Ep. CXXXVII: 'Silent Night: Organ and Chimes Favorites' - William Daly

Hey, we got any organ fans in the house this evening? If so, prepare yourself for a special treat. . . .

Album Title:  Silent Night: Organ and Chimes Favorites

Album Artist:  William Daly

Ah, another 'chimes' Christmas album. We've had a lot of these over the years, and they vary in the intensity and absurdity of their chimey-ness - sometimes sounding like a boring church service, sometimes sounding like some kinda demonic, carnival sideshow attraction. I spotted this at Radio Wasteland years ago and snatched it up on a whim from their Dollar Bin with zero expectations; based on the album artwork, the fact that this was marked down to the 'discount price' of $1.79 in 1983 (or $5.82 nowadays, which is cheap for a new LP), and the fact its a chimes record, I didn't have high hopes for this one.

Dropping the needle on Side A is pretty much akin to walking into your Grandma's church. Not the one you usually go to, where you kinda know some familiar faces and the lay of the land - you know what kinda music they're gonna play, you know the order of the service, etc. - but your Grandma's church. The kinda church you go to and everything's off and things feel weird. Like, you know Jesus is probably still a big deal and everything, but there's a weird smell in the air from the combination of moldy pew cushions and the 75-and-older crowd (who make up 80% of the thirty-four people in attendance), and you find yourself overcome with a sense of unease. 

The organ work on this album screams 'old people slowly dying in church' more than any other album I've ever reviewed over the course of the last decade or so. And that's saying something, guys. It's not a swirling, circus-esque freakshow organ (we've had that around these parts before), channeling the very fissures of Hell, but instead a slow, warble-y progression to the grave. The arrangements on this piece wouldn't be out of place at a funeral, which might sound weird considering these are Christmas songs and that would usually deter one's mind from going straight there, but. . . here we are. 

It's hard to make up-beat carols sound the exact same as a somber, more religious Christmas song, but William Daly somehow makes it happen. Lots of whole notes to be found here, those are definitely his favorite. Everything comes across in the same time signature, the same level of intensity, and the same volume, as if Will realizes that to take one, musical step out of the norm here would certainly kill (smite?) any or all of the elderly patrons in attendance. It's like some kind of church-y fever dream that you can't escape from.

I never thought in my entire life that I'd ever welcome the sound of chimes in a Christmas song (or any song for that matter), but man - when the occasional chimes do come in to the songs, they're a f***ing blessing. 'Organ and Chimes' is a bit of a stretch for an album title, folks - this should be called 'Organ, feat. Chimes.' They're an accent accompaniment here, not the main attraction, and while I'd usually be the first to stand up and shout, "CHIMES ARE NOT A LEAD INSTRUMENT," I'm so beaten down from the funeral organ on this album that when the chimes do come in here and there it's like a bucket of ice-cold water right in the face. You remember you're alive, and not sitting in attendance for your own funeral.

With a bunch of old church-goers who, for whatever reason, are the only people that bothered to show up to your funeral. 

At that point it's time to re-evaluate your life, folks.

 

VERDICT:  3/10 - Seriously?  (Christmas music for a funeral. If that's your thing.)

- SHELVED -

- Brian