Last week, we were pursuing the latest and greatest our watch-anything-now TV offerings, looking for a low-key, slightly holiday-themed night in when we came across Netflix’s A Very Murray Christmas, described as the following: “Bill Murray rounds up an all-star cast for an evening of music, mischief and barroom camaraderie in this irreverent twist on holiday variety shows.”
It was pretty much exactly that and, though it took a little but for us to track what it was going for, it ended up being a great take by Murray on the holiday special genre, lampooning it and celebrating it at the same time. Directed by Sofia Coppola, the hour-long show is characteristically (for her) artistically slow and drawn-out in a wonderful way, featuring a bizarre array of guests that we won’t spoil save for the following: Of the many musical numbers in their many varied forms, one of our favorites came from the unlikely combination of Bill Murray, Paul Shaffer on piano, Jason Schwartzman on drums (who, in addition to his acting chops, used to has [had?] a great solo band called Coconut Records), and French popsters Phoenix playing a multitalented hotel kitchen staff.
The song they play—”Alone on Christmas Day”—is a little-known Beach Boys song from an unreleased Christmas album and it’s pretty awesome. It’s available as a limited edition 7″ and digital download via iTunes + Spotify, with all proceeds going to benefit one of our favorite clients—UNICEF. Given the fact that Coppola’s been married to Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars since 2011, Murray’s little quip at the end of the track’s pretty nice.
And yes—coolest married couple ever.
