It probably says something sad and awful about my life that one of the items on my personal Bucket List is to listen to a "Ho Ho Ho Canada" release all the way through before Christmas. I'm usually too late and too busy to give the thing a proper listen until after the holidays. Well, at least I can cross that one off, now. I stalked the sucker, this year, haunting The Line of Best Fit's Twitter feed. So I knew when it was coming and I was ready.
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1. Matthew Cardinal - Jan 8th
2. Beatrice Deer - Quviasuvvik Nallutimmi |
3. Begonia - It Won't Be Christmas ('Till You're Here)
4. Kristian Noel Pedersen - December 1st, 2017
5. Kalle Mattson - Twice The Gifts (Half The Love)
6. Frontperson - Shorter Days (Winter Version)
7. Megan Nash and Bears in Hazenmore - Snowbank
8. Colyn Cameron - Golden State Address
9. Late King Daisy - December 25th
10. respectfulchild - s.a.d
11. Jon Neher & Michael Scott Dawson - The Young Winter
12. Jesse Dandelion - Can I Call You On Christmas
13. Kashka - It's Winter Now
14. Hillsburn - Like The Winter (Revisited)
15. Whitehorse - Ho Ho Ho
16. Future States - That Time
17. Smaller Hearts - Christmas At Home
18. Graham Van Pelt - Snowball Fight With My 2 Best Friends
19. Bleu Nuit - Les Automobiles
20. Joshua Van Tassel - Winter
4. Kristian Noel Pedersen - December 1st, 2017
5. Kalle Mattson - Twice The Gifts (Half The Love)
6. Frontperson - Shorter Days (Winter Version)
7. Megan Nash and Bears in Hazenmore - Snowbank
8. Colyn Cameron - Golden State Address
9. Late King Daisy - December 25th
10. respectfulchild - s.a.d
11. Jon Neher & Michael Scott Dawson - The Young Winter
12. Jesse Dandelion - Can I Call You On Christmas
13. Kashka - It's Winter Now
14. Hillsburn - Like The Winter (Revisited)
15. Whitehorse - Ho Ho Ho
16. Future States - That Time
17. Smaller Hearts - Christmas At Home
18. Graham Van Pelt - Snowball Fight With My 2 Best Friends
19. Bleu Nuit - Les Automobiles
20. Joshua Van Tassel - Winter
The Line of Best Fit is an online music magazine, mostly focused on new and alternative sounds. Me being the idiot I am and mostly knowing these folks from the annual "Ho Ho Ho Canada" releases, I have always assumed they were based in Canada. But, no, they're in the UK--London, to be precise (face meet palm).
FWIW, the British alternative scene gets plenty of coverage at Christmas, so it's cool that the annual Line of Best Fit holiday collection is a showcase for Canadian artists and bands. And many, if not most, of the songs on "Ho Ho Ho Canada" are recorded exclusively for this free compilation.
But lets start with a couple of the numbers that aren't exclusive. Begonia's "It Won't Be Christmas ('Till You're Here)" is one of those awesome singles I fully intended to include in one of our singles round-ups, but I never got to it. If I had a nickel for every single I didn't get to this year, I'd have a lot of nickels. In spite of the fact that the lyrics do a lot of check-listing, the fusion of Indie Pop and Motown Soul will win my heart every time.
Whitehorse had a remarkable Alt Rock Christmas album this year. In almost any other year, "A Whitehorse Winter Classic" would be the record everyone was buzzing about. But, in a year with holiday albums from Eric Clapton, JD McPherson, Rodney Crowell, Ingrid Michaelson, The Monkees, The Mavericks, The Old 97's, John Legend, PJ Morton and (God forgive me) William Shatner, not to mention...well, let's not. Point is, Whitehorse got a little lost in the shuffle. Or, in some cases, lost in the battle of the wallet. But "A Whitehorse Winter Classic" is still a great album. And it's going to still be a great album next year when...there can't possibly be as many "must buy" Christmas albums next year as there were this year, can there? Whitehorse just happened to have a song called "Ho Ho Ho". Wasn't that convenient? And, by the way, Whitehorse has their own Advent Calendar going on, so don't miss out on all the fun.
Kristian Noel Pedersen's "December 1st, 2017" is spritely Indie Pop on the subject of holiday shopping. As the title might suggest, this one's from 2017. After you listen, you're going to want to head over to Bandcamp and grab the name-your-price holiday album "December 1st, 2017" comes from...and all the previous volumes, as well. (And, as if that wasn't enough, Kristian's Christmas records tend to come out just a few days before Christmas...so keep an eye open for the 2018 edition.)
FWIW, the British alternative scene gets plenty of coverage at Christmas, so it's cool that the annual Line of Best Fit holiday collection is a showcase for Canadian artists and bands. And many, if not most, of the songs on "Ho Ho Ho Canada" are recorded exclusively for this free compilation.
But lets start with a couple of the numbers that aren't exclusive. Begonia's "It Won't Be Christmas ('Till You're Here)" is one of those awesome singles I fully intended to include in one of our singles round-ups, but I never got to it. If I had a nickel for every single I didn't get to this year, I'd have a lot of nickels. In spite of the fact that the lyrics do a lot of check-listing, the fusion of Indie Pop and Motown Soul will win my heart every time.
Whitehorse had a remarkable Alt Rock Christmas album this year. In almost any other year, "A Whitehorse Winter Classic" would be the record everyone was buzzing about. But, in a year with holiday albums from Eric Clapton, JD McPherson, Rodney Crowell, Ingrid Michaelson, The Monkees, The Mavericks, The Old 97's, John Legend, PJ Morton and (God forgive me) William Shatner, not to mention...well, let's not. Point is, Whitehorse got a little lost in the shuffle. Or, in some cases, lost in the battle of the wallet. But "A Whitehorse Winter Classic" is still a great album. And it's going to still be a great album next year when...there can't possibly be as many "must buy" Christmas albums next year as there were this year, can there? Whitehorse just happened to have a song called "Ho Ho Ho". Wasn't that convenient? And, by the way, Whitehorse has their own Advent Calendar going on, so don't miss out on all the fun.
Kristian Noel Pedersen's "December 1st, 2017" is spritely Indie Pop on the subject of holiday shopping. As the title might suggest, this one's from 2017. After you listen, you're going to want to head over to Bandcamp and grab the name-your-price holiday album "December 1st, 2017" comes from...and all the previous volumes, as well. (And, as if that wasn't enough, Kristian's Christmas records tend to come out just a few days before Christmas...so keep an eye open for the 2018 edition.)
And, as someone who likes Christmas music from faraway lands, and that means music in languages I don't speak, how could I not love the Inuktitut version of "Christmas Time Is Here" from Beatrice Deer? The song was included on Beatrice's 2010 holiday album, "An Arctic Christmas", which is mostly in English but does include "Silent Night" and "O Holy Night" in the native tongue of the Inuk. "Quviasuvvik Nallutimmi" also got me to check out Beatrice Deer's latest full-length, "My All To You", and I was considerably smitten by the music. Just sayin'.
The rest of "Ho Ho Ho Canada 10" features everything from Ambient Electronica to Alt Folk and plenty of the Indie Pop and Indie Folk we've come to expect from The Line of Best Fit.
Kalle Mattson's "Twice The Gifts (Half The Love)" may be the first Christmas song written from the perspective of a child of divorce. Jesse Dandelion's lo-fi Electro Pop "Can I Call You For Christmas" is irresistibly delightful. There's Indie Folk from Hillsburn and lo-fi Indie Folk from Frontperson. If you're looking for something completely different, try "That Time" by the Art Pop band Future States or "Les Automobiles" from Post-Punkers Bleu Nuit. I never know whether Ambient music is good or not, but I do know what I like. And I like Joshua Van Tassel's "Winter", which closes "Ho Ho Ho Canada 10". Joshua doesn't call his music Ambient (which, I guess, further shows my lack of understanding of the genre), but "Winter" is very Vangelis.
My personal favorites (upon first listen) were "Snowbank" by Megan Nash and Bears in Hazenmore and "Christmas At Home" by Smaller Hearts. Yeah, I like that sort of thing so that's the sort of thing I like.
But there's plenty, here, to sink your teeth into and it's all a free gift from the artists and The Line of Best Fit. You can read about the artists and songs at the magazine's web site and you'll find the download on Bandcamp.
The rest of "Ho Ho Ho Canada 10" features everything from Ambient Electronica to Alt Folk and plenty of the Indie Pop and Indie Folk we've come to expect from The Line of Best Fit.
Kalle Mattson's "Twice The Gifts (Half The Love)" may be the first Christmas song written from the perspective of a child of divorce. Jesse Dandelion's lo-fi Electro Pop "Can I Call You For Christmas" is irresistibly delightful. There's Indie Folk from Hillsburn and lo-fi Indie Folk from Frontperson. If you're looking for something completely different, try "That Time" by the Art Pop band Future States or "Les Automobiles" from Post-Punkers Bleu Nuit. I never know whether Ambient music is good or not, but I do know what I like. And I like Joshua Van Tassel's "Winter", which closes "Ho Ho Ho Canada 10". Joshua doesn't call his music Ambient (which, I guess, further shows my lack of understanding of the genre), but "Winter" is very Vangelis.
My personal favorites (upon first listen) were "Snowbank" by Megan Nash and Bears in Hazenmore and "Christmas At Home" by Smaller Hearts. Yeah, I like that sort of thing so that's the sort of thing I like.
But there's plenty, here, to sink your teeth into and it's all a free gift from the artists and The Line of Best Fit. You can read about the artists and songs at the magazine's web site and you'll find the download on Bandcamp.
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