Mat Lombardi & Friends

As I am writing this, it's early Sunday morning, my little boy is watching cartoons on tv and I'm enjoying myself with the Christmas album Mat Lombardi & friends made. While listening, I was thinking of how to describe this. As a quilt, maybe? A patched up carpet of various styles (blues, rock, a symphonic 8 minute suite, piano instrumentals, a rock opera), with serious intent and pure uncut fun? Guess that's it.

Take the 'reworked classic' Baby It's Cold Outside, a song that got a bad rep in the #MeToo days because it was considered to be a promotion for (date-)rape. Mat & Kelly Campos (I guess) turn it into a song about two parents who, with the kids away, want to turn the night into something special. Well, he seems to be very anxious to shovel snow while she just wants to relax, man.

This songs, almost 7 minutes long, brings back the prog rock opera days of ELO and Queen (with a smaller production budget, that is) and is a detailed account of an epic battle between Elves and the Dutch (?) originator of Santa Claus, Sinterklaas.
And that's just two songs. Check out the snowfall soundtracks on piano, the charming, slightly adapted version of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and the good fun of Do I Hear Santa too. This is the stuff that this blog craves for in the season, really.