"Jingle Bell Samba" didn't grab me until the vocals kicked in. The Synth Pop beat was a tad overwhelming. But I dig the laidback vocal harmonies from Chris and Kate. All told, I get that nice Indie Pop feel. And, if you like The Space Cranes on "Jingle Bell Samba", you might also enjoy "Christmas Robots"--an EP Chris and Kate did back in 2011. "Winter Wonderland" is done in a similar style as "Jingle Bell Samba", but they explore different sounds on the rest. "Good King Wenceslas" rocks, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" is a Blues, "Jingle Bells" is Folk Pop, and so on.
 Deep Sea Diver is a popular Indie Rock band from Seattle. But, really, this track is performed by just one member of the group. Jessica Dobson plays the guitar and sings "O Holy Night"--recording to an old 8-track recorder in the basement, so the info says.
"O Holy Night", as I may have told you, is pretty much my all-time favorite traditional carol, so you've got to really bring it to impress me. Jessica's version starts a little slow but, as the song goes on, she surely brings it. There's real passion, here, which is only amplified by the Lo-Fi rawness of the recording. The track is free at Bandcamp.  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.
Best thing about The Winter Failure is that they clearly enjoy making this music and, as Joe Biden would say, that's a pretty BFD. Still a little on the Lo-Fi side; haven't yet decided if that's a bug or a feature. But, overall, I enjoyed it quite a bit. Best tracks, for me, were "Breath Of Heaven" (that's bloody gorgeous, that is) and the originals "You Came To Save" and "Christmas Kinkade". Kudos for covering Five Iron Frenzy's "You Gotta Get Up". Me, I'd toss the superfluous opening and the last two tracks but, otherwise, I think The Winter Failure has hit their stride. Looking forward to next year's set. You'll find this at Noisetrade.
 The Pocket Gods are living legends of the Alt Rock/Indie Pop universe, having been blessed by no less an icon of the underground music scene than the late John Peel. Originally, back in the late nineties, the group was just Mark Christopher Lee and whomever he decided to let join him on any given night. They were a trio for a long stretch and then went back to being just Lee around 2012 (I have no idea what the current line-up is). Nominated for a Grammy a few years back, The Pocket Gods are said to be the most prolific band in the world, having reportedly released over 70 albums and 30 EPs and singles in the last 15 years. When you record that much music, you're bound to have recorded a Christmas song or two. Or twenty. I'm not sure how many, honestly, but they're regulars on the Cherryade Christmas albums, which are now in their tenth year. They have a track on this year's Cherryade set, too, but "The Light Of The World" isn't it. In 2012, they released a full album of their Christmas madness, 14 tracks long.
The Pocket Gods play a psych infused brand of Indie Pop Rock, citing the Beatles and Ramones among their influences. "The Light Of The World" is a stand alone digital single which you could buy through Amazon. Or, you can join The Pocket Gods mailing list over at ReverbNation and get downloads of "The Light Of The World" and "Searching For The Divine" for free.  You gotta love it when a small Indie label puts together a Christmas album. Especially their first. Its chaos out front and chaos in the back. But, in the end, you get amazingly original music. Air Punch is a Melbourne based collective and they're preparing to "release" their first holiday set featuring most of the artists in the collective and then some. Official release of the digital set "Ham For Days" is December 11 (if they finish by then; if not, hey, whatever). In the meantime, they've been posting some of the songs on Soundcloud. When it's complete, it should still be free, but you're forgiven if you want to wait until they've got it organized as a playlist. Of what's been posted so far, there were four songs I was especially fond of. "Stood Up On Christmas" by Lucas Heenan was probably the one I listened to the most. His offering is Indie Rock a bit reminiscent of some seventies Pop ("Crackerbox Palace" is what is now stuck in my head, but that may be because of last week's vintage SNL airing). Helena Plazzer is both retro chic and thoroughly modern Indie on "Christmas Truce". Either of those songs would delight and sparkle on a holiday mix. But the two I'm featuring here were the best and brightest (in my opinion and no pun intended). Peter Joseph Head offers a super fun Indie Alt Pop visit to "The Streets Where The Lights Are On" ("The stuff should all be up by now but it won't be there for long"). Peter believes pop music can be both accessible and adventurous and he proves it here. And, just below, you'll find "Secret Santa" from Lehmann B. Smith. Lehmann is said to be a virtual encyclopedia of musical sounds and influences from which he creates his unique brand of "oddball pop". "Secret Santa" has got quite a bit rolled into it. Altogether, it sounds like a funkified spaghetti western. It's super cool; I just wish it were longer. All this and more on "Ham For Days: An Airpunch Christmas Album". Hit the Air Punch Soundcloud feed to check it out (with, again, the proviso that it probably isn't finished yet). UPDATE: Don't know why Air Punch took the "free" off this download of "Secret Santa". I just wish artists would wait more than a couple of hours after I post them to do so. You're making us all look bad. UPDATE UPDATE: Oh, hey, look! The download arrow's back! I guess somebody reads this stuff, afterall. And they've got it up in playlist form, now, too. Also available on 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.  A bit of DIY Lo-Fi Indie Americana, here, from Conversing With Owls. This is another one of those "group-names-for-solo-acts" deals. In this case, Michigan's Nick Stiverson.
"The Noble Season" is very clearly a demo and a work in progress and properly labeled as such. That said, the song does convey Winter's chill quite effectively. Two versions are posted, one heavy with echo and one without. I've gone back and forth on which I prefer. In the end, I think I'd pick the version without. But, for a final professional recording, I think I'd agree with Nick that echo enhances the chill. Both versions are free via Bandcamp.  SMALL BEAR WEBSITE 1. Accidental Christmas - Phil Reynolds & The Dearly Departed DOWNLOAD AT BANDCAMP 2. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Reporters 3. All I Want For Christmas - Phil The Tremolo King 4. Jamie Stewart's It's A Wonderful Life - Neurotic Wreck 5. Happy Christmas - The Bordellos 6. Ghosts - Harmony Dischord 7. Casio Lullaby - Marc Elston 8. Honeyfuzzmole Christmas - Honeyfuzzmole 9. Christmas Mantra - Schizo Fun Addict 10. Aunt Milla's Christmas Tree - Dog, Paper, Submarine 11. Some Things Never Change - Postcode 12. Les Visiteurs De Noel - Watoo Watoo 13. Santa Give Me Something To Live For - Matt Bouvier 14. Auld Lang Syne - Nanaki 15. Snow 1993 - The Proctors Small Bear Records is a small independent label with a philosophy that says its more important to get the music out there than to make humungous profits. So, while physical releases carry a price tag (because it costs money to make them), their digital downloads are available through Bandcamp on a "name-your-price" basis. And we'd very much like to thank them for that. I, for one, hope they live long and prosper.
Small Bear Records has been in business for three full years, now. And, each year of their existence, they've managed to put out a Christmas album featuring the artists in their stable. So this is the third one, then. The titles of the Small Bear Christmas collections tend to be puns and take offs on famous rock album titles and you can see that this year's is a play off of "Never Mind The Bullocks" by the Sex Pistols. Collections like this tend to be hit and miss, but Small Bear generally features more hit and less miss than many. The music covers a lot of stylistic ground though most of it is squarely in the Indie Alt Rock and Indie Pop vein. For my money (just an expression--the download's free), the best cut here is the opener. "Accidental Christmas" has so much raw rock power going on, I almost just typed the title as "Energetic Energy". True. But there's plenty more here to stimulate your Alt Xmas Brain. "Aunt Milla's Christmas Tree" is a gas, even if it doesn't sound like sleigh bells in the least. Matt Bouvier's "Santa Give Me Something To Live For" is anthemic and not entirely as bleak as the title would suggest. Watoo Watoo's "Les Visiteurs De Noel" sounded great back in 1997, when they first cut it, and still sounds great today. "Happy Christmas (Alan McGee Is An Arse)" is undeniably catchy, whether you want it to be or not. And Nanaki delivers one of the most original takes on "Auld Lang Syne" I've ever heard. Plenty of mixtape material. "Never Mind The Baubles". And, if you want to expand your horizons even further (and don't already have them), you can still grab "Tinsel Machine" (2013) and "Enter Snowman" (2012) for the same "name-your-price" deal. |
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