Best Holiday CDs?


Is there such a thing as "audiophile quality" Holiday music? What do you play when friends and family gather to share the spirit of the season?
fpeel
Sinatra's Jolly X-mas on MoFi is pretty good. BUT, the old time best for me, and also my standard test CD for male vocals, is a CD of traditional X-mas music sung in Enlgish by an Italian group called Neri Per Caso. The group is composed of three brothers and their two cousins, all men in their mid twenties from Naples (a city with a great vocal tradition). They are actually a successful pop group in Italy, with at least one # 1 hit a few years back (Le Ragazze). The thing is, most of their songs are sung entirely a cappella, they do amazing 5 part harmony, and they have a wizard for a recording engineer. Their version of "God Rest Ye.." will raise goosebumps on your arm..and my Guarneri's LOVE these guys (must be an Italian thing). On some songs from their most recent CD's,the soundstage is truly wrap-around. Not sure where you'd get it in the US..but this disc is THAT good. Wish I could let you all borrow my copy....
Alexc the disc by Neri Per Caso has my interest. Do you think you could post or email me the label name and number of this dics. You might be suppised what one can find on the internet. I try to collect a cappella, so this would be a bonus for me . Thanks and cheers, steve
Steve/Tubegroover - I'll do better. I will ask my borther to burn a copy on his CD-R and mail it to one of you as X-mas present PROVIDED you pass it on to the other one. Let me know if you are interested. Who wants to be first? As for the details - here's the full discography of the group 1. Neri Per Caso - "Le Ragazze" 1995 Easy Records Italiana (distributed by Sony Music). Catalog number ESY 478565 2. Debut album, in Italian, all a cappella. Printed in Holland 2. Neri Per Caso "Strumenti"1996 ESY 48311 2 (Sony/BMG). Second album, some instruments introduced, but mostly percussion and sparingly used. In Italian. Trakc s 4, 6, 7, and 9 are absolutley brilliant (holographic, wrap around soundstaging) 3. Neri Per Caso (no title) 1997. EMI Music Italy EMI 4 93132 0. Interactive CD. My least fave., bu very cool a cappella version of Jamming. Mostly in Italina 4. Neri Per Caso (no title). This is the X-mas album. Need to get it back from my brother for details. Sorry! Released in 1998 and, as far as I know, the only album they did that year.
By the way..apologies for the typos. Life is too short to spell check! ( but I DO know how!)