1. Snowed In - STUBBORN SON
2. Love Is A Christmas Rose - PINEY GIR 3. Mas X - WINTER SOUNDS 4. Winter Wanderland - ARTPEACE 5. Celebrating Every Day - JOSEPH DEMAREE 6. Not A Holiday Song - CALISSE 7. Hazy Shade Of Winter - MAGNUSON 8. Merry Christmas Baby - ALEJANDRA O'LEARY 9. White Christmas - REVOLT REVOLT DOWNLOAD FROM XO PUBLICITY |
From "Volume VIII", we get some old favorite artists and some brand new favorite artists. Piney Gir, one of my personal faves, is represented by "Love Is A Christmas Rose", which is actually from 2010, I believe. Old, new, who cares? It's Piney Gir! The rest of the collection is brand new, as far as I can tell. The Winter Sounds' latest is a sort of TSO meets The Killers "Mas X" (more from The Winter Sounds on our Free List today). And Magnuson is back for this latest with a pretty awesome grungy Indie Rock take on "Hazy Shade Of Winter".
But it's some of the newer kids on the block who steal the show. In, I think, her second appearance in the series, Alejandra O'Leary takes on "Merry Christmas Baby". It's a unique vision of the song unlike any I've heard--and I mean that in the best possible way. Alt Rock fans will love it, I'm sure, but it should really speak to fans of deep Delta Blues (it's got a bit of CeDell Davis to it, and you can't get any deeper Delta Blues than CeDell Davis). And Seattle's Stubborn Son gives us "Snowed In", one of those fuzzy Pop Christmas tunes that should be a staple of any Indie holiday playlist for decades to come.
Kicking everybody's ass, though, is ArtPeace, whose sound is amazing. It's a soulful Folk Pop sound (think Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car", but with heavenly harmonies). The two women who are ArtPeace met in a way that you'd never see in the movies because no one would believe it. YOU won't believe it, once you've heard them sing, because it sounds like they were born to sing together. Their debut album, "Free Music", is just out. And "Winter Wanderland" is so completely perfect, you'll probably want it on a continuous loop through the holidays.
So make sure you grab "XO For The Holidays VIII". It's awesome (as always). It's free (as always)! And if you missed any or all of the previous XO Christmas sets, they're all still there and they're all still free.