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iChristmas Tunes Extravaganza!
Christmas tunes are a bit of a fetish for me. Why? Well, I suppose it all started when my wife and I were put in charge of the Christmas music for the in-law Christmas party a few years ago. As I recall, we weren't married yet - still a few months off from being engaged really, but we got our task and went about it.
Every other year I'd been to the big party I'd had to suffer through a few hours of Bing. I'm sure he means well, but after a couple of tunes I've had enough of Bing. You'd think that 12 months off would make it more tolerable, but to me it doesn't really help. So, my task became clear - I needed to scrounge up enough Christmas tunes that WON'T increase my desire to off myself while in the midst of a giant in-law x-mas party - a rather daunting task at times.
Obviously I'm still standing here - I even made it through the last party on Friday 12/18/09 with no scratches, so clearly it works. These tunes are the fruits of many hours of labour. I have plenty more, but this is a selection of my favorites - about 1/4 of my stash. Enjoy, and Happy Holidays.
1. Carol of Bells - Phantom Planet
2. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Local H
3. Blue Christmas - Collective Soul
4. Run Rudolph Run - Sister Hazel
5. Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
6. Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas - Eels
7. Christmas Time (Is Here Again) - The Beatles
8. Santa Claus is Comin' to Town - Bruce Springsteen
9. Funky Christmas - James Brown
10. We Wish You a Merry Christmas - Weezer
11. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - U2
12. I Won't Be Home For Christmas - Blink-182
13. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
14. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Bright Eyes
15. White Christmas - Dishwalla
16. 12/23/95 - Jimmy Eat World
17. Someday at Christmas - Pearl Jam
18. Happy Xmas (War is Over) - John Lennon
19. Hey Guys! It's Christmas Time! - Sufjan Stevens
20. O Holy Night - Cary Brothers
21. Do You Hear What I Hear? - Copeland
22. Silent Night - Dishwalla
23. Christmas Is Going to the Dogs - Eels
24. Noel! Noel! - Eve 6
25. Holly Jolly Christmas - The Format
26. Let Me Sleep - Pearl Jam
27. Father Christmas - The Kinks
28. Christmas Baby - G. Love
29. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - Jack Johnson
30. When I Get Home For Christmas - Snow Patrol
31. This Time of Year - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
32. Jingle Bells - Pearl Jam
33. I Wish it Was Christmas Today - Julian Casablancas
34. Little Drummer Boy - Dishwalla
35. Joy to the World - The Layaways
36. Sister Winter - Sufjan Stevens
37. Let it Snow - Magnet
38. Just Like Christmas - Snow Patrol
39. All I Want for Christmas - Matt Costa
40. Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance! - Sufjan Stevens
41. Here it is Christmas Time - Old 97's
42. Don't Believe in Christmas - Pearl Jam
43. Back Door Santa - Jet
44. Do They Know it's Christmas? - Pete Yorn
45. Merry Xmas Everybody - R.E.M.
46. Maybe This Christmas - Ron Sexsmith
47. Hey Parker It's Christmas - Ryan Adams
48. Happy Christmas (War is Over) - Sense Field
49. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Death Cab For Cutie
50. White Christmas - Sister Hazel
51. Holy, Holy, Holy - Sufjan Stevens
52. Christmas All Over Again - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
54. Santa Claus is Back in Town - My Morning Jacket
55. Christmas Song - Weezer
56. Someday at Christmas - Jack Johnson
57. Star of Wonder - Sufjan Stevens
58. Blue Christmas - Bright Eyes
59. Last Christmas - Jimmy Eat World
60. Santa Claus is Coming to Town - Mason Jennings
61. Winter Wonderland - Radiohead
62. Xmas Eve - The Damnwells
63. Away in a Manger - The Layaways
64. What Child is This? - Black Lab
65. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Hem
Here's a handy dandy zip file with all the tunes.
If you're looking for a bit more "uniformity" in your Christmas mix, I'd suggest checking out these 3 albums:
This Warm December - A Brushfire Holiday Vol. 1
Sister Hazel - Santa's Playlist
Cary Brothers - Father Christmas EP
Those three have been my favorites from the last year or two.
Also - my wife has had me on a mad hunt for a "good" version of Grandma Got Ran Over By a Reindeer. I'm no fan of the song, but she's not satisfied by the original or the Poe version. Anyone have any others?
Merry Christmas!
We the Living
It seems I always find myself having a soft spot for good alt-pop. Whether it be a band like Absentstar, Audrye Sessions and now We the Living, I find myself blogging in this genre a bit more often than perhaps my actual likings for the genre should dictate. Such is life though, I suppose. I figure I should try to get the word out about some good new music rather than wasting it trying to blog genres relative to my listening habits.
Now, for the subject at hand. We the Living aren't your typical underground, unsigned band. They've got the bombastic swagger of a band that's already hit it big, and the arena rock sound of a group of guys that are just waiting to sign on the dotted line. Honestly, after listening I'm a bit surprised they haven't really hit it big yet. These guys have a sound that's dominated airwaves of late - think The Fray meets Switchfoot - with a lyrical punch that's generally lacking on the radio.
In short, these guys are certainly worth a listen. Click the play button to stream or the attachment to download. Enjoy.
Jet - She's a Genius
Now that Stu's back from Japan, I figure we should share some good ol' fashioned rawk 'n roll. Because, you know, rawk is big in Japan. They pay big for rawk, like 1,000,000 yen big. Gotta admire that.
Not many (modern) bands personify rawk as well as Jet. Sure, they've fallen off from Get Born, but who hasn't? God knows I have. If you listen to the radio you've probably heard their new single, She's a Genius. I'm not sure it's up to Cold Hard Bitch standards - not enough "YEEEEAAAHHH"s for me (only 1), but it seems to find a nice common ground between the pop they do with that iPod song and the rawk they choose to bring from time to time. It's worth a listen.
[mp3] She's a Genius
Shaka Rock is out 8/25. Pre-order it here.
...all you did was save my life
Our Lady Peace has treated us with the first look at their new "back to basics" album, Burn Burn. I don't really consider myself a big OLP fan, but I DO consider myself a conoussier of 90's rock. As such, I end up listening to my fair share of these guys.
It's unclear to me when the guys went away from their original sound, but they're claiming they did, so I suppose this is a return to form? I just wasn't aware the form had changed. I suppose they're bringing back the ol' creepy guy on the cover schtick though, so I guess that's the form.
Musically, it's still good form though, better than their last album for sure.
[mp3] All You Did Was Save My Life
Burn Burn hits stores July 21st. Pre-order it here.
Visit Our Lady Peace: Official | Myspace
Buy their music: Amazon | iTunes
Pete Yorn - Back and Fourth
Pete's fourth album Back and Fourth is currently available only on iTunes. For those of you who haven't picked it up yet, do yourself a favor and take the time to click the 5 times or so you'll need to download it. Plus, if you get the new album from iTunes you get 2 bonus tracks - including a re-recorded (and quite lovely) version of Rooftop.
This one's worth every penny - I'd say it's his best work since musicforthemorningafter.
Anyways, here's my song of the summer, courtesy of Pete - enjoy:
[mp3] Close
Back and Fourth will be available everywhere else June 23rd.
Get the new album on iTunes
Free NINJA!
If there's one thing we can all agree on here, it's that Ninja's are awesome. Not just awesome as in "sweet!" but awesome as in awe-inspiring. We should also be in agreeance that Ninja's periodically wipe the floor with Pirate-ass, but that seems to be a touchy point for some Pirate-loving losers. So be it. Ninja's still kick ass beyond the common man's basic level of understanding.
With all this Pirate ass-kicking, what could be better than a free Ninja? Nothing.
I'm assuming this is why Trent was clever enough to title his tour EP with Jane's Addiction as the Ninja EP. Who wouldn't want a free Ninja EP? Only a fool would shun a free Ninja. A dead fool.
Don't make that mistake.
Track list:
1. Jane's Addiction: Chip Away
2. Nine Inch Nails: Not So Pretty Now
3. Street Sweeper: Clap For the Killers
4. Jane's Addiction: Whores
5. Nine Inch Nails: Non-Entity
6. Street Sweeper: The Oath
While it's certainly no greatest hits collection (and I can't say I'm a big fan of Street Sweeper (despite Tom Morello's constant wooing attempts), a free EP of rarities from these bands is certainly worth a click.
Download the free NINJA EP here.
fun.
It's really a wonder to me that (as far as I know), no other band has named themselves "Fun". Seriously, how does that work? Everybody loves fun, right? Why no band named fun then? I suppose that will have to remain one of the many unanswered questions in the world.
Back to the band now...
Who is Fun? You could call them a supergroup, I suppose. The band is composed of Nate Ruess (of The Format), Jack Antonoff (of Steel Train) and Andrew Dost (of Anathallo). That's a pretty super-fantastic congregation of indie-styled rockers.
The music fits the name well enough - poppy and happy, I could listen to it whilst skipping through a meadow.
You can take a listen yourself over at their Myspace, and download their single, "At Least I'm Not As Sad (As I Used To Be)" for free by joining their mailing list.
Their debut album Aim & Ignite is set for a release later this year. They are currently on tour with Manchester Orchestra and The Audrye Sessions. They'll be stopping in Salt Lake (for those of you local(ish) readers) on May 13th. Be there.
New from Absentstar - Don't You Think We Owe It To Ourselves?
Just over a year ago I managed to work myself into a bit of a frenzy over the sounds I was hearing from a new band, Absentstar. I got my first listen in very early 2008 with their lead off single, "For God Sakes". I was instantly hooked. I hadn't heard anyone pull off alt-pop so well since Radford's Sleepwalker back in 2004.
True (and good) alt-pop seems to be damn near impossible to pull off for one reason or another. Bands trying to fit in the genre seem to fall on their faces by either failing to write lyrics that are catchy enough to really be "pop" or they take it too far and write damn-near unlistenable songs that are just too poppy. For every one of the band that manages to pull it off, 100 miss by an inch. In this alt-pop, missing by an inch is missing by a mile.
Sadly enough, missing by 10 miles doesn't mean much to radio-execs. Otherwise you'd all have heard of Absentstar instead of Katy Perry.
Every once in a while you'll find a band like Dishwalla, Radford, Flickerstick - and now Absentstar - that is able to pull off alt-pop without making you skip a track because it's too overblown or cringe when the 100th repeat of the chorus comes on. It's a fine line, but right now these boys are about the only ones walking it.
in the end, I suppose it's all a matter of choice. I'm probably more picky about my alt-pop than most since the genre has been all but destroyed by top-40 radio over the past 10 years. Still though, when a band like Absentstar comes along it gives me reason to have hope.
After the release of 2008's Sea Trials, I assumed the boys in Absentstar would follow the usual path - tour like hell, hope and pray for a big break on the radio and release another album in 2011, about 3 years after their debut. Luckily enough for me, 2011 is coming in July of 2009 in the form of their sophomore release Where We Begin.
I have their lead single, "Don't You Think We Owe It To Ourselves" available down below for a listen. If "Don't You Think..." is any indication of the sonic ride they'll be taking us on in July, this will be no kind of sophomore slump. While all the same essential elements are returning, the band feels tighter here than anywhere on Sea Trials. The lyrics are poignant, though they'll sure as hell stick in your head. God knows I've been singing it in the shower each and every day since I first took a gander.
Take a listen. You won't regret it.
[mp3] Don't You Think We Owe It To Ourselves
Ah, Wolfmother; how I've missed thee.
I sobbed into my pillow the day I found out that Wolfmother was splitting up back in the summer of '08. They brought the rawk in ways that other bands could only imagine. It hasn't even been a year since the announcement, but the void that they left made it seem like much longer.
I mean, I guess they didn't "break up" per se, but I figured "Well, sure the singer dude is going to keep making music under the name but how often does that (Smashing Pumpkins anyone?) work?" I'm not sure that model is something to put faith in, but it's seemed to work well enough so far.
Check out the latest from Andrew and the new gang for free via www.wolfmother.com. Just plop in a fake e-mail address and phone number and WHAM! - you're listening to Back Round.
I wasn't expecting much, but it's a rockin' little ditty. Nice usage of the wah pedal. I'll say I'm impressed with whomever Andrew has recruited to be the "new" Wolfmother. They can play. I'll take more, please.
Check out the new tune, Back Round, for FREE here.
Visit them online: Official | Myspace
Buy their music: Amazon | iTunes
...even MORE Yorn?
Just when I thought I'd delivered you all the new Yorn there was to offer I end up with this little gem in the inbox. For a limited time you can pick up this softie from Pete via spinner.com. Follow the link below.
The track (Don't Wanna Cry) will be featured on Pete's now-titled Fourth album, Back and Fourth. Awww...nice and clever with the title there Pete. The album is due out June 23rd. Tour dates are forthcoming. Here's the tracklisting:
1. Don't Wanna Cry
2. Paradise Cove
3. Close
4. Social Development Dance
5. Shotgun
6. Last Summer
7. Thinking of You
8. Country
9. Four Years
10. Long Time
Pick up the new track while you can!
[mp3] Don't Wanna Cry (via Spinner.com)
Visit him online: Official | Myspace
Get his music: Amazon | iTunes
