The Omniscient Mussel

Audio: Lutheran Mass For Christmas Morning - Michael Praetorius

As promised, here is a complete performance of Michael Praetorius‘ (1571-1620) Lutheran Christmas Mass. It is not a live recording, but rather a recreation of the service as it might have been on Christmas morning 1620 about 80km southeast of Hannover. The performers are the Gabrieli Consort and Players with the and the [...]

Aural Advent Calendar: Day 24

Not much to say today other than do what the song says and have a good one.
[The deets for those that are dying to know: Judy Garland - Meet Me In St Louis 1944 - third most recorded Christmas song ever]

If you’ve got time between tomorrow and New Year’s Day, tune in for the full [...]

Aural Advent Calendar: Day 23

The penultimate installment of this year’s Advent Odyssey comes from La France (obvs) and is the song Petit Papa Noel. Papa does have his own Facebook page but details about the song are not to be found anywhere on the interwebs, making it far and away the most mysterious installment in our Advent journey.

Recipe: Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles

In previous holiday seasons, Miss Mussel has spent a disproportionately large number of hours [for her demographic] as an alchemist trying to conjure gastronomic gold from various combinations of chocolate, butter, flour and sprinkles.
Gingerbread, sugar cookies, shortbread, jam cookies, puppy chow, haystacks and cereal cookies have all had their share of admirers [...]

O Holy Night Mystery Singer Unmasked-

Earlier today, Miss Mussel posted one of her favourite Christmas gag tracks but a little poking around on the interwebs has come up trumps. The man doing the singing is a Nashville studio composer/arranger called Steve M. He gave an interview to The Burnside Writers Collective and explained everything.
The short version [...]

Aural Advent Calendar: Day 22

We seem to be oscillating between the austere and the ridiculous on this calendar, not a bad thing considering that’s how Miss Mussel’s mind generally works. It’s all about keeping it real here at OM Headquarters…er…or something. Foshizzle et al.
*Sigh*
There’s not even any teenagers about and Miss Mussel still managed to outed [...]

Aural Advent Calendar: Day 21

What is Christmas without superfluous strings swells, and key-change via meat cleaver?
B to the O to the R to the ING.
To all those musicians who have slogged their way through the inevitable Christmas pop concerts: this year Miss Mussel feels your pain.
For the first time in five years, she pulled her [...]