Xmas Song Blog

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...

Hello again, last post of the year and just a few releases I have tweeted about but not had chance to put down in a blog so it's there when people search for it. You see that's why I write this blog because I used to spend ages looking for Indie Christmas tunes, I still do but I always wanted to find yet another blog that collected the Christmas songs they found so I could add them to the CDs I send out instead of Christmas cards. Belle and Sebastian have a long association with BBC sessions going back to the late legend of my teenage years John Peel. In particular they have put in some brilliant Christmas covers over the years. There's this version of the Sonics' Santa Claus and then there's the Twelve Days of Christmas with Alan Partridge in the pear tree. Here they perform live for  BBC Scotland I think. Stuart looks likes he's forgotten the words but it's a fast paced rattle through the Waitresses Christmas hit. We love it and I reckon it's odds ...

It's Christmas tomorrow and this year I've learnt...... not to drink and blog. Sorry I've had a few and this will be even worse than normal. @Christmas_aGoGo are awesome and they suggested  Christmas Eve In My Hometown by Bobby Vinton and Christmas Eve by Screeching Weasel, but we are doing the indie/alternative thing so here's a start on our favourite Alternative songs for the night before the big event. I reckon we will revist this in coming years and update it with anything new we find. Have a happy one and I'll see you on the other side. Tom McRae and the Standing Band - Christmas Eve 1943. This story of wartime preparations for Christmas with all the appropriate solemnity isn't a happy place but it'a  beautiful thing. A timely reminder of all we have to be thankful for. Wombats - Is this Christmas? "Twas the night before Christmas" narates Les Dennis in the prelude to this tune only to follow up that "not a creature was stirring...

My copy of iTunes tells me that I have 37 different versions of Silent Night! Here's my favourites. Do you know another version, a better version, leave me a comment below or maybe drop me a line on twitter @xmassongblong or email me xmassonblog@outlook.com. I'll do this as a countdown top of the pops style. So in at 10 it's The Flaming Lips with Silent Night. From their alter ego Imagene Peise album this is an elctro jazz instrumental with the focus on the mental. It's a noodling lilting piece with no direction and all the better for it. They also do a more classic cover with lyrics if you must. Down at number 9 it's Low with Silent Night. Slowing the song down even further than it is already. It's stripped down to just the harmonies and the stillness Straight in at 8 its The Kills with Silent Night. Performed for BBC radio 6 music in 2011 if memory serves. How does one convey such attitude with such a simple song and one guitar? Fallin...

Hello, we've probably passed all the official singles and now we are in the season of Live covers and website exclusives. There is two sorts of Live, there's live at a gig in front of an audience and there's the sort of radio live. We've found many a Christmas cover in the BBC radio 1 live lounge. This year they had Rag N Bone Man and Ed Sheeran if that's your sort of thing. Secretly I thought Sheeran did quite a good version of fairytale of New York but I'm only able to tell you that because I don't have an credibility last to lose. Anyway it wasn't as good as Florence and the Machine with Billy Bragg a few years back. Alongside these stars they had London Grammer in. We are quite partial to their minimalist approach. They gave us a cover of White Christmas and a burst of one line of All I want for Christmas is You. Just a shame they didn't finish that one. With the other sort of live two thirds of Chvrches were in Hollywood at a Charity ...