Category: Pop Rock

Stubbys House of Christmas

SHAUN KEAVENY - PLEASE DON'T GET ME ANYTHING FOR CHRISTMAS

12/21/2015

The BBC's Shaun Keaveny, who hosts the breakfast show, wrote a Christmas song. Because, you know, that's something on just about everyone's bucket list, right? Of course, when I write a Christmas song, I get to entertain Mrs. Katz (not her real name)--if I'm lucky (because she really hates my music). But, if you're Shaun Keaveny, you know people. People like former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler, Level 42's bass player Mark King, and former Menswear drummer Matt Everitt, And, oh yeah, Rod Stewart. He sings a bit, you know. "Please Don't Get Me Anything For Christmas"--with its all-star cast--was then produced by Grammy winner Steve Levine, who has previously worked with the Beach Boys and Culture Club. Considering the talent involved, it should come as no surprise that the song is really, really good. Not quite "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday", but a very hook laden Christmas song with a big sound, like they do in the UK. And the BBC has made the song available as a free download. Keep in mind that BBC freebies don't usually last too long, so waste no time and fly over to the BBC's website and read all about it.

MOUNT TYRANT - MY BABY LEFT ME ON CHRISTMAS

12/20/2015

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.

VARIOUS - A POLAROID FOR CHRISTMAS 2015

12/15/2015

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.

THE CHURCHILL GARDEN - CHRISTMAS

12/15/2015

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.

THE HOLIDAZE - HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS

12/14/2015

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.

SALTON SEA - IN CHRISTMAS TIME

12/12/2015

Salton Sea is ostensibly the solo project of Virginia's Mark Strong. Mark has been a longtime stalwart of the Virginia music scene as a member of other bands, but he figured it was time to fly on his own. Primarily an Indie Rock artist, "In Christmas Time" is more Indie Pop--sort of along the lines of Owl City, but a tad closer to Alt Rock. If I had to sum up the theme of "In Christmas Time", I'd say it's "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Yeah, the world is kinda crazy right now and people are miserable to each other far too much. But the answer is neither to up the ante on being rotten to other people (ANY other people) nor to put your head down and withdraw. It solves nothing to do nothing. You wish people were nicer to each other--and not just in December? Make it so. If you, yourself, decide to be nicer to others (regardless of what they do), guess what? You just made the world a nicer and better place. That's how its done, son....one person at a time. Be the first on your block. Start a trend. And, because I know you're going to strive to be nicer to those around you.... Here, have a free Christmas song from Salton Sea. Use the widget up top or trek over to Soundcloud.

VERSES - MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

12/11/2015

Nothing different here--just two Christmas classics covered well by a British Rock band. But I don't just like different; I also enjoy a great Rock Christmas song or two done up great by a straight up Rock band. Did I say two? Yes, I did. In addition to "Merry Christmas Everyone", Verses also covered "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" and both are available as free downloads from Soundcloud. Neither were recorded this year. "Merry Christmas Everyone" was originally released in 2013, I believe, and "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" was recorded and released last year. But both disappeared after Christmas in those years. So, for however long they last this go around, it might be a good idea to grab them. And, with any luck, Verses will be back with a new tasty holiday pudding next year. Follow the band on Facebook.

LOOSE TAPESTRIES - CAN'T WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS

12/7/2015

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!

THE JAC - HOLIDAY ON MARS

12/4/2015

"I must say Joe's bravado and sheer stupidity never ceases to amaze me."--Mal Hope, rock music critic (allegedly)

First, a quick PARENTAL ADVISORY as "Holiday On Mars" does contain one "s" word (although it clearly belongs and you've certainly heard far worse on basic cable).

It's not really officially the Christmas season until that Power Popping fool Joe Algeri makes an appearance. Joe's been making annual Christmas records since long before Jesus was born (although they seemed to lack any real substance in the pre-Christ years). In fact, many religions hold that Joe was the very first Rock musician...in that he played music using only rocks. One day in the era of cavemen, Joe was setting up for a big gig for all of the members of his cave tribe. The biggest stone slipped and, though many of the tribe tried to stop it, that stone just kept rolling along. And thus were born the Rolling Stones. To lose the stone was tragedy enough, but it had rolled over the foot of one member of Joe's rock band. Thereafter, that band member would be remembered as the first rock musician to get stoned. Joe next invented the bass...er, base...something he put under the stones to keep them from rolling. It's been many years since then and I won't bore you with Joe's discovery of electricity. Suffice it to say that it's a hair-raising tale.

About every other year, I take a stab at trying to be as witty as the "liner notes" for Joe's annual Christmas record (which create the mythos of the recording sessions), but I always fall well short. At my best, I'm merely a half-wit.

Joe (aka The JAC) doesn't need the humor, though, because these Christmas treats are always so damn good. The latest is "Holiday On Mars", a spacey Rock number that features 12 musicians from 5 different countries (The Christmas Crew) and, this year, a theremin (cuz you can't do a space age Rock tune without a theremin). The tale of the taping and all the credits and lyrics are at Bandcamp. Also at Bandcamp is Joe's collection of past Christmas delights, "I See Things Differently", though none from the before Christ years (at that time, cavemen were more concerned with preserving their lives than preserving audio tapes; who knew Radio Shack would be extinct in 2000 years?). It's there for you to be had, astronauts and astronettes.

But, first, Joe had a few words. A portion of "Holiday On Mars" is in French. They had just finished recording that part of the song when...well. you know. I'll let Joe put it in his own words (with which, FWIW, I agree completely).

"Given recent world events, a song that laments the frenetic pace of modern life and the irritation of a commercialized festive season might seem like nothing more than a whine about very first world problems. We had just finished the French part of “Holiday On Mars” when the tragic events of Paris unfolded...

But the terrorists can just go screw themselves; I wasn’t going to change this year’s Christmas song for any reason. We will remain free to sing about whatever we damn well please including embracing, promoting, ignoring or even criticizing any religious practices and traditions.

Peace to you this festive season, enjoy the holiday on Mars."

ORBIT MONKEY - IT'S TIME FOR CHRISTMAS

11/30/2015

Orbit Monkey is the band of L.A.'s Jorg Kohring. He's had his time playing behind others and decided it was time he took the lead. To date, Orbit Monkey has released an Alt Rock album, "Are We Alive", and an EP, "Born To Be Kings". Next up is an album, Jorg says will be in a darker tone, adding "It will be done when it's done".

The band did pause long enough to record this Christmas song. "It's Time For Christmas" is dedicated to our troops, far too many of whom are still overseas. Supposedly, you can get the download as an HD Wav file through the Orbit Monkey web site, so I tried that first....and the wheel spun round and round and round and.... You know, I hate Mondays anyway (and, to be fair, the problem is probably on my end). So I said the hell with it (or something a tad more blue) and grabbed the mp3 off Soundcloud.