Tag: Soundcloud

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Pentire “Good Luck It’s Christmas” (2024)

Self Released
Buy: Stream on Soundcloud

Pentire are a bunch of guys from a small town (Herefordshire, England) who “make pop songs for the post-jangle generation through the smiles and sweat of the mosh pit.” A fun turn of phrase indeed, which makes my next sentence sound bland as hell. Here’s a nice slice of indie pop/rock that, inexplicably, I can only find on Soundcloud. Enjoy my nearly flavorless introduction and press play. You’re likely to enjoy this one.

EDIT: Well I’ll be… it is a cover and I hadn’t realized it. This is a cover of Tellison, which can be found on their Bandcamp. And… I did have that song already and just plum forgot. Thanks Randy!

I swear I’ll get my Christmas music mojo flowing soon.

Bottom Line: Pentire are indeed Christmas music fans – keep an eye on them. They are who I discovered Devon from…

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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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Brave Baby “It’s Christmas Time… Oh Yeah” (2012)

Self Released
Buy: Soundcloud (Free!)

I want to stress to folks who submit songs and records… I can’t promise I’ll get to your song this year, next year, or any year. I will very likely listen to it pretty quickly. I will digest it. I will live with it. I might get so crazed that I must write about it immediately. I might let it sit around for a few years, then put it on a mix… and still not write about it. I can’t tell you what gets me to write a post, nor when. I’m just one guy, with limited time, looking for that hook to get me writing about Christmas music.

So… all that said, this song from 2012 – I discovered it last week. I haven’t been sitting on it for 12 years… but you know I mentioned the need for a hook? Well… in this post, that’s the hook! The hook is the hook! I don’t make sense. But this song does! Charleston, South Carolina’s Brave Baby crafted a clever song from Santa’s perspective, with cheeky (slightly-dated, “Sears??”) lyrics and a rollicking, familiar chorus. “It’s Christmas Time… Oh Yeah” isn’t as happy as the title (and my initial description) suggests, with lyrics about reindeer who have passed and children who are alone at Christmas, but the chorus kicks it up to a high enough gear to leave you feeling like the song was a good time. Hey man, I just dug it… the oddly dark lyrics, the echoey vocals, and the indie rock casual attitude… this is most definitely a recipe this site supports.

It always surprises me when a song like this can elude me for 12 years…

Bottom Line: A clever, free original for clever, free people.

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Arlie “Come as You Arlie (The Christmas Song)” (2018)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp (NYOP)

Sometimes you find one of those songs that you get so excited about that you both want to tell everyone, and nobody, about it. This is one of those situations… hold it until it is revealed on your mix (which is not set in stone yet, so anything can happen still!), or help the wider community impress their friends with a fantastic song. Well, I’m going with the latter as I’m sure a bunch of you are going to enjoy this one…

As for the review, I’m not going to get too specific, because I really just want you all to press play and smile. However, I will give a little background to this fantastic song. Nashville psychedelic indiepop band Arlie put this song together back in 2018 and tried to get it fully-cleared to be on Spotify/Tidal/etc, but alas, the music publishing gods had other ideas. Thus, it existed under the radar for several years, with not much on the net about it beyond a few Tiktoks that use the song, as well as one where Arlie addresses the song’s unfortunate fate. Somehow, with zero press, the song still amassed over 10K streams on Soundcloud – the only place (until VERY recently) where one could find this full song. I reached out the Nathaniel Banks, the frontman of the band, a few weeks ago just to make sure that he’d be cool with me writing about the song, as I didn’t want to stir up any trouble for him. He was happy to give me the green light – and even put the track up on Bandcamp for you all. So… warm up whatever finger you prefer to smash play with, and proceed.

Be sure to check out Arlie’s excellent full-length record, Break the Curse, as it is not on the Arlie Bandcamp. You can find it on your favorite streaming service… or perhaps from your favorite record store. Bands get WAY more money from a purchase than a stream, and everyone’s got to eat, folks.

Bottom Line: This one is going to bring a smile to many faces. And remember, name your own price means you can drop a dollar in the pot, so please do so.

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Brittany Ann Tranbaugh “The Christmas Flannel Song” (2021/2022)

Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp

I often say that if you can record a fantastic Christmas song, then your “regular” songs are likely going to be amazing. Writing an interesting Christmas song – with all of their seductive cliches – requires a fresh prospective that eludes even the best of bands. So when I find an artist whose Christmas song catches my ear, I smash that follow button. Philadelphia’s Brittany Ann Tranbaugh is the latest to score a follow, and is one more artist to watch in what is becoming an absolutely incredible queer folk/country scene. Over the past few years, that scene has become by far the most interesting collective within the genre. Folks writing from a different point-of-view than we’ve all be programmed to expect… that sounds fucking fantastic to me. Brittany Ann began working on her new Christmas song, “Christmas Flannel Song,” back in 2021 (well, at least she released her demo then), and in that simple vocal and guitar arrangement, you really get to appreciate the quality of her voice.

The lyrics tell the story of a Christmas present never given, and while the song is certainly one rooted in certain sadness, there is a cleverness to the her wordplay that shimmers with silver linings.

I’m holding onto this one thing
You won’t find it under your tree
It’s the shirt that I got you for Christmas
Cuz it looks pretty good on me
Fa la la la la la la la la la la la la la, fa la la la la la la

Guess it’s more like a dirge than a carol
That I sing while the fireplace burns
And I’m donning my new gay apparel
Cuz it’s final sale no returns

This season, Brittany Ann has fleshed out the production, as the song has reached a spectacular final form adding percussion, banjo, piano, bass and perfect vocal harmonies to give the song a welcome warmth. This song alone is most certainly worth a follow, a purchase, and a place on your mix.

Bottom Line: I don’t shy away from a dirge, especially when it is this good.

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One Member of Loose Articles & One Member of Hallan “Christmas in Hulme” (2021)

Self Released
Buy: Soundcloud (Stream)

How about a bit of fun? Such a descriptive band name as One Member of Loose Articles & One Member of Hallan deserves an equally straightforward Christmas song. Want to know what this song is about… well, it appears that it is about wanting to spend “Christmas in Hulme.” But you know what? I can get behind this silliness. You can taste the joy, the pure fun they had putting this together. Nothing deeper than that – just a song recorded across from a pub by two friends, which sounds vaguely like a cheeky Eddie Argos, speak-sing single.

Bottom Line: Just a bit of fun that made me smile. Hope this is the first of many!

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Andy Clockwise “Collect Call to My Baby” (Merry Christmas) (2012)

Self Released
Buy: Soundcloud (FREE!) Apparently no longer downloadable…

Australian ex-pat Andy Clockwise (aka Andy Kelly) is a recent discovery for me, but most certainly a welcome one. Andy’s very excellent Christmas song “Collect Call to My Baby (Merry Christmas)” evaded me for 9 years… which is quite a feat for such a great song. From the very first moment, the groove will get you handclapping along – that is unless you’ve been drinking too much to keep the rhythm, as this song has a heavy pour of booze and would fit perfectly in with Christmas A Go Go’s recent “Drunken Christmas” series. “Collect Call” sounds both retro and modern at the same time – sharing production choices with the 60’s classics while being lyrically more playful than anything that would have been pressed to wax back then. I wouldn’t change a note in this song, and there isn’t much room to tinker when it comes in at about 3:20 – most certainly in the sweet spot for Christmas tunes. Hell… I loved this thing enough to have it feature on this year’s Christmas mix!

Be sure to check out Andy Clockwise’s regular music as well, it is extremely good. When I was listening to this song a bunch a while back, I would catch myself happily listening down his Soundcloud feed. So, please partake, as you are encouraged to get a little drunk on Andy Clockwise too.

Bottom Line: You never know what you are going to find when you are digging around Soundcloud… sometimes you find gold.

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Annie Booth “Christmas Time (Keep It Together)” (2018)

Self Released
Buy: Soundcloud (FREE!)

Ah, to tell the story of discoveirng this song. Annie Booth posted this song on Soundcloud back in 2018, but only for a brief period, as it was gone when I first looked. I had been running down random threads on Facebook, stumbled upon Annie and evidence of past Christmas singles (she’s also done some covers!), and immediately messaged her. I must say… it is rare that a band will ever respond to me, let alone send me to the song I’m asking about. However, Annie Booth most certainly did, and I absolutely flipped out. I have been wanting to write about this for two years now, always hoping that Annie would release it properly so that I could encourage you all to pay her money for her wonderful efforts… but alas, it is back on Soundcloud and Annie has made it free for you all to download. So, enjoy the absolutely beautiful, shimmering emotion that is “Christmas Time (Keep It Together),” but please consider buying some of her other incredible music. Musicians are just like you, they don’t sleep in a bed or eat for free. Please remember that.

Bottom Line: A highlight of my 2019 mix (Xmas), this song is a wonderful introduction to Annie Booth, should you not know her already. I trust you will become as big a fan of her as I am.

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Anna Preston “California Eve” (2018/2020)

Self Released
Buy: Stream

Written in 2018, but released in 2020, Seattle’s Anna Preston has crafted one of the most beautiful and intimate Christmas songs I’ve found this year (a year late!). The edges of her voice crack with emotion as she finds herself jealous that she wasn’t the first kiss, or standing next to the jukebox watching her love in the colored lights. The production is simple – Anna’s delicate voice over a strumming guitar – until the song opens up and backing vocals layer to lift the song gently up, swaying on its toes. The ending is a bit devastating, yet comforting, in that nostalgic way that we look back on lost love and share in the universal experience of it all… Truly excellent.

Of note, Anna also recorded a cover of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” which you can check out on her Soundcloud.

Bottom Line: Anna Preston’s perfectly-imperfect delivery is incredibly intimate and rewarding.

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Married Mother (ex-Geese) “That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!” (2020)

Self Released
Buy: Stream!

Everyone needs a layup here and there, and this faithful cover of Sufjan Stevens’ modern classic “That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!” affords me that luxury. Yes, the Irish folk band Geese’s Married Mother’s approach is much more of a parallel line rather than a perpendicular explosion, but there are some subtleties that I very much enjoyed. Their keyboard atmospherics give the song an etherial feel, while the original trades in the warmth of an occasional piano. Their notes also tend to linger longer than the original, a shimmer to Sufjan’s soft crackle. These changes in approach haven’t changed the heart of the song – it still feels very like the song we all love, just a bit grander in scope.

Bottom Line: Another excellent cover of a great song. I swear I’m not getting lazy – just catching up on some deserving songs! Also, who the heck are Geese? I can ONLY find them on Soundcloud so far… (2025 edit – they appear to be called Married Mother now. Good call – so many fowl bands right now!)

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