2. The Songs The Season Brings
3. Auld Lang Syne
4. The First Noel
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1. Oh Holy Night 2. The Songs The Season Brings 3. Auld Lang Syne 4. The First Noel DOWNLOAD FREE THROUGH NOISETRADE DOWNLOAD FREE THROUGH BANDCAMP Somehow, I seem to have missed Beta Radio on Boxing Day. Works out alright, though, as it gives me another "Auld Lang Syne" to point you to. Most of the covers of "Auld Lang Syne" are really short, but Beta Radio gives us nearly 3 and a half minutes worth. Really, though, the best tunes on this Indie Folk EP are "Oh Holy Night" and the title track, "The Songs The Season Brings". Download it for them and consider "Auld Lang Syne" a nice bonus.
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1. Another Christmas At A Bar - Brock Frabbiele (of The Core) 2. Happy Holidays, You Bastard - Forever Came Calling 3. The Christmas Song - Brendan Scholz (of Deadhand) 4. The Duke's Real Name Was Marion Morrison - Last Call 5. All I Want For Christmas Is You - Jesse Pino 6. White Christmas - No Red Alice 7. Christmas At 22 - Wear Your Heart 8. 100 Resolutions - The Sheds 9. Decemberween - Devon Kay & The Solutions NAME YOUR PRICE AT BANDCAMP Punks In Vegas is a music site that focuses on Punk and (mostly) Pop Punk music with reviews, features, interviews and stripped down sessions. For the last month or so, they've been asking some of their favorite musicians to perform acoustic versions of their favorite holiday tunes (covers or originals). The stripped down sessions were then remastered and collected up in a compilation to benefit the Manilow Music Project, providing support to school music programs. The compilation is "name your price", so you can download it free at Bandcamp. But, should you be feeling generous, that's where your money will go. Something about acoustic and Pop Punk that just doesn't seem to mesh, but there are a few interesting bits here. Nothing to break the bank over, but for free... I enjoyed Wear Your Heart, as you might gather from the video. Other highlights, to me, were Brock Frabbiele's "Another Christmas At The Bar" and The Sheds' "100 Reslutions". And the only track that's actually recorded well enough to be air-worthy is Devon Kay & The Solutions' "Decemberween". Jesse Pino's got a nice voice as well.
Matthew Mayfield is one of those artists you hear a lot on television shows. He's got that moody angst thing going and he's usually acoustic. Since he's gone solo, Matthew's taken a special shine to Christmas. Believe me, I'm not complaining. Matthew's "Maybe Next Christmas" EP was awesome. "It's Chistmastime Again" is even better. The use of sounds and instruments is incredible--he really paints a masterpiece that you can see and feel. The download also includes a surprise cover song--not a Christmas song, but a real treat nonetheless. And, no, I'm not going to be the one to spoil that surprise. Head to Matthew's web site or just submit your email using the widget above. The Bright And Early moniker reflects this young band's work ethic, which they believe has helped them to make tremendous inroads in the music business in their relatively short time together. They hail from the South Jersey/Philadelphia area and they're generally described as a Pop Punk band. But they'll mix it up some, toss in a metal edge here and there--anything so long as it's catchy and it rocks. This cover of Mariah Carey's signature "All I Want For Christmas Is You" is another departure for Bright And Early in that it's acoustic. But it's still catchy. And it's free. To download it, just hit the arrow on the right. And visit the band on Facebook and Bandcamp. And catch up with their latest awesome single "Always On My Mind" on iTunes. 01. Dennis, Jim, Evan and Bryan - Enter, stage left 02. Dennis, Jim, Evan and Bryan - Best Christmas Gift Ever 03. Jim Page - Going to Boston 04. Evan Purcell - Christmas Heart and Soul 05. Bryan Bowers - Good King Wenceslas 06. Bryan Bowers and Jim Page - Change From Within/Brandy 07. Jim Page - Interlude 08. Bryan Bowers - Angel on a Christmas Tree 09. Jim Page - Pretty Boy Floyd 10. Evan Purcell - Mistletoe 11. Jim Page - A Reindeer Man 12. Bryan Bowers - Hot Buttered Rum 13. Evan Purcell - Two Angels 14. Jim Page - Great Calamity 15. Jim Page - Jesus and the Laughing Deity 16. Bryan Bowers - Joy to the World 17. Jim Page - And I Never Learned to Sing the Blues 18. Bryan Bowers - Mance Lipscomb DOWNLOAD FROM WFMU'S BEWARE OF THE BLOG 19. Evan Purcell - I'm on My Way Back Home 20. Dennis, Jim, Evan and Bryan - Exit, stage right 21. Ellen Norton with the Evan Purcell band - Christmas Heart and Soul As long as we're on the subject of WFMU's Beware Of The Blog (see below), now might be a good time to bring this diamond in the rough to your attention. One of the many people I've come to know a little bit through this Christmas music obsession of mine is Dennis Flannigan. One December night in 2007, Dennis asked some musician friends to come into a recording studio for a night of song and story. But not just any old group of musicians. These three are legendary folk artists. Jim Page has been writing music since the late 60s and recording albums since at least 1975. You might be familiar with his songs "On The Street Again" or "Time Enough For Questions When The Killing's Done". Bryan Bowers is one of the world's best and best known autoharp players. He's probably best known for his 1980 cover of Mike Cross' "The Scotsman", which got a lot of play on The Dr. Demento Show. As a long time Mike Cross fan, that's basically how I first came to hear Bryan. I admit to being less familiar with Evan Purcell, though he's been a major force in the Pacific Northwest for nearly 30 years. Chuck Pennington did the graphics for the set, Tim (no last name given) was the recording engineer at ContactCreate studios, and Don Chapman and Videoland in Olympia, WA produced the discs which were only distributed to a handful of other obsessed Christmas music collectors. But a special thanks to Dennis for arranging and producing this evening of fun and festive frivolity, and for sharing it with the world as part of the 365 Day project--a Beware Of The Blog sub-project if you will (and even if you won't). There's plenty more holiday music to be plumbed from the archives of WFMU's Beware Of The Blog, but "Previously Unreleased" is one that you simply should not miss. And you can catch Dennis Flannigan on the Internet simulcast of his weekly radio show on KBRD at Noon (Pacific Standard Time) every Sunday. The Minor Planets are renowned Bluegrass musician Eric Christopher and renowned Americana vocalist Dana Thompson (plus a rotating assortment of Bluegrass, Country and Jazz musicians). Eric and Dana have worked together, off and on, for many years, though they each have other projects that keep them plenty busy. Together, their music has a sound that they describe as "soulful bluegrass...more inspired by the Walker Brothers than the Louvin Brothers." The Minor Planets are warming up to the release of the first Minor Planets album in more than 10 years; "Shadow In The Water" is slated for a January release. To chum the waters a bit, The Minor Planets have a two track holiday single that you can download for free through Bandcamp. They won't even ask you for an email address. Track one is "In The Bleak Midwinter", which sounds truly wonderful, and track two is "Holy, Holy, Holy". 1. David Tattersall - YES! Jesus Loves Me 2. Jeff Mellin - Aint That A Rockin All Night 3. World of Fox and Clair Horton - Xmas Wrappin 4. the Werewandas - We Love You Santa Claus 5. Meow Meow - This Christmas 6. Coming Soon - Last Christmas 7. Clemence Freschard - Bad Year DOWNLOAD FREE FROM WIAIWYA For Day 7 on the Advent Calendar just below, Fika Records gave this gift from another Indie label, Where It's At Is Where You Are. Last year, WIAIWYA gave us the remarkable "Christmastime Approximately", still available as a free download and also available on CD. "Seven Swans" is nothing quite so ambitious, but great things still come in smaller packages and who is going to turn down 7 great holiday tracks priced to sell at precisely zero? No one, that's who. We'll let the WIAIWYA folks fill you in:
Let us unwrap the caramel swirl of David Tattersall, with a beautiful instrumental blues hymn, YES! Jesus Loves Me and then, because they are moreish, the peanut cracknell of Jeff Mellin playing a South Carolina Spiritual, Aint That A Rockin All Night. World of Fox and Clair Horton will have you chewing on the toffee penny, a gold wrapper for their cover of the Waitresses Xmas Wrappin. Next up the Werewandas are the purple one, these rocking boys and girls Love You Santa Claus. What is in the blue wrapper?, ah, yes, its the coconut eclair of Liverpools Meow Meow, desperate for a film they havent seen This Christmas. We are nearing the end of todays treats, but there is always room for Coming Soon, and the vanilla fudge of Last Christmas. And saved for last, the strawberry creme of Clemence Freschard, but sadly she has had a Bad Year. Make sure you dont put the empty wrappers back in the tin, and hope the christmas shopping is going well... Advent Calendars are becoming more and more commonplace on the 'Nets. This one is from Leeds Music Scene--an online music publication from the UK. Not every day features a Christmas song or download. In fact, through the first 5 days, there has only been one holiday themed free download--on Day 1. But it was a nice one--an acoustic cover of Low's "Just Like Christmas" from Grant K. Fennell. Low's tune is likely the first true "standard" of the Indie era. And you know it's a standard because it sounds good no matter how its played. Hopefully, LMS has more holiday freebies to come, so keep an eye on them and, for now, get your free download of "Just Like Christmas" by Grant K. Fennell and consider yourself one track richer than you were before. I mentioned when we looked at the 2011 edition of "For Folk's Sake, It's Christmas" that I absolutely adore Caitlin Rose. Of my favorite emerging artists, Caitlin ranks in my top three along with Natalie Prass and Lydia Loveless. She's probably number one on that list. RCRD LBL describes Caitlin's duet with Keegan DeWitt from the "For Folk's Sake" collection thusly: With a light guitar strum and Zooey-meets-Patsy vocals, she sings, "You never come home for Christmas, and maybe it's better that way." Dang. Whether or not you, ultimately, agree with my appraisal or RCRD LBL's, you nonetheless have little reason to turn down a free download. "You Never Come Home For Christmas" is now being offered up by RCRD LBL. In all likelihood--even using the widget above--you'll have to register with RCRD LBL (it's free) to take advantage. The upside is RCRD LBL has tons of great free downloads--Christmas and non-holiday alike--from artists ranging from The Slow Club to AA Bondy--including many exclusives. So it's all good. Stop by RCRD LBL today and get your download on. 1. Angels We Have Heard On High 2. Good King Wenceslas 3. The First Noel 4. I Saw Three Ships 5. Go Tell It On The Mountain 6. What Child Is This 7. Little Drummer Boy 8. O Come, O Come Emmanuel 9. Do You Hear What I Hear? 10. We Three Kings 11. O Holy Night 12. O Little Town Of Bethlehem When good friends get together, sometimes good things happen. I'm not sure whether We Three Kings is a regular band or not; they don't seem to have a web site that I can find. But these folks sure make a joyous sound. Although We Three Kings bill themselves as a Folk and Bluegrass band, there really isn't much in the way of Bluegrass here. This is pretty much a straight up Indie Folk effort.
Having said that, "The 12 Songs of Christmas" is a pretty good listen. On rare occasion, We Three Kings miss, but when they are good, they are very very good. "Go Tell It On The Mountain", for example, gets a bluesy makeover that reminded me a bit of George Thorogood's version of "One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer". "Little Drummer Boy" has a nice arrangement as well. And, when everything comes together, as on "O Holy Night", you get a tune that's truly memorable--start to finish. It's all free at NoiseTrade, so you might as well check em out for yourself. I think you might just dig it. |
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