If you've seen the new Hyundai commercial and wondered who that is singing "Up On The Housetop" and/or "Jingle Bells", it's Pomplamoose. And while that song doesn't seem to be available anywhere at the moment (I mean, I could put up the video of the 30 second ads, but I've already mentioned the product and I'm not here to sell cars), there is this video of last year's original "Always In The Season" (above) and "O Come All Ye Faithful (below).
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A couple of late adds, let's start with Sober Cab and their electronic pop/rock single "Christmas Is Here". A November 15th add at iTunes, I don't know these guys from Adam but the song is kind of catchy. Cop a listen at the band's Facebook page or on MySpace. In the previous post, we told you about Adam Young who is, for all intents and purposes, Owl City. What we didn't mention was that Adam has been known to record under a bunch of phantom aliases as well. Given that the MySpace site says Sober Cab hails from....Owatonna, Minnesota, I'm guessing this could be him. Or at the very least a few of his music making buddies. So, anyway, if you like Owl City, you might dig Sober Cab as well. Every Christmas seems to bring out former American Idol contestants; they're drawn to the holiday like ants to sugar. Danny Gokey finished third in Idol's eighth season (2009). Gokey signed with RCA Nashville and his debut album from earlier this year, "My Best Days", climbed to #3 on the Country charts and #4 on the album charts. For the holidays, Danny covers Amy Grant's "Tennessee Christmas" convincingly enough. Pick it up at either Amazon MP3 or iTunes. Not to be out-Santified, Aaron Kelly also released a digital single for the holidays over the weekend. Still in his teens, Kelly finished fifth in the most recent season of American Idol (it's ninth) and his Christmas song is his first post-Idol recording. Unlike Danny, Aaron went with an original; "I Can't Wait For Christmas" was written by Kelly, James House and Debby Throckmorton. But, just like Danny, it's a Country song. The track will work its way to Amazon and iTunes, but you can get it now via Aaron's Nimbit player. You can catch a listen on the AINow web site. Looking for something in a Rock n Roll vein? The British Indie artist Emmins takes his inspiration from glam rock artists like Mark Bolan of T. Rex and classic rock bands like Bad Company and Thin Lizzy. The one time lead singer for 90s rockers Blackreign is going it solo these days with his most recent album being the delightfully titled "Growing Old Disgracefully". I believe "Look Wot I Got For Christmas" was recorded late in 2009, but it hasn't really been available here in the states until recently. Check it out on iTunes. And stop by his web site sometime. Country group Firefly (not to be confused with the dozen or so other groups with the same or similar name) have just released their take on a classic Christmas song, "I'll Be Home For Christmas". Not the bravest of choices, I suppose, but I do love harmony singing. The ladies do this one up in Bluegrass blush, so it's worth checking out. You'll find it on iTunes. And quite possibly you'll want to stop by the Firefly website, just to see what you can see. And just a reminder as we go that we're only a week away from the new Killers' Christmas single, "Boots". Earlier today, the group released the artwork, so here it is. Sort of a Citizen Kane-y look. I'm sure there's more comin', so I'll be back. 1. Adeste Fideles 2. We Three Kings 3. Gabriel's Message 4. Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring (instrumental) 5. O Little Town Of Bethlehem (vocal: Beth Stuart Baker) 6. Silent Night CHAD & JEREMY WEB SITE Chad & Jeremy enter the magical world of Christmas with a digital-only release featuring some of their favorite carols and hymns, recorded at Electric Paintbox Studios in Chad's hometown of Sun Valley, Idaho. Chad & Jeremy were Top 40 staples between 1964 and 1966, scoring their biggest hit with "A Summer Song" in the summer of '64. "Merry Christmas From Sun Valley" is a digital release the duo put out in December of last year. For anyone who missed it then (as I did), it's back for 2010 by popular demand. Don't count on it being around indefinitely and pick it up now, while the price is a mere $1.99 for all 6 tracks. The EP has a very traditional sound, but the trademark harmony vocals of Chad & Jeremy are still there. You'll find the EP in the on-line digital store (this will not be available through any of the usual on-line retailers) at the Chad & Jeremy web site. Purchase using the Nimbit player by clicking where it says "all tracks 1.99". So where were we? Oh yeah, Paul Simon has a new Christmas single due out on Monday. In addition to the fairly non-descript cover art, "Getting Ready For Christmas Day" features a bit of a guest performer (not Artie). And you gotta give Simon credit for his choice of posthumous singing partners. While so many seem intent on resurrecting the late Bing Crosby, Paul called upon the spirit (and recorded sampling) of Reverend JM Gates who died in 1945. Reverend Gates was likely the most recorded African American of the early 20th century with his best known sermon/recording (certainly among Christmas music aficionados) likely being "Death May Be Your Santa Claus". Simon lifted a Gates clip from a 1941 recording of "Getting Ready For Christmas Day" for his new song of the same name. "Getting Ready For Christmas Day" will be included on Simon's upcoming 2011 album "So Beautiful or So What". You can listen to the song via Spinner. Savannah Outen's latest is a welcome deviation from "the usual suspects". "The Song Of Christmas Time", released on November 15, is an original co-written by Outen and Steve Sundholm. The song has a nice Indie Folk/Pop feeling to it and some really well written lyrics, I think, with a "one world" kind of Christmas message. Outen, all of 18 years old, first gained national attention through YouTube singing clips she and her friends had posted. It's the Justin Beiber story, you know, except this one has a happy ending (just kidding). "The Song Of Christmas Time" pairs up nicely with Outen's Christmas single from last year, "O Holy Night". Savannah Outen has been getting some Country airplay, which demonstrates to some extent the dearth of new Country Christmas music this year. There's the new EP from Lady Antebellum and the Mandy Barnett CD, plus the Rachel Holder single we mentioned in our first singles set. But Valerie Smith is stirring up some Country radio buzz as well. "Send Yourself Home For Christmas" features Valerie's trademark Country/Bluegrass sound, with fiddles from Becky Buller and mandolin from Ernie Evans. Valerie's made her own way in the music business for over a decade, choosing to make the music she likes rather than assembly line Country. From the sound of this single, Valerie made the right choice. The song has "standard" written all over it and Valerie's vocals bring just the right amounts of romance and longing. You can preview the song at Reverbnation and either buy it there or at CD Baby. It'll get to Amazon and the other on-line outlets eventually. The key, though, is that Country radio has it and, if they know what they're doing, they'll be playing it. A lot. Owl City is an Indie success story. Owl City is essentially Adam Young, an Owatonna, Minnesota resident. Suffering from amnesia, Young began experimenting with electronic music and uploading music videos to YouTube. After developing a following there, he independently released first an EP and then a full album. The projects charted, generating plenty of buzz worldwide. Signed by Universal, the next Owl City album--"Ocean Eyes"--was a smash hit, spawning the #1 single "Fireflies". The new Christmas track is the catchy "Peppermint Winter" and you can pick it up on Amazon starting Monday. Good, bad, or indifferent, December 1 is always a big day for Christmas music. It's when the indie Christmas singles begin to flow. Michael McEachern is an indie artist to keep an eye on. McEachern is fairly new to the scene but he's already impressed many with his intelligent lyrics and smart song structure. He also seems to come easily to that combination Folk/Pop/Rock sound that is most easily described as "Indie". "It's Christmas" debuts officially on December 1, though you can check the song sample at Amazon. And you can hear some more from Michael (including a free download of "Burnin' Up") at PureVolume. Last Night's TV's Christmas single, "No Tinsel On The Town Hall", debuts on iTunes December 6. But you can catch a preview of the song at the group's web site. The indie-folk trio out of the UK will have a limited number of physical CD singles available for sale through their website as well. Last Night's TV features guitar, violin, glockenspiel and three-part harmonies as a rule, but recruited a virtual choir for this single, via friends and facebook followers. Proceeds from the single will go to Samaritans. It seems that there's at least one "stalker" song every Christmas. It's tradition. Eddie Fisher, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, the Jonas Brothers...somebody always wants somebody else under their tree--usually a celebrity. Well, at least I can approve of the choice made on the new single from LeBon LeBon (an obvious name-parody of Duran Duran). All they want is "Megan Fox For Christmas". And the song doesn't sound too bad, either--sort of an early 80s Hall & Oates sound. Well, anyway, that's what I thought. The trouble with stalker Christmas singles, of course, is that getting the record for Christmas is generally an unsatisfactory substitute for the real thing. Sure, I'd love Megan Fox for Christmas, too. But is this single going to get me any closer to achieving that? I'd have to say not. You can purchase this one on Amazon, or wherever fine downloads are sold. Megan Fox not included. Good news! The official site for the Christmas For Pine Ridge CDs/Lash LaRue Toy Drive is back online with a message that the new CD--"Christmas For Pine Ridge III: Live At The Waiting Room"--will be available for pre-order soon! At the moment, the Paypal function at the site store is still offline. But we'll let you know as soon as we hear something more. Read more below. And have I mentioned before how much I love this song? Jesus And Mary Christmas/Noah's Ark Was A Spaceship From Hiromi's 2009 EP, "Hot Chocolate For You"--primarily a digital release, though 500 CD's were pressed and sold through the singer's own Rainbow Voice site. 01. Our Christmas Song 02. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas – Meet Me – feat. Koei Tanaka 03. I Like It feat. SWAY (THE DOWNTOWN) from SAPPORO 04. HOT CHOCOLATE 05. Don’t Wanna Fall in Love ~A Cappella~ 06. Kiss 07. Why feat. Full Of Harmony Yes, indeed, The Killers will be back for another Christmas single this year! In spite of taking a break from the music biz, The Killers have announced they will release a Christmas single for the fourth (?) year in a row. The new song is "Boots" and is set for release on November 30. Paul Simon has an upcoming single as well. Needless to say, we'll have to have another Singles post in the near future. But, really, I just wanted to play this video for you today. This artist calls himself Indie Folker and his sound is somewhere between Dylan and Mark Knopfler, at least on this track. This song, which is oddly wonderful, will be included on Indie Folker's upcoming "Monsters In The Christmas" album--scheduled for release on December 1. Oh, and I should probably mention, it will be a FREE download. So let's give it up for Indie Folker, everybody. Here's "The Eyes, The Beard, The Nose, The Stomach, The Lungs". One of the reasons I became obsessed with Christmas music was the wide variety of seasonal music being earnestly made by hard working bands and performers that the radio never plays and that only a small circle of folks ever get to hear. In my youth, the radio stations at Christmas time would go wall-to-wall Beautiful Music. They would barely even squeeze Bing Crosby in amongst all the instrumental string music. A lot of people like that sort of thing but I like a little more variety than that. Check that, I like a LOT more variety than that. So I'm stumbling around the Internets the other day and up pops aural nirvana in the form of a Christmas song I'd never heard before and I'm guessing you haven't either. The band had the unlikely name Noah's Ark Was A Spaceship--a little something to chew on right off the bat. They hail from Omaha, Nebraska--America's heartland. The song title is "Jesus And Mary Christmas" and it was recorded for a local artist charity compilation last year, "Christmas For Pine Ridge, Vol. II". NOAH'S ARK WAS A SPACESHIP SLUMBER PARTY RECORDS CHRISTMAS FOR PINE RIDGE The "Christmas For Pine Ridge" series is part of a much longer running charity program--The Lash LaRue Toy Drive--which is dedicated to bringing toys, winter coats, and Christmas cheer to the children of the Pine Ridge reservation. Lash LaRue, an area musician himself, is the man behind the drive and 2010 is the 7th annual. Jesus And Mary Christmas/Noah's Ark Was A Spaceship As the third volume in the series is about to be released (December 1), I'd love to be able to link you up to a purchase site or the Toy Drive site or something. At the moment, though, the best I can do is send you to the Christmas For Pine Ridge Facebook page. I promise I'll post any future links that arise (most especially any future purchasing links for the "Christmas For Pine Ridge" albums). Back to Noah's Ark Was A Spaceship. The group came together at the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2005. They say they get their inspiration from late ’80s college radio and ’90s counterculture; and I think you can catch that in "Jesus And Mary Christmas". On their MySpace page, Noah's Ark Was A Spaceship describe their sound as "being alone in a really, really, really, really, really, large square - shaped, well - lit & white painted basement, with no doors or windows.. ...forever." And I think you can hear that in "Jesus And Mary Christmas" as well. As I and other folks on the web struggle in reviews and the like to tell you why it is we like or dislike something, we're often trying just as hard to explain those feelings to ourselves, all the while forgetting the most obvious, honest and, yes, completely valid explanation. We like what we like simply because we do. On a very visceral level, I love "Jesus And Mary Christmas". I think it's brilliant. I just do. I love the raw feel of it, I love the soaring guitar work, I love the vocals, I love the distortion, I love the guy shouting in the back and the sly nod to Wall of Voodoo, I just love it. And, for some reason I'm not going to even attempt to explain, the song makes me feel like Christmas. Believe me, there are plenty of Christmas songs that I like as songs that don't do that. The group's new single is entitled "Warm Eyes" and that one sounds pretty good to me, too. There was an earlier EP, "My Name Is What Is Your Name". And I believe there's a full album coming in the near future? Some twenty years from now, just as Rhino compiled the "Rockin' Christmas" albums of the mid-80s, some musicologist is going to be compiling the great Rock Christmas records of the two-thousand-oughts. "Jesus And Mary Christmas" should be on such an album. We'll keep you updated on the availability of "Christmas For Pine Ridge, Vol. III". I promise. In the meantime, enjoy this little slice of heaven from Noah's Ark Was A Spaceship. And many thanks to the band for providing it to us. Jesus And Mary Christmas/Noah's Ark Was A Spaceship We're back with more singles! To kick off this edition, here's the latest MashUp from mojochronic. Mojochronic, for the uninitiated, previously provided some truly awesome Led Zeppelin Christmas take-offs and the absolutely brilliant "Xmasploitation (Santa's Badass Revenge)". This year's holiday treat is "Rudolph (You Don't Have To Put On The Red Light)". The Chrissie in JP, Chrissie & The Fairground Boys is none other than Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders. JP is JP Jones. The album "Fidelity" dropped back at the end of August and the expanded version of that album included the track "Christmas Soon", which was possibly the best Rock Christmas song I've heard since "Great Big Sled" from The Killers (your mileage may vary). "Christmas Soon" has got a bit of an early Springsteen vibe to it and, rather than wait for the official single release on November 22, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't go out and pick up this song right now. If there's a video to go along with the single, we'll be sure to post it. From "Cruel Summer" to Cool Christmas, the ladies of Bananarama are releasing their first ever Christmas song. "Baby It's Christmas" sounds like it would be a really nice song, but for the fact that they've really gone over the disco top on the Extended Mix (the only one currently available). The track is part of an on-going series of Club oriented holiday music, "Super Dance Christmas Party". Volume 3 (Part II) is slated for release to all the usual digital outlets on November 16, with a stand alone Bananarama EP of various "Baby It's Christmas" mixes due shortly thereafter. But CD Baby has the album up on their site already, if you're in a hurry to purchase the 6 minute 38 second mix. And, if you find yourself missing disco balls and Studio 54, you might want to investigate the rest of the CD. Graham Finch, from the UK, has released a Christmas single to benefit the fight against Alzheimer's. Finch penned the song after two of his family members died this year, having succumbed to the disease. They were, Finch says, "strong healthy men until this disease took hold and changed their lives and the lives of those around them, completely." The single has that uniquely British Rock sound about it and 40% of all money raised will go to The Alzheimer's Society in the UK. You can preview and/or purchase "A Very Merry Christmas" at Amazon MP3 or at iTunes and read more about it at the website Graham has set up to help get the word out. Hard Rock band Black Label Society went against type for their Christmas single, available on iTunes. "The First Noel" is an acoustic instrumental showcasing Zakk Wylde's guitar playing abilities. Wylde was once the guitar player for Ozzy Ozbourne's band. Proceeds from the sale of the Christmas single will be donated to The Zakk and Barbaranne Wylde Foundation at St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Black Label Society is currently enjoying the success of their latest effort, "Order Of The Black". They sang the National Anthem at Jon Stewart's Rally to Restore Sanity and didn't get to sing with Jessica Simpson. They are 4Troops, a group of talented Army veterans and America's answer to Britain's The Soldiers. The quartet's eponymous debut album of patriotic tunes has been doing well, so a Christmas song was inevitable. The blending of their voices really is sweet on their version of "I'll Be Home For Christmas". The tempo and mood is halfway between Adult Contemporary and Country. "I'll Be Home For Christmas" is a song that expresses separation from loved ones and the longing for home and that's something 4 Troops knows about first hand. The single drops November 16. Gospel R&B artist CL Carr's holiday single is entitled "Spread Love". It's a beat filled track reminiscent of some of Alexander O'Neal's Christmas work. CL's Christmas song is available at Amazon MP3 and other on-line digital retailers. Stick around. More to come. |
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