In sharp contrast, one artist has his sights set on "Christmas Future" and outer space. With his new album, Cosmic Christmas, Eban Schletter creates a sonic vision of yuletide spirit adrift far into the galaxy. Not content to simply record Theremin versions of Christmas songs you might have heard thousands of times, Schletter created a concept album which takes the listener on a journey through a strange and poetic tale worthy of The Twilight Zone. The mise-en-sc�ne: a military satellite finds itself in the midst of a musical "transmission" which forces it to rethink its primary directive. Original songs, like "What Will Become of Christmas" (sung eloquently by Grant-Lee Phillips), melodiously underscore the evolution of this artificial intelligence.

This decidedly "artsy" turn may be surprising to those who know Eban Schletter as the man behind the music for TV shows like SpongeBob Squarepants, Mr. Show with Bob & David and Drawn Together. But those familiar with his score to the indie film The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari and his previous CD releases, in particular Witching Hour, The Civilian and Frontiers, will no doubt find this a perfectly logical addition to his eclectic repertoire.

When he presented his previous release, the critically acclaimed Eban Schletter's Witching Hour, Schletter launched a series of live shows boasting celebrity cast members including Kevin Macdonald, Paul F. Tompkins, Grant-Lee Phillips, Jill Sobule and Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob himself. But for this year's release, the destination is space and so he has turned his sights to the Glendale (CA) Planetarium where Cosmic Christmas will unfold as a unique experience in the state-of-the-art full dome theater. In addition to Eban performing live on the Theremin (accompanied by vibraphonist Alexander Burke), a dazzling display of real-time animation will be performed by J. Walt, creator of Spontaneous Fantasia, a high-tech virtual reality show that has garnered rave reviews from the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly and many others.