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christmas ghosts

by the gifted children

/
1.
in a garden in kentucky under lightly falling christmas snow with blankets made of perfect silence we both believed that we were angels somehow set upon the ground in a garden in the south for seven hours like this we stayed until you had to go away... from time to time i still pretend that i've ensconced a perfect moment and when it seems about to end i simply press rewind again
2.
these things 05:18
the couch where you used to lay has fallen cold it's not the same without you here this christmas i keep watching 'it's a wonderful life' and wishing for one of my own all our friends keep saying, "these things take time..." i saw you at the mall, it was so sad presents for other people in that bag i wondered who they were for, you didn't answer (i shouldn't have asked) "these things take time..." the snow falls where your car used to be parked neighbors say the bare patch is filling in nicely but i still can tell where it used to be and it makes me so sad a knock on the door while i'm fast asleep an unannounced visit on christmas eve i'm half-dressed and dirty, who could that be... and i open the door and it's you and i know what you came here for and i think i agree "these things take time..."
3.
some december songs are just too long i'd just like to say merry christmas
4.
holiday sexytime song
5.
mr. grinch 03:40
you're a mean one...

about

we're closing out our 25th anniversary year with a look back at some ghosts of christmas songs past - we combed through our archives and found five original, unfinished christmas songs, spanning most of our history, and put the finishing touches on them all at long last.

the first half of the EP collects three christmas-themed songs from the first few years of our existence:

'a garden in kentucky' starts things off with a spare piano/upright bass backing for a sentimental, plaintive emma sanders/jeff suszczynski duet from december 1997, ending with wistful keyboard and bowed bass.

next up is 'these things', featuring another duet - this time between jeff and isabel hernandez-cata. written and with basic tracks recorded in jeff's college dorm in december 1995, moments before jeff and isabel took off for winter break in their senior year, this song about lost-and-found love on christmas eve has just been fleshed out into a proper mid-90s indie gem with newly added tracks from founding members bill trautman (upright bass) and jim sahr (electric guitars), as well as drums and percussion by jeff.

after that, it's 'december song (merry christmas)', a short and simple christmas song from 1997, again with recently recorded drums and additional keyboards to flesh out the original four-track arrangement.

the second half of the EP pulls some previously unused and forgotten music beds for some of our more recent annual christmas releases:

'holiday sexytime song', originally created in 2014 by jim sahr for the aborted 2014 christmas release, is resurrected here in all its slinkily looped glory, with new vocals and other tracking, creating a vibe that makes this the gifted children's most sexytime song by a long shot.

the EP concludes with 'mr. grinch', featuring a music bed created by justin sheehan in 2008 for the first gifted children christmas release but discarded for reasons we can't recall... new bass and guitar from jim, drums and percussion from jeff, and some beautifully stacked vocals from isabel give this a great latenight christmas vibe.

this wraps up the archive plundering for our 25th anniversary - we hope you've enjoyed all of the music we've released this year, and that these five new entries into the holiday music canon find you safe and well at the end of a crazy year. as always, thanks for listening!

credits

released December 24, 2020

isabel hernandez-cata - voice(s) on 2, 3, 4, 5; piano on 4
lord quaszczynski - voice on 4
jim sahr - electric guitars on 2, 5; voice(s) on 3, 4; loops on 4; keyboards on 4; bass on 5
emma sanders - voice on 1
justin sheehan - drum machine and keyboards on 5
jeff suszczynski - piano on 1; voice(s) on 1-3; keyboards on 1, 3; acoustic guitars on 2, 3; drumset(s) on 2, 3, 5; shakers on 2; sleigh bells on 3, 5; organ on 3; congas on 5
bill trautman - upright bass on 1, 2
bob r. trumpet - clangings on 3; snowmans on 4

writing and recording credits:

track 1 written by jeff suszczynski in 1997. main tracks recorded december 1997 on tascam 424; additional tracks recorded december 2020.

track 2 written by jeff suszczynski in december, 1995. main tracks recorded december 22, 1995 on tascam 424; additional tracks recorded in december 2020.

track 3 written by jeff suszczynski in december, 1996. basic tracks recorded december 1996 on tascam 424; additional tracks recorded december 2020.

track 4 written by jim sahr in 2014. basic tracks recorded in 2014, with additional tracking recorded in december 2020.

track 5 music written by justin sheehan in 2008; lyrics and melody written by isabel hernandez-cata in 2020. basic tracks recorded in 2008, with additional tracking recorded in december 2020.

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about

the gifted children Rochester, New York

the gifted children is a music collective centered in rochester and buffalo, ny.

since forming in 1995, the gifted children have released 13 albums, over 30 EPs and singles, and a boxed set, with several dozen unfinished albums currently being worked on. stylistically they range from art rock to folk, electronic to indie rock, ambient to shoegaze. ... more

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