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I’m finding it hard to believe that it’s December, the official month in which cold, ice, sleet and snow make their presence known and periodically do, but one thing I ‘can’ believe is that Santa Claus will be coming to a town near you soon and hopefully your exact residence. If you have the good fortune of having nine reindeer, a large man and an even larger sleigh land on top of your roof, then you may find yourself blessed with any of the goods listed below. These are just ‘some’ of the 85 quadrillion things that could ‘possibly’ be found under your tree this upcoming Christmas day. If and when this happens you can thank the Almighty Himself, that would be God and your lucky stars that a baby was born some 2000 years ago to a young couple by the names of Mary and Joseph. The baby’s name and title is Jesus Christ: Superstar, previously only a Rockstar but now elevated to an elite class in which He is the sole recipient of this
 designation. In short, J.C. is the bee’s knees. The cat’s meow. The Reason for the Season. The Main Attraction of an otherwise cold and blustery month. What am I going on about? Well, let’s go over some rock ‘n roll facts...

There’s a fair amount of stuff coming out from between now and Christmas and none of it you absolutely need, but some of it is pretty cool and could make the home a little merrier and brighter, perhaps even louder, which is important when you are trying to contend with all the distractions life has to offer. You’ve got to block out all those other sounds.

But here’s the ‘real’ fact...

In the small of the early morning and the dead of the night, when children are sleeping and snug in their beds and visions of sugarplums are dancing in their heads and nothing, not even the wind is blowing to make a sound that could keep you awake. When all is quiet and silence becomes a sound and the only thought that matters is the knowledge that an infant was born two millenia ago in a manger in another half of the world, and that the news of His birth, existence, death and resurrection spread like wildfire throughtout the world and that His Life means just as much today as it has in the previous 2000+ years and is celebrated to this day and it’s this faith in this testimony that inevitably gets you and drives you through each day even as you find yourself this month stuck in the parking lot and not able to move your car and stuck in the aisle and not able to move your cart and stuck in the checkout line and not able to move your person all in the name of finding the perfect gift. Know in your heart that you already have the perfect gift and you didn’t need to stand in line for it for even a second! 

All this to say:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!! You da man!
 
Recently released and not mentioned in last edition:

* William Fitzsimmons - The Sparrow and the Crow
* Russ Brown - The Fugitive Peace (cdbaby.com)
* Kanye West - 808’s and Heartbreak
* Pela - Anytown Graffiti
* Owl City - Maybe I’m Dreaming
* Empires - Howl
* The BoDeans - Live Acoustic
* Third Eye Blind - Red Star (EP.)
* Linkin Park - Road to Revolution (live.)

12/2

* Three Days Grace - Live at the Palace 2008
+ Panic! at the Disco - Live in Chicago
+ Neil Young - Sugar Mountain: Live in 1968 (CD/DVD.)
+ Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
+ Step Brothers
+ Wanted
+ X Files: I Want to Believe
+ The Longshots

12/9

* Thrice - Live at the House of Blues
* The Maine - ...And a Happy New Year
* Mark Kozelek - The Finally LP
* Distance - Repercussions
* Ken Block - Drift (Singer of Sister Hazel.)
* Marianne Faithfull - Easy Come Easy Go
* Loop - a few reissues
* Flipper - a few reissues
* Various Artists - Complete Motown #1’s (box set.)
+ Blue Rodeo - Live at Massey Hall in Toronto (CD/DVD.)
+ The Dark Knight
+ Horton Hears a Who
+ Man on Wire

12/16

* Dave Matthews Band - Live at Mile High Music Festival (CD/DVD.)
+ Burn After Reading
+ Traitor
+ Death Race
+ Mamma Mia!
+ The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

12/23

* Dave Matthews Band - Live Trax, Vol. 13
* Stephanie Smith - Not Afraid
* Woody Guthrie - Best of
+ The Women
+ The House Bunny
+ Hamlet 2
+ The Duchess
+ Ghost Town

12/30

+ Towelhead
+ Baghead

1/6

* Erin McCarley - Love, Save the Empty
+ Pineapple Express
+ Righteous Kill
+ The Wackness
+ Bangkok Dangerous

1/13

* Royal Bliss - Life In-Between
* Derek Trucks Band - Already Free
* Saxon - Into the Labyrinth
+ Swing Vote
+ Mirrors
+ Operation Filmmaker

1/20

* John Frusciante - The Empyrean
* Umphry’s McGee - Mantis
+ El Norte
+ City of Ember

1/27

* Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - Working on a Dream
* Gary Louris & Mark Olson - Ready for the Flood
* Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
* Duncan Sheik - Whisper House
* Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (Live.)
* Loney Dear - Dear John
* Rush - Retrospective 3 (CD/DVD.)
+ Vicky Christina Barcelona
+ The Rocker
+ Lucky Ones
+ Frozen River
+ Lakeview Terrace

2/3

* Chris Cornell - Scream
* The Fray - S/T
* Melinda Doolittle - Coming Back to You

2/10

* Red - Innocence & Instinct
* Lily Allen - It’s not Me, It’s You
* India.Arie - Testimony Vol. 2
* Ben Lee - Rebirth of Venus
* Dan Auerbach - Keep it Hid
+ Blindness
+ Miracle at St. Anna

2/17

* Tommy Keene - In the Late Bright

LYRICS of the MONTH:

“Way across the fields where the starlight falls
On the road to this little town
If the stars could tell a story
Which way would it end?
Who would lose and who would win?

And it looks like the whole world is waiting

Far off in the lands of kings
The humble man misused
Army come, set his house on fire
Terrorized and broken, the humble hide and pray
‘Show us a sign or take us away.’

And it looks like the whole world is waiting
This is the moment we’ve waited for

Some men gave their lives writing out
The ancient books about the place
Where the kingdom come
A king to walk among us
One to call our own
Finally come to make this His home

And it looks like the whole world is waiting

Silent hearts, silent night
One voice to be heard
From the stables
There, a baby cries
The voice of God calling to a silent world

Riding by the light of an ancient star
In the night, full of heaven’s hope
Hearing the news of angels
The humble make their way
Coming to town to look for the King

And it looks like the whole world is waiting

Silent hearts, silent night
All creation waits for this moment
Now the kingdom comes
To a world crying out

Silent hearts, silent night
One voice to be heard
From the stables
There, a baby cries
The voice of God calling to a silent world.”

The Altar Boys, the song “Silent Night” off the album Forever Mercy released in 1989.

Have a very Merry Christmas!!!

See you in 2009...

Chris Barlow