Category: Humor

MIXTAPES - BROKEN HEARTED CHRISTMAS

12/14/2015

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.

0 Comments

BEN MADER - CHRISTMAS TIME

12/11/2015

0 Comments

A young Hip Hop Pop artist from Boston, Ben Mader followed the Justin Bieber path to success, building a strong following through YouTube before signing a label deal. With the video of "Listen To Your Heart", he gained over 1000 followers within a week. But Ben also performed whenever the opportunity arose, up and down the east coast, building an even greater following. He did all this while still in school as he's, what, 17 or 18 right now. Ben's debut EP, "Lost In The Moment", was released in May of this year and the lead single "Don't Know How To Dance" has done very well.

"Christmas Time" is a fun Rap/Hip Hop Pop tune--not just free of expletives, but free of attitude. Ben's got no problem poking a little fun at himself. He won me over when Santa got his name wrong. "Ho Ho Ho! Is That Ben Matter?" Ben corrects Santa with "No, Santa. Its May-der but it don't matter." As I said, fun. And free via Soundcloud. And that's a great combination.

0 Comments

LOOSE TAPESTRIES - CAN'T WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS

12/7/2015

3 Comments

Sometimes, looking for the freebies, you begin to give up hope. *Sigh* There just isn't anything out there to get really excited about. Or so you begin to believe. And you slog your way through hundreds of very bad covers of "Blue Christmas", "White Christmas", and other colors of Christmas that leave you feeling green with illness. And then........IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!! (Cue the choir of heavenly angels.) Something so fresh, so different, so original, so good that it sparkles like the first snow in sunlight and completely restores your faith in the music of the season. God bless us all, everyone!

The group is Lost Tapestries--primarily a partnership between Sergio Pizzorno (Kasabian) and comedian Noel Fielding. They'd thus far released just one record--"The Luxury Comedy Tapes", a "soundtrack" for Fielding's television show--and that was in 2012. Their music combines Rock, New Wave, Psych and Comedy. So you'd have to figure a Christmas record from these dudes would either be bloody brilliant or a total pudding. Well, bloody brilliant it is.

"Can't Wait For Christmas" is somewhere in the ether of Daft Punk, Men Without Hats, KC & THe Sunshine Band, Roy Wood's Wizard, and the Goons. And I know I must be missing more.

Oddly enough, we did report on Lost Tapestries sophomore effort last year. It was expected to drop last year, but didn't. This is the song that features the great actor Idris Elba doing a rap--pretty much off the cuff. At the time, Idris said "I'm telling you, man, this song is a hit." And he was right!!!

Grab this IMMEDIATELY!! It's a free download from Soundcloud. They already blew through their download cap once, so there's no guarantee they won't blow through the second as well. Go! Now! Get it!

3 Comments

JOSE BOLD - YUUUUUUUL

11/12/2015

0 Comments

Not sure if we've ever featured this gentleman on the Free List before. Heck, I'm not even sure what his real name is. But I am relatively certain we didn't post "YUUUUUUUL" last year, when it was released (free from Day One).

I actually found this as a free download on Amazon. Under the name Jacques Saccquarine. And, before I forget, Amazon has a bunch of free holiday downloads right here. Some junk in there, sure, but some good'uns, too. Like 2 cuts from the new Christmas set from Kristin Chambers. I probably should be posting about her, here, rather than Mr. Bold, but.... I've done my due diligence by pointing you in the proper direction.

Anyway, Jacques Saccquarine--aka Jose Bold, aka John Osebold--is a Seattle musician who likes to make quirky, off balance, subtly deranged music...but only in November and December, for some reason. Not that its all winter or seasonal music; that's just when he likes to do it. Not sure what he'll be coming up with for this year, but last year's set was, indeed, a Christmas EP, "YUUUUUUUL".

I'm not a big fan of the goofy, but, being truly (if subtly) deranged, this is somehow less goofy and more...hmm..."relatable" isn't really the thought I was reaching for. More like a college course in abnormal psychology. How's that?

I suppose the "hit" here is "Eggnog", but it's also the deranged mind at its most basic. It's a song about Eggnog, but its not a song about Eggnog. A perfect example of textbook schizophrenia. But its a tad creepy, too, as he's singing about "his favorite glass of human". It could be an analogy. Or he could be Dexter Morgan. Not sure, but I'm leaning toward the latter. We also get some special strangeness in the form of "Don" (featuring Justin Redwine). Don is apparently a guy with some issues, who shows up to the office party dressed like Santa and then...sits on a pizza. He ruins the party and then...inexplicably dies (apparently), thus becoming legendary. Wow. I haven't had enough psych classes to even begin to break that one down. And then there is "Put A Bell on Your Sled", in which seemingly innocuous words are bleeped out, making the song seem utterly filthy. Now, I know a lot of people who love this kind of stuff--the off-kilter and quirky--qnd those folks are already happily downloading.

But, for me, the saving grace of the EP is "Black Friday"--primarily because so many people have been (and will be) precisely where the protagonist is (and I mean mentally and emotionally, not physically...although they'll be that do). And using music that sets a solemn tone, well, it makes the whole thing rather poignant.

And I'm just kidding about the "derangement"....mostly. Anyway, if you're up for getting down with Jacques Saccquarine (and Don), head on over to Bandcamp (or Amazon) for the free download. And keep a watchful eye on Jose at Facebook. Somebody should.

0 Comments

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.

MIXTAPES - BROKEN HEARTED CHRISTMAS

BEN MADER - CHRISTMAS TIME

LOOSE TAPESTRIES - CAN'T WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS

JOSE BOLD - YUUUUUUUL

The FREE List

Archives

Categories