1. Get Married - Christmas (Have A Wonderful Life) * 2. The Stragglers - Oi To The World 3. Avenues - This Christmas * 4. Margate - Snow Day 5. The Dollyrots - All I Want for Christmas Is You 6. The Record Collection - Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) 7. Spanish Love Songs - Santa Cant Stay (Dwight Yoakam Cover) * 8. My Double, My Brother - The Days to Be Home 9. Brenna Red (From The Last Gang) - Punk Rock Christmas 10. The Lucky Eejits - Santa On 98th 11. Sons of Strangers - Blue Christmas 12. Ryan Allen & His Extra Arms - Jesus Christ (Big Star Cover) * 13. Brendan Scholz (from Mercy Music) - The Christmas Song (Weezer Cover) |
L.A. Punk label, Wiretap Records, has put together a nice holiday comp. In addition to a couple we've mentioned before, including Brenna Red's "Punk Rock Christmas" (but it wasn't free before), there are several tracks from Wiretap's stable recorded especially for this free compilation. And, while there's plenty of energy, here, if (like me) you find yourself in need, there's also a good deal of variety. Spanish Love Songs do a nice Electro Punk Country cover of Dwight Yoakam's "Santa Can't Stay". My Double My Brother cleverly borrow a riff from the ancient Folk tune "Christmas Day In The Morning" to come up with something that's both fresh and familiar. I was kinda hoping the Avenues track was somebody finally doing something different with the Donny Hathaway song (please, somebody, do something different with that song, or don't bother recording it), but, no, "This Christmas" is an original. I dig "Santa On 98th" from the Lucky Eejits. Hated "Blue Christmas" (of course). And the record closes with a Lo-Fi Weezer cover from Brendan Scholz. But the best track, to me, was the opener from Get Married, "Christmas (Have A Wonderful Life)." That's probably music to the ears of Wiretap as their most recent release is Get Married's EP "Into The Cosmos". You can check the tunes from the Get Married EP on Bandcamp, but its also available in limited edition grenadine red or alien skin green 7" vinyl from the label.
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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. |
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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