2021 – Christmas Underground

November 16, 2023

Everett Darling “Pictures 1-3” (2021)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

There will be those days that I throw big ol’ softballs – songs that I’ve already, in one way or another, expressed my love for previously. In this case, Everett Darling’s “Pictures 1-3” was featured on last year’s mix, but never featured on this site. Today, we remedy that. Everett Darling was the primary songwriter and singer of the excellent German indiepop band Skiing, who have featured prominently on this blog in the past. There are two tracks on his first solo record, Winter, that could be considered Christmas-adjacent. “Pictures 1-3” is obviously one, as well as the instrumental, “Tinsel,” but I’ll leave that to you to hunt down. “Pictures 1-3” is a beautiful song about Everett’s father and the Christmas tree he bought in his last year of life. He cycles through 3 photos of him, describing each one, with the Christmas tree remaining in the background… stuck on demo mode and cycling through its programmed display settings. The song’s stripped-down, 2 guitars and vocals approach, conveys a warmth that I am struggling to describe… Truly touching, absolutely gorgeous, and highly recommended.

Bottom Line: I learned my lesson in 2021 when I originally missed this release… check in with Everett every year just in case… he is just so damn talented.

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November 2, 2023November 2, 2023

Ella Ion “Christmas” (2021)

Terrazzo Recordings
Buy: Bandcamp

Adelaide, Australia’s Ella Ion delighted us last year with her contributions to the wonderful Bjéar Christmas records, and I very much meant to make a big scene regarding her excellent 2021 single, “Christmas.” However, I got distracted, as I often do. The song deserved to be discovered back in 2021, as it taps expertly into the isolation of Covid lockdown. Ella provides an excellent, descriptive paragraph on her Bandcamp explaining “Christmas”:

“Christmas” renders a common release that overrides the sense of nothingness brought on by isolation over the past two years. The track explores the emotional tension surrounding the time of year when we are forced to spend time with those who raised us while looking back on our growth (or lack thereof) from the year behind us. The song taps into realisations about our childish tendencies and how we might put expectations on those we love before we fulfil the expectations of ourselves.

The subject matter can feel a weeeee bit brutal (as I ponder the line, “If your friend hadn’t died, I would’ve probably made you feel like you did”), but I’ve been known to groove on a dirge or two. Ella’s voice and LOS LEO & Bjéar’s production are so good that you might just find yourself swaying and singing along… which might garner you a hug or two from your more empathetic friends for sure. Here’s hoping that Ella and Bjéar cook up something new for us again, as our warm-weather friends are just killing it down there.

Bottom Line: This is a gorgeous, brutally honest song for a season that often rewards the superficial. So… how do you take your holiday music? Real, or with lots of sugar?

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November 30, 2022

Toad Venom – The Ingen vidare jul (Christmas is cancelled) EP (2021)

Welfare Sounds & Records
Buy: Bandcamp

If I had a nickel for every time I said, “You name your band Toad Venom, and I’m going to check you out.” Well, a bunch of psych rock musicians from Vikingstad, Sweden finally took me up on this well-known offer, and have also made some absolutely excellent psych Christmas music! 2021’s The Ingen vidare jul (Christmas is cancelled) EP is two tracks of badass psych, as the leadoff track “God Jul” blasts off, a soaring Swedish Christmas anthem (to which I have no clue what is being said). The flip, “Merry (Christmas) and me,” is in English, and very much suits their style as described on Bandcamp: “A band, experimenting the void between spaghetti western and psychedelic rock.” Those twangy western guitars that introduce the track – so terribly cool. The song builds and builds, at times triggering me to think a bit about Spiritualized for some reason. There are so many cool movements to this song, yet it still comes in at an economical 4:00. Perhaps one of the most badass Christmas tunes I’ve come across in a good while.

Bottom Line: Two extremely good tracks from my new favorite band and best friends (pending).

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November 29, 2022November 29, 2022

Bird Friend “Christmas Song” (2021/2022)

Sedan Is Real
Buy: Bandcamp (NYOP)

From the cold reaches of Portsmouth, New Hampshire comes Bird Friend, compiling their two seasonal singles onto one handy cassette/digital release. The Christmas song, appropriately titled “Christmas Song,” was initially released on their 2021 EP, Songs About Crime, and is a warm story-song of love without much money, a reality that a lot of us can relate to at some point in our lives… maybe even today. Love can find you at any moment in your life, whether you have enough money for wine or not – and thankfully they don’t get caught shoplifting:

when we went on christmas eve
to the convenience store
i was a bum and you were venus
in the front seat of your honda accord

heads or tails would determine who would go
steal us a bottle of booze
you slipped that bottle of wine into your purse
like it was what you were born to do

and i knew
i had to have you

Bottom Line: Short, sweet, and with that bit of vice that can spice up any holiday song, this hard-scrabble love story is quite worth your time.

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November 17, 2022

Brittany Ann Tranbaugh “The Christmas Flannel Song” (2021/2022)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

I often say that if you can record a fantastic Christmas song, then your “regular” songs are likely going to be amazing. Writing an interesting Christmas song – with all of their seductive cliches – requires a fresh prospective that eludes even the best of bands. So when I find an artist whose Christmas song catches my ear, I smash that follow button. Philadelphia’s Brittany Ann Tranbaugh is the latest to score a follow, and is one more artist to watch in what is becoming an absolutely incredible queer folk/country scene. Over the past few years, that scene has become by far the most interesting collective within the genre. Folks writing from a different point-of-view than we’ve all be programmed to expect… that sounds fucking fantastic to me. Brittany Ann began working on her new Christmas song, “Christmas Flannel Song,” back in 2021 (well, at least she released her demo then), and in that simple vocal and guitar arrangement, you really get to appreciate the quality of her voice.

Brittany Ann Tranbaugh · The Christmas Flannel Song (demo)

The lyrics tell the story of a Christmas present never given, and while the song is certainly one rooted in certain sadness, there is a cleverness to the her wordplay that shimmers with silver linings.

I’m holding onto this one thing
You won’t find it under your tree
It’s the shirt that I got you for Christmas
Cuz it looks pretty good on me
Fa la la la la la la la la la la la la la, fa la la la la la la

Guess it’s more like a dirge than a carol
That I sing while the fireplace burns
And I’m donning my new gay apparel
Cuz it’s final sale no returns

This season, Brittany Ann has fleshed out the production, as the song has reached a spectacular final form adding percussion, banjo, piano, bass and perfect vocal harmonies to give the song a welcome warmth. This song alone is most certainly worth a follow, a purchase, and a place on your mix.

Bottom Line: I don’t shy away from a dirge, especially when it is this good.

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November 8, 2022

Bad Bad Hats “Sally Sweet Tooth” (2021)

Don Giovanni
Buy: Bandcamp

I am finally getting through all the stuff I meant to listen to last year. If you are someone who feels as though a shitload of browser tabs is a personal failing, let me introduce you to the largest failure I know… Me. Thankfully, every so often you find something that makes saving that session worth it. Minneapolis’ Bad Bad Hats has been producing a song a month on their Patreon since at least October of 2020, and what do you know… December 2020’s theme was Christmas! Let’s let them tell you a bit more:

“I was listening to all the holiday classics to get inspired and I was struck by how many great characters there are in the Christmas canon: Rudolph, Frosty, a run-over Grandma. So I wanted to add a new character to the mix. She’s a little sweet, she’s a little sassy. She’s Sally Sweet Tooth. And you’d be wise to give her your cookies.”

The song was deemed worthy to bust out of the Patreon $5 tier jail to the wider world last December, in all its early-2000s alternative/power-pop goodness. So rejoice, and remember not to be stingy with your cookies… she’ll get ya.

Bottom Line: An extremely delicious jam to spread all over your Christmas mix.

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November 1, 2022

Katy Kirby “So Much Wine, Merry Christmas” (2021/2022)

The Handsome Family’s “So Much Wine, Merry Christmas” has slowly become an underground classic, being covered by the likes of Andrew Bird and The Minus 5’s Scott McCaughey, amongst many, many others. Each new year brings new voices to this beautiful, yet dark song, and 2021 welcomed the wonderful Katy Kirby to the growing chorus. A solo, acoustic version of “So Much Wine, Merry Christmas” debuted at Radio Milwaukee late last year, while a fully-produced version found its way onto the extended edition of her wonderful 2021 release, Cool Dry Place. Katy’s cover is technically based on the Andrew Bird arrangement, which I have already heaped some praise upon, but I am finding myself even more taken by Katy’s approach. Her soulful voice nestled amongst warm piano lines will leave you wishing for a crackling fire to stare at… perhaps some (spiked) eggnog as well. Indeed, this is a thing of beauty.

Bottom Line: Katy Kirby enters the top tier of “Too Much Wine” covers, and most certainly muscles her way on to many a discerning Christmas mixtape.

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October 26, 2022

Caleb Nichols “(I Fell In Love On) Christmas Day” (2021/2022)

My fellow holiday-blogger DJ El Toro sparked off Festive! Fanzine’s holiday season with a fantastic interview with San Luis Obispo’s Caleb Nichols. As Festive! went through the effort to interview Caleb, I would like to send you there to learn more about this song and Caleb as a wonderful-song-writing human being. I will, however, let you know a few basic things about the song. First, it appeared last year on Kill Rock Stars’ It’s Hard To Dance When It’s Cold And There’s No Music: Kill Rock Stars Winter Holiday Album Volume 2, but has since also been released on Caleb’s excellent 2022 record, Ramon. Secondly, these lyrics are that mixture of joy and sadness that I am so terribly attracted to. “What Dickens knew I now intone / that without love you die alone. / Though we all must die alone, / maybe love can take the sting away. / Oh Tannenbaum, oh tinsel tree, / oh silver bells, oh misery. / If you can find someone to share / the misery with, you’ll be square. / So fall in love each Christmas day, / cause only love can take away / the loneliness and the bitter pain / that you feel on days like this.” What a lovely sentiment from a lived life.

Bottom Line: This is emotional without being sentimental. Truly a rare treat in the Christmas genre.

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October 18, 2022

Hannah Glavor – Find a Light (2021)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

What is up with me? Why am I writing about covers of traditional hymns? Is it because people are actually DOING something cool with them? The question is the answer, duh. Portland’s Hannah Glavor has transformed “O Little Town of Bethlehem” into something that I genuinely enjoy. It has the warm feel of a Midlake record, as I caught myself thinking a whole lot about “Roscoe” (one of my all-time favorite songs). She has fleshed out and modernized a nice handful of tracks here – “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” “Away in a Manger,” and even “Silent Night” feels like something completely brand new. She takes bits and pieces of the original melody, then adds in all these other lines that your brain is just not ready for. This thing is a workout for your old noodle. There is one modern-day Christmas song being covered here, Josh Garrels’ “May You Find a Light.” Of all the songs on here, this is the one that feels the most similar to the original. That may be because I’m so programmed to know those traditional carols, and not familiar with Josh’s song. Either way, it is a very lovely song. This is folk-pop Christmas at a very high level.

Bottom Line: Very surprising, solid EP that makes the classics seem new once again.

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December 22, 2021

Baby Club – Naivety Scene (2021)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

This time of year is when EVERYTHING is released. My Bandcamp wishlist swells with a seemingly infinite collection of things I need to go back and listen to. I start searching regional and genre tags for those gems that aren’t tagged properly… it is a whole lot of work. Perhaps my entries here suffer a bit, as I might not have the sheer volume of posts I could, nor do I give proper time to the records that I do write about. So… let me take a little bit of time (obviously not enough!) and tell you about this wonderful little EP by New York City’s Baby Club.

Baby Club is the bedroom recording project of Josephine Painter, at least that is what I have gleaned from her now-defunct website and Instagram accounts. That, or Josephine is also a painter, and those were just clever URL choices. Right off, the title Naivety Scene is extremely clever, and was enough to get me in the door. The production is quite simple, a slow affair of keyboards and vocals. The droning tones and Josephine’s beautiful voice can’t help me from imagining that I’m listening to a stripped-back Beach House Christmas EP. Everyone, please take that as the massive compliment that I intend it to be. The vibe of this record isn’t going to knock you on your ass (which ,of course, is a vibe I also enjoy), but I suspect there are going to be some folks out there (like me) where Naivety Scene gets under your skin…. and I predict it will be during the chorus of “So It Goes.” For folks looking for something more familiar, Baby Club’s version of “Silver and Gold” will scratch that itch while giving you a simple, beautiful organ and vocals version that could just sneak onto a late-night playlist. I see playing cards in front of a fire, drinking hard eggnog while it plays in the background. Maybe invite me over? I’ll be there in six hours!

Bottom Line: Beauty in simplicity.