Narada
Christmas Music, 1997

This is a really pleasant CD filled with lovely whistles, flutes, harps, and the occasional vocal over traditional and often obscure Christmas pieces. The instruments come together to create a soothing sanctuary from the turmoils of the world, which is what I need at times like this. While some of the tracks here can be so slow and even tedious, dainty jigs like Winter Solstice and the atmospheric and even haunting March of the Dreoilín can lull me into a lovely moment of tranquility.

The Night Before… A Celtic Christmas is a better sleeping aid than most of the Celtic music clichés out there. Too bad this CD isn’t as memorable as it is serene in an elevator music kind of way. It’s so much easier to just fall asleep instead of reaching for the remote control and press that “skip track” button.