I need a break from "Auld Lang Syne" and "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" So here's a new Christian Pop/Rock band that dropped their holiday single a few short days before Christmas. Earth To Jupiter sing "Christmas Time Is Here" and, no, this isn't the over-covered Vince Guaraldi tune. It's also free at Bandcamp.
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One of this year's unexpected success stories came from Utah and a collective of Christian musicians known as The Lower Lights. Their Christmas album, "Come Let Us Adore Him", was received very well by critics and listeners alike. 13 songs long it was, and, delightfully, the digital album is on sale at Amazon right now for just $4.99. Hard copies are available, too--through Amazon and Bandcamp. This song, though, which isn't on the album, is free. A Christmas present from The Lower Lights, this is "He Sent His Son". Last year, this was my absolute favorite new Christmas song. I listened to it over and over. Put it on the Stubbys House mix and listened to it over and over again. Every time "Christmas Time" started to play, a big smile would come over me. It's just that good. Root Road is making it free again this year, albeit for a short time (until January 1). So, if you missed it last year, best grab it now. It's just a good, positive, upbeat pop song and I'd wager it'll stick with you and make you smile, too. (There's new cover art but I preferred last year's cover, so I'm sticking with it.) Get this one free from NoiseTrade. Derek Gust is the keyboard man for Canadian Christian Indie Rock band Junkyard Poets. In the spirit of the season, Derek has posted "Away In A Manger" as a free download on his web site. It's not really clear from the little info given whether this is a solo effort or part of a past or future Junkyard Poets album. The Junkyard Poets did put out a Christmas album in 2009, but "Away In A Manger" isn't on it. In any case, the song is very pretty...in that Christian Indie Pop Rock way. And it's free. Thicker Than Water is made up of four Michigan brothers. Together, they form an Indie Alt Rock Christian band. The sound is somewhere between Coldplay and U2, at least on this Christmas single which features TTW takes on "Do You Hear What I Hear?" and "The First Noel". "A TTW Christmas" is a "name your price" download on Bandcamp and all money donated for the singles is going to Toys For Tots. 1. Glow 2. Bells 3. Magi 4. Town 5. Love Is Breathing 6. Joy 7. Away 8. Lord 9. Hark 10. Come DOWNLOAD FREE AT NOISETRADE Christian Indie Pop Rock band Our Hearts Hero desperately wants to play Santa this year, but they've been doing so in a kind of whack-a-mole fashion. First, the band offered up a free download of "Glow", but that disappeared quickly. The day "Love Is Breathing" was released, the entire album could be downloaded free...but only for that one day. Fans attending the group's Christmas shows this year are all getting free copies of the CD. Finally--perhaps--the band has found an instrument to deliver their gifts of song. Noisetrade. The entire "Love Is Breathing" album is now available for free download through Noisetrade. And it's a great Christmas album, too. Our Hearts Hero knows how to rock when rocking's called for. And they know how to pull back when less is more (not too often, though, and that's a promise). Production values are great, arrangements are pretty cool, and the execution is top shelf all the way. And, although these one word titles represent well known carols, Our Hearts Hero makes each song so much their own that they are, for all intents and purposes, original songs. Grab it quick before this mole gets whacked, too. Hard copies should still be available for purchase direct from the band for a mere $5, should you decide this one is a keeper. I did.
1. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 2. Bethlehem House Of Bread 3. Mary Had A Baby 4. Hark 5. Little Baby 6. Jingle Bells 7. Christmas On Cripple Creek 8. I Dreamed Of Christmas 9. When The Christmas Baby Cries 10. Holy Christmas Day DOWNLOAD FROM NOISETRADE I've been a fan of the Annie Moses Band since I discovered their wonderful Christmas albums a few years back. Ostensibly, they're a Contemporary Christian group, but their instrumentation is sort of Bluegrass meets Rock and their arrangements can sometimes venture into out-and-out Jazz or even Progressive Rock--"fiddle fusion" they call it. Annie (technically not the Annie this family band is named after--that would be her great-grandmother) plays a mean fiddle, too, so you're sure to catch dramatic classical flourishes as well. That kind of creativity deserves applause. One of my Annie Moses Band favorites is "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". Well, the group has packaged up an entire album's worth of their Christmas music and the set leads off with "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". And they're giving it away free through Noisetrade. So here's your chance to sample this awesome band and it won't cost you a cent (unless you choose to Tip the band). I won't speak to the rest of the set--there are a lot of ballads here (the vocals are reminiscent of Alison Krauss by the way)--but you're gonna love "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". "Christmas On Cripple Creek" is kinda fun, too. Head to Noisetrade and get you some Annie. If you like what you hear, head to the Annie Moses Band web site and buy their Christmas special--two Christmas albums, a Christmas DVD and the band's "String Crossings" CD--for the holiday price of just $19.95.
Although David Ian gets the credit at the top of the post, there are several Christmas songs you can download, free and legal, through Jesusfreakhideout, plus many non-Christmas songs as well. I gave David the top billing because his record is new and hot and I, myself, wanted to hear something from the album longer than 30 seconds. Jesusfreakhideout is one of the top Contemporary Christian web site/blogs on the 'Net. It's one of my goto sites to see what's upcoming in Christmas music from the CCM artists. There are listings, news items, reviews...and freebies! It's a full service web site. The free tunes are all provided by labels and artists who understand what a positive tool Jesusfreakhideout has been and can be in spreading the word about their music. In addition to "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" from David Ian, which is a sweet modern Lounge rendition of the old hymn featuring Acacia on vocals, Jesusfreakhideout also has free Christmas downloads from FFH, Jadon Lavik, Elevation Worship and older holiday selections from Sara Groves, Sixpence None The Richer and The Great Transparency. I won't bother listing the non-Christmas freebies, but you might want to bookmark Jesusfreakhideout for future reference. Jami Smith is a Christian Worship and Folk Pop singer from Oklahoma City who, as often than not, gets more than inspiration from scripture...that's where she gets many of her lyrics. Her most recent album, "Verse", consists entirely of songs written to scripture and Jami delights in saying she's extremely proud of her work of plagiarism. Jami has just completed her 15th album, her second Christmas album, "Joyful Joyful". The physical CD will release on November 15th (the download version has been on iTunes since mid-October). As a preview, you can now get a 2 song sampler of "Joyful Joyful" through NoiseTrade. The free songs are "Go Tell It On The Mountain" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and Jami hopes they'll intrigue you enough to get you interested in the full album. You can purchase both of Jami's Christmas albums, "Joyful Joyful" and "Hope Of All The Earth" from 2005, as well as many other Jami Smith albums, direct from her web store. Well, this one will get your blood pumping! Whoee! Awesome, dudes! Former Gotee recording artists Our Hearts Hero turn in a truly rocking performance on "Angels We Have Heard On High", turning it into something else entirely, reminiscent of the very best tracks on the "Happy Christmas" series. The Christian Pop Rockers, led by Nick Joyce, are now independents (or independents again) and they have a full Christmas set due on November 11 (as in "11/11/11"--it really floors me that they're the only ones taking advantage of that, though I suppose "11/1/11" is almost as good). The album is set to be called "Love Is Breathing". Early indications are this one may only be available from the band and won't be turning up on Amazon--at least not anytime soon. Where it will be available is at the shows on the band's "Good Tidings Give Away Tour"; each person attending one of these shows will get the album for free. So, to help get the word out, they're offering up this free track. Head to Facebook and "Like" the band, check the tour dates to see when or if they'll be coming to a city near you, and, by all means, download "Glow (Angels We Have Heard On High)" free at the group's web site. If the rest of the album is this good, I'm gonna have to make my way to West Virginia (since they don't seem to be playing the Carolinas). |
The FREE ListHere we hope to direct you to some of the Christmas music on the web that can be yours absolutely free. We will not direct you to mp3 or sharity sites, here, but only to artist sites, label sites, and other authorized and unquestionably legal locations. Archives2010 Free List Categories
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