<![CDATA[Stubbys House of Christmas        - FREE List 2014]]>Thu, 16 Nov 2023 06:47:19 -0500Weebly<![CDATA[VERTICAL NOISE - WET CHRISTMAS]]>Wed, 07 Jan 2015 22:04:10 GMThttp://stubbyschristmas.weebly.com/free-list-2014/vertical-noise-wet-christmas
Wet Christmas
Seems to be a fairly common thing, these days, for artists to challenge themselves to write a song a week.  I'm not complaining and we usually get a Christmas song out of the deal (cause what else you gonna write about the week of the 25th).

Vertical Noise is Jason Moreton of the UK band Yak Attack (not to be confused with the Portland, Oregon Electronica outfit of the same name).

Week 51 of Jason's challenge brought us "Wet Christmas", which is a nice uptempo Alt Rock track--not bad as the Christmas songs from these challenges go.  Avoided the cliches--both musically and lyrically.  Use the widget above to download or check out the entire year's challenge output via Soundcloud.
]]><![CDATA[LOKOMOTOR - WINTER]]>Sat, 27 Dec 2014 07:44:10 GMThttp://stubbyschristmas.weebly.com/free-list-2014/lokomotor-winter





1.  Horizont (Horizon)
2.  Tagebuch (Diary)
3.  Klagelied (Lament)
4.  Ein Lied Das Bleibt (The Song Remains)


LOKOMOTOR WEBSITE
LOKOMOTOR ON FACEBOOK
It was probably wrong of me to hype this set the little I did because it's a Winter EP, not necessarily a Christmas EP.  Or at least the title is "Winter"; it could be about anything.  That said Lokomotor's "Winter" is gorgeous.  I have translated the titles above, but that doesn't tell me much more about the lyrical content.  I don't know the words they're singing, but the music makes me feel hopeful.  Lokomotor sings and plays what they call Ghost Pop.  That's a new one on me but, from what I gather, it's music arising from the ancient spirits.  And there appears to be quite a lot of Ghost Pop out there.  Lokomotor, themselves, describe the music they strive to make as "glowing, radiant, generous" (rough Google translation).  And though (perhaps) "arising from the ancient spirits", Lokomotor wants their music untethered to the conventional.  To, um, steal a phrase, they want their music to "boldly go where no music has gone before".  Otherwise, they say (in German, of course), what's the point?  Philosophically, they want their music to "celebrate eternal hope, non-coerced freedom and dangerous love."

All I know is this is gorgeous stuff and I'm happy to have taken the flight with them.  The most Christmasy sounding track, to my mind, is "Ein Lied Das Bleibt".  But that's just me.  For all I know, they're singing "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" or "All Hail Satan" or even "It's 180 degrees outside on this July afternoon".  But.....it's so gorgeous.  Grab "Winter" with both hands at Noisetrade.
]]><![CDATA[BOXING DAY 2014]]>Sat, 27 Dec 2014 00:52:12 GMThttp://stubbyschristmas.weebly.com/free-list-2014/boxing-day-2014 I feel I worked hard, this year, finding some good new (free) Christmas music for you.  But there's always more.  First of all, since I endeavored not to overlap with my peers, you need to catch up on all the goodies at Christmas Underground, Lie In The Sound, Christmas A-Go-Go, Mistletunes, Santas Working Overtime and the rest of our Festive Friends.  I have not expended as much energy on this Boxing Day link dump.  But, I have listened to most of them.  Time was I'd just toss up anything that was free.  Afterall, my taste in music isn't everyone's.  Some of what I can't stand might be someone else's true find of the season.  But, this year, I've only included things I felt had something of value to offer.  Either I just didn't have anything to say about them or I didn't have the time, or something else.  But I don't think anything on this list is without some kind of merit.  I bought that Christafari reggae album last year (some disposable tracks, but some really good ones). I'm all out of things to say about Sleeping At Last, but I love them.  Gentlemen On Escalators' single is stupid and yet...  I really meant to write up Mark Hewes.  And Christina Bailey's take on "Let It Snow" is downright awesome; had I found it sooner, it might have been on the Stubby's House collection, but I didn't.  So see if there's something here that you like.  Or don't.  But it's here for you to be had. 
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403 MOB - QUEEN CITY CHRISTMAS
JOHN ANEALIO - SEASONS GEEKINGS EP
CHRISTINA BAILEY - NO PLACE TO GO (LET IT SNOW)
BALLROOM BOXER - CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY
BANDREW - BANDREW VII: EGG NOG HEAD
BEAT RADIO - LET'S CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAZE
THE BLACK WATCH - SUGARPLUM FAIRY, SUGARPLUM FAIRY
CRISTABELLE BRADEN - ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH
BRANCHES - SONGS FOR CHRISTMAS
BARNABY CARTER - COLD WEATHER WARM SOUL
CHRISTAFARI - REGGAE CHRISTMAS
COREY & CARLA - SEASON'S BLEATINGS FROM US TO EWE
WILL D'ANNA - SONGS IN THE KEY OF CHRISTMAS
THE DREAM SCENE - CHRISTMAS II
THE FAIRFIELD FOUR - CHILDREN GO WHERE I SEND THEE
FANFAIR AFTERNOON - THIS CHRISTMAS
FLAVA D - XMAS RIDDIM
GENTLEMEN ON ESCALATORS - CHRISTMAS IS GREAT
INGRID GERDES - THE MAN WITH THE BAG
GFOTY - CHRISTMAS DAY
JONATHAN GOURD - CHRISTMAS BLUES
HABERDASHERY - CHRISTMAS (2009)
JOHN HANNIBAL & BOBBY MacDONELL - CHRISTMAS TIME
MARK HEWES - GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST
DAVE HUGHES AND THE RFPB - XMAS EP 2014
JOSHUA JAMES - WE THREE KINGS
JAMMIN' JAZZ ENSEMBLE - SWINGIN' XMAS (2009)
JAMMIN' JAZZ ENSEMBLE - MERRY GYPMAS
NUALA KENNEDY - CHRISTMAS IN THE TRENCHES
ZAK KRATZER - SEASONOLOGY
KRESNIK & GANGWISH - XMAS EP
AMBER LAWRENCE - ONE LITTLE CHRISTMAS TREE
LE KNIGHT CLUB - SANTA CLAUS/HOLIDAY ON ICE
WALTER MARTIN & KAT EDMONSON - I WALK SO SLOW (UNDER THE MISTLETOE)
TIM McHUGH - LIGHTS
THE MILKWEEDS - CHRISTMAS SINGLE
MINOR MIRACLES - CHRISTMAS ALL OVER AGAIN
SAM MOSS - CHRISTMAS CLASSICS
THE NEON AMBIENCE - A NEON CHRISTMAS
OVER THE RHINE - EVEN THE SNOW TURNS BLUE (HOLIDAY SAMPLER)
PET LEGS - YOU + ME + CHRISTMAS
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LOUISE PETIT - THE SNOW
JOEL RAKES - SILENT NIGHT
JOEL RAKES - THE BEST OF FESTIVE MOOD INDUCING MUSIC
RETRO PROMENADE - IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME AGAIN
MATTY RIDE - I'D BE FINE WITH CHRISTMAS TIME
ROB & AMY - HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS
SAID THE WHALE - WEST COAST CHRISTMAS COLLECTION (2007-13)
DARREN SANER - THE CHRISTMAS SONG
KYLE SANFORD - WINTER NIGHT EP
SATURNETTES - COMMODORE XMAS (2011)
KURT SCOBIE - WHILE SHEPHERDS WATCHED THEIR FLOCKS
THE SENSITIVE NACHOS - A SENSITIVE CHRISTMAS EP
SEVEN DAVIS JR - WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS TIME (EDIT)
SINCLAIR POLAR BEAR - HAND IN HAND
SKRIBE - OL' FATSO
SLEEPING AT LAST - CHRISTMAS COLLECTION 2014
STALKING STUFFERS - 2014 STALKING STUFFERS CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
SIMONE STAR - A VERY SUPER CHRISTMAS, VOL. 2
THE STENTS - LET IT SNOW
SUFJAN STEVENS - SILVER & GOLD (HOLIDAY SAMPLER)
AMY STROUP - YOU MAKE THE COLD DISAPPEAR
THE SWAPSIES - I HOPE IT SNOWS TONIGHT (from Cherryade's "Very Cherry Christmas, Vol. 10")
ANTON SWARDHAGEN - THE SNOWMAN'S DAUGHTER
TANGO LIMA - MR. SANTA MAN
TRUE STORY - NEON RED & GREEN
THE WALLA RECOVERY - A STAR, A STAR
JEH SEA WELLS - XMAS '97
JAMES & KARINA WITHEROW - YOU'LL BE WITH ME
YOUNG PROFESSIONALS - THE COLDEST DAY OF THE YEAR (2012)
YUKO YUKO AND WALBERT MK - UNDER THE MISTLETOE
MARIA Z - ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS
VARIOUS - CHRISTMAS MELTDOWN 2
VARIOUS - A DIY CHRISTMAS, VOLUME 2
VARIOUS - A FAMILY CHRISTMAS, FIRESIDE SONGS VOL. 1
VARIOUS - A GRAND (RAPIDS) CHRISTMAS
VARIOUS - A GRINDCORE CHRISTMAS, VOLUME 4
VARIOUS - THE HOLIDAT EP IV (ROOT CELLAR RECORDS)
VARIOUS - A KINSELLA CHRISTMAS
VARIOUS - NAUGHTY LIST (BLACKWATCH)
VARIOUS - OH CHRISTMAS TREES, VOLUME 2
VARIOUS - RAW ROCK MILITIA: OUR NEWEST CHRISTMAS EVER
VARIOUS - WINTER THUNDERLAND (KING PIZZA RECORDS)
]]><![CDATA[5FT WALLS AT ZEROES - THE BEST CHRISTMAS]]>Fri, 26 Dec 2014 06:41:42 GMThttp://stubbyschristmas.weebly.com/free-list-2014/5ft-walls-at-zeroes-the-best-christmas
Joyzine's 2014 Advent Calendar wrapped up with a Christmas song from the Power Pop band with the awkward sounding name--5ft Walls at Zeroes.  "The Best Christmas" is included on the band's EP "Dinner Put Yer Fut In It Dereck".  And it isn't free at their website or on Soundcloud, so you'd best be hitting up Joyzine in a hurry while the free download lasts.  It's Day 24.

Other days of Joyzine's Advent that may net you some Christmas tunes:
DAY 23:  CHRIS T-T: "Tonight Thank God It's Them Instead Of You" [Parental Advisory]
DAY 21: ERNEST THE BRAVE:  "I'll Be There For You"
DAY 18:  HERE ARE THE YOUNG MEN & UNCLE PEANUT: "Peanut's Merry Christmas"
DAY 17:  THE SOFT CLOSE-UPS: "Only You"
DAY 16: EXTRADITION ORDER: "Eyesore Christmas"
DAY 11: THE MILK RACE:  "Merry Christmas Everyone"
DAY 7:  MJ HIBBETT:  "Wonderful Christmas Time"

And the ones before that, we've already mentioned.
]]><![CDATA[VAN LADY LOVE - LITTLE DRUMMER BOY]]>Fri, 26 Dec 2014 02:21:49 GMThttp://stubbyschristmas.weebly.com/free-list-2014/van-lady-love-little-drummer-boy
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Indie Alt Rockers VanLadyLove have re-imagined "Little Drummer Boy" into (horrors) something fresh and listenable.  Not so far gone as to be unrecognizable and yet comfortably sweetened with Psych so as to be a legally consumable confection in the state of Colorado.  Would you like a glass of milk with that?  Just kidding; this would be legal anywhere.

Free at Bandcamp.
]]><![CDATA[EL TORO - LIVERPOOL CHRISTMAS SINGLE]]>Thu, 25 Dec 2014 14:39:35 GMThttp://stubbyschristmas.weebly.com/free-list-2014/el-toro-liverpool-christmas-single


El Toro is not from Liverpool, in spite of the name of the single.  They're actually domestic.  But, when the Power Pop band set out to record a Christmas single this year, they thought, well, why not emulate one of the greatest and most influential bands ever and that wonderful Abbey Road studios sound?  We've all heard the Fab Four and other Beatle-esque holiday bands, but this is something else entirely (in my humble opinion).  And quite frankly, I think El Toro pulls it off quite nicely.  It's more about the George Martin styled production and effects than anything.  But both "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "O Holy Night" have that rich, full, psych infused Abbey Road sound.  For my money (which, you know, its a free single so...), "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" works from start to finish.  "O Holy Night", in some of the early moments, sounds a bit gimmicky, but finishes triumphant.  In a mixtape, I'd be more likely to use the former.  Two cool songs from a cool band and its free from Noisetrade.  And, if you like what you hear, last year's El Toro Christmas song, "Merry Christmas Everybody" is still free on Soundcloud or Noisetrade (though not in the Abbey Road style, per se).
]]><![CDATA[KOREDE BELLO - JINGLE BELL]]>Thu, 25 Dec 2014 14:10:20 GMThttp://stubbyschristmas.weebly.com/free-list-2014/korede-bello-jingle-bellPicture

We like different, here at Stubby's.  We really do.  We celebrate the dehomogenization of music (is that even a word).  So when we get the opportunity to present a Jazzy Hip Hop Folk artist from Nigeria singing a classic Christmas song in a whole new way including a line about how his chicken is bigger than your chicken and his fowl is bigger than your fowl, well....  Call me crazy, but that's the sort of thing we look for.  Korede Bello is the artist and "Jingle Bell" is the song.  Haven't found a stream option, but you can grab the free download easily enough from Korede's Twitter feed or from olekubuzz.
]]><![CDATA[THE JIVE ACES - ALL ABOUT THAT BING]]>Thu, 25 Dec 2014 10:58:18 GMThttp://stubbyschristmas.weebly.com/free-list-2014/the-jive-aces-all-about-that-bing
Download "All About That Bing" from the Jive Aces FREE via Facebook.  (Thanks to Sounds of Christmas for the tip).
]]><![CDATA[THE HORNETS - WINTER SKY / MERRY CHRISTMAS]]>Thu, 25 Dec 2014 08:41:48 GMThttp://stubbyschristmas.weebly.com/free-list-2014/the-hornets-winter-sky-merry-christmas
The Hornets are a Danish band comprised, according to their brief bio on Soundcloud, of two 14 year olds.  Dang. now I really feel old.  These instrumental Electronic/Electro Pop tracks caught my ear enough to have me posting their songs here when I was swearing off the Free List for the day.  It's not they're especially Christmasy, per se, but they are filled with the optimism of youth.  I hope The Hornets revisit the Christmas theme when they turn 60.  I think that's gonna be a whole 'nuther sound.
]]><![CDATA[SOPHIE & THE BOM BOMS - TAKE IT FOR GRANTED]]>Wed, 24 Dec 2014 11:28:12 GMThttp://stubbyschristmas.weebly.com/free-list-2014/sophie-the-bom-boms-take-it-for-granted



Where has this woman (and her wonderful music) been all my life?  Sophie and the Bom Boms released their debut EP "The Shmix Tape" in September, then did an mini-tour in the US and then on to the UK in January.  She's already been hailed as "One To Watch" in the New Year.

Sophie's holiday single is "Take It For Granted" and you can download it free on Soundcloud.
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