Far more traditional and tasteful than many of the other holiday outings that fall under the new age umbrella,
David Arkenstone's
Celtic Christmas collection relies on mostly acoustic instrumentation, offering up a predictably warm yet refined set of familiar tunes like "I Saw Three Ships," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "Good King Wenceslas," and "We Three Kings."
Arkenstone treats the material with equal parts reverence and whimsy, and his subtle melodic variations give the whole affair a slight Elizabethan feel. ~ James Christopher Monger