Sleep Thieves are a Dublin based Electro Pop group who venture a bit into Dark Wave Dreampop on this Christmas song, "November Christmas". The trio's summer release, "You Want The Night" has been turning up on a lot of Best Album of the Year lists. So it was nice to see "November Christmas" available as an instant download on Bandcamp. The atmospheric vocals belong to Sorcha Brennan. The soundscapes, which call to mind the best of the New Wave Synth Pop bands from the 80s, are created by Keith Byrne and Wayne Fahy. This is a band you should get to know and I can think of no better place to start than with "November Christmas".
Sleep Thieves are a Dublin based Electro Pop group who venture a bit into Dark Wave Dreampop on this Christmas song, "November Christmas". The trio's summer release, "You Want The Night" has been turning up on a lot of Best Album of the Year lists. So it was nice to see "November Christmas" available as an instant download on Bandcamp. The atmospheric vocals belong to Sorcha Brennan. The soundscapes, which call to mind the best of the New Wave Synth Pop bands from the 80s, are created by Keith Byrne and Wayne Fahy. This is a band you should get to know and I can think of no better place to start than with "November Christmas".
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We're big, big fans of Kissing Party at Stubby's. The Denver band could sing the phonebook and I'd be fascinated by HOW they sang the phonebook. And that phonebook song would immediately go into heavy rotation at Chez Stub. I don't know why, but the music of Kissing Party almost always has me smiling. It seems as though Kissing Party releases a free song every December. They aren't always Christmas/Winter tunes, yet they always fit into the holiday mixes like the missing puzzle piece. It just ain't Christmas at my house without them. This year's free single from the group is "My Only One", an energetic Alt Rock/Indie Pop outing that closes with some bells of various types knocking out the familiar notes of "Auld Lang Syne". Even the scratchy record sounds and the needle lift come off as pure genius. Kissing Party, you done done it again. "My Only One" is free via Bandcamp. And, if you don't already have it, make sure to get the "Winter In The Pub" collection of Kissing Party Christmas songs. It's legendary (well, as legendary as a year old digital collection can be). Hey, look at that; they've already added "My Only One" to the collection. Cool.
Desmond Wolf is a musician(ish) from Cardiff (Wales). Beyond that, the Internets are drawing a blank. There's a Desmond Wolf who joined MySpace in 2004 (does anybody use MySpace anymore?), but the tracks there seem to be instrumentals so I can't really connect them. I think it goes without saying that its highly unlikely this Desmond Wolf is the wrestler.
That said, "Spending Christmas With You" has a nice Indie Pop Rock sound. It may be too early to think about New Years but, a bit further down the Desmond Wolf Soundcloud feed is an equally nice tune--this one in an Indie Folk Pop vein, "Another Year". That one's from 2012. Desmond's got a pretty nice sense of how his music should sound. Hopefully, he'll set up a fer realz website in the coming year. 01) Flying Vaginas - Santa Bring Me A Dinosaur 02) Baseball Gregg - Rebel Without A Claus 03) Burnt Palms - You 04) New Adventures In Lo-Fi - Temptation 05) Slow Shot - Shining All Night 06) The Mumble Jackson - Darling 07) Barbados - The Fall 08) Machweo - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 09) Setti - Crauti 10) Skelets On Me - Love 11) Le Man Avec Les Lunettes - I'll Be Home for Christmas 12) Neverending Mojitos - Cooking Up Something Good 13) Osc2x - Dreaming Of A Wild Christmas 14) Winter Dies In June - Winter Dies In June 15) Neverwhere - Christmas Eve Lonesome Bitterness Blues One of my favorite presents every Christmas is the one with a big musical bow on it from the Italian blog Polaroid. Every year, their humble blog host invites bands to submit a song for the holiday season. It could be a Christmas or seasonal song or just a song to keep you company while you trim the tree. It's always a glistening, sparkling collection of Indie Pop and Rock, most of which you won't find anywhere else.
Every year, at least a few of these songs will captivate me and become among my favorites for the year. For me, this year's highlights are mostly on the back half. Though not properly a Christmas song, I loved Skelets On Me's cover of John Lennon's "Love". Le Man Avec Les Lunettes sound almost Lennon like on "I'll Be Home For Christmas". Machweo's spacey Ambient Psych "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" (which is actually "Let It Snow") is plenty amazing and entrancing (listen to it while staring at the cover art for full effect). And the two numbers closing the set, "Winter Dies In June" and "Christmas Eve Lonesome Bitterness Blues" are my favorites of all (if not the cheeriest). Head to the Polaroid web site for the full download. Poke around a bit and find the earlier volumes, which (if nothing's changed since last year) should all still be available. It was bound to happen. We've had "Santa Baby", "Santa Buddy", and "Hanukkah Honey". Finally, someone has given us "Krampus Baby". Krampus is sort of the anti_santa Claus. You know, if you've been good, Santa gives you toys. But Krampus comes and drags the bad little boys and girls deep into the forest (presumably eating them?). Our friends at Lie In The Sound had a whole gathering of Krampus tunes last year. In this song from Portland's Times Infinity, the singer is pleading with Krampus to take his/her sister instead. She's the bad seed after all. And, "next year, with your hooks and your claws, perhaps you'll take an interest in Ma and Pa." It's slyly funny like that throughout. By the way, the big day for Krampus is December 5th. So, if you're reading this, you should be safe for another year. "Krampus Baby" purports to be from Volume 2 of "A Festive Odyssey" but, as yet, its the only song listed. However, that shouldn't stop you from picking up Volume One, which is also free at Bandcamp. The Mackenzie Rhythm Section is a soulful Canadian four piece. I gotta tell you, I love the keyboard player in this group. Just sayin'. Anyway, MRS are certainly capable of funking a lot harder when they're in the mood to. Seriously, check out their full-length, "The Big Break". I'm gonna have to buy that one. Good time soulful rock like this I ain't heard since the J. Geils Band called it a day. I keep waiting for a bad track to come up so I can get back to the Christmas music. So far, nothing but gold. Oh, yeah, I'm buying this. Anyway... For the Christmas single, The Mackenzie Rhythm Section keeps it smooth, silky, and I'm sure somebody's tongue is in somebody's cheek. "The Twelve Sexy Days Of Christmas" is a unique take on the whole 12 days theme, conceptually, musically and lyrically. It's definitely worth the free download on Bandcamp. And, seriously, you've got to check out "The Big Break". It. Is. Just. So. Freakin'. AWESOME! People On Vacation are Jarret Reddick (Bowling For Soup) and Ryan Hamilton (Smile Smile) and their album "Holiday Vacation" was released in 2012 and, yes, we did mention it at the time. But, from now until December 26, the duo are offering up the record as a free download. The album's an Alt Pop Indie Rock blast, as you can hear from the video. And there's even a song for the chosen people, "Don't Forget About Hanukkah", containing one of my favorite lines from a Hanukkah song--"I am 99% sure a reindeer is Jewish".
To get "Holiday Vacation", head to the People On Vacation Bandwear store, enter the code POVHOLIDAY2014 in the box indicated, and hit the appropriate button. Now, when I did this, it took an awful long time for the download to start. I know its Christmas and we all get impatient with such things. But its in there. Just give it a bit. Chris Daily is another Austin area musician (apparently, there's a law in Austin requiring everyone to make music...sort of the anti-Footloose). He wrote or co-wrote all the songs, here, as well as playing most of the instruments and providing most of the vocals. He does get some help from Keegan (who I think we've heard from before, here) and Tom Porter. "High Time For A Holiday" opens sort of Alt Folk and that's what threw me for a bit. Soon enough the proceedings turn into some mighty fine Indie Pop and Indie Rock. Really bright and bouncy stuff, but still incredibly Indie and experimental. I love it when a plan comes together. Musically, the highlight for me was "Xmas, Just Once"; if that doesn't get you boppin', nothing will. "Please No Mistletoe" is a clever (if brief) tale of a holiday reveler who is hoping to get something started with a lady friend, but he wants it real, not holiday induced. And "The Holiday Records" is a song that the DJ in me can't resist. "12 Minutes of Sleighbells and Christmas" isn't going to cure the common cold, but it might be a good prescription for the holiday blues. Give it a listen. Available as an instant download (tips welcome) on Bandcamp. If you like what you hear, check out the label's 2011 Christmas comp, "Christmas With The Beast" (that one will cost you your email address).
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