Guess I'm just in a soulful mood today. Here's a great track in a classic pleading Northern Soul style from the New Zealand band The Cosbys. If you were into the early soul and R&B, before Motown smoothed off all the rough edges, you're gonna love this. Remember the movie "The Commitments"? Yeah, kinda like that only with more soul. "How'm I Gonna Lose You This Christmas" is a name-your-price instant download at Bandcamp. As a bonus, you get the group's "Soul Of A Man", no extra charge.
Guess I'm just in a soulful mood today. Here's a great track in a classic pleading Northern Soul style from the New Zealand band The Cosbys. If you were into the early soul and R&B, before Motown smoothed off all the rough edges, you're gonna love this. Remember the movie "The Commitments"? Yeah, kinda like that only with more soul. "How'm I Gonna Lose You This Christmas" is a name-your-price instant download at Bandcamp. As a bonus, you get the group's "Soul Of A Man", no extra charge.
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Must be the mood I'm in this year. Like a gentle snow fall (which we haven't had here in Eastern North Carolina in two years), I'm especially attracted to the soft and gentle music this year. Like this one from Canadian neo-soul/hip hop duo Souls Rest which just came as such a cool, smooth and refreshing respite from the holiday hustle bustle. Dig "Fallen Snow", contrasting it's easy hip hop beats with some smooth jazz. I dig it. Maybe you will, too. 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. 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. Did someone put in a call for ukelele/kazoo Christmas music? I know you did. Cynthia Lin is a San Francisco Folk and Jazz singer (and uke player) with three independent albums under her belt. For 2012, she cut a 5-song Christmas EP, "A Very Merry Christmas", which is available at Amazon, Bandcamp and the usual spots. To whet your appetite, she's posted the song "Mele Kalikimaka" as a "Name-Your-Price" download at Bandcamp. The combo of uke and kazoo always works for me, so I'm in. And you might also want to grab her "Name-Your-Price" Halloween download, "Zombie Heart". Wish I'd had that one when I was putting together this year's "Night Of The Living Mixtape". Anyway, go introduce yourself to Cynthia Lin. It's worth the trip. 1. Angels We Have Heard On High 2. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen 3. I'll Be Home For Christmas 4. I Don't Want A Lot 5. O Come All Ye Faithful 6. Away In A Manger 7. Rest In The Light 8. Silent Night 9. Some Children 10. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas 11. Go Tell It On The Mountain Good things do, sometimes, come to those who wait. And, if you waited on buying Anna Gilbert's brilliant 2010 release "Christmas", your reward has come. Now through Christmas, Anna is offering the entire album as a free download from Noisetrade. How cool is that? I won't waste a lot of words, here, since we reviewed the album back in 2010. So, if you're looking for more info on the set, read our review. Then head to Noisetrade and grab your reward.
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. 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. |
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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