In the context of what we do, here, it's about the music. I love our musical traditions. But I don't have much control over which ones end and which ones live another year. I'm, frankly, heartbroken, that there are (probably) not going to be any more Santastic collections. I loved that tradition. Suburban Sprawl no longer does their annual thing, either (although, given how much free holiday music they've provided over the years--hundreds of hours of it--I can't get too upset with them).
The physical Christmas single was an endangered species as the world moved on to digital platforms. I get it. It's cheaper to make and easier to carry with you. It's just not the same. In our darkest hour, a hero stepped forward. Just a lover of Christmas music, singles, and tradition like the rest of us. But Robert Voogt wasn't content to talk about the weather; he was going to do something about it. And so he founded the Snowflakes Christmas Singles Club. The concept was simple, but brilliant. Identify great emerging bands from all around the globe and invite them to record two seasonal songs--one original and one cover--press them in very limited numbers on quality color vinyl (usually white...snowflakes, see) and then offer them up for sale. You know the kind of love and care you'd put into making a Christmas single if you were doing it, right? Because you'd care about every detail. Robert is as much a fan as you are, so you get that kind of love and care from him. If you think this is some grand money making enterprise for Robert, you'd be wrong. The tradition is the thing and he just hopes to break even (and sometimes he doesn't). That's love, man. Nothing less. Its not as though he's a man of means (by no means....yeah, yeah, king of the road, I know). And that's why I call him a hero.
This is year 4 for the Snowflakes and there are 4 singles (so its a 4x4). Yay! Tradition! They will each be pressed onto snowflake white vinyl, slipped into a sturdy picture sleeve, and limited to precisely 300 copies each. Robert expects these to ship in mid-November (if you buy through Snowflakes Singles) so you should have them by the release date of November 25. And you can buy the ones you like or save money by bundling up the whole set.
So now its time to introduce you to this year's Snowflakes Singles. As the audio isn't up yet, I'm going to drop in a more-or-less random track to give you a feel for the artist.
Thank you, once again, Robert. No one else was going to do this. You continue to be my Christmas hero.