Category: Emo

PEPPER PROUD - SNOW

8/29/2018

I must like this because I've downloaded it three times. But how much do I like it if I can't remember that I already downloaded it?

I love the acoustics--"Snow" was recorded live at The Muse Mansion in December 2017. I love her voice. I love her name--Pepper Proud. I love the arrangement on "Carol of the Bells". And the arrangement of "Frosty The Snowman" is certainly...different (oddly both Grunge and Ambient, actually). So why does it leave my mind as soon as the download finishes? Eh, questions for which we do not have the answers, I'm afraid.

Pepper Proud was born in West Virginia and moved to Seattle in 2007. So what you get is Americana Folk and Bluegrass with Seattle Indie influence and flair. And you might not get the full picture from this pair of Christmas tracks, so it's worth checking out Pepper's 2014 full-length "Water" which, as it happens, is a name-your-price download at Bandcamp, just as "Snow" is (hmm. Snow, Water....I'm sensing a pattern, here). Anyway, try it on for size. You might just like what you hear. I did. (Or at least I think I did. Wait, what were we talking about again?)

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THE ZIPPER SHTICK - LAND OF CHRISTMAS

12/15/2016

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I came across this one over the summer and had every intention of putting it up, but you know how that goes.

The Zipper Shtick was a band (circa 1999 - 2001) that included members of The Green Apple Sea, nolte, and Hillside. The German band did some live shows in support of bands like the Owls and, in 2001, recorded a number of their songs at the Lonestar Studio in Numemberg, but those tracks have never been mixed, let alone released. But The Zipper Shtick did record demos in their practice room and released some of those through the Soundcloud feed of The Green Apple Sea earlier this year, including this dreamy instrumental "Land of Christmas" which you can download for free. Though it clearly stands on its own, I swear I can hear a hint of "Do You Hear What I Hear" in there. There's an easy joke to be made there, I know. Regardless, I love me some moody Indie instrumental Christmas music, and "Land of Christmas" is a good one, all the more lovely for it's raw qualities.

If The Green Apple Sea sounds familiar to you, it might be you recall their super 2013 single, "December", which is still worth getting from Amazon or iTunes if you haven't already.

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VARIOUS - A CHRISTMAS COMP FOR YOU FROM SACRAMENTO

12/14/2016

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1.   The Diamond Center - Christmas Is Here
2.   Soft Science - Marshmallow World
3.   Bummer & Lazarus - A World Without Christmas
4.   Josh Goodman - Christmas In The Valley
5.   Bright Ideas - When You Think About Christmas Time
6.   2014 - You Gotta Love Christmas
7.   Dylan Barnes - O Holy Night
8.   Red Hot Fire - I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm
9.   Knock Knock - White Christmas (Fog Version)
10. Charles Albright - White Christmas Minority
11. Gangee - Festivus (For The Rest Of Us)
12. The Strange Party - N(eg)ativity
13. Andy Tate - All I Want
14. Dylan Barnes - White Christmas
15. Danny Offer - The Christmas Party
16. Kittens Having Kittens - It's Warmer When You're Near
17. The Crow Canyon Boys - You Left Me On Christmas
18. The Enlows - Winterman
19. Matt Crap (from The MOANS) - Scary Christmas To All (And To All A Ghoul Night)
20. White Women Love Jazz - Yule Shoot Your Eye Out
21. The Ninja Family Orchestra - Jingle Bells DOMESTIC HONEY BLOG
22. Dylan Barnes - Carol Of The Bells FREE DOWNLOAD FROM BANDCAMP
23. The Croissants - Corn Cob Pipe   PURCHASE CASSETTE FROM BANDCAMP
24. Tell el-Armana - First To Arrive
25. Han's Father - Christmas On Tatooine
26. The Caganers - (Poo Poo) Caga Tio
27. The Four Eyes - The Christmas Mash
28. Dylan Barnes - Silent Night

Remember this one? "A Christmas Comp For You From Sacramento" was the subject of a post we did years ago called "Stubby's Holiday Screw-Up". Feel free to look back at laugh, if you have a free moment. Earlier this year, the guy who put this together contacted me (having just learned that we had featured him back then). He had long wondered, he said, how people from all over the place had ever heard about this very, very local project done for fun. Well, he seems to think Stubby's had something to do with it. Maybe, maybe not. But the BIG news is that the comp is FREE TO DOWNLOAD AGAIN! YAY! And they had a new supply of cassettes, but they've been selling well and I see they're down to 3 remaining. If you must buy, run right over. If a free download'll do ya, well, hell, run right over. You never know when I'm going to screw up again. And, rather than write it up new, here's what I originally said about the album before I screwed up.

I have to say this is one of the most fun collections of Christmas music I've heard this year [2014]. Domestic Honey is, according to his profile, "just a dude in Sacramento that tricks his friends into recording stuff he can put out." It was as recently as September that this "dude" (Cody Scott) decided to go for it--get a bunch of local Sacramento musicians and bands to write and record Christmas music. So they definitely made good time. The music covers the Indie waterfront, with most of it tending toward Rock and Pop (but there's lots of variety). With so little time to pull it together, there's a raw sound to the compilation, with a few tracks in the Lo Fi range. And every song has its charm. This reminds me of a lot of early Indie Pop and Indie Rock. The spirit's there. I can't even tell you the highlights. It's easier to tell you the tracks I don't like......there were none. On a collection of 28 tracks, do you know how hard that is to pull off? It's a million to one shot. The songs are mostly short (some clocking in at under a minute) and Dylan Barnes' organ interludes are a special added delight.

Zombie lovers, there's a track for you from Matt Crap of the Moans. Star Wars fans, you're covered. And there's Lo Fi Alt Bluegrass from The Crow Canyon Boys. Or maybe its Punk Bluegrass. Who even knew there was such a thing? Electronica? Yeah, we got that from White Women Love Jazz (and, ok, that was my least favorite). Bummer and Lazarus rework a Peter & Gordon classic into "A World Without Christmas". The Four Eyes give a spritely Alt Rock version of "The Monster Mash". And the "Silent Night" closing is priceless ("Dylan, keep going damn it, I'm not done"). "A Christmas Comp For You" has got something for just about everybody. Now, true enough, I like more things than I don't. But I think even the biggest Grinch is going to find at least 6 or 7 tracks, here, that they absolutely love. And, if you can't find just one--just ONE--song, here, to use on your mixtapes, I dunno; I'd have to guess you're too conventional for my taste. It's free, for crap sake. Just download it and try it on for size. You'll find "A Christmas Comp For You" on Bandcamp.

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MISHELLA - XMAS VIBES

12/6/2016

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Every year, there seems to be at least one track like this that hits me the right way at the right time. An Electronic soundscape that's not trying to catch anyone's attention...just happy to be. And I consider my desire to post such things as a feature, not a bug. I have no idea who Mishella is or where she's from. Here's what we know. "Spontaneous Christmas chill vibe track I made in like 2 dayz". Well, alright then. It's one of the things I love about Christmas music. It comes in all sizes and shapes, from places expected and unexpected, from the famous and the unknown, with high expectations and with no expectations. And someone somewhere (in this case, me) is going to like it. "Xmas Vibes" is available as a free download from Soundcloud..you know, if it happens to hit you the right way at the right time.

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VARIOUS - HAVE A LAZY CHRISTMAS

6/29/2016

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1. The Apple Store - Misha Non Penguin
2. Season Cyclics - The Sunturns
3. Merry Christmas (or whatever) - Sledding With Tigers
4. No Sound of Snow - Uno Moller
5. Silent Night - Stylusboy
6. Last Christmas (I Shot You Down) - I See Horses

DOWNLOAD AT BANDCAMP

At this point, I find it pretty much impossible to remember what I've shared, here, and what I haven't. That's on me, really; I never got this site as organized as I'd hoped at the outset. So forgive me if you've heard this before.

"Have A Lazy Christmas" was a 2012 holiday compilation from the Indie label Lazy Acre Records in the UK. If I haven't shared this before, I apologize to all concerned as it certainly seems the label is no longer a going concern. Or at least their website appears to be gone, their Tumblr page seems to be gone, and the last activity on their Bandcamp site and their Twitter feed was in 2013. Yeah, I know it isn't my fault, personally, but I love Independent music and like to feel I'm doing as much as I can (however little that may be) to keep smaller labels alive. It goes without saying that the artists from the Lazy Acre stable are probably still active and I encourage you to google them up, if you hear something you like.

I found the Zip for this sitting in my downloads folder--which means I downloaded it at some point not recent but never unzipped it. Unfortunately, there's a lot of that on my computer. It's kinda like being stuffed at Thanksgiving and grabbing a turkey leg for later, only to stumble upon it when you're cleaning out the freezer many months hence, totally forgotten. Except that a frozen turkey leg isn't going to survive those many months of freezer burn while the music is as fresh as the day it was cut. But, come on, a cute little kitty on the cover--how did I not unzip this before?

"Have A Lazy Christmas" is just six Indie Pop and Alt Folk songs long, but they're a solid six. Several of the groups are from Norway, including our old friends The Sunturns. But then there's Sledding With Tigers who hail from San Diego. My immediate favorite is "No Sound Of Snow" from Uno Moller, which is a really sweet slice of life, albeit one soaked in melancholy. I'd think most guys out there know the feeling of smelling the sheets for one last scent of the woman who has left them. So its like that. And, though he sings that he knows he'll be fine, it'd be hard to say he sounds convinced. Still, for a sad song, there's a hopefulness in there somewhere. Or maybe that's just me. Other highlights include the Indie Electro Pop opener from Misha Non Penguin, "The Apple Store", and the Indie Pop "Christmas (or whatever)" from the aforementioned Sleeping With Tigers.

But give it a go and pick out your own favorites. It is free, after all (technically "Name Your Price"). And it's been waiting for your discovery for several years, now. You'll find it at Bandcamp.

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YUUWII & WEIWEN - THERE WILL BE NO CHRISTMAS

3/9/2016

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They're from Canada, eh.

"There Will Be No Christmas" was originally done by Crown The Empire and was included on the 2013 Fearless collection "Punk Goes Christmas". And, sure, Punk it ain't, but who cares? We're in the business of finding Christmas music that doesn't suck...whatever it is. And this one's a free download. More on that in a sec.

These young ladies providing the cover are Yuuwii & Weiwen, which is very musical, itself. On Facebook, they go by Barbie, Make A Scene! (which is less musical). And, for my money, the cover is better than the original. Those delicate voices just convey the heartache so much better. It feels like the first wee gust of winter would just pick these young women up and fly them away...like snowflakes. So sad. So beautiful.

Yuuwii & Weiwen, at this point, sing covers. And, on their Soundcloud feed, you'll find everything from "Bennie & The Jets" to "Royals" to Paramore to Usher. A lot of their earlier covers (including a couple of Christmas songs) are free downloads, too, but they're also Lo-Fi. Sometimes, Lo-Fi can be a cool thing, but Yuuwii & Weiwen sound incredible when properly recorded (as on "There Will Be No Christmas").

So I said this was a free download and that it is. But Soundcloud is getting increasingly weird. So, now, apparently, they would like you to "sign in please" (which isn't really onerous...just kinda weird after all this time), or sign in with Facebook (which, personally, I don't think you should ever do as Facebook will share far more of your info than anybody really has any business knowing--including Facebook) or you can get the download link mailed to you (a la Bandcamp and Noisetrade), which will cost you your email (but, hey, what doesn't these days).

With that in mind, head to Soundcloud if you'd like to get "There Will Be No Christmas" by Yuuwii & Weiwen as a free download. Or feel free to support independent music by purchasing the track from Amazon or iTunes.

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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.

PEPPER PROUD - SNOW

THE ZIPPER SHTICK - LAND OF CHRISTMAS

VARIOUS - A CHRISTMAS COMP FOR YOU FROM SACRAMENTO

MISHELLA - XMAS VIBES

VARIOUS - HAVE A LAZY CHRISTMAS

YUUWII & WEIWEN - THERE WILL BE NO CHRISTMAS

The FREE List

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