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Pink Martini, 'Joy to the World'
Pink Martini’s “little orchestra” arrangements run music from around the globe through a swingin’ ‘60s, lounge-pop blender. This, their first holiday album, dials down the jazzy kitsch but keeps the United Nations vibe intact, with songs from various traditions sung in English, Japanese, Ukrainian, Hebrew, German, French, Italian, Arabic, Chinese and even Ladino, a Spanish/Hebrew dialect. It’s all a bit of an academic exercise, but a fun one—and it’s cool to hear familiar songs rendered in their original language (like “Shchedryk,” the Ukrainian “Carol of the Bells”) or transformed into unexpected ones (like “White Christmas,” sung in Japanese by “the Barbra Streisand of Japan,” Saori Yuki).
