Tag: indie rock

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Christmas Off the Coast (2009)

Christmas Off the Coast

Decoder Magazine
Buy: Free!

After listening to the STELLAR winter/Christmas mix “The Way Snowflakes Fall” by cherrystarscollide on 8tracks, I found myself scrambling to hunt down some new Christmas tunes I had never heard. The main target of my affection was the stellar “Winter (Christmas Song)” by Memoryhouse. Known to many via their recent Sub Pop release, The Slideshow Effect, I was amazed to find a song from 2009 floating out there that nobody seemed to be talking about! After some digging, I found that Decoder Magazine had put out a small, free compilation back in 2009 titled Christmas Off the Coast, but to my dismay, all the links were broken and the original files had been lost on a stolen computer’s hard drive! So, I threw out a few shots in the dark and landed the entire release (thanks cherrystarscollide!!!). You may kindly download it from the link above, or right here. As for the songs themselves, this is a pretty strong release. The Memoryhouse track, of course, is wonderful. I wish they would release it as a FLAC on their Bandcamp!! Woodsman’s cover of “Little Drummer Boy” is actually palatable too… because its an instrumental! I never realized… I really just HATE THE WORDS! Weed Diamond‘s “Christmas, Baby Please Come Home” is perfectly fine too. Fuzzed out with a more lo-fi feel, it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but there are parts (this one guitar part inparticular) that separate it from the pack. Wasters’ “Holiday” is another great instrumental piece that, with its brevity, just might sneak onto a mix. I Am the Dot‘s “Blue Christmas” is electro-on-the-edges enough to be interesting as well, for a song I generally don’t gravitate to.

Bottom Line: This is a great release – and I’m happy to bring it back to the masses! I could never give something a perfect score when it has “Little Drummer Boy” or “Blue Christmas,” but forget my personal prejudices and add another .5 to a release that you can enjoy all the way through. 4.5/5

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Too Pure Singles Club – Seize the Chair / Best Friends 7″ (2013)

Too Pure Singles Christmas

Too Pure Singles Club
Buy: Please don’t buy them all before I get some money together.

Wow. Garage rock Christmas heaven with Seize the Chair and Best Friends. I had seen this 7″ posted here and there, but hadn’t had a chance to really listen to it yet. I will not waste any more of your time – the listen links are below.

Bottom Line: HOLY $%^&. One of my favorite Christmas releases.  5/5

LISTEN

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Wild Nothing “One Christmas Catalogue” (2013)

Wild Nothing - One Christmas Catalogue

Self-Released
Buy: Stream

Well thank you so much Bob and the Christmas Chaos Radio Show! I have been buying Wild Nothing records ever since his first Summer Holiday 7″ , and boy am I happy to find this pop into my life. Wild Nothing takes this fantastic Captain Sensible song and really makes it their own. Their Empty Estate-era synth-heavy production definitely works for this tune. Certainly one that I would love to get ahold of someday… how about it Wild Nothing?? Add a download link of a WAV file? Yes… I ask for the moon.

Bottom Line: Wild Nothing needs to cover more Christmas tunes. 5/5

LISTEN

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Adam Arcuragi “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)” (2011)

Adam Arcuragi - Baby Please Come Home

Self-Released
Buy: Bandcamp

Adam Arcuragi has a number Christmas tunes… and every damn one is excellent. He has been on 2 of my mixes, and this one narrowly missed making it onto this year’s (strictly a flow thing). It will remain the in the hopper for 2014…

This version of the oft-covered “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home),” has just what I look for in a cover – originality in interpretation. He re-imagines it with much darker production, slowing it down and finishing with a beautifully emotional last chorus. Hey, its short too. I always gotta love a short one, especially when its slowed down.

Bottom Line: I will likely write about Adam’s other tunes, but if you are so inclined, hunt down “The Belgian” and “Christmas Song.” This man needs to put out a Christmas record. 4.7/5

LISTEN

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Christmas Aguilera “This Sky” (2013)

Christmas Aguilera - THe Sky

Self-Released
Buy: Bandcamp

Christmas Aguilera can pretty much do no wrong in my book… and with very little additional information as to who this mysterious group is, here they go and put out another wonderful Christmas tune. “This Sky” is the A-side to their brand-spanking-new charity digital single (as in, there is a B-side), and it is glorious. With their trademark sense of humor, and wonderful ability to find an intriguing hook, this tale of an economic misfortune cockblock (pardon my language) is not to be missed. Oh, and all the net profits go to Crisis, the national charity for the homeless in the UK. So don’t be a jerk and buy everything they’ve ever put out, OK?

Bottom Line: I LOVE THIS SONG. Well done guys. Please keep the tradition alive next year. 5/5

LISTEN

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Haus of PINS presents Hymns (2013)

Haus of PINS

Haus of PINS
Buy: For 2014! Green Cassette Repress & Download

Haus of PINS has one of the more intriguing comps this year. I wish I had more funds to pick up the cassette version of the release, but adding in that overseas P&P has me settling for the download. I will ammend this entry at a later date when I have a moment to review it, but for now, here is what they have to say about it.

Reposted from Haus of PINS:

Haus of PINS are proud to present their last release of the year – a hand-crafted, limited edition Christmas complication cassette, titled ‘Hymns’. PINS have contributed their Christmas song, ‘Kiss Me Quickly (It’s Christmas)’ and collaborated with eleven other bands – some Haus of PINS artists, some Manchester bands, and some friends from elsewhere – to create a Christmas compliation tape of completely original material. Faith of PINS says, ‘Some of the bands already had the songs, other bands wrote a song exclusively for it, which I’m honoured by.’ Bands involve include Post War Glamour Girls, September Girls, Brown Brogues and many more.

All of the proceeds from ‘Hymns’ will be given to SWAP, a charity that helps refugees and asylum seekers in the North. Faith explains ‘My grandfather volunteers for the charity, he goes every week – he’s 81 years old and still chooses to spend his time doing this really admirable thing. I think he is an inspiration.’

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An Indiecater Christmas (2008)

an Indiecater Christmas

Indiecater Records
Buy: Bandcamp | 7Digital MP3

An Indiecater Christmas was Indiecater Records‘ first foray into Christmas tunes, beginning a streak that ended in 2011. But wait… set your clocks for December 1, because 2013’s edition is not far away! But I digress – 2008 felt like a moment in time where a wealth of comprehensive indie Christmas comps were coming out (as opposed to the single tracks that I see more frequently now), and An Indiecater Christmas is one of those must-have releases of yesteryear.

There are plenty of good songs on this record, but I will call out a few for review’s sake. The Very Most, purveyors of generally excellent Christmas tunes, give us the jingle-bell heavy “This Year, Christmas Came on November 4th.”  A solid tune, that could sneak its way onto anyone’s Christmas mix without much trouble.

Jape and David Kitt (YES!) contribute an appropriately titled “I Will Cry this Christmas.” While I do enjoy the vibe, and even the song in general, I can’t bring myself to put it on a mix. Perhaps your mix will have different needs – because its an excellent song – and I f*ing love David Kitt. I wish he would do another Christmas tune…

My Teenage Stride‘s “Is it Christmastime Already,” has a vibe and production value that makes you think that it is already a Christmas classic. Any major-label band that wants to pick it up, cover it, and throw it on their platinum-selling Christmas record will likely make this song a holiday staple.

There are many other good songs on this record – but when it comes to large compilations, and with my job/child/computer problems, brevity shall be my mantra.

Bottom Line: Great price, great songs, why not? 4/5

LISTEN

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The Christmas Club “Child’s Christmas In Wales” (2013)

Christmas Club 2013

Self-Released
Buy: Free!

The Christmas Club is back for another year! Sneaking up on me in my Soundcloud feed, The Christmas Club’s most recent release for 2013 (they have already done an… interesting… version of Fairytale of New York) is a cover of Dylan Thomas & John Cale’s “Child’s Christmas in Whales.” The result is an excellent version of a wonderful song. While I may still be partial to the Superchunk version, The Christmas Club have found that grittiness that this song needs to really seal the deal. I’ll be looking forward to whatever else they have instore for us this holiday season. They will likely be setting up a donation for City Harvest again, so if you like it and download it, be sure to check back to see how you can help.

Bottom Line: A well-produced, excellent cover of a wonderful song. 4/4

LISTEN

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The Wave Pictures “I Love You Like a Madman” (2008)

Wave Pictures - Instant Coffee Baby

Moshi Moshi / Little Teddy
Buy: Discogs (CD/LP) | Bandcamp

Every so often, I strike gold and pull out a double, as in I love the Christmas song and also find that I love the band. The Wave Pictures are indeed one of those true finds, that hooks me in the Xmas and reels me in for the rest of their catalog. Their 2008 release, Instant Coffee Baby, contains “I Love You Like a Madman,” one of the most interesting and enjoyable Christmas songs I have ever experienced. Their style is as if Jonathan Richman had listened to a good bit of Dexys Midnight Runners while reading Raymond Carver stories (I am stretching here… I can’t find the perfect combo). The chorus begins with “The air in here is dead / But we’re not finished yet / Throw the back door open / Let me see your breath.” It’s this kind of simple, visceral visual that I find in Evan Dando at his best and David Berman at his most poignant, and is indeed, a large part of why I love music.

Bottom Line: Like a weird short story that you can’t help but see yourself in. 5/5

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Christmas Underground (2001)

christmas-underground

bumbleBEAR/Planting Seeds Records
Buy: Discogs Good luck!

It was only a matter of time until I reviewed the inspiration for my blog’s title. Christmas Underground was a 2001 release by Planting Seeds Records & bumbleBEAR Records, with the 30+ tracks (some are just greetings) shared by both their indiepop/lo-fi rosters. I wish I could say that it was the gem that I was hoping it would be. The main reason I hunted this comp down was the slight overlap with Kindercore Records Christmas 2, one of my absolute favorite Christmas records of all time. When I say slight, I truly mean slight – I think one band overlaps, The Wee Turtles. Their track, “By Golly, They’ve Dehydrated Christmas,” is one of two tracks that I can come back to. The other is The National Splits “Let’s Wrap Each Other,” which is a frolicking song that begins with “My nose just started to bleed / and there’s grass stains on my jeans / aw, there’s your red and your green.” I just like the attitude that comes off that song. Bugs Eat Books also contribute “Waiting on the Sun,” which has a nice atmosphere and contains the title amongst its lyrics. The rest of the album has some somewhat passable originals and traditional songs (which I normally find quite boring), but it also has some stuff that I just can’t listen to for more than 15 seconds.

Bottom Line: Could be the victim of high expectations – I can admit that. That doesn’t change the fact that I just don’t enjoy most of this record.  2.3/5

LISTEN

The National Splits – Let’s Wrap Each Other