Xmas Song Blog

Have to admit Little Drummer Boy is one of my favourite traditional Christmas songs. I even like the much maligned Bing Crosby and David Bowie version weird as that combination is. Here's my top ten of the best Indie Alternative versions. As ever let me know what you think below or on twitter @xmassongblog. Firstly some honourable mentions for versions that didn't quite make the list. Lindstrom's epic journey is great but maybe grates a little by the 5th minute of incessant drum machine on the edited version. I'll admit I never saw through the 42 minute original! . Sufjan Steven's gave us a version (of course he did) and it's lovely (well of course it is) and Cerys Matthews of Catatonia did a version and I'm a sucker for it but none of them made the list so who did? 10 Iggy Pop is on crooner duty here. I've said it before full Christmas album by Mr Pop would be fantastic. Very few people have the spoken word expression he does. 9 Iain Archer...

The Flaming Lips have made some fantastic Christmas music over the years and have made some awful rubbish too if I'm honest. Thankfully this years offering is wonderful. Classic enough it is doing the whole Bing Crosby and David Bowie thing, with a few inspired flourishes it comes just in time to fit into my log on the best versions of Little Drummer Boy that I was putting together to publish tomorrow. Check the psychedelic video below. SOAK the Northern Irish singer songwriter has been expanding into more polished realms recently. Her Single Everybody Loves you hinted at poppier influences creeping into the simple one girl and a guitar dynamic. Her take on the Chris Rea Christmas Standard strips this back. It really is just her voice above lazily strummed guitar. It works giving the song the lonely quality the lyrics hint at. Ok that's probably the last update for this year bar the aforementioned Little Drummer Boy list. Have a very Merry Christmas Everyone. See you n...

It's becoming only weekly that I update the blog, I'm sorry for that but this week I'm ill so I have an excuse. Whilst I die of man flu get a listen to these picks from the week in Indie Christmas music.  We generally focus on bigger acts but Sentinel asked politely and backed it up with a corking version of Sleigh Ride last year so when they tweeted a link to this years cover of I'll be home for Christmas we had to have a listen. It's all a bit cocteau twins with circling vocals and restrained guitar. Another winner in our book. If you give them a email address there are a few Christmas songs on their bandcamp , enough for a mini album next year maybe.  I'll Be Home For Christmas by Sentinel Night Flowers got our attention at the start of the year with the brilliant cruel wind, partiuarly it's wonderful shuttle launch video. Now it's Christmas and their name cropped up again with a cover of the pretenders 2000 miles. Yours on bandcamp for as ...

Whyte Horses gave us Empty Words at the start of the year and it must have made some sort of an  impact cos it got to me. Now they've given us one original Christmas song and a cover of Coldest Night of the Year a Vashti Bunyan song. I prefer the cover not only to the original track here but to the original version. So I'll pop that below for you. Thanks to @Santapalooza  for the heads up.   MxPx were just one of those bands that my friends liked when I was a teenager but they have a Christmas album and damn their track  Christmas Day is awesome. This year they've updated the digital version of that Christmas mini album and thrown in a new track for good measure. It's nowt special but it's ok and that's about as damning as this song can manage to make me..... Don't usually add songs I don't like here and I don't dislike this it's just it's not as good as they have been. Then thanks to the awesome Christmas Underground   we were give...

It's the start of December and as usual I post my playlist. It's my 14th playlist which is ridiculous to think about. I make a CD of these songs to send to my best of friends instead of Christmas cards. It's a mix of old and new as usual. Saving some of this years better stuff for next year. Please enjoy and send any feedback to @xmassongblog  on the twitter.  Little Saint Nick - Best Coast Christmas Wrapping - Belle and Sebastian Wonderful Christmas Time - Mac Demarco    Silent Night - The Polyphonic Spree    Thanksgiving Song (Kill the Turkey) - The National All I Want for Christmas Is You - Charly Bliss Lonely Man of Winter - Sufjan Stevens  2,000 Miles - Mark Kozelek    White Christmas - London Grammar                                             Feliz...

Hanukkah starts this evening and to celebrate I thought we'd run down a few songs I've picked up on over the years that are dedicated to the festival of lights. Happy Hanukkah to everyone celebrating. Woody Guthrie - Hanukkah Dance. The classic Hanukkah song from the Grandaddy of American Folk. Rogue Wave - Christmas for the Jews, in which the singer comes to terms with being Jewish during the Christmas period. Stephen Colbert with Jon Stewart - Can I interest you in Hanukkah. Yeah I know it's a comedy song but it's a good one. Gently prodding Judaism and Christianity in all the right places. Finally for now I have The Minus Five with their offering from this year Festival of Lights (hanukkah song). I outright don't intend this post to stop here but that's all I have for now. Please send any suggestions you have and I'll update this year on year. Get me on @Xmassongblog on twitter or email xmassongblog@outlook.com.

Ok done a few of these now, where I compile the finest alternative versions of a particular Christmas song. This time its Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. The original from Meet Me in St Louis comes at a rather sad moment in the film. This seems to give acts a decision, either to take it on with the original sombre tone or to follow the lyrics and inject some Merry into the proceedings. I've chosen ten so i'll count them down finishing with my favourite. 10. Maricka Hackman goes the sad route injecting the longing from the film, but don't let that put you off, it's beautiful take with distorted vocals to keep it interesting 9. My Morning Jacket are no happier but their version is no less lovely. An acoustic guitar and a voice for most of this. 8 . Do you remember when Coldplay were a genuinely interesting alternative act? I am afraid I'm old enough. This is almost a crooners version, straight of a Jo Whiley live session for BBC Radio One. 7. Cat ...

Oh it suddenly got busy yesterday with three offerings from Alternative musics recent favourites. First up is Phoebe Bridgers who had one of just about everybody's favourite albums of last year. It's slow and low and damn right miserable sounding, without listening carefully to the lyrics or the sleigh bells you'd think it was straight of her much acclaimed debut album. Still it's quite lovely and shoe in for one of our playlists... probably next year now as this years is kinda done. Anyways it's a cover that i'm afraid to say I do't know and it features Jackson Browne who is a apparently an iconic singer/songwriter.... Again means nothing to me much.... Also yesterday we had Wavves, they showed up with a Christmas double in the way of Emo Christmas and it's b-side So glad it's Christmas. After all these years there are a few bands i barely know outside of their Christmas songs. Wavves is one of those bands. Last year they gave us their take on...

Just a few songs I forgot to mention in my last post. This first I can be excused cos it was released in September!!! That's no time to be releasing christmas music, but I suppose it's not very Christmassy and it's not really about Christmas but that sort of thing has never stopped us before, its got Christmas in the title so it's good by us. Advance Base have been releasing Christmas music for a good while under their different guises. In fact a few years back they rolled them all into one for their Christmas Mixtape . This year their Animal Companionship Album included this track called Christmas in Nightmare City. It's rather Sun Kil Moon but considering Mark Kozelek's Christmas Album is probably my favourite Christmas full length album (it's certainly the only CD stays in my car all year round) I'm happy about that. Check it out below and it's available on Bandcamp now. I've also picked up on this, last year The Minus Five a sorta side...

Heeeeeeelo, you remember when I told you I was getting married two years ago..... No..... oh..... well I did tell you, you can check if you want. Well that wedding was just over a month ago and the honeymoon I've just got back from. Basically what I'm trying to say is, sorry I'm late. With all that out of the way lets have a first peek at what Christmas 2018 is offering. In our usual fashion you won't get a large selection of tracks from us. If you need to know the latest thing might we suggest you visit the awesome Christmas Underground   ( @xmasunderground on that twitter thing) or the legendary Stubby's House of Christmas  both will give you more Christmas tunes than you could possibly listen to, nothing gets past them we can't recommend them highly enough. No what we'll give you is a few select tracks the finest Indie and Alternative Christmas songs and maybe point you towards unofficial releases like videos of live covers and radio specials. Of cours...