Not much to say about this one except that Appleme is a Moscow based band (yes, the one in Russia), A little Alt Rock, a little Electronica. And their slightly broken English is charming. But, really, what it comes down to is that it's new, it's free, and it's not really bad EDM...which is mostly what you're going to find on Soundcloud this week. So lend an ear to Appleme's new New Year's tune, "Meet The Happy Year" and download it free at Soundcloud. But be warned...you've just been Appled.
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Not too much on-line about Vinnie B. and his band, The Brotherhood. But it's an original Christmas Blues, so I'll take it.
Vinnie B. & The Brotherhood do have a ReverbNation page and a website--both seriously lacking in content--but plenty folks don't have either, so Vinnie's at least one step ahead. They are from Michigan and they are a Power Rock trio. It appears they're mostly a live band, though it seems they're working on an album. In the meantime, "Christmas Blues (Ring My Silver Bell)" is a very listenable Blues Rock original which could easily slide into your Christmas Blues playlist. Vinnie B. doesn't say whether The Brotherhood is working this track with him, but the sound is nice and full, so I'm gonna guess yes. And it's free on Soundcloud, so it's got that goin' for it, which is nice.
and 45s for the holidays. At least that was so in the New York market. And "Christmas In Prison" soon became one of those songs you looked forward to hearing on the radio every Christmas, along with other "FM only" holiday fare like Joni Mitchell's "River" (and that one, I'm told, was only a seasonal spin in the New York market; it didn't become popular during the holidays in much of the rest of the country for many years).
Just a long-winded (but important) holiday music lesson as a way of noting that John Prine's "Christmas In Prison" (the live version that appeared on "A John Prine Christmas") is available free through Noisetrade at the moment. Why, when I was young, we had to walk for twenty miles through the snow with no shoes to get to a record store and we'd have to chop wood for hours for the store to even let us look at a John Prine record. You kids, today--gettin' your music for free. Hey, you kids, get off my lawn! Yeah, well, aside from making me feel old that I remember 1973 so well, get John Prine's "Christmas In Prison" free at Noisetrade. It's an essential Christmas song for any holiday music collection.  Here's a nice three-song Christmas EP from South Carolina's Shiny Pines. You could call their sound Americana or Alt Rock, but they call themselves a Southern Rock band and that works. "I'm Dying or This Must Be Christmas" finds our protagonist waiting for a terrible shoe to drop because "Life ain't never this good." That's a double negative, dude. Just roll with it. "It's Supposed to Be Christmas" might be the same dude on a regular Christmas--"It's supposed to be Christmas, but it feels more like hell."
But the star of the Shiny Pines "Christmas EP" has to be the rockin' "Go Tell It On The Mountain", which you can hear in the video above. You can grab this set on Noisetrade.
Mount Tyrant are based in Dallas Texas. They call what they do Dark Pop--which I'm guessing means lots of minor chords and terrible happenings. "My Baby Left Me On Christmas" is certainly not a happy song. And the lyrics reflect the chill. But its also some damn fine Rock N Roll. So lend the Mount Tyrant an ear for a well written, well produced, well played, damn fine bit of Rock N Roll and try to forget the depressing mood...if you can. Download "My Baby Left Me On Christmas" free from Soundcloud.
So I got an email from Monika Bullette a few days back, alerting me to her new Christmas song, "Christmas Lights (I Only Light Up When You're Around)". And I'm thinking, "I know that name."
Way, way, waaaayyy back....when the Internets were young.....in the dark ages.......you know, like around 2004, Monika had a free Christmas song on her site that she'd done with Hangnail Phillips. The song was "The Finest Gifts" and I thought it was just about the most beautiful and perfect Christmas song I'd ever heard. I didn't really start trolling the Internet for free downloads until 2005, so Monika was one of, if not my very first. You always remember your first. Thereafter, Monika Bullette's site was one of my first destinations in the annual Christmas music hunt. And she usually had something new to offer for the season. After that, she hooked up with the Sky Drops. And the Sky Drops dropped "Christmas Feels Like Halloween" in 2010 or 2011 and "Christmas Time Is Here" in 2012 (both still free on the Sky Drops web site, btw). And then my Mom got sick and I didn't hear anything about or from Monika until that email the other day. Monika Bullette's new Christmas song for 2015 is a demo, so it's got a bit of a raw feel to it. Nothing wrong with that; I dig raw. But Monika was also kind enough to post several other Christmas songs--all available to download free on Soundcloud--filling in those missing years for me. AND she posted "The Finest Gifts" again. Ah, Monika, you remembered. That was our song (sorry, was that too stalkerish?). And, if you never have before, cats and kittens, you have to hear this one.  I'm pretty sure we gave you the heads up earlier this year that Rickie Lee Jones' new album, "Other Side Of Desire", contained the song "Christmas In New Orleans". Well, Rickie Lee is including that song with two other of her Christmas recordings as free downloads from her web site. The other two--"Oh Holy Night" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"--have been around a while longer, so we gave the title above to the new one (and, yes, "Oh Holy Night" is the one recorded with the Chieftans). Rickie has been offering her Christmas songs off and on for years ("Christmas In New Orleans" bumped "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"). At one time, you could even buy a physical disc (a CD-R, IIRC) of the Christmas tunes from her web site. Now the thing to remember with Rickie's free Christmas downloads is there is no set schedule for their availability. They might be gone by the time I post this or they could last through Christmas. Some years Rickie has offered them for just a couple of days (like, honestly, two days) and then they're gone. So, if you don't already have them, head to Rickie's web site without delay. The version in the video was recorded at/for WFUV. The free download is from the album.
01) Alice Bisi (Oh, Alice) - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
02) Hund - I'll Be Stoned For Christmas (Dent May cover) 03) Naughty Betsy - All I Want For Christmas (Yeah Yeah Yeahs cover) 04) Barbados - Just For A Place In Your Heart 05) Elizabeth Morris (Allo Darlin) - The Season (Padda remix) 06) OAK - Holiday (The Get Up Kids cover) 07) Husky Loops - Shy Guy 08) Baseball Gregg - Cyber Monday 09) Steven Lipsticks And His Magic Band - Christmas Thieves 10) Boys Age - Hey Oooh 11) X-Ray Picnic - Northern Exposure 12) Flood Regions - Leprechaun On The Moon 13) Yellow Yonder - The Runner 14) mesic - A Long December (Counting Crows cover) 15) RACE - Jesus Was A Communist (Reagan Youth cover) 16) Iron Only - Airplanes 17) SMASH - Switching Light 18) Qlowski - I Do not Wanna Be Capitalized 19) Wolther Rabbitt - Then there are secrets between us (demo) 20) Homelette - Song For U 21) Le Man Avec Les Lunettes - 15 Dollars For A Sandwich 22) Dj Bitterness - I Get Drunk Like Pizzul Because It's Xmas Without You 
Isn't that one of the best things you've ever heard? I don't even know if its a Christmas song. And I don't even care. And they're from Japan, believe it or not. Just wow. Mind blown.
A lot of our annual gifties have gone away. No Santastic this year. No Suburban Sprawl. No Alternate Root. No Cigar Box Nation. And this will be the last year for our annual present from Beta Radio. On the bright side, we still have Sofia Talvik's annual Christmas song, our stocking stuffer from Joe Algeri (the JAC), and the always superb collection from XO Publicity. My all-time favorite, though has to be "A Polaroid For Christmas". And they're back again this year with one of their biggest and best. Polaroid is an Italian music blog and, every year, the host of the blog asks bands and artists from all over the world if they might like to do a Christmas song--cover or original (or at least a song to keep one company whilst trimming the tree). And from that simple request comes some of the absolutely, hands down, no question BEST Indie Christmas music you will ever hear anywhere. Every year! It's unbelievable how good this stuff is. Some will make it into the circuit via Bandcamp or Soundcloud, but many/most will not. And it's free to download. Every year! We are truly living in blessed times (well, as far as free Indie Christmas music goes). There's always a little something for everyone--nice little Indie Pop tunes, Shoegaze, Electronica, LoFi Indie Rock, Alt Folk, Dream Pop, Punk Country...seriously, they'll run the gamut. Now...it's getting a bit late and, normally, I'd just go later and break it down for you. But Mrs. Katz (not her real name) has another doctor's appointment tomorrow (Shhh. I didn't tell her this time), so I need to get to bed. And, to tell you the truth, I listened to this whole thing and, if I were to list my favorites, I'd be listing about 20 of the 22 tracks. So I'm going to let you find your own favorites (it's all free, after all). I will mention my very, very favorites real quick--tracks 1, 5, 10, 11, 20 and 21. Go get the whole shootin' match from Polaroid. And should you find yourself wanting to dig deeper into the artists and their music (like Boys Age up there), Polaroid has everything all linked up for you. 
I've told y'all about the nightmare that Soundcloud can be when you're looking for some good new tunes. Still true, although it seems to get worse in December (sort of like driving this time of year; I swear most of the idiots on the roads these days only go out in December because, if they were driving all the time, they'd have to be better at it, wouldn't they?). So anything that's good jumps out at you, even if it isn't Christmas or holiday oriented.
And that's how I came to learn about The Churchill Garden, the Shoegaze project of Switzerland's Andy Jossi. I don't even remember what my search terms were, but the song "The 8h Day" popped up and I thought I'd lend it an ear. Who knows, maybe it was some erzatz Hanukkah thing. Odds against it, but you never know. And the song, featuring Omega Vague, was just gorgeous and I was completely swept away. No, not a holiday tune, but a great sound that was a Shoegaze and Pop hybrid. So I figure one of these guys has to have done a Christmas song, right? Well, The Churchill Garden does have a song for Christmas--cleverly entitled "Christmas". It's not quite as awesome (to me) as "The 8th Day" (might be because there are vocals on "The 8th Day"), but its the same basic approach--combining Shoegaze with Pop--and I love the sound. "Christmas" is from 2011, but it's still available as a free download on Soundcloud and also at The Churchill Garden's website.  Long time Pop Punk favorites the Mixtapes announced they were splitting up earlier this year. Not wanting their fans to be left empty-handed, the band posted a large collection of songs from splits, rare b-sides, non-album tracks, unreleased recordings, and a few studio goofs. The collection contains precisely one Christmas song. And, even though "Broken Hearted Christmas" pretty much falls into the "goof" category, it's cool to have as a souvenir of a band that was well-loved in the genre. Besides, all told there are 23 tracks here (including a 15 minute freestyle) and some are pure gold. You can download "These Are Us" from the Mixtapes free of charge at Paper + Plastic Records.
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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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