Sweets & Treats - Xmas 2009

Sweets & Treats, the Christmas set for 2009 offered Sarah McLachlan & a number of tunes from a YoYo Ma collection featuring well-knowns like Chris Botti & YouTube sensation Jake Shimabukuro.

“Sweets” -- well, there's an overall sweetness to this collection, lots of women's voices including artists like Brandi Carlile, Meiko and the duo Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson, doing Xmas originals rather than remakes. There's also lots of classical and jazz rhythms instead of the usual EDM beats laid over classic Xmas tunes. The "treats" are a couple of older tracks, notably from Bright Eyes, Morphine and the Jan Garbarek / Hilliard Ensemble track that always drives my desire to hear Christmas music. There's also a strong winter theme driving a number of the tracks … just a little tip of the hat to the folks up north.
Also try these BeatConscious Xmas sets from years past:

http://www.mixcloud.com/beatconscious/spiritusfly/
http://www.mixcloud.com/beatconscious/all-lit-up/