Tag: 4+

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The Cave Singers “Christmas Night” (2015)

Cave Singers - Banshee

Self Released
Buy: Stream | Bandcamp

Seattle’s the Cave Singers‘ fifth album, Banshee, is slated to be released in February, but that hasn’t kept them from releasing (well, streaming) their Christmas song, “Christmas Night!” I almost feel silly writing about it, since it has been mentioned in a number of much, much, much higher-profile venues such as KEXP, where it debuted, and Stereogum. However, the song is just too good to ignore.

Yeah a change might come alright
To go and live a different way
That’s the only thing I haven’t done
See it’s a strange little life
You going to make it in time

The song has us looking out at the world, seeing an experience that isn’t ours. When presented with bitterness and fear, you instead discover love and hope. As frontman Pete Quirk said about this song, “I guess it’s hard for fear to play you like a puppet, with love in your heart.” Beautiful.

Bottom Line: The complicated optimism of “Christmas Night” makes me think of the Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life; There is a thoughtfulness to the optimism that isn’t all-too-sweet, and I appreciate that tremendously. If I were the Cave Singers, I might open up this song for purchase ahead of the album; It is good enough to buy twice! They’ve got it for purchase on Bandcamp!

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Joseph Bradshaw & Kyle Cox – Merry Christmas from Coast to Coast (2015)

Joseph Bradshaw & Kyle Cox - Merry Christmas from Coast to Coast (2015)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

Nashville’s Kyle Cox has a long history of Christmas tunes, just check out his Bandcamp page! This year, rather than a one-off single, Kyle got together with a fellow musician from Los Angeles, Joseph Bradshaw, and the two put their heads and songs together to create a 4-track Christmas EP,  appropriately titled Merry Christmas from Coast to Coast. Consisting of 2 covers, and 2 originals, I am going to focus on the originals… because they are wonderful.

Joseph Bradshaw’s “Christmas is Always” is an absolutely gorgeous old-time, uptempo country waltz. Joseph’s voice reminds me of Dave Wilson from Chatham County Line, which I would consider a high compliment. The lyrics are truly beautiful: “Christmas is always / it’s ever with you. / When your heart’s full and glad / then you’ll know that it’s true. / So always remember, / whatever you do, / that Christmas is always / it’s ever with you.” In my last post I decried the need some have for pro-Christmas songs… but I’ll tell ya, there has to be a balance, and this song’s pro-Christmas beauty will help sustain a season of dirges.

Kyle Cox’s “Don’t Make My Christmas Blue” begins, and immediately I began thinking – is this an Avett Brothers tune?? I mean that in the best of ways – I know there are some serious Avett detractors out there, but I pretty much adore everything from Emotionalism and earlier. Its simple arrangement, heartfelt vocals, and lovely production blend together beautifully. “I know this time of year can bring you down; / Everyone but you is floating on a cloud. / But it’s hard to feel it, / this Christmas spirit, / when every day you only say how much you really hate it. / I won’t say happy holidays to you / and you don’t have to act like you want me to / No, I won’t say happy holidays to you / if you don’t try to make my Christmas blue.” The Avetts should cover it… and make Kyle a boatload of money!

Bottom Line: The always-wonderful Mad Mackerel first hipped me to this release, and I’m quite glad they did. All four tracks are done quite well, most especially the pair of originals, which are some of the country/folk standouts of the season. Name your own price and send them a few bucks, why don’t you?

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Early Cartographers featuring Kid Conventional “What Will You Open? (An Invitation to Christmas)” (2015)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

I’ve been following Sheffield’s Early Cartographers‘ Christmas single creation on Facebook for a while now, awaiting its debut. From tweets that I’ve seen, I knew it was going to be a bit of tearjerker. Indeed, “What Will You Open? (An Invitation to Christmas),” walks amongst those songs that ponder the meaning of it all… let them explain:

This song is an invitation to Christmas. It was written by a notorious grinch and attempts to take into consideration those who find Christmas a difficult time to stomach, whether that be due to apathy, unhappy memories, poverty, disillusionment or social anxiety.

I know that St. Etienne has recently sparked a discussion amongst my fellow indie Christmas brothers and sisters with their suggestion that Christmas songs must be “pro-Christmas.” I think that is far too simplistic an approach for what can be a very complicated time of year. If any of you have seen the excellent documentary Jingle Bell Rocks!, you’ll see that Mitchell’s love of Christmas music was forged by hearing a song that wasn’t all jingle bells and tinsel, Nat King Cole’s “The Boy the Santa Claus Forgot.” In that song, he discovered that he wasn’t alone with his conflicted feelings toward Christmas, and through that relationship, has embraced the holiday for everything that it truly is, not simply the “joy.”

“What Will You Open” is one of those songs that spark contemplation, and I appreciate this. I don’t want every song to be Christmas-party appropriate; Some songs need to tug and poke at your emotions to bring balance to the season. I think it’s all too appropriate that such a song would also be benefiting HARC (Homeless and Rootless at Christmas). Christmas isn’t Christmas for everyone, but throw a few bucks toward a great Christmas song and a worthy cause, and you’ll be a bit closer to making this Christmas a little brighter.

Bottom Line: Gorgeous instrumentation, thoughtful sentiment and a worthy cause make this Early Cartographers track well worth the wait.

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Crying Day Care Choir – Christmas Day Care Choir Vol. 2 (2015)

Christmas Day Care Choir Vol. 2

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

I awoke this morning to a lovely note from Sweden. The Crying Day Care Choir felt the love from around the world for the premiere of the first two tracks off their upcoming Christmas Day Care Choir Vol. 2, and decided to change it from “upcoming” to “released” – and one day early! You can find it on Bandcamp! Tomorrow, I’d imagine you can find it on Amazon, Spotify, etc… (but Bandcamp gives the band a bigger cut FYI). So you Christmas-mixers, your life just got easier, and perhaps you can finally finish your mix and relax. I would like to take a quick moment and share the Christmas message that CDCC has sent out with this release, as it projects the same warmth as their music, and sets the scene for you to imagine the cozy studio where these wonderful songs were born:

In the winter of 2013 we came up with the idea that we would write and record a Christmas EP. That time we were pretty late and recorded it in our living room. However, it should be mentioned that it was a success and that we managed to generate almost 2000 USD that we gave to charity. Two years later, we are now presenting “Christmas Day Care Choir VOLUME 2.” An EP with four newly composed Christmas classics that came about during a week full of mulled wine and gingerbread in our studio in Malmö. The album begins in an Irish Christmas party one would like lasted all year, via a desire to be able to keep Christmas in a small jar, a dream of a very special Holiday free from expectations, to then culminate in a hymn for the season. We have made the EP happy, warm and kind-hearted. Just as we think Christmas should be. With warm wishes, Crying Day Care Choir

I can’t imagine a year that doesn’t have its own challenges, its own war, its own famine or injustice. This world is a complicated and brutal one, and I have certainly felt its weight this season. Leave it to Crying Day Care Choir to find the beauty that we have all been looking for. The sheer joy of community, friendship and family that rise up from every harmony, every melody, every poignant lyric – it can snap you out of your stupor to appreciate what the season means. Volume 2 is a work of pure love, and I cannot recommend it enough.

Of special note, while it does require you to wait a few days to pick up the EP, between Dec. 13-19, CDCC will be donating all Bandcamp proceeds from their 2 Christmas EPs to the national Swedish radio charity for people fleeing climate disasters. However, for those who just cannot wait to grab Volume 2, just circle back and buy 2013’s Volume 1 on December 13th!

Bottom Line: There is no shortage of beauty on this collection of four new Christmas classics, but I encourage you to also revisit Vol. 1, as they are two of the strongest releases of original Christmas music I have had the pleasure of listening to.

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Crying Day Care Choir “Once a Year” (2015)

Christmas Day Care Choir Vol. 2

Self Released?
Buy: Bandcamp | Soundcloud (Free!)

The folk troupe Crying Day Care Choir have previously been featured on this blog, and will continue to be featured until the end of time. They have a second Christmas EP lined up to drop next week, and thankfully they have left a wonderful trail of breadcrumbs for us to gobble up until that time. Just premiering on the Swedish blog Beingblogged, “Once a Year” is the kind of wonderful Christmas song that I just LOVE to put on a mix. Not only is the music wonderful, but the lyrics are amazing. “Do a sleigh ride , next to a hayride, during Gay Pride in July”

If I wasn’t feeling so damn poor… I want to buy their (nonseasonal) LPs so bad! RIGHT NOW! Please save me one!!!

Bottom Line: Perfect Swedish indie folk. That is nearly my favorite genre, done as well as any band could ever hope to.  (Its official, killing the rating system to give myself sanity, but damn this is good).

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The Grubby Mitts “Come on Home for Christmas” (2014)

Grubby Mitts - Come On Home for Christmas

Lost Toys Records
Buy: Free!

“I know you really want me / I know you really want me / so come on home / it’s Christmas darling / so come on home. / I’ve seen the way you look at him, / all bleary-eyed and doughly-lipped. / Yeah, I’ve seen the way you look at him. / And you’re so cruel to him, / when it’s me you want / So come on home.”

“Come on Home for Christmas,” takes a very direct approach to the “it’s Christmas, please come home” trope. I don’t think I’ve heard a narrator have at one time have such a sad tone, but such confident lyrics; The vocal delivery is perfection. The walking piano and drums that lay the rhythm set a beautiful scene for all the instrumentation that creeps in by the second verse, and when you do notice, it’s damn beautiful. The Grubby Mitts recorded “Come on Home for Christmas” for Tom Ravenscroft’s BBC 6Music festive programme last year, so it was a late-season release that may have gotten overlooked by some who try to get their mix done early (like me!). Thankfully, they also released the track on Soundcloud for free download.

Bottom Line: Really an interesting, beautiful song that finds a new way to say “Baby, come home for Christmas.” 4.8/5

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Sweet Baboo “Don’t Be Alone (This Christmas)” (2015)

Moshi Moshi
Buy: Bandcamp | Moshi Moshi (MP3/LP) | iTunes UK | Amazon.UK (LP) | Amazon.DE (LP)

Welsh artist Sweet Baboo is no stranger to Christmas tunes, having appeared on Bubblewrap Collective’s 12 Days of Christmas in 2009. I dug that track, but not nearly as much as this BEAUTY. To be officially released in February on the Dennis EP (named after Dennis Wilson no doubt), Sweet Baboo channels the best parts of the Beach Boys (the Wilsons) and lets us know that even Santa needs someone to call. The ending brings resounding joy in a wall of sound. Everyone needs someone to love.

Bottom Line: I think I’ve listened to this song about 15 times today. For one day only, available as a free download here. Still free.. now via Bandcamp. 5/5

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Premiere: The Ornaments “The Ornaments Won’t Hang Themselves (Alone For The Holidays)” (2015)

The Ornaments Won't Hang Themselves

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

Yet another premiere! You may remember the Ornaments are the annual, non-religious Christmas music project of Mike Behrends and Lance Owens. They put out a fantastic square, lathe-cut 7″ & download last year, beginning a project specifically meant to get these two friends together. They swore to release a Christmas 7″ and play one show from now until to the end of time. Now… I have to warn everyone that time has indeed stopped, for the Ornaments are download-only this year, thus signaling the end of time to the rest of the world. However, I do not hold it against this fine band, for they have added yet another interesting Christmas song to their burgeoning Christmas portfolio. “The Ornaments Won’t Hang Themselves (Alone for the Holidays)” has lovely, simple orchestration – programmed beats, hammond organ, some guitar, bells and synths. I really, really enjoy the melody; it has certainly wormed its way in my head. The subject matter trades in, as the title suggests, the melancholy of Christmas. Let the Ornaments describe it…

Christmas isn’t as wonderfully fun and family-filled as we are all led to believe in old holiday movies and songs. Especially for our fictional protagonist from Cadott, Wisconsin, whose girl has left him alone with a car that can’t make it through the snow and a garage full of Christmas decorations they used to put up together. All he wants is one more Christmas dance. Is that too much to ask?

Sad, yet lovely. I think I like the ending the best.

Bottom Line: This is one of those songs to sit back with a glass of spiked eggnog, and sink into as if it were a short story. 4.5/5

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Premiere: Young War “Winter in the City” (2015)

Young War - Winter in the City

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

HOW ABOUT THIS?!? Our first premiere, and a whopper at that! Manchester R&B duo Young War‘s “I Won’t Come Back For Christmas” was a highlight of the 2014 Christmas season, and Christmas Underground is proud to present their beautiful new track, “Winter in the City.” The duo of Thom Stone and Simon Facey have found their own rich vein of Christmas longing, and continue to mine it expertly. “Winter in the City” leans more toward Young War’s R&B roots than last year’s track, and the sparse beats, ringing guitar lines and beautiful melody perfectly compliment the conflicted narrator’s sense of yearning and loss: “I’m losing my mind and I tried to warn you. / Now you’re spending Christmas in California. / I can’t be sad, I don’t have the right, / but when it started to snow, I think I started to cry.” Young War create an atmosphere which envelops the listener to walk the city streets alone, snow dancing in the moonlight, missing the one you love. Just plain beautiful.

Bottom Line: Young War + Christmas = Perfection. This is modern R&B Christmas at its finest. This song deserves a wide audience, so join me and spread its reach far and wide. 5/5

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Communist Daughter “Blue Spruce Needles” (2015)

Communist Daughter - Blue Spruce Needles

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

St. Paul, Minnesota’s Communist Daughter certainly have a thing for sad, sad Christmas songs. They recently played a gig billed as “singing the most depressing Christmas songs they know.” YES! I like this band! Thankfully, they have recorded one proper, sad Christmas song with a lovely cover of The Boy Least Likely To’s “Blue Spruce Needles.” The male/female harmonies are absolutely perfect for the song as if they were always meant to be there. Further delving into their choices – the slower pace of the song, and the sparse instrumentation – Communist Daughter has made this song feel wholly different from the original and beautiful in its own right. I believe that TBLLT would have to agree…

Bottom Line: Communist Daughter may have covered a song., but they uncovered its true soul. How about a download? 🙂 4.7/5

EDIT: They do have a download option now! They released a 4-song Christmas EP, Sing Sad Christmas, available at most digital outlets!

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