Category: 2011

CAPTIVES ON THE CAROUSEL - TURN OFF THE SUN

10/9/2012

I don't know why, but there's some awesome music that gets made in Sheffield, England. I missed this one last year, I think, but don't waste another minute reading my words. Head on over to Bandcamp and get your download of these two gorgeous tracks from Captives On The Carousel. The Captives are Sarah Morrey and Ben Eckersley and their stripped down acoustic folk is just what a cold winter's night calls for. Or a happy autumn afternoon for that matter. The pair's take on "In The Bleak Midwinter" is sweet and fine with some haunting cello play, but it's the original "Turn Off The Sun" that has me so completely enchanted. After you've had your fill of these delicious tracks, head on over to the Captives On The Carousel home site to learn even more about Sarah and Ben and their music. (Psst. There's a couple more free tracks in it for ya.)

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SEASONALIA (LITTLE RED RABBIT RECORDS)

8/28/2012

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1. Another Safe Place - FUZZY LIGHTS
2. Tears of St. Brides - QUIET LONER
3. In The Bleak Midwinter - SAMSON & DELILAH
4. Alone For The Winter - LAST HARBOUR
5. Ulversdale - KALBAKKEN
6. 100W Bulb - LAZARUS CLAMP
7. Out Of The Water - ANNA KASHFI
8. Merry Xmas Everybody - CRAZY MAN MICHAEL

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Somewhere in the back of my head, I sort of remember coming across this little artist-run British label and their intentions of putting together a Christmas record last year. I think I even mentioned them in one of our early posts last year, but I don't think I ever followed up. Looks like this was released fairly close to Christmas 2011. Anyway, Little Red Rabbit is fairly DIY with a bit of a collective twist. "Seasonalia" is more of a label sampler than a Christmas record (not that there's anything wrong with that), and here you will find pretty much the entire label roster. I'd call most of it Indie Folk (or Alt Folk or Post Folk). Easily, my favorite from the set is Quiet Loner's"Tears of St. Brides". The opener from Fuzzy Lights was good, also, if not especially Christmasy. And, from a strictly Christmas music perspective, Crazy Man Michael "finds the sadness in Slade", as the label points out, making his (their?) "Merry Xmas Everybody" a worthy addition to any holiday library. For me, the rest was pretty much filler. But the joy of it's "freeness" is that you get to make your own call on that, and it don't cost you nuthin'.

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SHARK? - CHRISTMAS (BEAT HAPPENING COVER)

8/22/2012

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Sure, you've already survived Shark Week. But can you ignore Shark? Summer?

As usual, I have no idea why this Brooklyn group struck my holiday fancy. But they did. Shark?'s sound is what I generally call (for my own head) post-apocalyptic. It's really more off an Indie Alt Rock deal, with some elements of post punk and garage. But, now, here's the problematic part. "Christmas (Beat Happening Cover)" is included on the band's free download EP "Truly Wasted", which was posted last month on Bandcamp. I listened and thought, yeah, I dig it. Very cool. Not sure if I'd pay a dollar for it, but.... But, after entering my e-mail for the download, I looked to the right and saw the "Official Christmas Record". The Shark? "Official Christmas Record" from December 2011 contains both the cheerfully depressing "Christmas", but also the jangly and even more cheerfully depressing "My Electric Elf". And, together...hell yeah I bought that record! Well, download. But I bought it. And I suspect that, if you're the kind of person who will dig"Christmas (Beat Happening Cover)" for free, you're probably the kind of person who will dig that and "My Electric Elf" for two bucks. But that's your call entirely and, as always, your mileage may vary.

So, just to be clear...FREE SHARK? EP here and $2 OFFICIAL CHRISTMAS SINGLE here.

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THE IMMACULATES - NEW YORK IS MINE FOR THE HOLIDAY

8/9/2012

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The Immaculates - New York is Mine for the Holiday from Death Class on Vimeo.

Things get so crazy in December, I miss far too much. Like this great song from The Immaculates that was shared out by Brooklyn Vegan last year. The Brooklyn trio focus on stripped down no frills soul, without losing that Indie edge. Lots of energy. Kinda proto-punk. But soulful. Very cool. I think I'll be listening to "New York Is Mine For The Holiday" quite a bit and it wouldn't surprise me to see it covered a lot by other Indie bands. Visit The Immaculates on Tumblr where I'm pretty sure you'll find more great listening. Use the SoundCloud widget below to download or get the track via Brooklyn Vegan.

The Immaculates - New York is mine fore the holidays by Immaculates

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THE WORDS REPEAT

8/8/2012

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I gotta be honest, here. I have no--well, ok, very little--idea of what's going on with these two. I think The Words Repeat is the "band" name, although it could be an album title. Maybe it's both. The two halves of this whole are self-described brothers Brad "The Bishop" Thompson and Slim Gillian (aka slimtronic5000). I did spend some time on this. Sadly, Facebook sucks now. But, near as I can tell, the two currently reside in Florida though, for a time, West Virginia was home. They've played (and still do) with numerous other bands and projects--sounds ranging from hard rock to Celtic to Indie progressive. And, now, they've determined to work together as a self contained unit. For their first project, the pair has chosen to do a Christmas album. When officially released this November, the album will be a digital affair, though there will be a handful of hard copies (that you and I will never see).

Now here's the good news. Brad and Slim have released two "pre-release" tracks as free downloads. And they're really, really good. A little extra remastering, a bit of spit and polish, and they'll be amazing. "O Come, O Come Emmanuel", featuring The Bishop on vocals, is arranged as an incredible dramatic and haunting ballad. It's exactly the kind of track I love to listen to in the dead of a winter's night. You could absolutely lose yourself in the silences between the notes. Beautifully done.

The instrumental "We Three Kings", on the other hand is a Heavy Metal anthem, with guitar work that, on the shredding scale, fits somewhere between Joe Satriani and August Burns Red.

As different in sound as the two tracks seem, they're really two sides of the same coin. Both songs are sonic landscapes. The best analogy I could make would be that it's the difference between a movie house screening and Imax. Soundscapes are intentionally bigger and wider--they're meant to be experienced more than listened to. Anyway, I liked 'em, for whatever that's worth. And they're free, so go grab 'em. If you like them, feel free to follow along on Facebook or even contribute to the project. If not...don't.

I can't wait to hear what The Words Repeat do with the rest of the album. Here's the working playlist--subject to change:
1. We Three Kings
2. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
3. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
4. In the Bleak Midwinter
5. Away In a Manger
6. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
7. My Favorite Things
8. What Child is This?
9. Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies
10. O Come, O Come Emmanuel

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THE SUGARPILLS - HAPPY B-DAY JESUS

8/6/2012

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1. Christmas Is The Time To Say I Love You
2. I Saw Three Ships
3. Santa Baby
4. Christmas Wrapping
5. Ocho Kandelikas
6. Sometime You Have To Work On Christmas (Sometimes)
7. Baby, It's Cold Outside
8. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
9. Bizzare Christmas Incident (Censored)
10. Feliz Navidad
11. Last Christmas
12. Silent Night, Broken Night

ARTIST SITE
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Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You by The Sugarpills

Pennsylvania's Kevin O'Boyle decided one morning that recording a Christmas album might be something fun to do. If nothing else, he reasoned, it would be an interesting way to avoid having to send Christmas cards to friends and family. Give 'em a Christmas album. Win - Win. Kevin was more than confident of pulling off the musical aspects as he's proficient on a multitude of instruments and devices. But, for vocals, he thought he'd better bring in someone else and called up his friend Alexis Leon. The two brought in a few more friends and family members to round out the group and, voila, The Sugarpills were born.

In December of 2009, the Sugarpills "released" what, now, can be seen as only the beginning. "Happy B-Day Jesus" features an eclectic mix of old standards ("I Saw Three Ships", "Baby Its Cold Outside", etc.) and some newer alternative christmas songs--the modern classics if you will (and even if you won't)--songs like Ben Fold's "Bizzare Christmas Incident" and Harvey Danger's "Sometimes You Have To Work On Christmas (Sometimes)". Toss in a Hanukkah track like "Ocho Kandelikas" for spice and you've got a holiday album that's as much fun to listen to as one imagines it was to make.

And the record must've been a big hit with the neighbors, because The Sugarpills collective has continued on--playing holiday shows and recording still more music, by now essentially drafting any singer or musician who wanders by. The new album, "Christmas Spirits" will be publicly released December 1 of this year.

The Sugarpills' Christmas records have that spirit of good friends and good times that always make for a winning combination. At least I think so. Musically, the gang bounces easily from Rock to goofy camp to full on hillbilly. And the best thing about Sugarpills music is that it is absolutely free. Come December 1, we'll post the new record for y'all. But, in the meantime, stop by their web site, meet some of the group, and grab "Happy B-Day Jesus". It's there for you to be had. So go have some.

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FULKA - MERRY CHRISTMAS

8/5/2012

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1. Silent Night
2. Three Kings
3. Amazing Grace
4. Jezus Malusienki (Polish)
5. Lulajze Jezuniu (Polish)

ARTIST WEB SITE
DOWNLOAD AT BANDCAMP

Fulka is the stage name adopted by singer/song writer Ola Kubak, born and raised in a Polish home in South Africa. When she was quite young, Ola's grandfather taught her the old Polish folk songs and she came to love music instantly. By the age of 13, she was singing for Nelson Mandela. The word "Fulka" derives from a German word for"army" and is taken to mean "fighting for that which is true".

Aided by her husband, Jacob Israel, a master of electronica and production, and assorted other very talented musicians, Ola's style is quintessential folktronica. And how you take to the music of Fulka is likely going to depend on how you feel about folk music with techno beats and electronic noises. For me, sometimes it's very very good--as on "Silent Night" and "Amazing Grace"--and sometimes s'not ("Three Kings", to me, sounds like a Martian funeral procession). Rounding out the EP are a pair of instrumental Polish folk numbers for the season, and I'm pretty much always up for exotic Christmas music from faraway lands.

Fulka's debut album, from 2010, is "The Mystery Of The Seven Stars" and--maybe it's just that the music is original--that worked a lotbetter for me as folktronica. The free download from that album, "Dancing In Our Darkest Days", is truly terrific, I think. Your mileage may vary, of course. While Fulka works on a follow-up, enjoy the Christmas EP, a free download through Bandcamp.

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Forward>>

CAPTIVES ON THE CAROUSEL - TURN OFF THE SUN

SEASONALIA (LITTLE RED RABBIT RECORDS)

SHARK? - CHRISTMAS (BEAT HAPPENING COVER)

THE IMMACULATES - NEW YORK IS MINE FOR THE HOLIDAY

THE WORDS REPEAT

THE SUGARPILLS - HAPPY B-DAY JESUS

FULKA - MERRY CHRISTMAS

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