So, Thanksgiving has me traveling this year, and thus, I’m a bit more distracted than I normally am at this crucial moment in the Christmas music release schedule. I’ll do my best to drop a post here and there when I can… but hey, some years are going to be more fruitful than others I suppose.
Memphis’ Cheyenne Marrs dropped a wonderful Christmas original last year that I missed. This is indeed a trend. I’m looking forward to all my posts next year about the songs I missed this year! “Santa’s Lament” is not the Father Guido Sarducci song from 1995 – so while the content is a bit humorous, it is not Dr. Demento-humorous. I loved the lyrics, – Santa busting his ass for everyone, straining his back, not getting any cookies – thought it is the music that hooked me. The percussion that begins the song propels the song along until “the work is done” and the horns begin to creep in for the big ending. It is a fun one. I do hope you enjoy it.
Bottom Line: Give thanks to folks who make the music you love, and check out Cheyenne’s 2023 debut full-length “Everybody Wants to Go Home.”
I hope you all aren’t afraid of some grand, sincere, emotion in your Christmas songs. Montreal’s Elliot Maginot has returned with his annual tune (often featured on CU!), and it raises the drama of what has already been a pretty grandiose Christmas catalog. “Waiting on Christmas” begins with Elliot nearly in a whisper, and as the emotion grows, so do the strings. The centerpiece of the song is the lovely spoken word in the refrain provided by Michael Taylor Hick, whose lines are initially echoed by Elliot in the background, “I will lay down my head / I will forgive my body / shedding my pain as I go / I will show only love to they neighbor / I’ll let in everyone that I know / I’ve been waiting on Christmas / just to let it snow down on me.”
I feel that. Somehow I’ve got this little part of me that thinks this Christmas will fill us with the strength we need to get through the uncertain year we have awaiting us. This song captures that, with the hope that everyone accesses that well of shared humanity.
Bottom Line: Elliot Maginot is a truly unique voice. Listen with an open mind.
Of all places… The Fader (not known for breaking new Christmas music) tipped me off to this excellent new Christmas tune by Pleasure Systems (aka Clarke Sondermann). Well, certainly glad I caught it, as “Merry Christmas” is one of the strongest bedroom pop tracks of the year to date. Laid back, with lyrical and sonic twists that keep you engaged throughout, Clarke’s relaxed speak-singing style (as well as the lyrical approach) gave me some real Soltero vibes (who also have Christmas songs… that I might have to write about as well). (Edit: How did I not hear a Postal Service comparison before! Totally!) The song is warm, with fluttering accents popping in and out of the arrangement. There is a lot here in less than three minutes. Leave them wanting more, and I do.
Reading a bit about the motivation behind the song, I felt this rang true for many of the Christmas-ish songs I tend to feature on Christmas Underground. Clarke states “Merry Christmas” is, “A meditation on holidays as marking points in time… not quite Christmas music, instead utilizing familiar winter imagery as a backdrop for self-reflection on cyclical relationships and past versions of oneself.”
Christmas really does have a power, and whether you are a believer or not, the nostalgia, the sentimentality, or simply the flagpole it plants at the end of every year is something that many of us grapple with, whether we are aware of it or not. There is a heightening to everything… fertile ground for good art if you can find your way inside the artifice. I think Pleasure Systems found themselves a key.
A quick final note. For those who like holiday vinyl, there’s a 7-inch that is limited to 100 copies. Feel free to send me one if you are feeling generous!
Bottom Line: My son really started grooving on it last night, and was happy to have me play it over and over… so that is a rather large vote for this being mixworthy. He is really going to have a weird concept of classic Christmas music when he’s my age 🙂
Kristian Noel Pederson is so full of Christmas spirit, he just might burst. Year after year, he releases his jolly spirit in the form of Christmas records, and some years are jollier than most. This year we’re getting two records from Kristian and friends. The first one is a front-to-back reimagining of the classic Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers’ 1984 Christmas record, Once Upon a Christmas. This is Kristian’s wife’s favorite record… so it appears Kristian is putting all of us to shame in the gift-giving department. Teaming up with Rob Currie, Andrew Currie, and Michael McDonald (not that one!), the collaborative project gets a “You, Me & The Curries” billing, with Kristian’s upcoming record continuing his solo series. The guests on this are quite excellent as well, most notably Bet Smith in the pivotal Dolly role!
Christmas a GoGo! did a great job giving more context to the production of the record, quoting Kristian, “I’ve always been a bit turned off by the 80s production, and wanted to reimagine the album as a fast paced, country album. Admittedly, it gets a little wild at times, but all in all, I’m so happy with how it turned out.” They have created an absolutely charming, heartfelt cover record that I’m sure you’ll find a few favorites on. Of particular note, this is the first time (if I am not mistaken) that Kristian is releasing a record on a physical format – the beloved cassette tape! Only 15 available online (2 gone already – ordered one for me and one for @noloveforned), so go now if you want one!
FYI: This is not the first time Kristian has covered an entire record. Check out his cover of Hanson’s Snowed Inn from back in 2019 if you are curious!
Bottom Line: The first of two records from camp Kristian is yet another triumph in a string of steller indie Christmas records.
One of the rarest things in our little scene of alternative Christmas music… is the birth of a new music blog. Hell, it was only a few years ago that Hip Christmas changed the description of this little site from being the “new kid in town.” Round these parts I think you’re a new kid for about 10 years… well, better start the clocks on this one. Better Watch Out! is the project of my buddy Jim (yes, we are both Jim’s), who I’ve chatted back and forth with about Christmas music for years now. Whether he truly wanted to or not, Jim has become as much a part of Christmas Underground as I am. I’m nothing without folks reading this thing, and those who care enough to say hi… well, dammit, that’s what keeps me going. Comments! Replies! DMs! Find like-minded folks in such a niche interest… well, you learn those folk’s names and check in with them when you haven’t heard from them in a while.
Thus, I’m extremely happy to introduce you all to Better Watch Out!, a new and wonderful resource for alternative Christmas music. Jim shot me a few sentences about how the site came to be.
For a long time, I used to send out yearly Christmas music mixes. I stopped for various reasons, but I’ve continued to build my collection of offbeat and vintage sounds of the season. Last year I came across an old Tumblr account I’d neglected. Being a cranky old Boomer, I decided Tumblr is the perfect venue to tell the story of my collection. It has turned out to be a fun project, and I’ll be sharing it between November 1 and Christmas.
I’ve framed it as a highly subjective history of alternative pop Christmas music, which I’ve traced back about a hundred years. The posts will appear in reverse chronological order to ease readers back into the more obscure eras of this super-niche phenomenon.
So the journey is just beginning, and you can follow Better Watch Out! this holiday season, alongside myself and hopefully many other adventurous listeners. I know I’ve already been surprised by some releases I missed a few years back, especially these stellar Oldfolks Home tracks Jim introduced me to. Can’t wait to see what else Jim has in store for us.
Nice to have a distraction. Even better to have that distraction provided by such a good guy.
Gotta look for stable things to grab onto these days. I already see myself leaning harder into Christmas traditions, both as a source of familiar comfort and frankly, to have some sense of control in a world of uncertainty. Just ordered a new fake Christmas tree… yes, we are a fake tree family. This one is supposed to feel real… I bet I could find something there to write about. Feeling real…
Some bands have begun to establish themselves within my Christmas traditions – bands I look to every year with anticipation of something new and wonderful. Herr Wade and the whole crew at Platiruma!!! are most certainly in that exclusive club. This year’s offering is Herr Wade’s excellent 4-song EP, We Still Remember Funky Christmas. Herr Wade is a collaboration between Jørn Åleskjær (The Loch Ness Mouse, Monobird, Sapphire & Steel) and Sebastian Voss (Nah…, The Fisherman and his Soul, Cinema Engines), and this duo have now dropped mixworthy tracks for three years in a row. The standout of this EP is (IMHO) the German disco track “Schulbus auf dem Eis” (Schoolbus on the Ice). I speak a liiittttllle German, but I’m certainly not quick, so I was most appreciative when Sebastian gave me a bit more context for the song: “The story is about the slippery situation on the street after snow was heavily falling, the last day before x-mas season and being at least able to hold hands with your crush who‘s sitting next to you….”
Well, isn’t that just great? Christmas! Young love! Danger! An earworm of a chorus and a Nile Rodgers groove that satisfies German and non-German speakers alike!
Stone-cold mixworthy.
Bottom Line: In a world spinning out of control, Herr Wade are here for you and will make you move dein Hintern.
LISTEN
Here is a Google translation of the paragraph at the beginning of the video: With my most heartfelt thanks to my bus driver at the time, Herbert, in whose accordion bus I boarded twice a day between 1985 and 1994 as a “Reckenfeld bus child”, and who knew how to stoically maneuver the white Büssing vehicle with his equally white clogs through wind and weather. To this day, he has made many friends on his travels throughout Europe and Asia, but also on the scheduled services between Greven and Reckenfeld, and has covered thousands and thousands of “completely accident-free kilometers”. I take my hat off to this committed man, who has been so versatile right up to the ripe old age of almost 87, i.e. right up to the present day, and who has hardly changed in appearance in the past 30 years.
I’ve previously written about how much I look to Scotland (this was just a few posts ago!) for excellent Christmas tunes. The Cords are an excellent indiepop duo from Greenock, Scotland, and this upcoming track has a high probability of being excellent. Normally I might wait to review the track before sharing it here – but as there are flexis available now – and likely not for much longer – and I felt I should let you all know ASAP. So, check out The Cords, decide if they are your jam, and buy it.
Hat tip to @noloveforned for the heads up on this one.
LISTEN
Here’s a non-holiday release to check out the band.
As we enter the darkest timeline, I’m going to do my best to keep moving. I’m going to provide support to those around me (you all included), and do my part to make this world just a little bit better. I’m going to try to redirect my anger and sadness and be constructive… and boy is that going to be hard because nothing seems to matter. That is going to be me on a good day. Lets hope the good days outnumber the bad.
So, on that note, let’s talk about a lovely song about depression at Christmas! The Reed Conservation Society is a French duo who for some reason has me thinking about Village Green Preservation Society-era Kinks. It could just be the “…servation society” similarity, but the orchestration is the same ballpark for sure. Throw in the Clientele as a touchpoint as well and now you’ve got an idea of where I’m going. The protagonist begins by eating oysters, cheese & crackers alone, and buying themselves “new pillows for my old dream into the sea.” The song might sound sweet, with lines like “Feeling so good to be alone now. Cheers to me, cheers to me, cheers to me.” Though follow that line with “I’ve got a special gift for free. / Médicine pills / angels talk slowly,” and everything takes on a much darker tone. It sure sounds like someone is finding a way out…
I must say, this is a lovely song. Without getting a little insight from the band, I might have thought this song was the happiest “I’m alone at Christmas” song I’d ever heard. I couldn’t quiiiite make out all the lyrics, which also kept me from knowing the true intention of the song. So… perhaps I will stick with that interpretation. Once an artist releases a song out into the world, we are all given a chance to interpret the song our own way. Perhaps “Funny Christmas” is a good barometer as to how I’m doing from day to day – is today going to be lovely and full of “David Crosby singing just for me,” or dark as fuck? Pretty much a toss-up – does today end in Y?
OF NOTE – I’m waiting on an email back from TRCS
Bottom Line: A very pretty or very dark Christmas song… a choose-your-own adventure of sorts.
I’m attempting to take my mind off the election by listening to Christmas music this evening. So when I popped over to Bandcamp… seeing a familiar face was fucking great. Shrewsbury, England’s BumbleWasps is back with his wonderful brand of cheeky bedroom pop, serving up perhaps his sweetest Christmas song yet. “Don’t Fuck with Christmas” is indeed a rather aggressive title, but in practice, it hopes to make the most of Christmas… you only get one day each year, so don’t let the pressure of the holiday fuck you up. The song itself is damn catchy – an earworm that you can’t sing in polite company. Earworm… mantra… two sides of the same coin, both useful distractions from reality.
Don’t fuck with Christmas. Don’t fuck with Christmas. Don’t fuck with Christmas.
I feel a bit better.
Bottom Line: BumbleWasps has what many don’t – a consistently original POV on Christmas music, and this may be the best one yet.
Wow. Rip you heart out. Winten’s “Holidays” is a deeply emotional song about the emptiness one feels after a breakup. It is simple and direct, with these short little moments that, while you haven’t specifically lived them before… you have. The emotion conveyed by (Bridgette) Winten’s voice is perfection, both surgical and fragile in equal measure. She gets in there… it is spooky.
The holiday connection comes in the last verse:
And do you remember two days before Christmas? Houses were glowing like they knew things But you don’t live there anymore I’ll always be here and you’ll be somewhere.
Nobody gets out of this life without a few wounds along the way. This song captures this so, so well.
Bottom Line: This one is gonna get a few folks where it hurts.
Christmas Underground 