You know what the world needs? More versions of "Last Christmas". Here's a nice Dream Poppy one from California's Sentinel channeling the Cocteau Twins. Free on Bandcamp.
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You know what the world needs? More versions of "Last Christmas". Here's a nice Dream Poppy one from California's Sentinel channeling the Cocteau Twins. Free on Bandcamp.
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For the title alone, I was going to like this one. Sisters is a three piece Indie Rock band from across the pond. Ireland to be precise. "Hold Me Closer Tiny Christmas" isn't really indicative of their usual sound, but it has an hypnotic Indie Pop flavor. More often, Sisters Rock it. NME spoke glowingly of their "bratty riffs and snarky vocals" and they're definitely gaining a following. So check out "Hold Me Closer Tiny Christmas"--it's free to download--and then check out more from the band on Soundcloud. There's always room for one more on the bandwagon.
 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".  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. Bout time some Indie band took a stab at re-imagining this Christmas song. Philadelphia's You Do You give the song a bit of a Dream Pop/Electro Pop feel which helps cleanse my ears of the Pop singer caterwauling "We Need A Little Christmas" is usually subjected to. The group's more frequent sound is a more soulful Pop Rock, but I'm glad they took the take on this one that they did. Download it free (or pay what you want) at Bandcamp.
 1. Christmas Morning 2. Our Favorite Christmas Movie 3. Christmas Sleep 4. Meet Me Where The Lights Shine Bright 5. North Pole Vault 6. Meet Me Where The Lights Shine Bright (Reprise) Since I wasn't hardly around, last year, I missed the release of this supremely superb Christmas EP from Ian McGlynn, cleverly titled "North Pole Vault" (I'm guessing he was watching Vana spin the letters one day when that came to him). It paid off for me, in the end, because now its free on Noisetrade. If you haven't heard this yet, Ian McGlynn sounds a bit in the Sufjan Stevens vein, but dreamier. Every track on the set could stand tall on its own, but "Our Favorite Christmas Movie" is the cut you'll want it for.
 Earlier this year, we caught up with the 2013 collection from Converse, "Noise To The World", which was lingering from last Christmas. Well, if you missed that one, its gone now. Had to make way for the newer model, "Noise To The World 2". As with last year's set, Converse made all the right moves. The artists are exceptional and so is the music.
I bumped into "Noise To The World 2" on Tuesday. Converse had unveiled two tracks on Monday. They then released another two tracks on Wednesday. And the last two were unveiled today. I figured I'd wait until the collection was complete before I posted. Didn't listen even. And, now, here I am with the opportunity to hear the whole thing......and I can't get past "On Christmas" from the Dum Dum Girls. It's playing for something like the sixth straight time, right now, and I want to hear it again. This one's got legs. It's going to turn up on Christmas playlists to the end of time. By the end of the day, I'm sure Converse will have racked up the full album download. Or not. As it is, now, the button sends you to Soundcloud where you have to download each track individually. But it's worth it.  Philadelphia's Indie Pop / Electro Pop / Dream Pop / Chillwave / Smoth-fi outfit, Work Drugs may not be sure what to call their sound, but they sure as heck know how to sound good. "Nicholas" is wickedly upbeat without being hyper. It's a smooth high, yo! They should pipe this music into hospital waiting rooms. I'm thinking spontaneous healing. Sometimes I'm both amused and horrified by the analogies my brain comes up with. First thing I thought listening to "Nicholas" by Work Drugs? Like the Clash on ludes (and I mean that in a good way). To defend my sick mind a bit, "Nicholas" has some of that "Rock The Casbah" rhythm, but much smoother--sort of like you sanded down all the sharp corners. I'll shut up, now. "Nicholas" is great, though. Go get it at Bandcamp.
By their own admission, North Carolina's Less Western were just experimenting, messing around and making up songs about Christmas and staying up too late. Whatever their intentions, the result is a lovely set of lo-fi psychedelic shoe-gaze and dream pop which the band dropped Thanksgiving day.
"Holographic Holiday" features 5 tracks, though the first, "In Reverse", is just a 30 second intro to set the proper mood as you phase into their alternate dimension. The "star" piece is likely to be the title track, "Holographic Holiday". Me, personally, I'm partial to "Nocturnal". And there's something very cool about "Winter Strain". Get the whole set from Bandcamp and pick your own favorite.  One way to recognize a future classic Christmas song is to see how well it translates to different genres and settings. A classic Christmas song--a "standard", if you will--should be able to make the transition seamlessly. It should convey the same seasonal magic it did in its original version.
I've been convinced for some time that Low's "Just Like Christmas" is a classic Christmas song--one which will only gain in popularity as the years pass. It's probably too soon to call it, officially, but I've never heard a version of "Just Like Christmas" that failed to inspire the feeling of Christmas. This Dream Pop version from Zipless Ellipsis (released last year) makes the point very well. Slowing the song down to a dreamy pace, the song still conveys the entire panorama of holiday feelings and emotions, inspiring flashbacks of Christmases past, both happy and sad. Use the widget above to download or head to Soundcloud to see what else Zipless Ellipsis has to offer. And visit Misha (yep, another "band-name-for-solo-artist") on Facebook. |
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. Archives2010 FREE List Categories
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