1. JJ MAZZ - Dear Santa
2. BIG CREAM - Assassination On Christmas Eve 3. QLOWSKI - Building Walls 4. DLAN TYMAS - It's Christmas Once Again 5. ALL MY TEENAGE DREAMS - Angel Come Clean 6. SWEAT - Sorry, Santa 7. SETTI - Renne Va Plus 8. THE JACKSON POLLOCK - The Yeah Song 9. ORSON - Christmas Is Going To The Dogs 10. UNA BELLA COSA - Regalo 11. FLYIN' ZEBRA - Tranquilizer 12. BASEBALL GREGG - Blue Snow 13. SODA FOUNTAIN RAG - 1000 Plommer DOWNLOAD FROM POLAROID |
Polaroid is an Italian music blog. Every year, the humble host of Polaroid asks some of the artists and bands they know if they would like to write a Christmas song or, if not, just play a song to keep them company while they decorate their tree. And the result is always a wonderful, unique, original collection of special music from special people. And Polaroid then posts the collection as a free download for all. I'm pretty sure I first came across them in our first year, 2010. Surely that was when I discovered the Neverending Mojitos. And, much as I loved the Santastic collections and Suburban Sprawl and the Cherryade comps, this was always that special gift I came to look so forward to every year. It's definitely one I try to beat the other Christmas music blogs to (and maybe they let me). I just feel a special connection to "A Polaroid For Christmas".
One of the things that helps make "A Polaroid For Christmas" so special is that it's an Italian blog. So there's a bunch of bands we don't know about or hear much from over here in the states. Our friends at Lie In The Sound perform a similar service from their outpost in Germany. Many, if not most of the songs on the Polaroid collections are initially recorded specifically for Polaroid. So some of these songs might not even exist, but for Polaroid. Their Christmas collections have an underground chic that makes bands want to be included. And I've always found them to be, by and large, full of seasonal joy and warmth, somehow. The performances sound genuine and heartfelt. Genre-wise, pretty much anything goes, though Indie Rock and Indie Pop dominate. But it would, as that's the music Polaroid covers throughout the year. So many music blogs come and go, it's reassuring to me every year I find Polaroid still there.
I have to warn you that this year's collection contains a good many songs in foreign languages (like Italian, mostly). Me, I barely speak English, so I can't really tell you what they're singing about. As for favorites, I haven't had time to sit with it, yet, really. But there's JJ MAZZ with "Dear Santa", that's part Dream Pop and part Shoegaze. It's otherworldly and I love it. Sweat's "Sorry, Santa" has a bit of a retro feel to it, like something from a Frankie & Annette movie that sat in the sun just long enough to develop a cool Indie Rock sunburn. I have loved the raw rawk Garage Punk sound of The Jackson Pollock for awhile (since first discovering them through Polaroid) and "The Yeah Song" is no exception. Baseball Gregg's "Blue Snow" is precisely the kind of joyous Indie Christmas song we might not hear but for the efforts of this wonderful blog--one part big top spectacle, one part 80s inspired synth pop, and one part modern Indie Pop greatness. I have no idea what Una Bella Cosa is singing in "Regalo", but it sounds a tiny bit like "Donde Esta Santa Claus?", doncha think? Setti's great "Renne Va Plus" is said to be abot reindeer. Flyin Zebra's Garage Psych pounds the "Tranquilizer". I haven't mentioned the cover tunes, but they're another reason the Polaroid collections are so great. When you get a Christmas song cover on a Polaroid collection, it's no common cover. It sounds absolutely unique and unlike any cover ever done. Particular kudos, here, to Orson's wonderful take on the Eels' "Christmas Is Going To The Dogs".
In point of fact, there are no bad selections on "A Polaroid For Christmas 2016". There never are. Head to Polaroid and download the collection. You can listen to the tunes or the mix, and all of the artists are linked up for you to learn more. May the Polaroid Christmas collections live forever.