37. Phil Spector - A Christmas Gift for You

Artist: Various Artists
Producer: Phil Spector
Album: A Christmas Gift for You
Year: 1963

Here's one that's a little different. First album on this list that features songs from various artists with a common producer. Not often that the producer gets the credit for the music, but this is a classic example. Even though the artists may vary, the sound does not. The key words here are: Wall of Sound.

What on Earth is Wall of Sound? In short, it's a mono recording technique pioneered by Phil Spector that involved dense layering of acoustic and electric instruments in an echo chamber to create a sound most conducive to radio and jukebox. What's the point, you ask? Well, this technique would prove influential in the short term to pop bands like The Beach Boys, but also to the "shoegaze" bands of the 1990's like Slowdive, Ride, and I reckon most notably My Bloody Valentine, all of whom employed a similar reverb-drenched, echo-ey sound. As fate would have it, shoegaze is probably my personal favorite musical genre. So listening to this album was of particular interest to me.

Four artists, all under the helm of Spector, contributed to this collection of Christmas songs: Darlene Love, The Ronettes, The Crystals, and Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans. Several of these songs are the quintessential versions of these tunes in existence, like The Ronettes' "Sleigh Ride" and Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." Since the reason for the inclusion of this album among the 1001 was the recording technique more so than the content, I chose to listen really carefully to the layers and effects than the individual songs (all of which I was familiar with anyway).

And holy shit, was this album ever amazing. After a close listen to the arrangements, I was stunned by how good this was, how nuanced the sound was. The songs are just so echo-ey, hazy, gauzy, woozy, whatever you want to call it. There's something just otherworldly about it. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys has cited this album as his favorite of all-time, and I can totally see why. Very few albums sell an aesthetic as well as this one.

Anyone with any kind of affinity for the shoegazing genre owes it to themselves to listen to this album. Now I know where the Cocteau Twins and Jesus & Mary Chain got their inspiration! I've gotta find more stuff from this Spector guy...

Rating: Indispensable