Christmas A Go Go!

Carol of the Bells is a well-known Christmas carol, based on a Ukrainian folk chant. Synth lord David Sprinkle (from Washington, Vancouver) decided to have that sung in the original language by a synthesizer plug in called Megurine Luka . And that goes something like this: Totally Synthetic Christmas by David Sprinkle

Well, not yet that is... For now they're still at a crowdfunding stage. But you can already pre-order or make your donation. All songs are originally written by A Balladeer , so no commonplace covers. Get ready for 25 minutes of melancholia (Let It Snow), cynicism (Christmas From Hell) and some everlasting hope (Not Only During Christmas). This project will not only be available on vinyl and CD, but also on tape cassette! Not familiar with A Balladeer? Check out these two fine playlists . == Update: Mission accomplished !  ==

One-man project Eckhardt & The House is lead by Rik Elstgeest. If you're a connaisseur of Dutch leftfield pop, you know Rik of Alamo Race Track, Mass Electric and various projects. In 2015, this blog missed his WONDERFUL christmas single, based on a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke. Singer is Marleen Scholten, who has a gorgeous hoarse voice. It has a 60s vibe, with modern touches. Love this beauty.

This looks promising folks, a compilation by Bloodshot Records, your to-go-to-label when it comes to roots music. They're teasing with a fine track by James Elkington, below, but PLEASE put that Barrence Whitfield track online asap! Bloodshot Records' 13 Days of XMAS by Bloodshot Records

Total sucker for this: Merry Synthsmas by Hard Science

An X-Mas Tragedy, sung with distorted vocals over guitars with fuzzboxes and an Oompah Loompah-drumbeat. We're all up for that, no? Canadian quartet Headache 24 released this single on January first of this year. Time to re-discover, we say. Happy New Year / The Xmas Tragedy by headache24

I like everything about this, the bandname, the Fountains of Wayne-ish sounding song, the synth, the lyrics.

The eight volume of Rock by the Sea annual Christmas comp is on Bandcamp, money goes to charity as always. To be honest, the songs are a bit bland, you should check out for yourself of course, but nothing really stood up. 'Cept maybe for this rocking rendition of Stevie Wonder's Christmas classic: A Rock By The Sea Christmas :: Volume Eight by The Mrs.

It's almost that time of the year again folks, so CAGG Team is (slowly) starting, posting the bestests oddest weirdest greatest seasonal tunes we can lay our hands on. We kick off with this power pop tune by Italian/American all-female band Shantih Shantih , released on Bandcamp in January of this year. Christmas 7'' by Shantih Shantih And yes, our good friends over @ SAnowflakes Singles Club are at it again also. Feast your eyes on the upcoming vinyl HERE . Liminanas & Pascal Comelade?! WOWZERS