One of our favorite people around here is Nashville singer/songwriter Joel Rakes. Joel generally records a Christmas set every year and then gives it away until the New Year. You can still download all of Joel's past Christmas sets for a couple more days, at which time they'll go back into the attic with the Christmas decorations. But Joel didn't have time to record a new Christmas set this year (he was busy getting married). In lieu of that, he offered up all the past volumes. And he did record two versions of "Auld Lang Syne"--one upbeat and happy and one slow and sad. Choose the version that best suits your mood or the kind of year you had in 2011. You'll find "Auld Lang Syne" from Joel Rakes on Noisetrade and Bandcamp, though the Noisetrade download is likely to be around a bit longer. Joel is joined on the "happy" version by his sister Rebekah.
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Do I know who Cait Black is? Haven't got a clue. But what I do know is that this is one of the prettiest new Indie Pop/Indie Folk versions of "Auld Lang Syne" you're likely to hear this year. Get it through Bandcamp. Too bad it's a mere minute and a half. Amazing what you can do with just a ukulele and a few human voices, isn't it? 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.
Our first New Year's freebie in these waning days of 2011 is the collaborative effort of Frank Turner & Jon Snodgrass. Turner is a British artist who has done everything from Punk to Folk in his career. Snodgrass is an American Alt Country artist whose musical exploits have included stints with the groups Armchair Martian and Drag The River. Late in 2010, the pair got together to record the album "Buddies" in less than two days. Surely, they reasoned, they could write and record a New Year's song in under two hours. They actually accomplished the feat in under a half hour. So there. Head to The Ruckus to download "Happy New Year" for free. 1. Christmas Is For Our Hearts - Find Vienna 2. When The Night Gets Long - Gillian Grassie 3. Christmas Eve For Two - Summer Fiction 4. The Xmas Song - Matt Santry 5. Christmas Time Is Here - Atomic Square 6. Coming Your Way - Scot Sax & Suzie Brown 7. I Want A Present - Angel Band 8. Best Day Of The Year - JD Malone & The Experts 9. The Valley, A Christmas Song - Kingsfoil 10. Christmas Balls - John Flynn 11. I Got A New Tattoo For Christmas - Ben Smith 12. Evergreen - Ali Hoffman DOWNLOAD FROM THE KEY 1. Intro Story 2. Missile Toez 3. O! Holy Night 4. Rand Swanson 5. Yule-Tide Bombz 6. Baby, It Chilly Out Dey 7. Voice Mail 8. Winter Song 9. Choopy Kabra 10. The Prose Pecans of Christmas 11. Turn On The Lights (intro) 12. Turn On The Lights! 13. Christmas Is The Piss, For The Poor 14. Time Heals All Wombs 15. Kotton Kandy Kane DOWNLOAD FREE AT NOISETRADE How have I missed these guys all these years? Bandrew is a group of musicians (and whoever is hanging out in the back alley behind the bar) from Oklahoma. And, it appears, they exist solely to gather before the holidays and take the most irreverent and twisted view of the holidays known to mankind--the only goal, seemingly, to be more irreverent than the year before. As each new volume is released, the last one disappears, never to be heard again. It's music. It's comedy. It's two mints in one. As usual, I haven't had time to listen to the whole thing. I will say, it IS funny...and not for the faint of heart, your local minister, or anyone in your family with evangelical tendencies. Did your Aunt Martha give money to Jim and Tammy Baker? Last week? Don't play this for her, then. I loved the opening story, the twisted "Baby It's Cold Outside" ("Baby It Chilly Out Dey") and the title track. And since those are the only three tracks I had a chance to sample, I'm giving "Kotton Kandy Kane" by Bandrew a big Stubby's thumbs up (though it's likely there's another finger that would be more appropriate). Visit Bandrew on Facebook. Or just hang out in the alley behind the bar and maybe you can be on next year's set.
I saw "Blue Christmas" by this artist on the Irish music blog 2 U I Bestow and followed the Soundcloud link back in the hopes of finding more Christmas music. This time, I was rewarded. In addition to "Blue Christmas" and "When A Child Is Born", you can also find "The Christmas Song" and "Wonderful World" (not to mention a host of songs that aren't related to the season), all available for free download. I don't care much for "Blue Christmas", whomever the artist, and I kinda liked the sound on this one. The Making are a four piece Irish band fronted by Brendan McCahey. Their sound, generally (I'm told), has bits of Rock and even Glam, but their Christmas pieces here are more Folk and acoustic in nature. Head to Soundcloud to listen and download. While you're there, listen to "Lennon's Dream", Brendan's tribute to the late John Lennon. That one's worth a download as well. If you're a fan of the Twilight movies, you might be one of the few people who has heard of Imperial Mammoth. Getting a song on the soundtrack of Breaking Dawn was a big breakthrough for the pair. Leonard and Laura have been a couple a lot longer than they've been a band. They had been working on separate musical projects. Then, when Laura was recovering from knee surgery, they started to write songs together and they liked the sound of their voices harmonizing and found the simplicity of this new setting exhilarating and freeing. Think Civil Wars or Arcade Fire. The Twilight soundtrack was just a shot in the dark. The couple just thought, "Why Not?" and sent the song in cold to the Twilight people. Months later, they got a call that their song was in an early rough cut of the film. "Christmastime In London" is available from the Imperial Mammoth web site. Just look for the little box that says "Free Download". 1. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Andrew Belle DOWNLOAD FREE AT BRITE REVOLUTION 2. O Holy Night - Tyler Ward 3. Merry Christmas Everybody - He's My Brother, She's My Sister 4. A Moon Song - David Berkeley 5. You Make The Cold Disappear - Amy Stroup 6. The Season Sends Us Home - Humming House 7. Our Remedy (Live) - Kopecky Family Band 8. The Smile Of Rachel Ray - David Mead 9. The Winter's Chill - SPELLS 10. See Amid The Winter's Snow - Jessica Campbell 11. River Carol - Concerning Lions 12. Christmas Time - Andy Davis 13. This Year - The Young International 14. Happy Xmas - Gabe Dixon 15. Santa Clause Is Coming To The USA - The Kicks I'm not familiar with Brite Revolution, but it appears they're a magazine, no they're a free music download site, no they're a magazine--they're two mints in one! I don't think you have to sign up to download these particular songs, but, if nothing else, signing up ensures that they'll notify you when new music arrives. "The Winter Warm-Up Mixtape" is pretty cool--15 songs with a winter or Christmas theme. Outside of The Kopecky Family's "Our Remedy", I've not come across any of these elsewhere. The music ranges from Electro Pop to Indie Pop to good old Rock n Roll. The one bummer is that there doesn't seem to be any way to download all of the songs at once. I hate when that happens. So let me direct you to a couple that I think you should grab, whether or not you download the rest. Amy Stroup's "You Make The Cold Disappear" is a wonderful slice of Indie Pop. Jessica Campbell delivers a countrified "See Amid The Winter's Snow". I'm not entirely sure how I'd label Concerning Lions--Alt Rock? Folk Rock?--but whatever they're doing is mesmerizing. "River Carol" is the one song here that I simply cannot stop listening to. And, finally, you simply have to grab the rocker from The Kicks, "Santa Clause Is Coming To The USA". Everything else here is wonderful, too, but that's the cream that rose to the top of my coffee. Get a few or get em all at Brite Revolution.
1. Angels We Have Heard On High 2. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 3. I Don't Want A Lot 4. O Come All Ye Faithful 5. Away In A Manger 6. Silent Night 7. Rest In The Light DOWNLOAD THROUGH NOISETRADE One of my absolute favorite albums from last year is Anna Gilbert's "Christmas" (read our full review here). Well, maybe you just couldn't find it in your budget to buy the album last year and maybe you forgot all about it this year. Fear not, oh followers of the festive tuneage. Anna Gilbert is here to deliver like Santa. Via Noisetrade, Anna is offering a free download of SEVEN of the 11 tracks from "Christmas"--that's like two-thirds of the entire album. FREE! And it was a good one, so take advantage of this offer, while it lasts, adding some high quality Christmas music to your reservoir at the most reasonable of prices. |
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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