UPCOMING: Slow Xmas 5 (2025)

Bone Sound Inc Worldwide/Blank Check Podcast/Mutant
Buy:
Vinyl | Bandcamp

Coming soon to a Bandcamp feed near you… Slow Xmas 5. The lead single by Death Valley Girls, “Season of Dreaming,” has dropped and is making the rounds on the bigger (normal) blogs, such as Stereogum and Under the Radar. But what do you know… it is getting pressed on vinyl this year, 500 copies on ice blue wax. So, if very slow Christmas music is your jam, here you go!

From the website:

Available on vinyl for the first time as a Mutant exclusive featuring holiday standards and originals from Meridian Brothers, Shannon Lay, Zach Cooper of Grammy award winning King Garbage, Eric Slick of Dr. Dog, and Dave Hartley of The War on Drugs (Nightlands) among others.

Pressed on 140gm and iced out in a translucent ice blue variant (Limited to 500 copies). Offered in 45 RPM so you have the option to play regular slow or EXTRA SLOW at 33 1/3 RPM!!

And for the analog hogs, the majority of the album artwork is practical with an original sculpture by Matthew Rosenquist and studio photography by Robin Takami.

Bottom Line: Got me – only heard one track so far! Frankly, I’m usually grasping for songs to speed up my mix…

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Sharon Van Etten and The Attachment Theory “2000 Miles” (2025)

Sony Masterworks/Mutant
Buy:
7Digital (MP3/FLAC) | Apple Music | Amazon MP3 | CD/Vinyl | Amazon (CD/Vinyl/Exclusive Vinyl)

I love Sharon Van Etten. I saw her with her new band, Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory about a month ago, and it was absolutely incredible. I was a huge fan, and am now a massive fan. I’ll be excited to hear from her with anything she does. Thus, she dropped a cover of The Pretenders’ “2000 Miles” for the Oh. What. Fun. soundtrack, and I was pumped. I’m going to float down from my initial heights though. This is a good cover, though it does not reinvent the song. Would I have preferred something a bit more interesting than adding the shimmering synths to the arrangement? Yes. But I do love her voice, and I’m sure some of you are going to be all over this.

There are some heavy hitters on this soundtrack. Interestingly, Sharon appears to be the first single off it (Gwen Stefani was first – exclusive to Amazon), surprising when you’ve got this lineup:

1. Shake the Snow Globe – Gwen Stefani (2:53)
2. The Things We Do for Love – The Bird and the Bee (3:20)
3. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – St. Vincent (2:33)
4. 2000 Miles – Sharon Van Etten & The Attachement Theory (3:09)
5. Angel in the Snow – Fleet Foxes (2:44)
6. Step Into Christmas – Uwade (3:35)
7. Silent Night – The Wang Family (1:00)
8. Hot Cocoa – Gwen Stefani (3:38)
9. Snowqueen of Texas – Weyes Blood (3:21)
10. Christmas Eve Can Kill You – Andy Shauf & Madi Diaz (3:18)
11. It’s My Life – The Bird and the Bee (3:43)
12. Christmas Must Be Tonight – Jeff Tweedy (3:27)
13. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy – Lorely Rodriguez (Empress Of) (1:39)
14. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day – The Wang Family (1:01)
15. The 12 Days of Christmas – Dominic Sessa (1:36)

Of note – Michael Showalter, whom I have loved since The State, is the director! I’m genuinely excited for this movie…

Bottom Line: Sharon Van Etten is pretty flawless. Also – she could pretty much play Chrissie Hynde in a biopic. Just sayin’…

LISTEN