 Sort of an interesting sound on this Christmas single from Liverpool artists The Cubical. "Golden Rule" incorporates a bit of blues, a bit of folk, some of the band's psychedelic garage sound. In the end, it sounds a bit like the UK version of Americana. My head is tired and I keep hearing "Come On Eileen", so I'll need to come back to this one better rested. You can judge for yourself, though, as the streaming and downloading is free at Bandcamp.
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 This is pretty cool. A band named Auld Lang Syne with an original Christmas song. And it's no Holly Jolly exercise, either. This 10 minute epic from the Rochester Roots Rock band is pretty much a holiday dirge. At first listen, it appears to be a song about celebrating in the face of endless misery. Perhaps a song about survival and soldiering onward. That's just my initial take, for what it's worth. "Christmas Eve (Writhing Days)" was recorded for the Vimeo Kitchen Sessions and Auld Lang Syne has made it available as a free download through Soundcloud. Just use the widget below.
 The DJ/Remix Master Ryan Cavanagh, also known as Slow Hands, has put his own particular spin on the New Year's classic "Auld Lang Syne". Smartly, the New York house artist starts with Guy Lombardo's original recording, then works his magic to bring it into 2010. The name Slow Hands apparently comes from Cavanagh's generally laid back and sultry sets. Cavanagh is considered a virtuoso of the genre, a master of make-out disco, and he's a favorite son of his label, Wolf + Lamb. Considering that most New Years Eve parties these days are dominated by house music, Slow Hands' mix of "Auld Lang Syne" is likely to win plenty of admirers--at the turntables and on the dance floor. No action in the video, but it does give you a chance to listen to the song (all 7 1/2 minutes of it), which you can download free from the label web site.
 The project of LA based Vance Kotrla, Sci-Fi Romance specializes in Indie Alt Folk with just a hint of punk--enough to classify this one as "steampunk" or "steamfolk". This version of "Auld Lang Syne" starts out in the traditional tempo before, pardon me, picking up steam. The song then chugs it's way to an uptempo finish as a punkish folk number. As the artist notes, "Auld Lang Syne" is pretty much an inevitable holiday tune and there are no shortage of versions available. Given the explosion of folk and Americana this year, this one is certainly worth a listen. And the download is free through Bandcamp.  The little I can learn about FFGreen says he is (they are?) an experimental electronic indie hip hop artist from Athens, Georgia. This little minute-and-a-half version of "Auld Lang Syne" is decent enough, if not earth-shatteringly new and different. The zip comes with two remixes, the first of which is kind of fun. And the whole package is free through Bandcamp. While you're there, you might as well pick up "Jingle Bells" free as well. FYI, these are instant downloads--no email address required--though they may take a bit to load.  Skales (real name Raoul John Njeng-Njeng) is a young Rap artist from Nigeria--not yet 20 years old. Skales' facebook bio says that he's been working on his songwriting and rapping skills since 2000 in the town of Kaduna where he grew up. He would've been about 10 at the time. In spite of the otherwise thin information we have on Skales, we do have his Hip Hop joints for a somewhat more objective measure of his growing legend. And, yep, it turns out Skales is smokin'. Take his free Christmas download, "Thank God It's Christmas". It easily matches Kanye's "Christmas In Harlem" (which I really liked, by the way) and totally smokes Snoop Dogg's "New Year's Eve". Rap ain't my strong suit, you understand, so I leave final evaluation to those who live it and love it. But this one's free, so there's nothing to lose by downloading it.
 Had to find a free New Year's Eve song or two. This one's a 2009 track from the self-titled Sentient Machine download album. Sentient Machine are an Industrial Rock band out of New York, but here they toss in a bit of funk and the result is an oddly enjoyable jam that reminds me of some of those late 80s 12" dance-mixed Rock records. So if you already picked up the single "James Brown Died On Christmas Day" from Hands & Knees, might as well complete the theme with "James Brown New Year's Eve Bash", right? This is free at Bandcamp and the entire album is a "name your price" download.  Numero6 is a post punk band from Italy. And their holiday spirit has led them to offer their contribution to the season free, for a limited time. In spite of the title, "The Christmas Song" is actually a heavy rock reworking of "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)". This is an instant download at Bandcamp; no email address required. If you see something that suggests payment in Euros, click on the song title. It should come up as a free download at that point.  Come On! Let's Boogey To The Elf Dance! (2007)
Blue Christmas (2008) Pregnant Bride (2009) Inspired by the prolific Sufjan Stevens, San Diego's Longstay began recording EP's of Christmas music for family and friends beginning in 2007. This year, they shared a track from each through their web site, posting one a day with "Pregnant Bride" being shared on Christmas Day with the promise "More gifts to come still..." From the 2010 edition, you can listen to (but apparently not download) "Come Thy Fount Of Every Blessing". Perhaps that's what's still to come. You'll find that one here. The rest, you'll find here. Just click on the artwork to download the songs.  The Love Language is one of the excellent bands here in North Carolina, with a sound that, at times, seems to incorporate the entire history of American pop and rock music. Listen to the group's latest album, "Libraries", and you'll catch everything from Wall-of-Sound to Classic Rock to New Wave to Post-Grunge--all blended together into nice little Pop Rock packages. Two of the band's members, holed up in a room as they put it, wrote and recorded an original Christmas song, "Gsus". Since the rest of the band wasn't available, they incorporated them using voicemails they'd left. The Love Language dropped the song on December 23. Even as a demo, this song's got a lot going for it, musically. Pick it up free from The Love Language blog.
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The FREE ListHere we hope to direct you to some of the Christmas music on the web that can be yours absolutely free. We will not direct you to mp3 or sharity sites, here, but only to artist sites, label sites, and other authorized and unquestionably legal locations. ArchivesDecember 22-31, 2010 Categories
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