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UPCOMING: Sufjan Stevens – Worst Christmas Ever! (11/6/2026)

Asthmatic Kitty
Buy: Asthmatic Kitty | Bandcamp | Rough Trade Exclusive Variant | Dinked

Well… Hi there.

I’m back, ready to write about some Christmas tunes, fret about the world we live in, and make an attempt not to take each day for granted… as we wait for the AI-apocalypse.

Sufjan Stevens is back too… with a bunch old songs, and a small sprinkling of new. Announced today, the new compilation LP, Worst Christmas Ever!, pulls together some of (what they consider to be) Sufjan’s best Christmas songs onto one album. I imagine this is a better physical-media listening experience than most of the EPs, which require lots of flipping, swapping and listening to some of those throw-away tracks.

Now for the main reason to consider this record… the new song. Technically… there are 2 new songs, one original and one cover. The original, “On This Christmas (It Only Gets Better)” is included on the LP, as well as on a limited 7″ only available from the label (as a bundle) and some select stores to be named later. The 7″ is really where it is at… as it has an additional unreleased song, a cover of “Christmas Time is Here.”

I sure would love to just buy that 7″… I will wager that I’m going to pass on this bundle (which would set me back nearly $50) in the hopes of grabbing that 7″ elsewhere… and it is going to slip by me. I waited on the vinyl box sets as well, and regretted that too.

Will I learn from my past mistakes? I’m human, and American… so probably not.

EDIT: There are a few additional versions out there – variants via Rough Trade and a Dinked Edition (which has exclusive stickers and a different vinyl colorway) so far. I’m sure there will be more.

Bottom Line: I’m equal parts intrigued and conflicted (Do I need to buy these songs again?) and waiting for my $5000 check from Daddy Trump. Oh orange god-man, please give me money to buy records. I will let you destroy everything for record money…

(If you don’t sense the sarcasm… I assure you it is there.)

LISTEN

Here’s a teaser.

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Merry Christmas + Happy New Year

Christmas has happened, and the New Year is nearly here.

Thank you all for reading this silly thing for yet another year. I’m not saying I won’t pop back in here on occasion, but it sure feels different writing when you know there might be someone on the other end reading… and there is a season for folks checking out my little corner of the internet. I do love hearing from folks who share this very, very niche interest, so thank you especially to those who dropped me notes, comments, and Ko-Fi’s this year. Knowing that anyone cares… that is what keeps this little site going.

This year is going to be wild. Stay safe.

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Les petits Mutins de Noël “La Bombe avant Noël” (2025)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

Les petits Mutins de Noël are a Christmas punk band, comprised of more French bands than you can count on one hand: Monster Mash, Supersports, Acid Gras, Die Vräcks, Louis Lingg and The Bombs, and The Flug. This new song, “La Bombe avant Noël” (The Bomb Before Christmas), piqued my interest simply based on their sound. This may be a whole mess of bands smashed together – and somehow they sound fucking great. The song itself, after some AI-magic translation, appears to be about coming into a family Christmas with the intention of blowing it up (metaphorically). That sounds like a perfect premise for a punk Christmas song – way better than pop-punkifying a Christmas carol…

I also really loved their intro to the song on Bandcamp, posted below in translation:

Oh Oh OooOoh Shit!
For this end of the year, a little log to toss in your fireplace, on your screen (with a fake fireplace), or in a barricade (with a real bastard fire) to stoke things up.
Short, slow-burning log cut by your favorite forest rangers:
Monster Mash, Supersports, Acide Gras, Die Vräcks, Louis Lingg and The Bombs, and The Flug.
With Love, Elf’s word

Bottom Line: French punk perfection.

LISTEN

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moi Caprice – Advent (2020)

Glorious Records
Buy: Qobuz (FLAC/MP3) | Apple Music | Discogs (CD/Vinyl)

This is a record that’s been bouncing around my playlists for a long time. Many years ago, I got into moi Caprice, a Danish band that was geographically and sonically close enough to my Swedish pop obsession to get swept up in the search. Their song “The Art of Kissing Properly” became a playlist staple. I picked up a few CDs and very much consider myself a fan. How I managed to miss them releasing a Christmas EP in 2020 is beyond me. I’m only half joking when I say I consider this oversight a personal failure.

Yes, moi Caprice released a Christmas EP, Advent, in late December of 2020, and it is absolutely excellent. Four tracks, each of which could make a strong case for being the best song on the record. “Christmas, the Magic Is Back” has a wonderful rolling rhythm, peppered with evocative lines like, “’cause the magic is back / and I can do the whole thing from a child’s view.”

That song, along with the one that follows, “Year of the Rat,” are very much Christmas 2020 songs—COVID Christmas songs. However, neither suffers from being too firmly locked into that moment. Both retain a timeless quality, especially in the coda of “Year of the Rat,” where they repeat, “And our kids fall asleep to the sound of our heart.” It’s just ridiculously gorgeous. (It is also featured on my 2025 Christmas mix, A Bit of Christmas.)

The biggest song on the record, at least by streaming metrics, is the third track, “I’m Dreaming of a Christmas That Isn’t So Extremely White.” The concept is interesting, as it references familiar seasonal cultural touchstones like Home Alone and It’s a Wonderful Life, while hoping for new perspectives. A good song, but it somehow lacks the emotional pull of the other three tracks. We’re all different; this may be your favorite!

The final song, “Merry Christmas,” closes out the EP with a promise to make a Christmas song that “truly has the sound / of a Merry Christmas,” and it absolutely delivers. The melody is gorgeous as it floats along on lead singer Michael Møller’s wonderful voice. This is the bullseye—a song that could land on just about anyone’s Christmas mix, in any year they decide to dip into moi Caprice. It is undeniably delightful.

For those who love physical media, you can still hunt this record down on either 12″ vinyl or CD. And wouldn’t you know it—shipping from Germany isn’t terrible these days. I’m glad I can finally write about this now, as I’d been nervous about covering something I hadn’t yet picked up myself, fearing it might sell out before I could. But now I’ve got a 12″ on the way, thanks to the generosity of you all, after coveting it for nearly a year. Truly, thank you all.

Bottom Line: This entire release can be mined for mixworthy songs. It really is pretty damn spectacular.

LISTEN

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Daphne’s Demise “Just Like Christmas” (2025)

Perpetual Doom
Buy: Bandcamp

Lord knows this song has been covered to death. But there are some songs that I don’t mind hearing cover after cover of… and Low’s “Just Like Christmas” is most certainly in that camp. Heck, Christmas A Gogo has a yearly post gathering the latest covers. So, another cover… what can you find in yet another cover of this song? Perpetual Doom is a label that I love, often releasing singer/songwriters who have a tendency for alt.country, but perhaps a bit more attitude than would suit the mainstream. I admit, I’m predisposed to be excited to hear something from this label, and thus I’m here chatting with you about Daphne’s Demise, and their new cover of “Just Like Christmas.” Daphne’s Demise (aka Zoë S-Bouffard) takes this song, nearly strips it of all adornment, and lets you bask in the simple beauty that is this classic song. This is my ultimate Christmas song… and when someone can find themselves in it… I’m here for it.

Bottom Line: Simple and beautiful.

LISTEN

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Lonesome Doves – Lonesome Doves Christmas Album (2025)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

Vermont’s Lonesome Doves have released a 4-song EP of original Christmas songs, the appropriately titled Lonesome Doves Christmas Album, all of which share a slow tempo, as well as the beautiful vocals of Scarlett… who truly does not miss a note. It is not often that an indie rock band is notable for the vocalist’s ability to sing… but Lonesome Doves are certainly an exception. You may find yourself attracted to the first track, “Peacegiving,” as you contemplate our current state of affairs. Perhaps you’ll connect with the vegan-leaning “Psyciatric Help 5 Cents,” which not only sings about not killing things that breathe, but also about dancing around like a cartoon, which we very much do in my house. These songs are the kind of songs I might want to listen to at night, drinking a spiked eggnog and looking at the fire. It’s not going to get you all amped up, it’s the kind of Christmas music that is going to leave you sitting… thinking…

Bottom Line: These aren’t pop hits, but they might touch something a bit deeper if you let them.

LISTEN

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PSA for folks with Christmas songs…

I’ve updated my Submissions page to try to be as explicit as possible as to what your expectations should be if you submit a song. I’m just one guy with a website and a few minutes to spare. I’m going to disappoint a lot of people, even people who put out music I’m into. I don’t mean to, but it is going to happen.

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The Bret Tobias Set “For Christ’s Sake” (2025)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp | Apple Music

Hey! Is The Bret Tobias Set lining up to be a yearly Philadelphia Christmas tradition? Can I manifest this? We’ll see… (I missed 2024’s song… but go check it out!)

I wrote about The Bret Tobias Set’s excellent 2023 cover of Everything But the Girls’ “25th December” earlier this year, with what might be one of my shortest reviews of recent memory. I don’t know why I get sheepish about that kind of stuff – I just don’t want folks to think because I haven’t gone on and on about their record that I don’t really love it. Some days I just have a few minutes to spare, a headache, or existential ennui… you know… shit happens! Do all those words above count towards the review? I hope so!

The Bret Tobias Set is back with a reworking of a 2004 song that Bret wrote with his previous band, The Bigger Lovers, for their last record, This Affair Never Happened… And Here Are Eleven Songs About It. Bret calls the Lovers’ version “blue-eyed soul,” and I suppose I hear that – but it just sounds like a rock ballad to me. When I hear the term blue-eyed soul, I think about half the bands on Colemine Records, not The Bigger Lovers. But I am NO expert, despite this silly site.

Bret’s new version, which he calls a “country pop duet,” has Bret sharing vocals with Krista Umile, and man, these voices sound lovely together. The song lightens with the addition of Krista as well as the increased tempo, and as a result, the length shortens enough to leave you wanting more. I do hear the country twang, but I don’t know if I’d call this “country pop.” I would call it an “alt.country power pop ballad.” Gotta complicate things!

Bottom Line: This song’s arrangement feels like it has found its forever home.

LISTEN

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Christmas Mix 2025: A Bit of Christmas

I have to remind myself that I really make these mixes for me. I know I force them on people, such as yourselves, but when it comes down to it, I and only I, have to love these songs. I have to recognize this and accept it, or I will have nonstop waffling back and forth as to whether a song is “cool” enough, or whether it will surprise a listener, or whether the whole damn thing will feel expected and boring. Half the fun of giving it away is surprising folks, and I’m in the business of letting you all know what I’m thinking. So… maybe there’s stuff on here you might not expect from me, a band you might think is too big, or a singer who is too pop, but this is for me. I wish I could have a more distanced view, really curate a mix that would kill with an audience – that is a skill I don’t have. What I do have is an official acceptance into my family’s holiday tradition… and even if you know the song already, maybe hearing it within another context might feel different. I you find a song or two that you love, that would be beautiful.

I’ve been sick for a bit over a week now, which has delayed my work on this. There were some days I just couldn’t lift my head from the couch. I’m up now, coughing, with an extra week of releases feeding this beast. I wonder what it might have looked like, had I finished it last weekend as planned? There sure wouldn’t be an anarchist Christmas song on here, nor would there be that amazing Billy Bragg tune. Funny how things work out.

Well, have at it, folks. I hope you enjoy it as I do. Let’s finish out this new year happy and healthy, and keep your neighbor in your heart, wherever they may be from.

1.Jason AndersonToll Booth
2.World NewsXmas 101
3.PentireGood Luck It’s Christmas
4.Wold WiggenGaver er det meste med jula synes jeg
5.DevonSTAYING HOME…
6.Straight White TeethLet Me Be Your Rudolph
7.The Blind SunsOne More (Christmas) Song
8.ExnoviosNoche de reyes
9.King HüskyDecember95
10.besphrenzfor christmas
11.BleachersMerry Christmas, Please Don’t Call
12.Jenn GrantBells Are Ringing
13.Al Nicol & Evelyne BrochuOn Christmas
14.Aux CarolingDecember
15.Home CountiesBetter Last Year (Home Counties for Christmas)
16.Yea-Ming And The RumoursDifferent This Year
17.Skyler Coccosnowglobe
18.Moi CapriceThe Year of the Rat
19.Tim BakerFull Rainbow
20.DelaceyChristmas in California
21.Yawners1 de enero
22.e.p. nap feat. melody almrothjohn lennon, bono, bob geldof
23.Billy BraggPut Christ Back in Christmas