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
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.
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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