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.
 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.
The Holidaze are a Pop Punk supergroup featuring members of Good Charlotte (Joel), 5 Seconds of Summer (Ashton), Simple Plan (Pierre), and Goldfinger (John). Along with Alex Gaskarth, the artists got together to record "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" to help promote the Ryan Seacrest Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit that seeks to inspire today's youth through entertainment and education focused initiatives. They ask that you consider making a contribution of whatever you can afford.
"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" starts out traditional (showing off some serious pipes) but finishes in a rousing Pop Punk flourish. It's intended as a free download. The group has blown through their Soundcloud download allotment, but you can now download the song here.  1. Hides A Well - Decorations 2. Sally - Christmas Isn't Over 3. Young Legs - First Day 4. Borrasca - Snowed In 5. Please Exist - Bleed Christmas Dry 6. We Have Ghosts - I Wish it was Christmas Today 7. Zack Frank - Winter Weekend 8. Nicole Grogan - Christmas Present 9. Deja Gravy - Yule 10. Joe Egan - I'll Be Home For Christmas 11. straight creep. - All I Want For Christmas Is A New Cellphone 12. John Fisher & Molly Farrell - Black Christmas 13. Murph - Memory Lights 14. We Use To Love - 12-31-???? 15. The McCarthyists - Merry Christmas, or Hanukkah, or Whatever You Like to Call It 16. Tabitha Booth (feat. Jesse Hardy) - Winter Blues 17. Joe Egan - Play Your Flute For Grandma 18. Ezra Lowry - True North 19. Awjita - Linus & Lucy 20. Eric K - It's Time To Go NotRock is a New Jersey DIY label and this their SEVENTH holiday compilation. They just put out the call--to anyone, really, and artists submit their Christmas songs. Hey, its DIY; that's how its done. So you get a little bit of almost everything, here--from Indie Folk to Punk. Twenty songs is a bit much for me to digest this time of year (I don't even want to think about the other six volumes), and there's actually plenty, here, that doesn't work for my head. There are a bunch I really kinda like. And there are TWO tracks from this collection I am in love with. One of my two faves is the one represented in video (it does kind of bug me that Bandcamp comp players will just keep going, not stopping after the one song you want to feature; there must be a way to fix that, but I haven't figured it out yet). Awjita proves nothing less than the genius of Vince Guaraldi, as his "Linus & Lucy" sounds absolutely brilliant in this Psych Jazz cover. In general terms, it reminds me of the great jamming bands of the late 60s (Greatful Dead were the kings of it, but everyone was doing the free form thing at the time). Awjita, here, does remind me of a specific band, but I can't put my finger on it. Anyway Free Form Psych Jazz is about as different as you're going to find anywhere. And I like different. My other fave is Nicole Grogan's "Christmas Present", a Lo-Fi Indie tune with a cool melody, some great guitar work, wonderful lyrics, and miles and miles of attitude. And, from that, you might think I was describing some raucous Metal or something. But, no, the song's genius is in its laid back self assurance. It reminds me a lot of the early days of Indie on the Internets, when some very talented people were making beautiful sounds that, at the same time, were simple, low tech and Lo-Fi. Some others (the ones I "really kinda like") are Sally's Indie Pop "Christmas Isn't Over", Borrasca's "Snowed In" (also Indie Pop), "All I Want For Christmas Is A New Cellphone" (Pop Punk from straight creep), the atmospheric Alt Rock/Pop Punk New Year's tune from We Used To Love ("12-31-????"), Tabitha Booth's "Winter Blues" (still working out how to categorize that one--sort of a Bluesy Dream Pop...or maybe Shoegaze...or maybe all of the above), the Indie Folk of Zach Frank's "Winter Weekend", and Joe Egan's Alt Jazz/Ambient Electronica "Play Your Flute For Grandma". So that's not bad. I liked half of it. You might find yourself drawn to some of the others. But the two that (IMO) make venturing to Bandcamp for the free download are the tracks from Awjita and Nicole Grogan. There were hard copy CDs of "A NotRock Holiday Compilation, Volume 7", but they were for the artists and the release show. If any are left over, I'd assume they'll turn up at NotRock's online shop where it looks like they still have copies of the first three at stupid low prices ($3 for a 22 song CD? C'mon, that's like stealing). The download versions are all loaded at Bandcamp and "name-your-price".
Thankfully, the relatively new Mom (River just turned two the day before Thanksgiving), and the rest of the band still found time to keep up with the tradition and released their cover of "Run Run Rudolph" on Thanksgiving Day. You can grab it FREE from Noisetrade. And, if you missed any of their earlier Christmas tunes, you can still get their holiday EP, "The Xmas Songs", as a name-your-price download from Bandcamp.
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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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