What's This? Christmas in September?

September is gearing up to be an early Christmas for me with the release of Ben Folds' new album, Amanda Palmer's debut solo album (produced by Ben Folds), Neil Gaiman's new The Graveyard Book, and the Gaiman/Palmer photo book. Yes, all my favourite artists randomly got together and had babies. Now there's another release to add to that list: Nightmare Revisited.

Last year I got all excited when I found out Rodrigo y Gabriela had been tapped by Danny Elfman to record a cover of Oogie Boogie's Song for a special edition of the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack. According to their official website at the time, "RyG to appear along side the Killers and Marilyn Manson on Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack reissue. Danny Elfman asked Rod and Gab to record Mr Oogie Boogie for a special edition release of the soundtrack." After months of nothing and no other source for this info, I chalked it up to another empty promise like when they told us at the Edmonton Folk Festival that they'd be back in October as part of their Canadian tour (didn't happen then nor the 2 years since). Well, now comes the official announcement and tracklist that is exciting and disappointing at the same time:

Nightmare Revisited (release date: September 30)
1. DeVotchKa - Overture
2. Danny Elfman - Opening
3. Marilyn Manson - This Is Halloween
4. All American Rejects - Jack's Lament
5. Amiina - Doctor Finkelstein/In The Forest
6. Flyleaf - What's This?
7. The Polyphonic Spree - Town Meeting Song (!!)
8. The Vitamin String Quartet - Jack and Sally Montage
9. Sparklehorse - Jack's Obsession
10. Korn - Kidnap The Sandy Claws
11. Rise Against - Making Christmas
12. Yoshida Brothers - Nabbed
13. Amy Lee - Sally's Song
14. RJD2 - Christmas Eve Montage
15. Plain White Ts - Poor Jack
16. Datarock - To The Rescue
17. Shiny Toy Guns - Finale/Reprise
18. Danny Elfman - Closing
19. The Album Leaf - End Title
20. Rodrigo y Gabriela - Oogie Boogie’s Song

Looks like The Killers were a premature announcement as they're nowhere to be seen, but The Polyphonic Spree are an exciting addition. We'll at last get to hear Rodrigo y Gabriela's take on Oogie Boogie's Song, an unlikely but intriguing choice for the Mexican folk-metal guitarists. My eyes roll at the inclusion of Korn, Rise Against, and All American Rejects but I invite them to prove me wrong like Fall Out Boy's surprisingly great cover of What's This?.

Rodrigo y Gabriela - Diablo Rojo
If you're not familiar with them, definitely seek them out. I saw them live 2 years ago in a truncated 30 minute performance and it is still a highlight concert for me.

Flip Kowlier, Gabriel Rios, & Michael Franti - What's This? [originally by Danny Elfman from The Nightmare Before Christmas]
Outside of the covers from these official releases, Nightmare Before Christmas covers are pretty scarce. Here's a fun cover recorded for a Belgian radio station if I remember correctly.

Other related stop-motion news:

Henry Selick, who directed The Nightmare Before Christmas, is hard at work on his stop motion adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Coraline. All this week, IGN has been hosting a new behind the scenes featurette each day about the production of Coraline. I didn't realize the voice cast includes JoCo's buddy John Hodgman (i.e. "I'm a PC") and Ian McShane (Swearingen on Deadwood). There should still be more featurettes before the week is out. The film is due February 2009.

Wes Anderson's stop motion adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Fantastic Mr. Fox is chugging along. Originally a collaboration with Henry Selick who produced some animated scenes in The Life Aquatic, Selick actually left the film to direct Coraline. Though not due until November 2009, this is the most eclectic team I've seen assembled for ostensibly a children's film since Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers teamed up for Where the Wild Things Are (things aren't sadly not boding well for that film though...). The Fantastic Mr. Fox is scripted by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach (The Squid & The Whale); featuring the voices of George Clooney (Mr. Fox), Cate Blanchett (Mrs. Fox), Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray (of course), Anjelica Huston, and Meryl Streep; with new songs and score written by Pulp's Jarvis Cocker. Cocker recently revealed that one track is finished and it's a "slightly hillbilly-sounding song" for what it's worth. It'll be a long wait for this one.