Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp
hey, this is ned. i’ve hosted a weekly radio show called no love for ned for twenty-some years and also made annual christmas mixes that i sent out between 2000-2010.
holiday music remains my jam and somehow (jim/sixtywatt/christmas underground) and i ended up building adult lives in the same rural town twelve years ago. since then we’ve been goading each other into ordering obscure indie music (both christmas and otherwise) from all over the world to split the shipping costs. i’m envious of his ability to still churn out a yearly christmas mix despite family obligations and i’m hoping my columns will help get me back to a yearly christmas mix. (i assume jim is hoping my columns buy him a little more free time).
i’m gearing up for a holiday radio show in a couple weeks, in the meantime here’s my 2022 holiday show on mixcloud to get into the no love for ned holiday vibes.
TW: suicide in the song and video.
Billiam & Busted Head Racket are both part of a thriving garage punk scene in Australia that reminds me of the Jay Reatard/Goner/Douchemaster scene from the mid aughts. They’ve collaborated on three “blink and you’ll miss them” holiday songs posted up on bandcamp as a PWYW download. No jingle bells on this holiday release, just throbbing melodies topped by blown-out (and often indecipherable) lyrics.
“I’m Existential” races by in seventy-five seconds that depicts a spiraling Santa Claus. Busted Head Racket’s lyrics show us that Santa’s pretty fed up with the job, confessing both “he’s sick / of carting all your shit” and “I’m sick of cookies and milk / I really need some help”. In true holiday fashion, they’ve crafted a video featuring Claymation versions of Santa, Billiam and Busted Head Racket.
It’s certainly not one for the family holiday party but definitely one for my holiday radio show this year- after I edit out that ‘shit’!
Christmas Underground 