Having just finished raving about Minneapolis-based Four Shadow's "Live" CD, we were pleased to receive the ir third recording ("Where Have You Been" was the excellent first), a Christmas CD called simply "Flake." We needed only to listen to"Christmas Soup," which begins innocently as "12 Days of Christmas" and morphs into a surprising musical sampler of a dozen tunes, to know that these 4 young guys have the talent and arrangements to sing with anyone in Contemporary a cappella. 10 songs, from a very funky "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," and a wonderfully slimy "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," to traditional covers of "O Holy Night," "The Christmas Song," "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" and a fine classical rendition of the sacred song "Ave Maria." Other standouts are a sweet original, "That Time of Year," where you'll swear you're listening to Rockapella, "Blue Christmas," with funny, desperate mumbling by "Elvis," and amazing, driving vocal percussion on "The Little Drummer Boy." The guys toss little treats like unexpected samples and vocal horns into our bulging stockings. "Flake," another impressive effort by Four Shadow, is a Christmas winner!

Listen to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in RealAudio.