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Kate and Anna McGarrigle don't record together all that often anymore, but when they do, they tend to make an event of the occasion. Like the pair's 1998 album The McGarrigle Hour, The McGarrigle Christmas Hour ropes in pals like Emmylou Harris and Beth Orton, plus family members, including Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Kate's children with Loudon Wainwright III. The theme, naturally, is Christmas, and the McGarrigles offer multiple takes on the subject. The album-opening traditional song "Seven Joys Of Mary" clicks through its title subject to a reverent, almost medieval arrangement, while elsewhere, Rufus sings "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" in an inflection that has nothing to do with piety.