mixture of sustained notes and pitch-perfect intervals that emphasize Winter Songs' true focus: the talents of the Hotel Caf�'s alumni, not the cheap appeal of someone like Katy Perry, whose wannabe jazz interpretation of "White Christmas" is as vanilla as the songtitle suggests. ~ Andrew Leahey

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