September 2019 – Christmas Underground

September 23, 2019September 24, 2019

Summer Salt “Abominable Snowman” (2017)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp (NYOP)

Austin’s Summer Salt have this mix-worthy, summery (just listen) Christmas jam just sitting there on their Bandcamp, waiting for you to name-your-own price and download it. Wonderful melody, great vocals with an original story. The song is about an abominable snowman, enjoying a beautiful Christmas. I listen to enough Christmas music to know that I haven’t heard of a song like this before. Below are the lyrics to the whole song, because they just tickled me.

There’s a big log cabin
High above the junction
Near a broken down roller coaster park
There’s a mountain breach
High above the creek
Where I’ll be hanging up some Christmas lights tonight

Now I know this is all I’ve ever wanted to call my home
But I don’t know if this is all that I need

Soon I’ll come again
Running amok under the moon
Soon I’ll need a friend
Living the life of an abominable snowman

There’s some roaring thunder
Miles among the tundra
There’s a pack of wolves singing songs beside a fire
There’s a faucet leak
To give the pipes some heat
There’s an avalanche I’ll be surfin’ tonight

Bottom Line: A great, summery-sounding tune about an abominable snowman Christmas. A sentence I never thought I would write in my entire life. Really, really enjoy this one.

Edit: Stubby beat me to this song by well over a year. Based on the 61K listens on Soundcloud, so did a lot of you. In my defense, it has been on my “to do” list since before last Christmas!

LISTEN

September 18, 2019

Rubber Band Gun & Katy Rea – Quick Themes from a Christmas iPhone (2018)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp (NYOP)

Kevin Basko (Rubber Band Gun) is back, and this time he is bringing Katy Rea along for the ride! First off, I cannot believe that these two songs were recorded on an iPhone 6. These sound way better than most of the junk I listen to on Bandcamp. Kevin recorded one of the more out-there and enjoyable Christmas records of 2017 with Festive as Hell, and while those interesting edges remain exposed, these two tracks with Katy Rea are much more slimmed-down and straightforward. The first track “I’ll Be Good” is a love song to Santa, an entreaty to Santa for an extramarital fling in New York. I honestly don’t know if I’ve heard a song quite like it. I certainly believe I’ve heard love songs to Santa, but rarely (if ever) do they acknowledge Mrs. Claus, let alone suggest she is annoying. Hehe. The second song, “Willow St,” is a beautiful song, a tableau of a simple, warm and loving Christmas shared together in a house on Willow Street. The fact that they sing this song together, two voices blending perfectly, makes the song that much more vivid. This song is about sharing Christmas with a loved one, and having both there voices there sharing the song, underlines the sentiment. A beautiful song wonderfully executed.

Bottom Line: These two songs, recorded on iPhones, have justified the technology that has addicted us all.

LISTEN

September 13, 2019

Lachlan Denton & Studio Magic “This Christmas” (2019)

Bobo Integral / Spunk Records / Osborne Again
Buy: Bandcamp

Melbourne’s Lachlan Denton, best known for his work in The Ocean Party, has written one of the most honest and heartbreaking Christmas songs that I’ve ever heard. “This Christmas” is written for Lachlan’s brother Zac, who passed away suddenly last year. This song is bourne out of grief, and while the words are Lachlan’s, the sentiment is everyone’s. That first Christmas without someone you hold dear… is a Christmas of sadness, but also simple memories that suddenly have so much more importance. This is a painful song, while being a truly beautiful one. Zac would be proud.

Bottom Line: Lachlan shares his grief with us, and we are blessed he did.

LISTEN

September 11, 2019September 11, 2019

The Stargazer Lilies “Listen, The Snow Is Falling” (2016)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp (Free!)

Ethereal.

(The rest of this review is an aside. Up there… that is my one-word review. Pennsylvania’s The Stargazer Lilies have taken the dreamy Galaxie 500 cover and thrown on a glamour shot-shimmery sheen to this John & Yoko classic. This also provides all you mixmasters with a shoegaze version that comes in under 5 minutes! Perhaps you had forgotten that the wonderful Galaxie 500 version clocks in around 8 minutes…a bit long for me. Also of note, The Stargazer Lilies also have a new record coming out Nov. 1, Occabot, produced by Tobacco of Black Moth Super Rainbow!)

Bottom Line: This song’s soothing glow eased my wordy proclivities… (sort of).

LISTEN

September 10, 2019September 12, 2019

UPCOMING: Josh Rouse – The Holiday Sounds of Josh Rouse (11/01/2019)

Well here we go! This one will make all the media rounds no doubt, as Josh Rouse has a large back catalog and fans that span 20+ years. I remember getting that Dressed up Like Nebraska cassette promo single was back when I was but a boy. That first record was great. Josh’s second, Home, is a modern classic record (for me). 1972 was a risk that paid off beautifully. Find a copy of Bedroom Classics Vol. 1 and you will be treated to “Michigan,” which is an incredible, incredible song. I don’t want to go into this with the level of expectation that I might… as I haven’t been quite on the Josh Rouse train for a number of records. But here I am… likely to buy the double-vinyl edition. The first pressing of the CD/Vinyl comes with an extra disc featuring 3 bonus tracks, and 3 demo versions of songs found on the record. So… if you are considering this record, the first pressing is by far the way to go.

Bottom Line: Click and buy. It’ll be better than most Christmas records, and could possibly be great.

LISTEN

September 10, 2019September 10, 2019

Frank Sexuality and the Negative Emotions “It’s Christmas All Around” (2018)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp (NYOP)

I must start with a quick confession. Stafford’s Frank Sexuality and the Negative Emotions immediately garnered a bit of goodwill with me… simply because I fucking loved their name. To my relief, their two-track Christmas single is enjoyable, especially the lead track, “It’s Christmas All Around.” The song has a Waterboys’ feel, even more so as the horn line comes in. The lyrics are clever with a healthy dash of dread: “There’s no snow / there’s no hope / and I’m trying to avoid it / but it’s Christmas all around.” There are some other great lines as well, but let that be a teaser for you to take a sip of your own. Cheers!

Bottom Line: You all know I like to celebrate the dark edges of Christmas, and this song is most certainly chilling in that gray.

LISTEN

September 2, 2019September 2, 2019

Stephen Solo “War is Never Over (Even if you want it)” (2015)

Self Released
Buy: 7Digital (MP3/FLAC) | Amazon.uk MP3 | Amazon.fr MP3 | Amazon MP3

For those bands out there who want to write a Christmas song, but don’t know where to begin – let me pose two options for you. The first would be found in Bossy Love’s reinterpretation of the Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping,” where they updated the song to be more of-the-moment. The second approach would be to write a response song. A good example of this approach can be found in Stephen Solo‘s “War is Never Over (Even if you want it).” Back in 2015, the British had begun participating in airstrikes in Syria, and from Stephen’s perspective back in Glasgow… beginning a new chapter of an unending war. So, he took his phone (as he does) and recorded this brutal condemnation of the action, hung on the frame of John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over).”

“Let the Big Ben bells ring out for bombs this Christmas / the only peace we’ll get this year is pieces of skulls and baby bones. / War is never over even if you want it.”

Stark indeed. Extremely well-produced, yet tough to listen to, as you are forced to reflect on what violence means to you when it happens so far away.

Bottom Line: Stephen Solo’s “Christmas” song will likely feel quite contemporary, renewed by humanity’s skillful violence, for many years to come.