Hearing that Damien Jurado loves Christmas is a little disconcerting. After all, the mumbling miserablist has spent two decades effectively playing a musical grinch; delivering sad, stark songs happy to explore the darkside of human emotions.
Yet, hearing him carol through "Christmas Time Is Here" makes sense; after all, there's a bit of Charlie Brown in Damien Jurado.
When Vince Guaraldi's doleful ballad —sung by choir of mournful, weeping children— appears at the beginning of A Charlie Brown Christmas, its titular tyke says this: "I like getting presents, and sending Christmas cards, and decorating trees and all that, but I'm still not happy. I always end up feeling depressed."
Jurado hews pretty close to the original, keeping the mournful tone, the central piano, and the children's choir; roping in the Aki Kurose Middle School Academy Glee Club to join him. Sung in a wavering falsetto, the cracks and tremors in his voice convey the emotional unease perfectly; and the sentiment holds warmly. If you're a Christmas-lover who ends up depressed every yuletide, this may be your soundtrack.
Damien Jurado, "Christmas Time Is Here"
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