Tag: indiepop

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Stoylov & Chloé Jara-Buto – biscuit (2024)

Fabrique de Noël
Buy: Bandcamp (NYOP)

In the past 24 hours, I’ve heard about three notable French-language releases. All are worth considering and may very well end up in front of your eyes here on Christmas Underground. However, they all gave me that urge to find out what the heck they were saying. That’s both a good and a bad thing—because when I know what a song is about, it can make me feel more secure in my opinion of it. However… what I love most is when I connect with the music in such a way that I don’t even need a translation.

Montreal’s Stoylov & Chloé Jara-Buto managed to slide into that latter category with their gorgeous 2024 EP, biscuit. I immediately knew I had to share this record with you all—no matter what they’re actually singing about—because this record is about a feeling. It’s loose, warm, and short. They left me wanting more, and honestly, they should always leave you wanting more.

Now, I did do a little translating—not of the lyrics, but of the write-up Stoylov posted on the Bandcamp album page. I found myself oddly emotional reading these two paragraphs, because Stoylov, like many of us here in the alternative Christmassphere, was transformed by the beauty that is Low’s Christmas. However, unlike me, Stoylov wasn’t compelled to start making underground Christmas mixes… he has genuine musical talent, so he found himself with the urge to make some Christmas music of his own. I’ve taken the liberty of posting the translation below:

Recently, while browsing Bandcamp, I stumbled upon Low’s Christmas album. The urge to release some holiday music was simply… irresistible. I decided to work on it, and being quite openly a huge fan of Chloé Jara-Buteau’s music, the idea of ​​joining forces came to me, an idea she enthusiastically shared. So, it was in the hustle and bustle of the famous Rouen studios in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve that we got to work.

I had a couple of demos lying dormant on my hard drive, demos saturated with glockenspiel and sleigh bells. They were useful for getting started. I’m not really used to having company in the embryonic stages of composition: I’m a bit chaotic, sloppy, and capricious. A real little prince. Besides, I’m constantly taking breaks to smoke outside, a really bad habit I’m having a hard time breaking. We still managed pretty well though: three songs and a cover of… Aphex Twin.

Bottom Line: The magic of Low, folks. As if we couldn’t owe them even more—they gave birth to my mix, this blog, and now this beautiful EP. Go forth, listen to biscuit, then pop on Low’s Christmas.

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Magdalena Bay “Last Christmas/Instant Crush” (2016)

girl singing into a microphone while a guy stands in the background playing guitar while wearing a santa hat

Self Released
Buy: Stream on Facebook

I am going to have to take a break from writing about Exnovios (those rascals apparently have ANOTHER Christmas song). This post is really for my friends over at Under the Radar (subscribe!), who I know are in love with LA’s Magdalena Bay. I happened to sniff out this cover of “Last Christmas” that they dropped on their Facebook page back in 2016, the year that the band first got together! It has been scientifically proven that nobody needs another cover of “Last Christmas,” thus, when you put this on your mix, you may get an initial sideeye from your snobby friends. But when Magdalena Bay works Daft Punk and Julian Casablancas’ “Instant Crush” seamlessly into the song, your friend’s face will scrunch up, and they’ll ask, “Who is singing this?” Followed by a, “Fuck, that was fun.” Enjoy!

Bottom Line: A fun nugget from the past with a band of the future!

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Exnovios “Ya Es Navidad” (2025)

Munster Records
Buy: Bandcamp | Vinyl (in the US)

We live in incredible times, as I continue to find Artificial Intelligence more amazing and terrifying as each day passes. I’m desperately trying to avoid ever featuring an AI Christmas song here – but I fear it is just a matter of time. Why the hell am I talking about AI?? Well, because I find myself cherishing folks whom I’ve come to know and love. You see… I know they are human… and I love their music. A wonderful example is Pamplona’s Exnovios, and while they may not have released a Christmas song before (to my knowledge! – THERE IS ANOTHER!), one of their members, Tamu, has released several songs which I have had the pleasure of writing about here on Christmas Underground. So, when Exnovios drops a new record, and I get that Bandcamp email, I’m checking that shit out. They dropped their latest album, Fin, a little over a week ago, and I immediately clocked that tenth track, “Ya Es Navidad” (It’s Christmas!). I know this wasn’t a present specifically for me, but it certainly felt like one. Two chords gently rock back and forth through a song that is so fucking hopeful that you’re going to think you’re in an alternate reality. Who saw that one coming? Everything is so fucked, I was expecting a deluge of grim Christmas tunes.

I needed this song.

Remember me talking about AI? Well, I stripped the vocals, got a transcription, then a translation… all with AI… in about 5 minutes. Wild. I’ve pasted it below, and please excuse the formatting. In addition, if you are either 1) in Exnovios, or 2) fluent in Spanish, please excuse any translation mistakes. I took German in high school… and I can’t vouch for these robots. (EDIT – the robot made some mistakes, and my friend over at Popcasting fixed it!)

Year after year, it happens again, lights and the cold fill my city. I make promises, I ask for peace, and all my dreams will come true. They will come true, they will come true. Another year is here, yet none of my dreams came true, But you’re heare, and nothing can go wrong. The good stuff is yet to come, so much to do, so much to achieve. It’s Christmas already, it’s Christmas already. One year is over and a new one begins. It’s Christmas already. Ha. It’s Christmas.

Bottom Line: One of my favorites of the season so far, from some of my favorite people to boot. Go buy their record, Fin, as I am currently listening to it.. and wow this thing is great.

LISTEN

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Kean Kavanagh “Christmas Mode” (2023)

Soft Boy Records
Buy: Bandcamp

Irish singer/songwriter Kean Kavanagh has captured something special with his 2023 holiday track “Christmas Mode.” Soulful and nostalgic, while keeping that edge and dropping some f-bombs, this song makes you think you’re going to bobbing to a smooth Steve Parks-esque jam, then he hits you with that emotional, fuzzed-out finish. Damn Kean. That one took me on a journey.

Bottom Line: This one is hard to classify if you’re trying to stick to a genre… and that is a good thing!

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HBM Presents: Sleigh the Holidays, Volume 2 (2025)

A cartoon of a woman in a mrs claus outfit laying down with "Sleigh the Holidays" in script above her.

Head Bitch Music
Buy: Bandcamp | Apple Music | Spotify

If you’re a casual reader of my blog, you probably have a sense of what my values are. I’ll admit that some topics have more gray areas than others, and I can entertain good-faith arguments from folks on many issues. However, when it comes to racism, sexism, or homophobia, I don’t have time for it. There’s a basic human decency that should be the bare minimum—our shared humanity. The pendulum has been swinging the wrong way on this most fundamental principle, so when I see something that pushes back, I’m going to give it a listen.

Head Bitch Music, a full-service music production house based in LA, dropped HBM Presents: Sleight the Holidays, Volume 2 today, partnering with Jack Antonoff’s charity, The Ally Coalition, to raise funds for LGBTQIA+ youth by supporting organizations dedicated to improving their lives. The record is full of excellently produced, modern pop Christmas songs. There are classic covers (e.woolf’s “A Marshmallow World”), modern covers (Niki DeMar & Julianne Hope covering girl in red’s “Two Queens in a King Sized Bed”), a solid number of originals, and even something in between a cover and an original (Olivia Reid’s “Singing in the Snow”).

There’s a lot here to check out. The record does skew quite pop—very well-done pop, the kind you could easily hear out and about this Christmas season—but pop isn’t the language I’m best suited for. Still, I’m going to highlight two tracks for you to check out that I feel come closest to the Christmas Underground vibe.

The Blah Blah Blahs’ “retro glamwave” take on “Jingle Bells” had me thinking about The Waitresses ripping through this classic Thanksgiving (yes, THANKSGIVING) song. It’s not a tune I normally find particularly enjoyable, but they’ve infused it with a level of fun that should require a photo ID.


LA’s Skyler Cocco‘s “snowglobe” is an indiepop ode to a Los Angeles Christmas. Skyler is originally from NYC, so I can imagine the balmy LA Christmas making you feel out-of-sorts… and this song captures that beautifully.

Can we pretend we’re in a snowglobe?
Shake up this city Christmas Eve
Stick out your tongue
And taste the falling snow
Like silver glitter on the beach

This is on my mix shortlist now, as it is giving me strong girlhouse vibes, who released one of my absolute favorite Christmas tunes a few years ago (“Ugly Xmas Sweater Party“).

Bottom Line: Absolutely essential for those pop music Christmas fans, and even has a few treats for weirdos like me.

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The Bret Tobias Set “25th December” (2023)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp (NYOP)

There are so many songs that I’ve been meaning to write about – had this one in the drafts for 2 years! You should see my email or my text messages… even worse.

Philly’s The Bret Tobias Set, led by the titular Bret Tobias (ex The Bigger Lovers), recorded this lovely version of Everything But the Girl’s “25th December,” lending a jangling, more dense orchestration to contrast with the more sparse original. A very nice change of pace indeed.

Bottom Line: A great cover of an indie-Christmas classic.

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Devon “Staying Home…” (2021)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

It’s quickly coming up on November — that time when we all start to expect new songs to drop. There have been a few here and there, sneaking onto records (like the excellent Sister Ray track), but these October days are often full of old songs newly discovered. So, let’s flash back to 2021 — which feels like both yesterday and forever ago.

Devon hails from Gloucestershire, England, and back in 2021 he dropped a very COVID-era Christmas single, “Staying Home…” While you can certainly feel those days coming through in this song, the roots haven’t quite anchored it in time, never to leave. This is a song about mental health, compassion, and all those feelings of love and loss that get mixed up and spun around at Christmas.

This isn’t just a COVID Christmas song. Multiple listens, folks — it’s a grower.

Bottom Line: It’s sad, happy, thoughtful, loving, quiet, loud… and worth your time.

LISTEN

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J. “Christmas” Phillips – Spring Into J. “Christmas” Phillips (2024)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

I may have tipped my hand in the last post… something about cocaine (Edit: The more I think about it… it must be heroin, not cocaine being referenced in the song I’m about to talk about) and New Zealand if you recall. This blog is, of course, a serial that requires you to read every other post to get the context of what is going on. So get to work, new readers… you’ve got a few years to catch up on before we really get going in December.

A member of the Christchurch, New Zealand electropop band Mount Pleasant, J. “Christmas” Phillips dropped this solo record last November, Spring into J. “Christmas” Phillips, which continues a massive back catalogue of Christmas-related releases under both the Mount Pleasant moniker, as well as via the duo of J. “Christmas” Phillips and Tobias “Santa” Brockie. There is a LOT to sample here… I’m counting over 10 obviously-Christmas releases. How the heck did these guys fly under my radar for so long??

Readers of this blog will know that I’m going to pick out a few tracks to talk about, rather than the entire record, as I am terrified of setting such a precedent. So let’s begin with the track I’ve been teasing, “Snorting a Line.” I love discovering songs so unexpected that you inadvertently pull a face- WTF is this thing going to be? Well, obviously, an alt-country via indiepop Christmas song about getting high with your love on Christmas! Can’t say I partake, but lines like “I can’t believe I have your love. / Hold me close, hold me tight! / Like it’s our last Christmas tonight!” are both incredibly sweet and low-key dark… making it a truly intriguing song. “Snorting a Line” proved to be the hook that pulled me into the rest of the record, so grab my hand and let’s jump in further.

“Christmas with Chloe” is crooning electro-pop that feels equally genuine and glossy, two unexpected flavors bound to tease your tastebuds. J. “Christmas” Phillips has a swagger in his delivery that pairs perfectly with his imperfections – he sounds both incredibly personal, yet affected at the same time. I can’t pin this song down… but it sure does explode with love, and I’m happy to wrap myself in the shrapnel.

Finally, let’s talk about the WONDERFULLY-titled final track, “Christmas Artist of His Generation.” This is an indiepop/electro-pop instrumental that blends these (post-punk?) guitar lines with electro-pop synths. What a fucking combination. I’ll have a second helping.

I am only one album into J. “Christmas” Phillips’ holiday back catalogue. Let’s GOOOOOO.

Bottom Line: This artist/band is totally something I’ll bet a reader sent me years ago. To this person who no doubt exists, I apologize. How the hell did J. “Christmas” Phillips elude me for so long?? WELL. That ends today!

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Remy Bond “Christmas in Kokomo” (2024)

Self Released?
Buy: Stream (so far)

Half the fun—and the struggle—of having a hobby and a website like this silly one is the search. I love and hate it equally. Still, the rush of finding a great song is real—you know the feeling. I hate to admit I can often judge a book by its cover, but… years of experience suggest I usually can. So when someone defies my inner bias, well, I find that delightful.

Which brings me to New York–based singer-songwriter Remy Bond, whose image is a mix of Sabrina Carpenter and Paris Hilton, sent back in time with Lana Del Rey to hang out with the Ronettes. Remy’s been a child actress and a child reality TV chef (no joke), but over the past few years, she’s been steadily working in the NYC music scene—eventually signing with Warner Records in February of this year.

So far, that bio and the major-label connection don’t exactly scream Christmas Underground material, do they? Well, screw that—I don’t have enough readers to maintain an image anyway!

Remy dropped a Spectoresque Christmas single last December, “Christmas in Kokomo,” that’s damn enjoyable—though complicated by the fact that it’s impossible to buy and hard to stream. Spotify? Nope. Apple Music? Nope. YouTube? Yes. SoundCloud? Yup. Super weird that this genuinely great single is, by all accounts, “unreleased,” though I suspect it’s primed to resurface this holiday season with a major label behind it.

Look at me! Covering the big leagues! We all know I’ll be back to writing about weird cocaine Christmases from New Zealand tomorrow….

Bottom Line: I’m pretty down with this retro futurism.

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Art Acoustic “X-Mas in the Woods” (2010)

Self Released
Buy: Soundcloud (FREE!)

As we all stumble through the darkest timeline, I find myself reaching for comfort food. If you’ve been reading this blog over the past thirteen years, you probably know that my north star is Swedish indiepop. So hold my hand, and let’s travel back to 2010. We’ll listen to this perfect three-minute specimen that represents everything I love about Swedish indiepop: lyrics that mix melancholy with sweetness, paired with upbeat electro-indiepop-disco—absolute perfection.

Art Acoustic may have disappeared from the searchable internet in 2013, but “X-Mas in the Woods” has remained on my playlist ever since I first pressed play. That was another time. It feels like we’re a million miles away from it now.

Hope you enjoy, and welcome to 2025. We are all in this thing together.

Bottom Line: Swedish pop perfection from a long-lost project. Art Acoustic – should you ever find this, drop me a line.

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