Michigan Roots artist Brion Riborn recorded his non-traditional traditional holiday songs back around 2008 and 2009, releasing the songs as a series of digital singles. But those singles have not been widely available except through his web site. Now a bit more established, Brion has released a pair of these (along with "Where Shadows Lie", a song he says is a Hobbit song) as a 3-song name-your-price download at Bandcamp. Better yet, the complete set of holiday tracks is available through Noisetrade. Brion's take on the holiday season is, like Michigan, more icy cold than celebratory. For example, in "I Still Haven't Found The Silent Night", after spinning through the original carol, Brion launches into a bit of U2's "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". It's chilling, pleading and desperate. Call it a Folk mashup, whatever you call it, it's effective. And, on Brion's "Forgotten Memories", he does much the same with "Auld Lang Syne", imploring us to "celebrate and remember. But don't look back, never look back." If you need an original Americana take on "Auld Lang Syne", grab Brion's at Bandcamp. Better yet, grab all of Brion's seasonal sides via Noisetrade. You'll even find "On Valentine's Day", there, for those who like to think ahead a bit.
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L.A. Indie Folk/Rock band Lord Huron has just released their cover of "Auld Lang Syne". Lord Huron incorporates a bit of electronica and what the L.A. Times calls "Wild West Romance" into their sound. They're unique and happening enough to have appeared on The Tonight Show in 2012 and their latest full-length is "Lonesome Dreams". "Auld Lang Syne" is free through Soundcloud for the moment, so pick it up. 1. Amygdala projects - Betelgeuse 2. Bing Satellites - New Horizons 3. Eko_Fisk - Outside 'Angels' 241285 4. JCM - 24th Rusharound 5. Killer Haven's Insanity Claus - MF Xmas 6. Poodleplay Arkestra - The Heavenly Tea Dance 7. The Reverse - First Christmas 8. Magic Mountain - Sublight 9. ROGUE SPORE - The Beguiling Black Ice Nymph 10. Jon Johnson - Peppermint Twists 11. Shane Morris - The Ghost of Christmas Future 12. Elypixa - The rain subsided 13. Cousin Silas - Lights Aglow On Christmas Island FREE AT BANDCAMP THE BFW WEB SITE Finding the "All Is Calm 2012" set reminded me of another annual collection I think of when I think of Ambient music, "The BFW Christmas Album". And sure enough, the eclectic label, for the third year running, issued their free digital Christmas set. Though BFW initially made their name with Ambient, they tend to be far more wide reaching, and the variety I was looking for from "All Is Calm" is much more in evidence here. I'm still not in an Ambient state of mind at the moment. But I did think the Bing Satellites track on the BFW album, "New Horizons", had more energy and direction. Cousin Silas charmed, here, once again with a lovely Ambient number, "Lights Aglow On Christmas Island". But, beyond the Ambient, there was an interesting assortment of sounds. As a wonderful change of pace, BFW included a pretty much straight Indie Folk effort from The Reverse; "First Christmas" might seem out of place, but it works exceedingly well, probably because it's such a well written song about a first Christmas without someone dear. From "we hold these cliches dear", I was putty in their hands. "The BFW Christmas Album 2012" also features some electronica, some music that's much more New Age than Ambient, and a dash of Zombies up top from Amygdala Projects. All in all, another nice package from the label where everything's free, BFW. Download it at Bandcamp, and pick up their previous holiday sets while you're there.
So, right before Christmas, I got the most amazing gift from Lie In The Sound, a German blog run by Brigitte and Christoph that seems to have an overabundance of holiday spirit each year (made manifest by the many free holiday downloads they manage to find). First of all, there was this really sweet write-up. Not the kind of thing we all write about fellow bloggers from time to time when we're trying to point you to a worthy site, but a very personalized...."Christmas card" I'd call it. But the gift beneath their endearing words was the gift of turning me on to a traditional German folk song that seems to have escaped my attention all these years. And that's no small feat. “Leise rieselt der Schnee” roughly translates as "Snow Is Falling Gently" (Brigitte even took the time to try and translate the lyrics into English...because we all know I don't speak anything else) and you should definitely check them out. It's a song about the growing excitement as Christkind draws near (rather than Santa, Christkind is an angel-like girl, Brigitte explains, who wanders the woods bringing presents to the children). Not stopping there, our friends at Lie In The Sound found a few videos and this lovely free download of “Leise rieselt der Schnee” performed by Christine Berger and Ben DeVries. It's a lo-fi folk recording, but no less beautiful for that. What's more, the song was part of an entire FREE compilation of Christmas music from Canadian DIY label Badgerland released last year, "A Very Badgerland Christmas". AND what's even more, the Badgerland label has been releasing holiday comps of homemade music since 2009. Needless to say, that's a lot of music I haven't had tome to sift through just yet, but they're all free, so you might as well get them, right? (This Christmas music obsession is a sickness, I tellz ya.) So, first, go read the Lie In The Sound "Christmas card" to Stubby's. Then check out “Leise rieselt der Schnee” by Christine Berger and Ben DeVries. And then grab all the Badgerland Christmas comps via Bandcamp. You've got some work ahead of you, so go get started. (And thank you, Brigitte and Christoph for a most wonderful gift.) SONGS FOR CHRISTMAS (2009) THEE CHRISTMAS MIXTAPE (2010) A VERY BADGERLAND CHRISTMAS (2011) YULETIDE ENTERTAINMENTS (2012) I found this Sheffield (UK) folk group earlier this year and simply fell in love. The delicate interplay between Sarah Morrey and Ben Eckersley is all the instrumentation they need and that leaves plenty of room for Sarah's dulcet tones to flow like a stream through the air. And, like that stream, it's sweet and peaceful surface belies the power and determination underneath. Not sure I gave that metaphor properly, but listen and you'll understand. I grew up at a point in the mighty Susquehanna River that was, from the perspective there, just a peaceful stream; and yet that river is one of the oldest rivers in the world, older even than the mountains through which it travels, and 464 miles long, the longest river on the eastern coast of America, carrying huge amounts of water long distances unceasingly and inexorably to the Atlantic Ocean. But enough about my poor analogies. The point is that Captives On The Carousel play and sing beautiful music and I am now a captive to their beauty. For 2012, the pair have recorded two Christmas songs as perfectly as they've ever been done. "Coventry Carol" should be familiar to anyone that listens to a Christmas song or two while "Sweet Bells" is a traditional folk song of the Sheffield area (you might best remember that one as the title track from Kate Rusby's Christmas album). The songs are offered as a free download on Bandcamp, but the group asks that you consider donating something to Sheffield Mind, a leading provider of Mental Health and Wellbeing services in Sheffield. Should you wish to, you can do so through Captives On The Carousel's fundraising page at MyDonate. 1. Monnone Alone - Everywhere At Once 2. Vadoinmessico - Sleigh Ride 3. PICA PICA (Rebekka from Maribel) - Winterwonderland 4. Life & Limb - Only The Lowly 5. Joyce In Pola - End Of The Ocean 6. She Said Destroy - Brigitte 7. Derby Sunshine - Italo Riviera 8. Neverending Mojitos - Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy (The Tams cover) 9. Johnny Render - Have a Very Render Christmas 10. ED - All You Need Is Love (The Beatles cover) 11. Montgomery feat. Tempelhof - 1979 (Smashing Pumpkins cover) 12. Wolther Goes Stranger & Federico Fiumani - SOMEtimes (Bombanella mix) 13. Love The Unicorn - Sssuperstarsss 14. Setti - Sasso Natale 15. Spakkiano - Africa et cetera DOWNLOAD FREE FROM POLAROID One of our absolute favorite "off the beaten path" annual holiday collections comes from the Italian blog, Polaroid. Every year, the writer of that blog contacts a few of his friends from the Indie music world and asks them if they would mind recording a seasonal track; or, if not a seasonal track, at least a little something to keep him company while he decorates his tree. And, man, does this cat have friends! They always come through with some spectacular stuff that you're not going to find anywhere else. Not all of it is holiday related, but it's all great. I mean, I'd love to dial up a musician friend and have them record a cover of The Tams "Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy" some time--Christmas or whenever. Fortunately for those of us with either fewer or, perhaps, less talented friends, the whole collection is shared out so the rest of us have something to keep us company on those long winter nights.
There's a bit of synth pop and techno pop and a dollup of experimental electro noise pop, but most of the set falls squarely in the Indie/Alt Pop and Indie/Alt Rock vein, some on the Lo-Fi side, but that's actually quite a wide swath of musical sounds and it's all wonderful. And the artists are all linked up, so you can learn more about them. For example, Rebekka of Maribel (who have their own new Christmas single out, "Christmas Blues") contributes an absolutely dreamy version of "Winterwonderland" as Pica Pica. Italian artist Setti offers up a sweet Indie Pop number in his (their?) native tongue, "Sasso Natale". Alt Pop/Rock fans should enjoy Vadoinmessico's "Sleigh Ride", and Monnone Alone's "Everywhere At Once" is great fun. She Said Destroy give good garage on "Brigitte". ED gives us an awesome Indie cover of the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love". And, speaking of the Beatles and dreamy, the original "Have A Very Render Christmas" from Johnny Render is not only dreamy, it sounds like it could have been the closing track from a late 60s Beatles Christmas album; it would certainly do nicely as the closing number on your mixtape. But, hands down, my absolute favorite on "A Polaroid Christmas 2012" is the previously mentioned cover of "Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy" by the Neverending Mojitos. It might not be a Christmas track, but it has the feel of a bunch of (very talented) friends sitting around the tree on Christmas morning and sharing a song. It made me smile from ear to ear. A lot. My face hurt, I smiled so much. Head straight to Polaroid and grab the whole bunch. Poke around a bit and you might find some of the earlier sets, as well. Enjoy. And "Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy". It's nearly Christmas after all. Count me a bit torn on this one. I always give extra props to any artist who chooses a Christmas record as their debut--doubly so a Christmas album (or EP) that's free. And Lindsey Luff, a young artist in New York City, has a soulful voice and Indie Folk style that I find very appealing. So why, on her "A Blue Christmas" EP, does she have to cover "Blue Christmas", my least favorite Christmas song ever, and "Little Drummer Boy", that more than a few people find irredeemably annoying (I don't mind it--I kind of like it, even--if you bring something new to the table)? But, oh, Lindsey's original, "This Christmas, I've Run Out Of Things To Give", is wonderful and well worth saving (and savoring). And she performs "Do You Hear What I Hear?" quite nicely. "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" is OK. But, oh, that original. So grab the EP from Noisetrade or Bandcamp and draw your own conclusions. Me, I think I'll keep "Do You Hear What I Hear?" and I'll definitely keep "This Christmas, I've Run Out Of Things To Give". The rest, well, maybe not so much. Maybe I've just gotten too grumpy in my old age. But not so grumpy that I'm not interested to hear where Lindsey Luff goes from here. I hope she sticks to the songwriting and slips away from the covers. It's not quite "Christmas Eve Eve" just yet, but it's getting close. This is a fun little bit of Indie Folk Rock, with plenty of barroom pop sensibilities. And with an anthem ending that's bound to be repeated from sea to shining sea before the holidays end. "More beer, more beer, more beer, more beer, more beer, more beer, more beer, more beer..." Well, you get the idea. At least there's no doubt what Johnny Mainstream wants for Christmas. The Connecticut band tosses in a nearly dirge like version of "Lo How A Rose E're Blooming" to complete the two song package (not that that's a bad thing...that's just how the song goes). Name your price at Bandcamp. It's become one of our favorite holiday traditions, right up there with the Santastic series, and the 2012 Christmas album from Cigar Box Nation has finally arrived. This one's a huge mother--41 tracks in all, I think. Cigar Box Nation is an online community of musicians--professional and amateur--who prefer their music homemade and their instruments the same way. There's a long history of Cigar Box Guitar music in this country and these people keep that legacy alive. You don't need a Gibson or a Les Paul to make great music, so long as you've got an old cigar box and a couple of strings, you're golden. Of course, a lot of these cigar box instruments are a bit more elaborate than that--many electrified and what not. And the annual Christmas album features so many styles and sounds, that it's like opening the mystery present on Christmas morning, with plenty of oohs and aahs all round. In the best of years, it takes me a long time to get through an entire Cigar Box Christmas album. But a quick hop, skip and jump through "Cigar Box Christmas 2012" reveals plenty of great music, starting with the killer opening Blues number, "Cigar Box Santa" from Mark "Fat Max" Hill. Ledfoot T provides a beautiful folk song about the famous "Christmas Truce 1914" (not quite John McCutcheon, but very fine in it's own right). And there's a rather affecting story-song about the same event, "Le Miracle De Noel" from c# merle. "Snowflakes In The Misty Village" is a sweet and lovely, nearly ambient, old world folk instrumental from SUGIMUGI. "Meansleeves" from The Anonymous Pick is an all too brief Heavy Metal riff that sounds like it came from a lost Black Sabbath session. I very much enjoyed Captain Nemoff's "Welcome To My Kitchen" (some old time country blues, that) and, though this year's set is a bit light on straight up pop, there's one wonderful pop track from Neanderpaul, "Christmas Only Comes One Day Of The Year" that, having grown up a Bubblegum Child, would make this set worthwhile to me all by its lonesome. There's some classic Lo-Fi old timey, some simple heartfelt homemade seasonal tributes, some classic blues rock that sounds like Jimi Hendrix jamming with Eric Clapton, some stuff just for fun, and no doubt some you may regard as clunkers. In short, "Cigar Box Christmas 2012" is a surprise Christmas party in a zip, and everybody's coming. Download it free at Cigar Box Nation. Mark "Fatt Max" Hill..............CIGAR BOX SANTA Jim Junksville Sharkey.......JOLLY OLD ST. NICHOLAS Captain Nemoff......................GREAT CHANGE Bailey and Katfish.................AWAY IN A MANGER Jamie MacBlues...................SILENT NIGHT Leadfoot T...............................CHRISTMAS TRUCE 1914 SUGIMUGI................................SNOWFLAKES IN THE MISTY VILLAGE Uncle John..............................LOOKING OUT AT THE WEATHER c# merle..................................THE BALLAD OF BIG STEVE 407bug.....................................CHRISTMAS IS COMING ! RTZ GUITARS.........................JINGLE BELLS SLOWPAW STEVE T with the Middlesex County Itinerate Hobo Gospel Choir....I SAW THREE SHIPS FatBoy CooKen......................HOLIDAY CHEER Linda Lou................................WHAT CHILD IS THIS? Henry Strat-o-varius Lowman.............EADEM MUTATA RESURGO / SPIRITUS SANCTUS The Anonymous Pick............MEANSLEEVES Phillip Robert...........................HAPPY BIRTHDAY SANTA CLAUS Dribbling Sidney.....................GRACE Henry Strat-o-varius Lowman.............THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY Habanera Hal..........................ODE TO JOY c# merle.................................. LA MIRACLE DE NOEL Captain Nemoff......................LET IT SHINE ON ME Uncle John..............................LITTLE TOY TRAINS Captain Nemoff......................WELCOME TO MY KITCHEN Blind Pomegranate Harrison-Smythe...... The Hogfather Brings Great A'Tuin A Present Mike "Katfish" Karash.........SILENT KNIGHT Clock and His Wily Wolf.......SANTA DRIVES AN OLDSMOBILE FatBoy CooKen.......................SANTA JAMS Calim.........................................PETIT PAPA NOEL Phillip Robert..........................(HE'S) COMING BACK AGAIN FOR CHRISTMAS W.M. Peterson.......................SANTA CLAUS Pinetree Joe...........................Deck the Halls (own lyrics) Calim.........................................L'ABOMINABLE HOMME DE NEIGHES Brickdust & Pyno...................CHRISTMAS CRACKER NEANDERPAUL.......................CHRISTMAS ONLY COMES ONE DAY OF THE YEAR JIM WOODS............................WATCHIN' OUT FOR SANTA Ben Kepler .............................CHRISTMAS COAL Cris Portillo Jr........................CHRISTMAS GHOST Brian Hunt...............................O HOLY NIGHT Mike Bingham.........................AULD LANG SYNE RTZGUITARS...........................THE SILENT CHRISTMAS As of this writing, the latest free mp3 post over at Lie In The Sound is a really pretty post-pop track from the British Indie band Butterflies On Strings. Happily, the imagery of the lyrics to "Looks Like Snow" matches the imagery of the band name. And the music is very pretty as well; reminds me a bit of the Left Banke but without the over-production. Or soft-rock era America, only much better. Just gorgeous stuff that'll improve the quality of your mixtape 200%. Get it free (or name-your-price) from Bandcamp. Here's hoping this is the first of many Christmas singles from Butterflies On Strings. |
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