The Mynabirds‘ Christmas release, All I Want is Truth (for Christmas), is the perfect Christmas release. A Christmas protest song! A Zombies cover! The title track is lyrically interesting, musically engaging, and should be considered an indie-classic. The Zombies’ cover of “This Year will Be Our Year” sets the stage for future female voices (Memoryhouse) to cover this fantastic song.
For the collector out there, there are 200 on white vinyl, 300 on black vinyl.
I wish the Mynabirds would release a Christmas single every year.
I don’t have much time, so I grabbed a short one for this review. Happy New Year 2008 is out-of-print, and unavailable via Elefant, but still out there for purchase. Nothing really dates it 2008, so no worries about that.
Anyone familiar with the Elefant label will not be surprised by this indie pop groove. The School kicks it off with “Kiss You in the Snow,” which is a perfectly passable song. Light, happy and generally a good time. Coming in at 2:18, it is the perfect time – any longer and the saccharine sweetness might wear a bit… but they hit it well.
The second track by Helen Love is probably the one that you’ll come to with the highest expectations, if only for the title, “Joey Ramone Snowman.” Unfortunately, this is the worst song on the album. It sounds like a child is slightly autotuned… and the spoken-word-singing by a child is not only annoying, but ANNOYING. Sorry to be so brutal… but really. Its just not enjoyable.
Corazón contributes a song in spanish, which is quite appropriate for a spanish label. My Little Airport rounds out the disc with a song in Japanese, leaving only the twee-loving Swedes missing from this international celebration of the indie pop new year. With both tracks, the music is quite pleasant, but they don’t catch me as others have in the past. I don’t need to know what people are singing – if the music is engaging enough, that is all you really need. Not quite there.
Bottom Line: Cheap, but nothing truly amazing. The School track keeps this afloat. 2.6/5
I don’t know how “Alternative” Mary Chapin Carpenter is considered… but there is some real traditional fare on this disc. There’s some great stuff here, which makes it a worthwhile collection to hunt down, but the boring stuff is mind-meltingly boring. Use this more as grist for your Christmas mix, rather than giving it a place in your holiday rotation.
There is a span of four tracks which create the powerhouse of the record, beginning with Superchunk‘s John Cale cover of “Child’s Christmas in Wales.” This track is exclusive to the release, and truly wonderful. The song fits Superchunk perfectly, and had this been the only song I liked on the disc, I would have been pleased with purchasing it.
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings‘ “Ain’t No Chimneys in the Projects” gets a CD release here – for those who want a physical copy beyond the 7″ that they released earlier in 2009. Great piece of R&B/Soul that can find its place on any interesting Christmas mix.
Hannah Peel & Tunng give us “Hey Santa!,” the second of three exclusive tracks. This is an indie pop gem – truly out of left field with its lyrical content, and a groove you can get in to.
Sea of Bees‘ “Feliz Navidad” is also exclusive to this collection. Most certainly the best surprise on this disc, they take a Christmas classic (which I usually find a bit annoying) and made it something enjoyable! The music creates a warm atmosphere, and the slight variations on the vocal phrasing keeps you interested. Well done.
Bottom Line: The good stuff is certainly enough to pick this up for a few bucks. 3.4/5
Tiny Tide’s “Left Alone for Christmas Time” begins with the line “Do I have to wait and cry,” which sums up a lot of indie pop Christmas tunes–Dreary lyrics with a danceable beat. The rest of the disc does not follow quite the same formula, and for that, I am appreciative. The tone is pretty similar though – its all indie pop. “M.I.S.T.L.E.T.O.E.” is a solid song about office-party romance… not quite catchy enough for me to consider for my own mix. Cherry Berry has two songs on this release… which is unfortunate (for my taste). “Berry Xmas” is the weakest track on this record, and its on there twice. The vocals are just distracting, and make it impossible to get into – though their English is no doubt much better than my Indonesian.
Without giving a rundown of EVERY track on this 8-song release, I would like to highlight the two bright spots. Paisley and Charlie offer a beautiful slice of holiday melancholy with “Unhappy New Year.” Perhaps a bit too dreary for my wife to stand, I really enjoy the groove the music creates (and you, oddly, really need to listen to it LOUD). Stars in Coma also have a standout with “The Frozen Spectacle.” With harmonies that are reminiscent of the Fleet Foxes, these Swedes have created a track 2:36 of subtle beauty. Brevity is often an asset when it comes to a good Christmas song… and Stars in Coma do not wear out their welcome.
Bottom Line: Inexpensive, with two very-solid tracks makes this release better than most. 3.7/5
LISTEN
UPDATE! Stars in Coma have re-recorded “The Frozen Spectacle” for their upcoming, Christmas Eve release of You, Me and a Nuance of Arctic Air. This is a slightly different mix, so its all a matter of personal taste as to which one you like. For fun, I’m also posting their demo of this, fantastic track GONE (which is a highlight of my personal mix this year!).
Christmastime, Approximately is one of the stronger indiepop Christmas compilations of the past few years. This was originally released in 2010 as a free download (500 downloads), and now available as a ₤5 Bandcamp download or as a ₤3.50 CD! I picked up the CD, as I am a sucker for a physical copy.
While every compilation (with very few exceptions) suffers from filler, there are certainly some standouts here worth appreciating. The Social Interaction Foundation (aka Help Stamp Out Lonliness) leads off the CD with a danceable, folktronic version of Low’s classic, “Just Like Christmas,” which is different enough from the original to be interesting. Other standounts are Eux Autres‘s “Teenage Christmas,” The Hillfields‘ folky “Spirit of the Season,” and especially Hexicon‘s “See That Day.”
Bottom Line: The songs are good enough to justify the price. 3.9/5
Christmas Underground 