Category: Synth Pop

FRISKY MONKEY - LAST CHRISTMAS

12/6/2018

Our favorite Atlanta Synth Pop group is back with their contribution to the season for 2018. It was, oh, about a month ago, we told you about Frisky Monkey's previous annual Christmas songs. And, no, there'll be no monkey puns today. No, seriously, I'm fresh out. What there will be is bells. Seems like it's bells everywhere you go. And Frisky Monkey must have gone into the studio and said let's load up the beginning of "Last Christmas" with every bell we've got. After about 25 seconds, though, the bells subside and we get to the music...for the most part, a fairly faithful rendition, though the song has a different texture with the vocals of Juan Cezar. And Douglas Pettus keeps the music from sounding too Wham (you know what I mean). "Last Christmas" by Frisky Monkey is free for the download at Soundcloud. And, if you missed our earlier post, all of Frisky Monkey's "Christmas Songs" are right here on one page for ya. But, seriously, if you want to hear these Frisky Monkeys at their friskiest and finest, please check out "Misadventures of a Misguided Monkey". It's a howler, fur sure.

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CURXES - I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS

12/5/2018

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After losing what, from my perspective, was better than two days to computer issues or whatever they were, I'm way behind on everything and got a lot of catching up to do. But the first thing I saw this morning was this lovely Synth Pop version of Greg Lake's "I Believe In Father Christmas" from Curxes. You may or may not recall that we used their 2012 Christmas single "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" on our Christmas In July collection.

To my ears, Curxes was always a little bit sad and a little bit Punk...which makes for an interesting mix (though, to be fair, that could just be me). So "I Believe In Father Christmas", which was always a bit...wistful, now sounds (to me) completely full of a kind of post-apocalyptic regret. Like, hey, remember Christmas before we dropped the bomb? Yeah, I might be in need of some therapy. The good news is that this Curxes Christmas present is name-your-price at Bandcamp.

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ERIC C. POWELL (feat. ANDREA POWELL) - O COME EMMANUEL

11/26/2018

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Ancient carols done up in Synth Pop style? Count me in. Eric C. Powell is no newcomer to Synth Pop, having led the 90s band Turning Key, who opened for such acts as Flock of Seagulls, Missing Persons and Depeche Mode. Now living in Austin, Texas (where, it turns out, there's a thriving synthwave community) Eric is turning out solo albums like "Back To Life". His new Christmas single "O Come Emmanuel" featuring wife Andrea Powell, is currently a name-your-price download at Bandcamp, as is the 1987 (pre-Turning Key) demo recording of "A Wonderful Christmas". (To get the songs for free, click on "buy track" for each song.)

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SPRAY - HE CAME WITH THE SLEIGH

11/20/2018

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While preparing our look at "A Very Cherry Christmas 13", I came across this 2010 free Christmas single from the Synth Pop duo Spray. Siblings Jen McLaren and Ric Autobahn used to be members of John Peel favorites and "pop terrorists" The Cuban Boys. They were one of the early bands to make extensive use of the internet, both for collaborating and for promotion. It could probably be said that The Cuban Boys were ahead of their time and, therefore, not as successful as less talented groups whose timing was better.

"He Came With The Sleigh" is a bit of a "parody" of the duo's "He Came With The Frame" from "Children Of A Laser God". It's almost a parody in reverse. I mean, I love the cynicism of "He Came With The Frame" but I also love the hopefulness of "He Came With The Sleigh". "Now dream with all of your might. If you can't dream at Christmas then you're wasting your time. I need a sign the future's going to change tonight. I think I found it." And the sound is wonderful. Slap the name Roxette or Eurythmics on this sucker and it would sell a million copies. But you can download all three versions (short, long, and the DonQuibeats mix) of this should-be classic from Spray free at Bandcamp.

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FRISKY MONKEY - CHRISTMAS SONGS

11/10/2018

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Lately, it seems like the whole world has gone bananas. I'm sorry, I thought I was better than making monkey puns (guess not). We've got The Monkees, who this year delivered their first Christmas album in 60 years; we've got Make Like Monkeys, who seem to have released a couple hundred Christmas songs (so far) this year; and here we have Frisky Monkey.

Frisky Monkey is an Atlanta Synth-Pop duo (Juan Cezar and Douglas Pettus) who, since 2011, have been “proud purveyors of atmospheric dance your ass off music”. They also happen to be fans of the annual Christmas single thing. To date, they've turned out FIVE festive freebies--all available in their Soundcloud collection "Christmas Songs".

Synth Pop is a genre that dominated the Eighties, at a time when I was discovering and exploring Jazz, Blues, Bluegrass, et. al. I was aware of Synth Pop, of course. With MTV leading the way, you couldn't avoid bands like Flock of Seagulls and the Thompson Twins. And one of the radio stations I was fond of, then, was fond of Depeche Mode and Erasure. As the calendar changed over to the Nineties, Synth Pop slipped away and it's just sort of been hovering on the fringes since. It wasn't until Scarlet Club came along with a Christmas album in 2015 that I began to feel some measure of nostalgia for the decade and genre.

Frisky Monkey obviously puts more of themselves into their original music--the music they make a living on. So if you want to hear them at their absolute best, check out their latest release from September of this year--"Misadventures of a Misguided Monkey". Now that's the kind of album I could go ape over. If I were reviewing that one, I'd give it five bananas--I mean stars. Songs like "Other Possibilities", "Crystal Blue", and "The Origin of Sadness" are as good as anything from the decade that inspired them.

But I'm not one to look a gift gorilla in the mouth. Frisky Monky's Christmas covers are fun and festive. And free! And they share a more direct linage to the originators of the sound than most of what we currently classify as Synth Pop. You might even call them a missing link to the origin of the species (somebody stop me).

"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)", a collaboration with GlitBiter, was last year's Frisky Monkey Christmas song. "Let It Snow In A Winter Wonderland" dates to 2016. In 2015, they covered the Bing Crosby classic, "The Secret of Christmas". 2014 saw Frisky Monkeys team up with Stereospread on "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas". And "Blue Christmas" is from 2013 or earlier. Of the bunch, I prefer the two collaborations (possibly because of the introduction of female vocals). I will say "Blue Christmas" is very interesting and different, but it's still "Blue Christmas" (that song can't be saved).

So give Frisky Monkeys a chimp--I mean chance. You'll find all of their Christmas songs collected on "Christmas Songs" on Soundcloud. I can hardly wait to see what they gift us this year. I'm sure they won't monkey around. It's a gibbon that we'll get another Christmas song, right? I can't help myself; there's a monkey on my back. Frisky Monkeys are more fun than...nope. Not gonna say it. I'm better than that.

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RUNNING VERTICAL - THE UNOFFICIAL HOLIDAY EP

7/19/2017

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Note: Like every other online service, terms change over time. When I came to Weebly, it was free and pages were unlimited. Well, now, there's a limit, apparently, and I'm over mine. So I can't add a new Free Page. But I can keep this one going, it seems, so that's what I'm gonna do. Honestly, I don't imagine I'll be adding anything new next year. Not sure why I'm doing it this year. But we'll see if we can't beat the house just one more time. The internal links still seem to work, but you might have to update your links, if you've linked to a track from outside the site (as 2016 has become 2017, see).

I can't speak for anyone else, but I very much dug the original Mannheim Steamroller album. It was fresh and different. But they, pretty soon, settled into a little pocket and too much of their later work sounded, to me, like everything else they'd done. I never got the feeling they were trying anything new. That's just me, of course, but its my honest feeling. They got to sounding too orchestral without the edge that first album had.

So Running Vertical's 3 song EP, "The Unofficial Holiday EP" took me back to that first Mannheim Steamroller record. It's pure Electronica that restores that edge.

Running Vertical is Amren Murray of Lincoln, Nebraska. "The Unofficial Holiday EP" is three tracks of solid seasonal sentiment that you can dance to. "Canon In D" may appeal to the Ambient Crowd. "Good King Wenceslas", a tribute to Mannheim Steamroller in its way, has a bit of that Kraftwerk "Autobahn" feel to it. And "The Halls" was my favorite. It's borderline EDM (a lot of which I can't stand), but the melody beneath the beat is gorgeous and it actually goes somewhere...like a horse drawn sleigh racing across snow covered hills. It would work nicely on the dance floor (mentally, I segued into JLo's "Waiting For Tonight"), but it's an enjoyable listen even if you aren't dancing.

I'm not sure why anyone would release a Christmas record in March, but its name-your-price, so you can stash it away for later, if you like. You'll find "The Unofficial Holiday EP" at Bandcamp.

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VARIOUS - NOISETRADE HOLIDAY MIXTAPE 2016

12/14/2016

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1. Sloan - Kids Come Back Again at Christmas
2. Saintseneca - All The Best
3. Sleeping At Last - I Heard The Bells
4. Andrew Belle - Back For Christmas
5. Brooke Annibale - This Holiday
6. Sugar & The Hi-Lows - Silent Night
7. Old Sea Brigade - Christmas Dream
8. Caroline Pennell - This Year (featuring Aaron Espe)
9. Miranda Dodson - Christmas Glow
10. Zaac Pick - Finding Christmas
11. Trella (featuring Corey Kilgannon & Jillian Edwards) - Christmas Eve, I'm Yours
12. The Walla Recovery - Go Tell It On The Moutain
13. Benjamin James - Do You Hear What I Hear
14. Jessica Martindale - Angels We Have Heard
15. Citizen Shade - What Child Is This
16. Katey Laurel - Deck The Halls
17. The Leevees - How Do You Spell Channukkahh
18. Charlie Christenson - Mistletoe

DOWNLOAD FROM NOISETRADE

So you say you're feeling down because the new Sloan Christmas single sold out before you could get one? Is that what's troubling you, bunky? Well lift your head up high and know that you can get a digital download of at least one side of the single for free.

"The Noisetrade 2016 Holiday Mixtape" has arrived and, right off the bat, they hit a home run by having Sloan's "Kids Come Home At Christmas". The collection has lots of other good Christmas music, too. Old favorites like Sleeping At Last, Andrew Belle and Sugar & The Hi-Lows are joined by artists you may be less familiar with like Saintsenaca, Old Sea Brigade, and Trelia. There's even a nod to the Festival of Lights as the LeeVees classic "How Do You Spell Channukkahh" is included. Sure, the star, here, is Sloan. But there are no loser tracks and it's all free. After a quick sample, I'd say it's well worth your while to check out Trelia and Benjamin James. One thing of note. The collection does not appear to be streamable, so you're going to have to download it to hear it. But that's not a great inconvenience, being as it is a free gifty.

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VARIOUS - BARTLETT CHRISTMAS, VOL. 3

12/14/2016

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1. 358 Days - Folkinception ft. The Holy Broke
2. Merry Christmas I Miss You - Lavoy
3. Merry Merry Christmas - Jenny Anne Mannan
4. North American Christmas - Violet Catastrophe
5. These Happy Holidays - Prairie War
6. Under The Ice - Mini Murders
7. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Curran Long

BARTLETT WEB SITE
BARTLETT ON FACEBOOK
DOWNLOAD AT BANDCAMP

The Bartlett is a live music venue in Spokane, Washington. Not a huge place, but not a hole-in-the-wall either. A nice mid-size bar and live music place. It appears they have some appetizers at the bar, but I'm not sure what. I do know they've managed some pretty well known acts...David Bazan, Polyphonic Spree, Bonnie Pribce Billy, The Cave Singers, and more.

They opened in 2014 and, I guess to help get the word out, they put out a little free Christmas EP on Bandcamp at the end of the year. This is year 3 for "Bartlett Christmas" so now it qualifies as a tradition. My mind is telling me that the first year's was fairly folksy (but my mind does lie...a lot). Last year's collection was memorable for a couple of less folksy numbers...Wonder's "Cathedral Pearls" and Loomer's Shoegazy cover of XTC's "Thanks For Christmas".

Volume 3 is a nice mix of both the Indie Folk and Indie Rock. I instantly fell in love with Folkinception's "358 Days", which demonstrates that lots of people dread Christmas for lots of different reasons. The kid who has to give up his bed for a week to his Uncle, the man who lost the woman he loved to his brother.
It's been 358 days
Since this godawful year began
All I really want for the very next one
Is for Christmas to just go away

That's followed by a winning bit of Synth Pop from Lavoy, "Merry Christmas I Miss You". Americana from Prarie War and Jenny Anne Mannan is balanced by the Alt Rock of Violet Catastrophe. Mini Murders offer up a Dream Pop "Under The Ice" and the festivities close with Curran Long's heartfelt Indie spin on "I'll Be Home For Christmas". The balance offered by this year's "Bartlett Christmas" makes it a worthy entry, even if it weren't free...which it is. Grab it from Bandcamp. And pivk up the first two volumes while you're there.

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FRISKY MONKEY - LAST CHRISTMAS

CURXES - I BELIEVE IN FATHER CHRISTMAS

ERIC C. POWELL (feat. ANDREA POWELL) - O COME EMMANUEL

SPRAY - HE CAME WITH THE SLEIGH

FRISKY MONKEY - CHRISTMAS SONGS

RUNNING VERTICAL - THE UNOFFICIAL HOLIDAY EP

VARIOUS - NOISETRADE HOLIDAY MIXTAPE 2016

VARIOUS - BARTLETT CHRISTMAS, VOL. 3

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