It's A Cool Cool Christmas

The Christmas album concept isn't fairing too well in the credibility stakes, mainly thanks to the ‘milk-it’ strategies that Cliff Richard and Dustin have perfected.

But when one of the sharpest and sassiest independent labels on the block put out a pop record inspired by Xmas albums by Elvis, The Beach Boys, Otis Reading, The Ronettes and The Sonics, you gotta at least be interested.

Repeated listens to It's a Cool, Cool Christmas have the following effects – firstly, the listener will be happily yearning for the season of peace and goodwill to all men, women and sheep, and secondly you'll fall in love with at least half a dozen little beauties from the tracklist. If you've spent your Y2K being seduced by Grandaddy, Belle and Sebastian, Saint Etienne, Teenage Fanclub, Snow Patrol, Giant Sand, Calexico and Low (just to mention a few of the twenty-one acts here) then your Christmas stocking is definitely pining for this.

Grandaddy stylishly crack open the champagne on the proceedings with the rather puzzling outright brilliance of 'Alan Parsons in A Winter Wonderland'. The Belle and Sebastian massive do their Christian rock credentials a world a good, with 'Howling Mad' Murdoch, Stevie 'The Man in Black' Jackson and Isobel 'D'ya wannae go to a partae?' Campbell gathering around the fire to croon 'O Come, O Come Emmanuel'. Saint Etienne could have offered 'I Was Born On Christmas Day' (up there with 'Fairytale of New York' as one of the greatest Xmas songs ever), but being industrious souls they chip in a lovely rendering of the Billy Fury standard 'My Christmas Prayer'.

And that's just a smattering of the holly-tainted highlights from this indie-kids' office party. Pour seasonal measures of hot port into a large glass, put your feet up and turn up the tunes.

Santa is going to be delivering plenty of these this Christmas, so I hope that you've been good enough all year to get one.