The "Northern Air" EP is her Christmas present to fans and fans-to-be. There are two originals and three traditional carols on this record, recorded in November with the aid of Jordan Taylor. The songs are fairly well stripped down and that does give the EP a genuine midwestern Christmas vibe. I can't complain about any of it. I love the two originals and Sarah sings a fabulous "Silent Night". But, meaning absolutely no disrespect to her vocals, my favorite is the EP's lone instrumental, "Do You Hear What I Hear", which has a sort of Prarie Gospel Ambient feel to it. Absolute perfection. You can download "Northern Air" by Sarah Krueger on a "name-your-price" basis via Bandcamp.
Born in Wisconsin, "built" in Minnesota (that's how she puts it), Sarah Krueger is an Indie Folk Pop/Americana artist (or, as she says "Folk - Rock - Soul - Americana or whatever"). She's turned up as a backing vocalist on a release or two, but she's been putting together some solid solo work for the last three years or so.
The "Northern Air" EP is her Christmas present to fans and fans-to-be. There are two originals and three traditional carols on this record, recorded in November with the aid of Jordan Taylor. The songs are fairly well stripped down and that does give the EP a genuine midwestern Christmas vibe. I can't complain about any of it. I love the two originals and Sarah sings a fabulous "Silent Night". But, meaning absolutely no disrespect to her vocals, my favorite is the EP's lone instrumental, "Do You Hear What I Hear", which has a sort of Prarie Gospel Ambient feel to it. Absolute perfection. You can download "Northern Air" by Sarah Krueger on a "name-your-price" basis via Bandcamp.
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Amy Jay goes for the hat-trick on giving away her new Christmas song, "In A Whisper". You can find it on Noisetrade, Soundcloud and Bandcamp (although the Soundcloud is linked to the Bandcamp, but I think it still counts). Amy is an Indie Folk Pop singer/songwriter from New York and I've always found her lyrics to be superb and her vocals to be angelic. "In A Whisper" ties together thoughts of our family here on Earth with our more celestial/spiritual family. Thinking about one makes her realize how important the other one is and that it's all gone in the blink of an eye. "All I want for Christmas is family near me." And, as if the song needed anything more to win me over, it has the cello of Eric Allen. I'm a sucker for cello and/or flute. Amy says the song is only free for a limited time. And, being as it hits iTunes next week, I wouldn't waste any time grabbing it.
Well, still Folk--Chamber Folk, to be specific--but worth your time if you're looking for something completely different. These are Christmas tales of the forgotten, the cold and lonely, the homeless, the down and out. But they aren't anti-Christmas tunes. They are about finding beauty and meaning in a season (or at least seeking it) when everything around you is ugly and meaningless. There is a beauty to these songs--these stories--of truly bleak mid-winters.
Faux Fawn hail from Madison Wisconsin. The quest was begun by Paul Otteson, he of gentle vocals and tales of kings and kingdoms in the most unlikely of individuals and circumstance. He's been a staple of the local Madison music scene since at least 2011. The band formally came together in 2014, though they knew and had played together prior. While they are still performing, it doesn't seem as though Faux Fawn has released any new music since this "Turtle Doves" EP last December. I had two favorites on this 4-song EP.. The opener, "Winter Dream", finds a homeless man whose Christmas wish is just to be close to a woman he's longed to be with. It's not entirely clear if this woman is also homeless or a resident of what is most likely a poor neighborhood. But status is relative and he clearly sees her as above his station. I’ve known no fairer chestnut left near fiery gleam and stood no closer to one I’ve dreamt to hold The Christmas season, and a bottle of spirits, have given him the boldness to approach the maiden. But he's fully aware of his circumstance and the folly of his dream. Still, there is hope in the season. Forgive my sudden Christmas wish this evening I blame the lights and favors strung along the hall But I have this bottle and nowhere left to be Would you care to join the sleighbells wondercall Eventually, he believes he's exceeded his welcome and suggests they just pretend the encounter was but a winter's dream. And the chorus is amazing...to say so much in so few words. Ahhh Woolen wants for weathered woes Ahhh Stolen stockings filled with holes My other favorite was the closing number, "I Found A Star" which, to me, seems clearly about an addict. Hard to see anything else there with a line like "when needle pierced between my toes". He forsakes all for chasing the dragon. And yet there is still hope for redemption in the season. Break this body of melancholy Cloud my memory, sow a new seed If babe so lowly, can grow so holy Soon she’ll see me, past my strange need Not a lot of people can write lyrics like that. Faux Fawn's "Turtle Doves" EP is a name-your-price download at Bandcamp.
The whole 9-song EP is at the end of this post, but this was the song that drew me in, so I want to start you where I started.
Enid is a, well I guess you'd have to call them an Americana band. But starting off, as I did, with "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas", my immediate thought was Chamber Pop. And, for the most part, having heard the rest, I'm still comfortable with a Chamber Pop designation. The rest of the set is certainly more "rural" sounding, which, itself, is odd since the band hails from New York, New York. There's not anything more I can tell you since the band doesn't have a bio at their web site and they don't have a Facebook page. I can certainly tell you that this Enid is not the progressive rock band Enid from the UK (kids, what have I always told you about googling your proposed band name before you take it on?). The vocals are very pretty throughout the EP. I liked those. And there's an easy intimacy about the group, as though they were serenading you from the breakfast nook (assuming you had a breakfast nook). My fave tracks are "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas", "There's A Light" and, yes, I gave them the "O Holy Night" test and they passed (not that its a top ten version of the song, but its very nice). You'll find "A Very Enid Christmas" and individual tracks up on Soundcloud--free to download (though it may be a one track at a time thing).
TRADarrr is a British Folk Rock collective. Musicians breeze in and breeze out as needed or desired. And they'll splinter off to form other bands and duos as the inspiration strikes. The TRADarrr "regulars" appear to be violinist and vocalist Marion Fleetwood, multi-instrumentalist Guy Fletcher, guitarist Gregg Cave (of the Folk Rock band CAVE), and vocalist and guitarist P.J. Wright and drummer Mark Stevens (who were both in the popular Folk band Little Johnny England). The band can bring to mind such legendary Folk Rock acts as Pentangle and Fairport Convention, but they stand on their own very well.
"Winter Winds" is the group's Christmas single, which they're using to raise money for charity--specifically UNICEF and the Northampton and Warwickshire Air Ambulance. So, although the single is free to download at Soundcloud, they do ask that you visit their charity crowd-funding page at Just Giving and give, if you can. The group says "Winter Winds" sounded Christmassy to them and you'll be happy to hear that they resisted the very strong temptation to add bells and cash registers, which are practically required in British Christmas singles these days. If you're as old as I am, this song is a nice slice of the kind of Folk Rock that was very much in evidence when FM radio was young. If you're not as old as I am, well, you missed some great sounds. Here's your chance to catch one.
A singer/songwriter of Indie Folk (occasionally kicking it up to Indie Folk Rock) with a bit of a unique sound infused with Soul, Noah Guthrie is a Christmas regular. We first caught up with him when he covered "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)", but, by then, he already had a couple of Christmases on us. So it's nice we get the chance to fully catch up, this year, as Noah has bundled all of his annual Christmas songs into a dazzling little Christmas EP, "Christmas Collection", free for the download at Noisetrade. If you've already got the rest, Noah's Christmas song for 2016 is "O Little Town of Bethlehem". And, if you'd like to hear Noah sing Noah, check out his album "Among The Wildest Things" on iTunes, or his most recent single, "Pardon Me".
Here's an up and coming Indie Folk Pop singer, Ollie Lee from Edinburgh Scotland. Oddly, he sounds a bit like those Brushfire dudes (Jack Johnson, et al). "Christmas Is Coming" is a simple enough song, upbeat and positive--you can sing along, if you like. I do have to say--my hearing ain't what it used to be, so I'm hearing background stuff (like vocals and maybe even a bit of percussion) and I honestly can't tell if they're actually there on the recording or whether my brain is filling them in. Weird, but cool and kinda impressive, either way. Grab Ollie's holiday tune at Bandcamp and, if you like, keep up with him via Facebook. God, he looks young. Was I ever that young?
This was a 2014 release from Marian Call, a Contemporary Folk artist who is, at last report, based in Alaska (that's "based", not "baked"). And she's got a range well reflected in "Yippee Ki Yay"--everything from an operatic rendition of "Ave Maria" to the Parental Guidance Suggested played for laughs title cut (we all know what word follows "Yippee Ki Yay", don't we). If you like your Christmas songs apocalyptic, Marian offers up "The Last Song In The World". "Magnificat" is a fine original Folk song and Marian's cover of Joni Mitchell's "River" isn't the most beautiful version I've ever hears, but its up there.
"Yippee Ki Yay" from Marian Call is available on CD, if you like, but the digital version, at the moment, is "name-your-price" at Bandcamp. We actually dropped this one last year on Boxing Day, but I've been enjoying it quite a bit over the last few weeks, so I thought it deserved a little showcase. There are plenty of paths for an artist to get heard, nowadays, what with Al Gore's Internet and all. But one road that you're hearing more and more of seems, at first blush, the precise opposite of the Internet. And that is the road of the busker, a word used to describe a street performer. But the Internet's strength is also a weakness. Sure, you can potentially reach millions of people all across the globe, but the key word there is "potentially". The Internet is so vast that you might just drown in the mighty ocean of it all and reach no one. Whereas a busker isn't going to reach millions playing on the street, but the people who do pass will definitely hear you and see you. You'll even get the spontaneous response that will let you know how much the audience either does or doesn't like you. Not to mention the occasional tip. And, obviously, people like L.A.'s Katie Ferrara, whose street performances have given her the opportunity to tour the world. Because (who knew?) there was a street performing contest last year sponsored by Toyota with the winners got to go on tour in a whole bunch of places like Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Columbia, New Zealand and more. You can see in the video of "The Joy That Seasons Bring" that Katie is a one woman band, complete with foot tambourine and sea-salt shaker (say that 5 times fast). It's a solid Folk Pop groove. I guess that's "The Joy That Seasons (and, apparently, seasonings) Bring" (ouch). You can find Katie Ferrara's Christmas song at Noisetrade. And, if you like the sound you're hearing, you should also check out her new EP (released last month), "Dream Catcher".
Sometimes I get tired of wading knee deep through reindeer poop looking for the genuine Christmas music treasures. But, when you find those sparkly diamonds, it's suddenly all worthwhile. "Carols" by Còig is just such a gem. And, true enough, as it was released last year, I should have found it then (though, in my defense, news from Canada seems to come with a built-in time delay). OTOH, right now it's free (though I can't say for how long)...so even that worked out.
Còig is made up of 4 successful Celtic solo artists from Canada who came together in a tour to promote a festival. But the magic that came when they played together was instantaneous and undeniable and they couldn't just walk away when the tour was over. Chrissy Crowley, Rachel Davis, Darren McMullen and Jason Roach toured together for three years before heading into the studio to record their 2014 debut album, "Five". Right about now, the handful of people who speak Gaelic are realizing that "Còig" is the Gaelic word for "five" and wondering why there are only four members of the group. Early pictures of Còig include another successful Canadian solo artist, Colin Grant. I don't know what the story is, there. But I'm taking the "How I Met Your Mother" approach to it. (You know...."Why would you call a bar Puzzles.....unless....that's the puzzle."). In any case "Five" was well received and won the band several awards. "Carols", their Christmas album, followed last year. "Carols" was posted to Soundcloud at the beginning of July and the tracks can, for the moment, be downloaded free (of course, you can still order the CD from Còig's website, if you'd prefer hard copy or just want to support great music). But it--being a free download--could be just a "Christmas In July" kinda thing, so I wouldn't sleep on it.
"Carols" is exceptional, from start to finish. And, sure, it's overall a Celtic set, but the band brings a multitude of influences to the music which not only keeps the whole thing sounding fresh and original, but should also draw in some folks more partial to Folk, Classical, Contemporary Pop, and there's even a little bit of Swing. The musicianship and vocals are perfect, there's a nice balance of instrumental and vocal pieces and "Carols" is a robust 57.5 minutes long (no skimpy wish sandwich here). Hard to pick favorites, since its all so good, but the opener--"Carol Of The Celts"--grabbed me when Còig shifted into high gear about 2 minutes in. They might have lost me had they screwed up my favorite carol, "O Holy Night", but, no, it's breathtaking in its beauty. And if "Swingle Jingle Bells" doesn't put a smile on your face, I think there might be something wrong with you. Just sayin'.
As always, listen for yourself and pick out your own favorites. Download one or download all. But, again, I don't know how long "Carols" by Còig will be free for the taking, so go get it now. And keep up on their music and show schedule at the Còig website and Facebook page. |
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