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.
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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. Always looking for some good Blues to share wit y'all. The Tim Crahart Blues Band is a band from South Wales and they incorporate some Gospel, Jazz, and Classic British Rock into their sound. It's the Gospel and the Blues that predominates on this tasty Christmas track, "Christmas Day". Tim's been perfecting his Blues with his own band since splitting from Tin Pan Alley in 2002. I love how he gets loud and gritty, yet still manages a sound that Pop/Rock fans should love as well. Back in the day, you'd get sounds like this in your Top 40 mix. This one's a free instant download at Bandcamp. So go get you some and remember, Christmas comes but once a year only if that's the way you want it. You have the choice to live Christmas every day. Pop Punk band Last Call from Las Vegas has an original acoustic Christmas song they're offering up as a Name-Your-Price Bandcamp download. It's a very affecting wish for friends to lose their fears and be who they are. It might work electric, but making it acoustic adds a certain sincerity to the track. A little bit emo but, as original Christmas songs go, "The Duke's Real Name Was Marion Morrison" has got a real nice vibe to it. The Parenthetical Girls started recording Christmas songs almost as a goof. Heck, let's be honest, the whole group was an experiment. But people took them very seriously and, now, Christmas songs from Parenthetical Girls are eagerly awaited and devoured by fans of the Portland, Oregon based group. The band has promised a Christmas EP, "Good Christian Men Rejoice", is coming and they plan to dole it out one song at a time. And Stereogum got the exclusive premiere of the first song from the set, "Rejoice Rejoice". Grab it free at Stereogum and keep your eyes peeled for the full EP, one song at a time. UPDATE: Here's the second new Christmas track from Parenthetical Girls, "Christmas Mourning". A free download via Soundcloud, while it lasts. UPDATE: Spreading them around, the third day of Parenthetical Girls Christmas is Name-Your-Price on Bandcamp. The group says this one, "The Salvation Army Bell", is their favorite.
If you've been around Stubbys for a while, you know we're big fans of The Kissing Party, Denver's Indie Alt Rock/Twee Rock band. In 2010, we were proud to post "Winter In The Pub" on our Free List and, last year, we were equally thrilled to share "Merry Christmas Darling (Maybe Next Year Things Will Change)". And you know how in the previous post, I said I dig the moody depressing stuff? Well, that's the thing about The Kissing Party. This year's Christmas gift is "Dale Voorhies" which the band themselves call "morose". But it's "morose" that you can dance to. In fact, I can scarcely think of a more depressing song that makes me feel this good. It's weird. It's genius! Grab "Dale Voorhies" free from the band at this address. And you can check out "Winter In The Pub" and "Merry Christmas Darling" on YouTube. But grab this one now--it won't be free forever. Check out the band's 2011 release, "Wasters Walls", on Amazon and pay a visit to their web site and Facebook page (they do Twitter, too, but I don't). And, crap, call your local radio station, cause this is the kinda stuff I would die to hear on the radio. I confess I'm a sucker for the downbeat and moody stuff. Kind of gives me that depressing "White Christmas" cleansing, you know? But I like to rock once in a while, too. Hell, I love to rock. Here's a fun little Pop Punk number from Philly's Automatic Habit. It's called "Merry Christmas, Don't Come Home", so, you know, it has its cleansing moments, too. Mostly it's just good rock n roll fun. Pick it up free at Bandcamp. 1. Stardeath and White Dwarfs - Santa's Magic Beard 2. Dead Sea Choir - Some Joke 3. Brine Webb - The Good List 4. Jacob Abello - Mary Did You Know 5. Mike Hosty Duo - Christmas Time 6. Graham Colton - Holiday Season 7. Denver Duncan - Christmas With You 8. Parker Millsap - Go Tell It On The Mountain 9. Shitty/Awesome - Saturnailia 10. Hector Comancho - Squeezin' Them Presents DOWNLOAD FREE AT BANDCAMP Earlier this year, we covered "A Blackwatch Christmas" from 2011, but there's no point in waiting until next year to get with "A Blackwatch Christmas Vol. II". No Samantha Crain on this year's set, but there are a couple of undeniable standouts. Brine Webb's "The Good List" is irresistibly winning Indie Pop/Rock. The Mike Hosty Duo channels Leon Redbone on "Christmas Time". And, had you told me that "Mary Did You Know" would sound good as a techno track, I doubt I'd have believed you. And I'd have been right, because Jacob Abello's version isn't just good, it's great! And, for we lovers of straight up pop music, it's hard not to love Graham Colton's "Holiday Season". And my absolute favorite, here, is a dead-on eighties synth pop outing from Hector Comancho, "Squeezin' Them Presents". Hmm Hmm Good! It's free from Bandcamp. And Volume 1 is still available, too. Now this one I owe to Lie In The Sound, one of my favorite Christmas time hot spots every winter. I hope to tell you more about Lie In The Sound soon. Perhaps tomorrow. But right now I want to pass along this gem from the eclectic Dutch band Tuxedo Bandido. This is a terrific song that's got just about everything you want in a Christmas song and maybe some stuff that, as Larry The Cable Guy would say, "you didn't know you wanted". I think there's even a calliope in there. And there's a moral--Christmas Crime does not pay. Or maybe it does. I don't know. I'm just fascinated with the music. "It's Christmas Crime" can be yours free of charge direct from the Tuxedo Bandido web site. |
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. ArchivesCategories
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