Quini Roiz is from Spain and occasionally goes by the name Heavy Cobra. He's been playing guitar since he was 8. On this recording, though, Quini Roiz is acting in the role of arranger and producer. Guitars, here, are from David Rodriguez, vocals and keys by Juanjo Román. And that's about all I can tell you. As much as I can get behind the musicianship on "All I Want For Christmas Is You", I do have to question the song selection. Mariah's song has been covered to death and just needs to go away for a while (IMO). At this point, "All I Want For Christmas Is You" has become as annoying as "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer". Probably more so. Yeah, yeah, you like "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer". Fine. Play it at your house.
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The Flatmates were an 80s Pop Punk band from Bristol in the UK that took their inspiration from 60s Girl Groups. Silent through the 90s and the aughts, a new line-up is back on the road and in the recording studio.
This is just a pleasant Spector-esque Indie Pop number, presented here for no other reason than that it says it's available through the end of 2017. So we're all over ten months late. Grab "Come On Santa" by The Flatmates before it melts away.  Today, it's JD McPherson offering up a pair of tracks free on Noisetrade in advance of the November 2 release of his highly anticipated Christmas album, "Socks". McPherson is mighty proud of this album and, judging by these two advance songs--"Hey Skinny Santa" and "Socks"--he should be. It's not just that he's completely captured the sound of an earlier era, but this is (to validate JD's own impressions) some of the finest lyrical work we've heard on a Christmas album in many a year. Just consider this one line from "Socks" as example:
It doesn't beep or buzz or bop or rattle in the box Why'd you waste the paper on a lousy pair of socks Hear the whole song and download "Socks" and "Hey Skinny Santa" by JD McPherson free at Noisetrade now and for a limited time (same goes for Rodney Crowell's Noisetrade tracks...limited time only). And read JD's thoughts on his Christmas record in an exclusive interview. 
Hey, I found some Blues. Well, Blues Rock, but still.... From 2015, but still....
Slide Boy Roy is a Blues Rock band from the UK and is also the (slide) guitar player from that band. And what I dig about the song is that it's both distinctly Blues and distinctly British Rock. To be honest, it sounds very much like something that could have been played by a band at the Cavern Club in the early 60s (not that band, but a band). If I've got any complaint at all, it's that it's too darn short. But I suppose all those early 60s songs were. Other than that, I can't tell you too much about Slide Boy Roy. You can keep up with their doings on Facebook and listen to more of their music on Soundcloud. And boogie from now to Christmas day to the "Christmas Blues". Yeah, Baby, yeah. 
I missed so much stuff last Christmas, which at least gives me plenty to post before the inevitable onslaught in December. Even so, I can't believe I missed The Dollyrots annual holiday platter. I love me some Dollyrots. They are the embodiment of what I mean when I say, if the band is having a good time, the listener is having a good time. Kelly and Luis being parents these days, and still keeping up their grueling schedule, they could be excused for sounding a little tired, now and then. But, nope, they bring boundless energy, excitement, and joy to everything they do. If they could bottle some of that and sell it, they'd never have to work again (which would probably drive them crazy anyway).
Last Christmas, the annual Dollyrots Christmas single was "Last Christmas". I've heard several Pop Punk covers of the old Wham track and this one pretty much tops them all. Not only do The Dollyrots rock it, but they have fun doing it. And that's the key. Even so, their version of Mariah's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" and their decked-up-for-the-holidays Christmas version of their own "Because I'm Awesome", "Because I'm Santa" are still my favorites of their treasure trove of Christmas tracks. You'll find a whole bunch of their past Yuletide selections "name-your-price" at Bandcamp, in case you missed any along the way. Why? Because The Dollyrots are awesome. 
Uncle Illmo's Band is a hard working hard rocking Southern Rock and Blues band based in Tennessee. I've always loved the way Southern Rock manages to blend Country and Blues influences into their Rock to create a sound that's unique unto itself. It perhaps helps when your front man originally comes from Chicago and settles in Music City. In this case, the Uncle Illmo of Uncle Illmo's Band is Darryl Prince, who did indeed play in Chicago before moving to Nashville and forming this group in 1996. Prince and Uncle Illmo's Band have been plugging along for some 20-odd years (well, Darryl will have to speak as to how odd those years have been) and they've managed to remain a working and fairly popular group through all those years as better known bands have crumbled around them. Their music has been featured in films and on TV. Darryl even worked on the hit ABC show "Nashville" for a bit.
I've been looking for some free Blues (cuz, you know, Blues) and here's a great Blues Rock tune in the Southern Rock tradition. Love the guitars on this. I don't have a year for "Christmas Blues", but I'm thinking it might go all the way back to the beginning (1996) or thereabouts. Could be wrong. Usually am. Doesn't really matter; good Blues is timeless. "Christmas Blues" is about to be "new" again, though, as it's one of the tracks selected by Dr Johns Surgery Records for their charity CD featuring only unsigned bands, "Dr Johns Ultimate Rock Christmas Album" arriving November 2. Further details on that release will be found on the front page. While we wait for "Christmas Blues" by Uncle Illmo's Band to come to hard copy CD, you can download it free at ReverbNation or the group's Facebook page. 
The Bird And The Monkey are a Scottish Experimentalist duo, Sarahjane Swan & Roger Simian (Swan & Simian, get it? The Bird and The Monkey). They came together in 2009 but, to date, a good deal of their musical output has been in the form of annual holiday singles. I'm not sure if I ever came across them before. I will say that, IMO, their 2017 single "Come Home (For Christmas)" is their most accessible. I mean, you can just imagine what "Cannibal Santa" sounds like (yeah, pretty much just like that; paging Christmas Underground).
"Come Home (For Christmas)" is spritely Indie Alt Rock with a bit of that Scottish cadence you might recognize from groups like The Proclaimers and Big Country. Best line? "How long can this song go on?" Apparently 3 minutes and thirty-five seconds. Head over to Bandcamp to download "Come Home (For Christmas)" by The Bird And The Monkey free of charge (feel free to tip). While you're there, you can check out their other Christmas singles: "All Who Travelled With Us" (2016) "Cannibal Santa" (2015) "A Sonnet For Bella McClay On Christmas Day" (2014) as well as their latest non-Christmas single, "Blow Out The Candle" (which, by the way, is pretty awesome Hard Rock Halloween fare, and free to boot).
Alternative band Penny Fusion, from Arizona, is the duo of Jonas Maya and Sebastian White. They met in middle school and, both already having dabbled in music, they eventually began playing together. From 2013 through 2017, they played under an assortment of names, eventually settling on Penny Fusion (for now). Though they describe themselves as Alt Rock, they clearly aren't limited to that and, in fact, I quite appreciate how they "fuse" different sounds and styles together. "First Snow, Last Day", for example, begins with an Alt Country beat, segues into an Alt Folk Talking Blues, then shifts (for what is essentially the chorus) into a more Alt Rock vibe, sweetly seasoned with Country Rock and just a sprinkling of Psych before finishing with a synth orchestral flourish--all that in under a minute and a half.
A lot of Penny Fusion's music is like that, it seems. They move comfortably through genres and styles the way I like to think it should be done...as if there are no different genres and styles...as if it's all just music. Jonas plays most of the instruments and always likes to experiment with new ones. Sebastian, or "Bash" as he's known, plays acoustic guitar, but is also the primary vocalist, songwriter and producer for the group. Bash's vocals have a touch of Bob Dylan twang without being too tangy (yes, I meant for the first word to be twang and the second to be tang...but you're not wrong to ask). "Heater Season", from 2017, is Penny Fusion's third annual Christmas EP. Or at least that's what they say. But they also say their 2016 Christmas EP, "Christmas Special", is their third annual Christmas EP. And, alas, I've been unable to find a third (or a fourth, or a fifth). "Christmas Special" has a bit more bite than "Heater Season", and includes an hilarious take (if you like dry humor, which I do) on "Twas The Night Before Christmas" as sort of a hidden track at the end of "In From A Blizzard". The Hard Rock "Winter Storm" (coming in at just 32 seconds) and the Ambient Pop "For Lonely Old Mrs. Claus" (43 seconds) are both brilliant, IMO, proving you don't need a song to drag on for 7 minutes to be "epic". Both EPs are "name your price" downloads at Bandcamp and we'll give you the track lists and covers right after I play my favorite track from Penny Fusion's "Christmas Special". It's "White Christmas", but it's not that "White Christmas".
Of late, I've been in the mood for snappy. You know, I never called a record "snappy" until I saw "That Thing You Do". I was like, "Oh, yeah. Snappy." Now I use it all the time. Anyway, this song isn't really a Christmas song. But it is about a "December Girl" and that's good enough for me.
Radio Nowhere is another one of those names I wish the artist had googled first, because there are a lot more Radio Nowheres than you'd think--many of them bands. But, in this case, were I on a panel deciding who would get sole custody of the name, I'd award it to Mike Baker and this Radio Nowhere. Because, somehow, it just feels right.
Radio Nowhere is Mike Baker, a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Oakland, California. After a gig where his job was testing guitars for Guitar Player magazine, Mike decided he wanted a little more. He was on a mountain biking excursion with Steve Bowman, the original drummer for Counting Crows. "In between crashes, he told these hilarious stories about opening for the Rolling Stones. I screwed up the courage to play him my demo, he really liked it and offered to help me put a band together.” And put together a band they did. It included members of Primus, Mazzy Star and the bands of Chuck Prophet, Peter Gabriel and Jackson Browne, plus Jeff Labes on the keys (the cat who played the piano on Van Morrison's "Moondance"). They called the band Slim and cut the album "Interstate Medicine". The album was a critical success and the band they'd put together joined Mike onstage for the performances. Of course, everybody was waiting for a follow-up. But, while Mike had some songs to record, he was also busy as a session player. And, at some point, he just decided that, if you want something done... He ended up teaching himself a multitude of different instruments because "there was just no one else around." Engineering and production skills followed and Radio Nowhere was born. "A friend told me that we sound like the missing link between Lyle Lovett and Led Zeppelin." On "December Girl", at least, I think Radio Nowhere sounds like a cross between Lyle Lovett and Marc Bolan. Cuz it's snappy, see? There's a good sense of humor to the song (and many of Mike's other tunes) as well. Capricorn you say? My, that's fascinating. "December Girl" is free at Bandcamp. But don't stop there. There's more free music to be had, including a 9-track version of "Interstate Medicine". Go getcha some.  ZAZOUS & THE FURYS (REHEARSAL) When I started hunting for Christmas music in my teens, one of the first records I came across that I marveled at was Billy Fury's "My Christmas Prayer". I marveled because I'd never heard it before and it was such a great song. "Why isn't this on the radio every December?" I wondered. "My Christmas Prayer" was a British single in 1959 and it didn't chart there. I doubt it was even released in this country. To this day, I still wonder why it isn't a staple of Christmas radio programming and why there have been relatively few covers of it (the most notable being by Saint Etienne in 1993).
Last year, a London group called Zazous & The Furys recorded the song as a charity single, attempting to raise money for Shelter, a UK group that works to alleviate the homelessness problem in Great Britain. Shelter helps the homeless find and keep homes, provides assistance to others, and campaigns for decent housing for all. There's not much of a digital footprint for these cats. They appear to have been put together by London musician and producer Craig Catling, who doesn't have much of a digital footprint himself. There's a Soundcloud page for a Craig Catling, but I can't say that they're the same dude, as there are no identifiers there. I will say it's pretty good stuff (albeit of the non-holiday variety). Zazous & The Furys recorded the single, placed it everywhere, and played a bunch of gigs for it...but that was that. There's been no follow-up and their Facebook page has expired. And they weren't really trying to sell anything, they were trying to raise awareness and money for Shelter. The pitch was simple enough: listen to the single, make a donation. The fundraising page is still open. But my ask, this year, would be slightly different. If you can and if you feel inclined, make a donation to a charity near you dealing with homelessness in your locale. I think that would be a proper way to pay respect to Zazous & The Furys for this fine cover of "My Christmas Prayer", which is absolutely free at CD Baby. |
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