Category: Electronica

VARIOUS - NO SLEEP TILL CHRISTMAS 6

12/21/2014

1. Alcoa - Blue Christmas
2. Daisyhead - Silent Night
3. Kill Wealthy Dowager - Christmas at Ground Zero
4. Lee Corey Oswald - A Chill Time to All and to All a Chill Time
5. Seasons Change - Holidays

NO SLEEP WEBSITE
DOWNLOAD FROM BANDCAMP

Indie Alternative label No Sleep Records don't release a new Christmas set every year, but, when they do, it's choice. "No Sleep Till Christmas 6" is their sixth holiday offering (duh) and features artists from their stable and a few friends. The highlight for most is likely going to be Kill Wealthy Dowager's cover of Weird Al's "Christmas At Ground Zero". In addition, you get Alcoa with an Americana "Blue Christmas" (which was good enough that I didn't automatically hate it just because its "Blue Christmas", which I hate). Daisyhead offers up a highly enjoyable Electronica rendition of "Silent Night". Lee Corey Oswald performs an excellent Indie Rock original that might give Kill Wealthy Dowager's track a run for its money, "A Chill Time To All And To All A Chill Time". And the EP closes with Pop Punkers Seasons Change performing "Holidays". Only 6 songs, but every one a killer. You can get the set direct from No Sleep or theough Bandcamp.

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VARIOUS - THE BFW CHRISTMAS ALBUM 2014

12/15/2014

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BFW WEBSITE
DOWNLOAD AT BANDCAMP

1. Eko_Fisk - Solstice II
2. Kevin Lyons - Between the Woods and the Frozen Lake
3. Daniel Prendiville - Drop A Dress Size For Christmas
4. Stephen Briggs - Time to reflect
5. David Gerard - Approaching Solstice
6. Sound Awakener - Reunion
7. Cousin Silas - One Bright Evening
8. mutanT.R.I. - Underivation
9. William Ash - Noël Wells Comes Home for Christmas
10. Paul Mimlitsch & Roger Sundstrom - Red Bell BC
11. Cousin Silas - Bah Humbug!
12. Stefan Blixt - Flames of Winter
13. The Owl Effect - Redemtion
14. Amygdala - Travelling with the Comet
15. Bing Satellites - Day Of The Really Long Dogs
16. Tim Kays - Moonlight on Christmas Snow (for Lori Shaffer DeGroff)
17. Elypixa - Elytriste
18. Scott Lawlor - Apertio aurium

Another of our annual winter visitors, the BFW label has issued their 2014 Christmas album. BFW specializes in Ambient, so you know what you're getting here, mostly. The album opens and closes with terrific and very beautiful pieces that represent two of my highlights, "Solstice II" by Eko_Fisk and Steve Lawlor's "Apertio Aurium". Tim Kays' "Moonlight On Christmas Snow" is quite moving (though it does run over 10 minutes). If you're looking for a bit more energy, Cousin Silas delights us with a mild Ska beat on "Bah Humbug!". And Stefan Blixt offers up "Flames Of Winter" Shoegaze. As always, "The BFW Christmas Album" is free to download, either through the BFW site or via Bandcamp. You'll find all their previous Christmas sets still available free as well.

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VARIOUS - A POLAROID FOR CHRISTMAS (2014)

12/14/2014

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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.

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MYMAREN - HAPPY CHRISTMAS

11/19/2014

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When I'm putting a mix together, I want different sounds. So, sometimes, that's what I'm listening for--as opposed to listening for a breakout hit (for lack of a better term). There are a lot of Producer/DJ types that put together synth soundscapes--so many that its hard for them to stand out. But, if I think one sufficiently conveys a Christmas mood and it doesn't become annoying after repeated listens, I'll say to myself, "Yeah, I could do something with that". Sometimes, not only is that enough, but its exactly what's needed.

Mymaren is a Producer/DJ from Norway and "Happy Christmas" is his holiday soundscape. I'm inclined to call this Ambient. It's very pretty and it conveys a certain Christmas-ness. And, yeah, I could do something with this. And I probably will. ;^)

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The FREE List

Here 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.

VARIOUS - NO SLEEP TILL CHRISTMAS 6

VARIOUS - THE BFW CHRISTMAS ALBUM 2014

VARIOUS - A POLAROID FOR CHRISTMAS (2014)

MYMAREN - HAPPY CHRISTMAS

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