Happy New Yeah!

Cubismo Grafico - Happy New Year!!! Happy New Yeah!!!

X-mas presents

Reading the comments on Christmas a Go Go! I noticed a few requests for re-uploads of last years songs.

Well, normally I wouldn't, but since it's still Christmas, how can I refuse? Here they are:

Pizzicato Five - 24 decembre (single version)
Cusbismo Grafico - Ave Maria
Handsome Boy Technique - Our Belssing
Pizzicato Five - 24 decembre (Handsome Boy Technique Yikes! Peach Cut 5' 24"!! mix)

See you all next year :)

24 decembre

Today it's yu-ni-gatsu ni-yu-yoka again: 10+2-month, 2x10+4-day. In other words: 12/24.
I posted two versions of this song last year, this is the album version (very different from last year's single versions), sung by Ronnie of the Scooters. Enjoy :)

Pizzicato Five : 24 decembre

The Blues Are Still Blue Christmas Compilation 2007

The Blues Are Still Blue Presents:

Christmas Compilation 2007:

Nellie McKay - Christmas Dirge
James Brown - Soulful Christmas
June Christy - The Merriest
Irene - Christmas On The Beach
Milton DeLugg & The Little Eskimos - Hooray for Santy Claus!
Mae West - Put The Loot In The Boot, Santa
The Pipettes - White Christmas
Michele Cody - Merry Christmas Elvis
Rufus Thomas - I'll Be Your Santa, Baby
Shonen Knife - Space Christmas
Andre Williams - Poor Mr. Santa
Rufus Wainwright - Spotlight On Christmas
The Free Design - Close Your Mouth (It's Christmas)
Solomon Burke - Presents On Christmas
Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
Ivy - I Hate December
The Young Republic - Merry Christmas Again...
Willie Nelson - Please Come Home For Christmas
Carla Thomas - Gee Whiz, It's Christmas
Over The Rhine - All I Ever Get For Christmas Is Blue
Clarence Carter - Back Door Santa
Cocoon - Christmas Song
Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
Elvis Presley - Santa Bring My Baby Back
Eux Autres - Another Christmas At Home
Gayla Peavey - I Want A Hippo For Christmas
Holly Golightly - Christmas Tree On Fire

Lucky Christmas

In my opinion the best album by a Dutch artist this year, Life Is Short by Lucky Fonz III, contains a song that has a small link with Christmas (or at least the title of the song is a reference to Christmas). If you like what you here and want to here some more of Lucky Fonz III go here.

Lucky Fonz III - Christmas Lights In A Cave (Life Is Short)

Kissing a Man With a Beard

No further explanation needed...

Solex - Santa Monica (Kissing a Man With A Beard)

Winter in Canada

Repost from last year of a song that made my top X-Mas songs. (Even though I'm not even sure it is a Christmas song, it really has that feeling though). It's so gooood.

Elisa Gabbai - Winter in Canada

This year I also found a (quite different) but lovely version by French femme Mireille Mathieu. It has her sound, German sung with a French accent. Very nice!

Mireille Mathieu - Winter in Canada

Lula & Wayne

German singer Lula teamed up with Wayne Jackson for a wall-of-soundalike duet, wishing all y'all a merry x-mas.

Lula & Wayne Jackson - Merry Christmas

More here, here, and here

Don't you forget about my tannenbaum

Did you know that the melody of German Christmas carol O Tannenbaum is also used for the official state songs of Iowa and Maryland? And that the Britisch Labour Party used it for their hymn The Red Flag? And that waaaay back in 1990, three Dutch guys called De Ideale Schoonzonen (the ideal sons-in-law) mashed it up with Simple Minds' millionseller Don't You Forget About Me?
Now you do. (Thanks Luba)


De Ideale Schoonzonen - Oh!! Denneboom

Silent Keren

The headline means that Keren Ann recorded a version of Silent Night, not that she is silent, or does not sing no more. Heaven forbid.

Keren Ann - Silent Night

Pure Christmas Swank!

Listen up holiday loungers. Dim the lights, mix a drink, light the fire and grab that special someone. Here are the original swingers - Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme and a classic Christmas record called That Holiday Feeling! No swanky Christmas music collection is complete without it.



STEVE LAWRENCE & EYDIE GORME :: THAT HOLIDAY FEELING!

Christmas On The Beach

It's really cold here in Holland and I don't like that. I'd rather be sitting on a warm beach with the sun burning my skin and a cold beer within reach. The Swedish band Irene seems to agree and dedicated a song to it:

Irene - Christmas On The Beach

Christmas Love

Great Voice

Great Song

Great Vibe

Great Christmas Love



Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)

Richard Hawleys Christmas Gift

Richard Hawley, former member of The Longpigs, celebrates Christmas with a exclusively free download of his lovely version of 'Silent Night'. Pure classiness as usual.

And while there, listen to 'The Ocean', a favourite of mine.

myspace.com/richardhawley

A Familyre Christmas

Sounds Familyre presents a free compilation of new interpretations of traditional Christmas carols and some originals by their own artists. These two songs are my favorites, but you can find the rest of the songs (and the artwork) here.

Danielson - Christmas Eve Nite

Dan Zimmerman - In The Bleak Midwinter

Chrismas Past

Okay, here's a scary Christmas story for you.

It all starts with an appointment with a trained therapist:

   Pressure applied to a point on the underside of your big toe triggers vivid technicolour memories of Christmases past. A trained therapist removes your sock.
You lie back with a sigh (...) You are a little girl again...

So, here starts the memory. A young girl is on a train. It's Christmas time. It's also cold, the people in second class must really be cold. The train stops, her caretaker is asleep and a kid a little bit older askes her to come outside and play, which she does. Then the train starts moving again... She can jump onto the locomotive just in time...

   The engineer is unmistakeably Santa Claus. You inch back into the shadows, hoping he doesn't notice you. He looks deranged. But He sees you. He sees everything.

   "Feel sorry for the people in second class. Eh..?!" He booms.

   And then his laughter. His terrible booming laughter.

Peter Blegvad & John Greaves - Christmas Past

Let It Snow

Okay, I joined this blog last year to contribute some Japanese Christmas music, so I feel it's my duty to post some this year too.
Not that I mind :)

Here are five whispery songs about snow, to get into the seasonal spirit!

Piana - Snow Bird
Swing Slow - Yuki-ya-konko
Yoko Ono - Snow Is Falling All The Time
Kahimi Karie - Melt the Snow
Cinnamon Toast Crunch - Lord, It's Winter And Snowing Outside

(I'm not sure what yuki-ya-konko means... yuki is snow, so yuki-ya would be a snow-shop. It's a traditional children's song)

(I didn't think posting Yoko's song "Mum's Only Looking For Her Hand In The Snow" would help christmas spirits, but you can find it here)

War is Over

There are dozens of covers of John & Yoko's Happy X-Mas (War is Over), but not many have something to add to the original. These three versions, however manage to be even more dramatic, bombastic and emotional than the original - that's why I love them.

The Polyphonic Spree - Happy Christmas (War is Over)
The K-Foundation- K.Cera Cera (War Is Over If You Want It)
Antony and George - Happy Christmas (War is Over)

Remington Super 60

From Norway we get our first Christmas presents: a free EP from Remington Super 60 with their best Christmas songs:

Remington Super 60 - Here Comes Christmas (Merry Christmas EP)

Remington Super 60 - Christmas Song For Melanie (Merry Christmas EP)

Go here to get the other two songs and the artwork.

Wrap your Christmas kisses

Enjoy bandleader/trumpeter Ray Anthony with his Andrew Sisters-like chorus on this Christmas classic. It it's cheesy indeed, but isn't it allowed to be cheesy this time at year?


Ray Anthony - Christmas Kisses

Christmas With Pee-Wee Herman

Hey everyone. I was at a record show this weekend. I was really hoping to find some dusty old hard to find Christmas records to post for you all. I didn't find much but I didn't find this. It is a record from Warner Brothers that I'm guessing was sent only to radio stations. It has some great songs and some holiday greetings on it. A lot of unknowns, but it also had Pee-Wee! I knew these existed, but I never knew where they were from. They are great. I only wish they were longer. I posted some clips from Pee-Wee's Christmas Special last year.

PEE-WEE HERMAN :: CHRISTMAS MEDLEY & DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE, DUH!

Santa and the Martians

If anyone could save us from the Martians it had to be Santa Claus himself. And what a great job he did! Has anyone seen a Martian since 1964? I didn't think so...

So I'm with Milton DeLugg (famous for his work with Buddy Holly) and shout out with the Little Eskimo's: Hooray!

Milton DeLugg & The Little Eskimo's - Hooray For Santy Claus!

Haven't seen the movie? Go here!

Dreaming of a French Christmas

Joyeux Noël sounds much sexier than Merry Christmas, n'est-ce pas? Nine French (or French speaking) bands and artists recorded especially for my Filles Sourires-blog brandspanking new x-mas songs. Hektor did a Les Wampas-cover, Marianne Dissard hooked up with Amparo Sanchez (former Amparanoia-singer) for a very sensual duet, Watoo Watoo was inspired by children's tv, and so on. Go check HERE.

Taster:
Marianne Dissard & Amparo Sanchez - Je & tu ne croient plus au Père Noël

I Hate December

Winter is not the best time of year for me. And I'm most certainly not a guy who likes the Holiday-season a lot. In short I'm with Dominique Durand from Ivy: I hate December.

But I'm really glad to see all of you here again. Sharing some great Christmas music with you will keep me inside (and far from the rainy Dutch weather) and will give me a great excuse not to participate in familygatherings.

Ivy - I Hate December

Best Christmas Ever

The bestest christmas compilation this year, period, is Wish You Best Christmas Ever on the wonderful German Trikont-label. Odd covers (twang-y version of Wham's Last Christmas), strange instrumentals (Coconami's White Christmas) and a whole lotta roots rock, blues, mambo, soul and pop. Best title: It's So Chic to be Pregnant at Christmas, by Nancy White. This is such a great comp, it's hard to pick only two songs to get a taste. Put it high on your want-list.

Brenda Lee - I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus (yousendit)
Andrew Sisters - Christmas Island (yousendit)

More Christmas Disco!

Here is another album to file next to Yuletide Disco. It's called Christmas Disco Party. Maybe I'm blind, but I can't find the name of the artist on this. I realize they hire studio musicians for these, but they usually at least slap a band name on them. My favorite song is All I Want For Christmas Is A Disco Beat. Some songs are real stinkers though.


CHRISTMAS DISCO PARTY

Christmas in Tucson

Matt Mitchell (he plays guitar) and Marianne Dissard (she doesn't, she sings) form a duo. But they're also solo-artists. And part of bands. And they join each other for special projects. Like the album Christmas in Tuscon, featuring band from the Tucson area playing x-mas songs: Al Perry, Naim Amor, Bob Spasm, Solace Bros., etc. On this album, Matt does a great instrumental rendition of Sleigh Ride, while Marianne (with Matt on guitar) covers Jona Lewie's Stop The Cavalry, with slightly changed lyrics.

Marianne Dissard - Stop The Cavalry
Matt Mitchell - Sleigh Ride

Matt + Marianne on Myspace
More on Christmas in Tucson

I believe in Sinterklaas

That's right, I believe in Sinterklaas. Who else would buy all those presents for Dutch kids this evening, december 5th..?

Some people believe Sint Nicolas is really Santa Claus, but I don't believe that for a minute. You couldn't fool any Dutch kid with this theory, they don't look anything alike. Sinterklaas isn't fat and doesn't drink Coca Cola!

Besides, comparing Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) with a reindeer doesn't do him justice, and frankly, I would consider it racist!

Luckily I'm not the only one, listen to CocoRosie with Good Friday.

I believe in Saint Nicolas, He's a different kind of Santa Claus... Exactly!