When you hear that Robin Rimbaud, aka Scanner, has recorded a cover of “White Christmas,” perhaps the first thing that comes to mind is surveillance audio of Santa making his annual sleigh ride — a sound art version of the Official NORAD Santa Tracker. Scanner made his name — that name — early on by plucking dialog from the ether thanks to his namesake object, and adding layers of narrative and emotion with delicate electronic textures. But it turns out his “White Christmas” is very much the song, coming in at a relaxed three and a half minutes. The only plucking here is of what sounds like a harp, and there’s a fair amount of sleigh bells at the close.
Track originally posted for free download at soundcloud.com/scanner. More from Scanner — who lives in London but who seems to travel more log more air miles than Santa —Â at scannerdot.com.