Christmas is a time for people to come together and have fun. But few, I’m guessing, saw the creative coming together and creative collision that has resulted in this sonic Christmas cracker. It’s almost a cracker joke itself, along the lines of ..What do you get when you mix an ecologist with an electronic music explorer?
Or even a new cocktail recipe. Take a shot of ecologist, add a dash of the voice of reason from Clarkson’s Farm, and blend with a musical wizz-kid who has DJ’d for The JAMs, danced with Nina Kraviz and talked to Mike Skinner about country music. Shake well and serve in a tall glass. And the resulting drink is unusual and fun, with a lingering, pleasant aftertaste that has you going back for more.
“Santa Flies In The Sky” does everything that a Christmas song should; it just doesn’t quite do it the way most others do. It rattles along on buoyant grooves and easy accessibility and is built from layers of mellifluous textures, janglesome, joyous, ornate, intricate, and, at times, almost arabesque. Dense, delightful, delicious.
But what is going on in the background is the real kicker. As Grasslands waxes lyrical and the music bops and beguiles, there is all manner of spoken word and gang vocals firing off, behind the main event, the sort of thing that kids (or even drunken adults) will be joining in with by the second spin.
For all its counter-Chrismas-culture way of doing things, the more you play the song, the more you get it, and indeed, get out of it. The more you allow yourself to be absorbed into the spirit of the song, the more rewarding it becomes.
If you only buy one seasonal song, buy this. If you buy two…then buy this twice!
Grasslands Bandcamp
Stephen Clarke 1980Bandcamp
Grasslands Website
Stephen Clarke 1980 Website
