Christmas A Go Go!

Happy new year, bonne année, glückliches Neues Jahr, gelukkig nieuwjaar, from all of us @ CAGG. Thank you for your visits and comments. See you in November 2012 !

Various versions from Bandcamp. Here's one by the Asylum Street Spankers, from a Holiday album I seem to have missed completely: A Christmas Spanking by Asylum Street Spankers From merry carolers Caleb & the Caroling Caravan: Vol. II by Caleb and the Caroling Caravan Free version fom trio Gold, Frankincense & Myrrh (of course), a version that starts with a telephone conversation (of course) Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh by She's Electric

Five years ago, we lost the hardest working man in showbusiness. Certainly not forgotten:

Sucks when Saint Nick steals your shit instead of dropping off gifts. Hence the fact that me and my boys went to the North Pole to buss a cap in datazz. Unfortunately, when we arrived at Santa's headquarters, he was strapped with major heat and had plenty of backup. Merry Christmas muthafuckaz! Don't play with guns! Santa's Got a Muthafuckin' Uzi by Mr. Lif

Want to know what that's like? Listen to Buffalo Moon: Christmas in Ecuador by Buffalo Moon

When Stubby makes a Christmas mix, you better go and grab it (for free) HERE

No, not a cover of The Cure, but between Christmas and New Year's Eve, CAGG continues to post winter-, Christmas- and end-of-the-year-songs and -mixes on this blog. NOTE: some of the tracks aren't available anymore! Thanks to CAGG-fan André, here's a gorgeous version of In the Bleak Midwinter by dreampop band Lanterns on the Lake. Download from HERE EDIT: Alas, it's gone, if you have it, let me know! Unavailable for download, alas, is this version of Rocking Around the Christmas Tree by Swedish duo My Bubba & Me. EDIT: It's on Youtube now: Funky funky Christmas Mix by Ronny Hammond. Stream and/ord download via Mixcloud via HERE Dr Rubberfunk also mixed his fave funky seasonal songs together. Go HERE

UK Girl duo Oh My! (Jade and Alex) recorded a great version of The Waitresses ' disco wave-classic Christmas Wrapping. LIsten on Soundcloud. Go HERE . Or go HERE to download. There've been several Christmas Wrapping covers this year. Like this one from Summer Camp. And this one from Dog is Dead. This one from Exohxo.

For the seventh year in a row The Blues Are Still Blue Presents: Christmas Compilation 2011(download here) 001 Camera Obscura - The Blizzard 002 My Bubba & Mi - Pumpkin Pie 003 Summer Fiction - Christmas Eve for Two 004 The Kik - A Christmas Song For You 005 The Very Most - Wombling Merry Christmas 006 The Winston Jazz Routine - Through the snow 007 Caitlin Rose - You Never Come Home For Christmas 008 The Head And The Heart - Winter Song 009 Beta Radio - The Song the Season Brings 010 Birdy - White Winter Hymnal 011 Breathe Owl Breathe - Snow Blow 012 Chris Bathgate - Auld lang syne 013 David Bazan- Just Like Christmas (Low) 014 Marike Jager - Frosty The Snowman 015 Emmy The Great & Tim Wheeler - Christmas Day (I Wish I Was Surfing) 016 Megafaun - I Saw Three Ships 017 Renee & Jeremy - Sunny Christmas 018 Rick Fines - Country Christmas Blues 019 Rue Royale - What Next Dear One 020 She and Him - The Christmas Waltz 021 Smith & Burrows (& Agnes Obel) - The Christmas...

I've been working at the distribution center of the Dutch postal service for the last couple of weeks, so I've been up to my neck in Christmas cards. For days on end, I've been listening to Sky Radio aka the Christmas channel, so yes I'm sick and tired of generic Christmas standards such as Feliz Navidad by José Feliciano. As an antidote, I listen to this great Feliciano song. Works every time... I don't care if José thinks I don't know him now.

A message Harvey Averne clearly understands. This song was posted on Funky16Corners as part 5 of a series on Christmas songs. Read more here

Californian dream pop duo The Honey Trees made two seasonal tracks, that are downloadable for free via their Facebook and Reverbnation site. The, indeed honey-voiced Becky Filip is a real treat for these dark days. Try:

Fellow Christmas song enthusiasts Festive! had a short talk with Kid Creole & The Coconuts singer August Darnell about the song 'Christmas on Riverside Drive' , they consider to be the best Christmas song of all time. Read the interview here .

'A little late', yes, but the yearly Christmas EP by Parenthetical Girls is still worthy to light up your day. Name your price! Christmas. by Parenthetical Girls

Dutch band Pondertone wishes you a Happy Christmas and a healthy and prosperous 2012... honestly. Ik Wil Geen Kerstliedjes by Pondertone Ik Wil Geen Kerstliedjes by Pondertone

Like The Kills, below, this version of Silent Night was recorded for BBC Radio 6. See the full session on the video above. Download the wav. file of Michael Kiwanuka's carol HERE

Silent Night by The Kills, live recorded by the BBC

As you've noticed, a lot of Holiday compilations are traditions already, like mistletoe and holly. Italian blog Polaroid posted their annual Christmas comp last week, featuring regulars like the the Ian Fays (another very good entry), Le Man Avec Les Lunettes and a really sparkling, spacey track by Welcome Back Sailors, a highlight if you ask me. Go HERE to download'm all.

Dutch popsoul band The Souldiers made a special Christmas song, and a video. This is how we do in Holland, baby.

First time I bumped into the Arbor Christmas series, going on since 1999 (!). The 12th installment was just made freely downloadable on bandcamp. If titles like The Battle of Snowmeng Mountain or Toys Don't Cry make you think of other songs, well, keep on listening... Arbor Christmas: Volume 12 by The Not Fur Longs

'Another Catholic Christmas at the Federal Women's Reformatory in Alderson, West-Virginia for Iva Toguri' is probably the most intriguing title ever for a Christmas song. It's one of the tracks on the second installment of The Holidays Don't Have to Be So Rotten, a 'name your price' compilation on Flannelgraph Records. Only instrumental, moody, brooding tracks, by artists like Dolorean and Dirty Beaches (a personal fave). Try and find out more HERE The Holidays Don't Have To Be So Rotten: Volume Two by Dirty Beaches

More? HERE

Local radio station KDHX in St Louis put together a varied mix of Christmas songs by local and national acts, all recorded live in the KDHX studio. Brave Combo probably is the best known band, the Funky Butt Brass Band was already featured on this blog. Really dig the Hammond-a-gogo-version of Jingle Bells by The Civil Tones, and the funny song by Lucky Old Sons. Most of the tracks are downloadable for free. Go HERE

Love this! It's Christmas Time by Bearkat

OMG! The illustrious guitarist from The Smiths made a Christmas single with his band The Healers. No lyrics, just spirit! Download on his site (via Soundcloud)

Gwen Thomas , she of this great Winter Song , wrote a beautiful piece on her favourite Christmas carols for this blog: I first heard the Christmas carols of Alfred Burt when I was a teenager. I’d stumbled across the sheet music and plunked my way through at the piano. The graceful melodies full of surprising twists and the lovely jazz voicings instantly struck a chord with me. The carols seem to surface every year around Christmastime for me and yet, oddly enough, it wasn't until this last week that, after years of calling them my faves, I actually became curious about where they came from. Who’s Alfred Burt, anyway? What I discovered was a story that provided me with some good, old-fashioned Christmas inspiration. The Alfred Burt Carols were the result of a charming family legacy. Between 1942 and 1954, Burt wrote these fifteen carols (roughly one per year), as a Christmas card to send his loved ones. It was a tradition his father had started, and Alfred carried it on through the...

Pick up this year's mix of Jamaican Christmas goodies, AND all the other mixes John from Distinctly Jamaican Sounds blog made.

Originally by Margo Guryan , later redone by Claudine Longet and St Etienne, this cover of I Don't Intend to Spend Christmas Without You by Lovers & Poets is just as pretty. Cruel to Be Kind (Cover) by Lovers & Poets

The Dirty9s are from Ireland. 'We struggle at cool and exceed at melody', they say. This gorgeous Christmas song sounds cool AND melodious to me: Into the Winters Night by The Dirty 9s with Niamh Doyle

I got a fever and the ONLY cure is... Can't see the video? Go HERE

Of course you check the greatest Christmas blog out there, Stubby's , as religiously as we do every day. But in case you don't, here's a round up of a few fantastic (FREE) songs you just can't afford to miss. Norwegian producer Torkelson sprinkled his electronic magic all over Judy Garland's Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and then it sounded like this UK Rapper Wiley never got the same attention as fellow grime-star Dizzee Rascal, but the latter never recorded a grand xmas song. Go here to check and download Cheer Up, It's Christmas And finally, former Slits-guitarist Viv Albertine (pictured above) released a Christmas single that's just that. LOUD!

31 country heroes sing christmas classics: Johnny, Merle, Loretta, Emmylou, they're all HERE

Dutch jazz-pranksters Tin Men & the Telephone renamed themselves Tin Men & the Telephohohone for the season, 'cause they made a Christmas-album. But not as we know it. If you make tracks like these , you know that their version of classics like Jingle Bells and All I Want for Christmas sound, well, different . But make no mistake, these guys are really, really good musicians. They invited singer Paul van Kessel (plus a very agitated route planning device) for their take on Chris Rea's immortal 'Driving home for Christmas'. Very Last Christmas by Tin Men and the Telephone

Really want to know who put the X in Xmas? Se e Wikipedia. Let's put the X back in Xmas, Candye Kane and Country Dick once sang (see here ). Now the Dutch Tiny Little Big Band sings: You put the X in Xmas. Let's make Xmas mean something this year, I say!

In addition to this great compilation (sound quality debate aside, it IS a great compilation), Jan Kohlmeyer made a VERY funky Christmas mix for the Paris DJS blog. Go HERE to see the tracklist and download the mix for FREE.

What's more fun than receiving Christmas wishes (or maybe even better: presents!) that are handmade by the sender? Our Twitter friends @karinjeurink (kazoo/vocals) and @martijnen (guitar/vocals) did just that: in 2010 they recorded their own cute little xmas video for all their friends. One year later it's here for everyone to enjoy:

Every day, until December 20th, BBC Radio6 presenter Lauren Leverne gives away a free Christmas song mp3. So far, My Morning Jacket and Lucy Rose songs were made downloadable. Check her site.

Husky singer (think Julie London) Lex Land recorded two heartwarming versions of Christmas classics, for all to enjoy for free. Go here to download ( EDIT: nah, 'tis gone) her This Year's Santa Baby (orig Eartha Kitt) and the loungey Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. Santa Baby EP by Lex Land

Can't see the video? Go HERE

Curt Smith, one half of Tears for Fears, recorded a Christmas song (like he did last year ) and put it on Bandcamp for all to enjoy. Name your price (can be 0 too): Heaven's Sake by Curt Smith

Hiding under boxes of faded Christmas balls your mom keeps with the Christmas crafts you made back in grade school, Schnauzer Radio Orchestra pulled out an orange and brown Bakelite version of Winter Wonderland, complete with a SuperNES, a Stylophone, a Wurlitzer and an all girls 60s choir. What more could any mortal want for Christmas, besides a dry Martini and a big fireplace, I ask you. In the words of keyboard player and all around Dutch cheese master Rob Geboers, "Do with this track as you please. Blog about it, remix it, give it away to your worst enemies, or just do a little nerdy dance to it." Schnauzer Radio Orchestra - Winter Wonderland

I just looked back at some Christmas postings from 2006 and 2007 on Check The Cool Wax . I was surprised to find a lot of links to downloads still working. Click on the album cover above if you want to recapture a little of that childhood Christmas feeling. Get them while the links still work! Merry Christmas!

Everyone's favourite Japanese girlie punkateers released a special Christmas single . Featuring their rendition of We Wish You A Merry Christmas, and their own Sweet Christmas. Gotta love these gals. Shonen Knife - Sweet Christmas

Paul Logister (born April 6 , 1964 in Heerlen) is a Dutch singer-songwriter. Paul was just another kid whose imagination was stimulated by the pop culture explosion of the 1960s. Logister is - in his own words - a master of the pop song, from soulful ballads to country-style bouncersto out-and-out rockers. His song writing is clearly influenced by people like John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Joe Jackson and Chuck Berry. Now he comes up with a brand new single ‘Into white’. A nice seasonal track, but without the obligatory jingle bells and without mentioning the word 'christmas'.

As you may have noticed, the CAGG-crew loves black music, and Bandcamp. So when we bump into soulful xmas tunes on that great platform, we post 'm asap. John Black is a former Fishbone- and Miles Davis-sideman, who recorded this seasonal EP with covers and self-penned, bluesey songs. Check: The Soul of Christmas by The Soul of John Black The GED-label is a purveyor of fine soulful tunes, their seasonal comp features heroes like DeRobert & the Half-Truths. Check: G.E.D. Soul Records Super Soul Christmas by Various Artists Grillade. Never heard of before, but their Just a Sad Christmas song is D E E P. Check Just A Sad Christmas by Grillade And finally, 'name your price' for this in fact nostalgic soulful Christmas song by, yes, The Nostalgics (no, not a cover of the Long Blondes track with the same title) Christmas Is Cancelled by The Nostalgics You rather hear something snotty and loud? Go here .

No, not chosen by the CAGG-crew, but Florian Duijsens of Askmen.com. See here (and agree!). Via Twitter, Florian reminded me of a 'non shitty Christmas tune' that wasn't featured here yet. But should. See here . Or even better, go to Stubby's to find the FREE downloadlink. By the way, when it comes to dubstep and Christmas, we think GLC said it best.

A few weeks back, I uploaded a mix of the most foulmouthed Christmas songs ever. I've re-uploaded the zip, due to popular demand. Go grab it HERE . And yes, I did change two songs.

Fine Christmas soul EP by Tre Williams & the Revelations (thanks Stubby for the heads up). It's That Time Of Year by The Revelations

From Rotterdam! One of the bestest Christmas songs of the year!

Here's how this works: Gijs posts a track from a Feist Inspired Playlist I made with Arja (see below). That reminded me of Ron Sexsmith, who wrote a song that Feist covered. Then I see this free Christmas album by Exohxo on Stubby's . That features a cover of Ron's Christmas track. So I wondered - are there more covers of Maybe This Christmas? Is Ron's song a Christmas classic yet? Well, he's getting there, I think. Covers from artists from all over the world, even a Swedish translation. It was used in a tv-series, there are various covers on Youtube . A Very Largo Christmas - EP by Largo Exohxmas III: The Wreath of Khan by Exohxo (with Daniel G. Harmann) Holiday Jams by Chris Abad Wintersong by Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem A light in the Dark by Heidi Talbot, Sophia Stinnerbom, Roger Tallroth, Magnus Stinnerbom Weaver at the Loom · Maybe This Christmas

Nothing but great talents on this one. Stumbled upon it through Guuz and Arja's Perfect Feist Inspired Playlist . Beck + Wilco + Jamie Lidell + Feist = Awesome. By the way, this is a cover of Skip Spence, better known as Jefferson Airplane's drummer. The original is worth your time, too:

Very pretty Christmas songs (despite the title) from duo Foxtails Brigade. Time Is Passed by Foxtails Brigade

If soulful or downright funky Christmas tunes are your thing (and they sure are mine), go to the wonderful Any Major Dude blog , to download a fresh, and various old compilations of the greatest x-mas songs ever recorded. Go HERE if you like the boom-bap a little more. Including a rapping KITT car.

Every month, Dutch music platform 3voor12 puts online a compilation of new Dutch artists, in various genres. This month, they asked bands and singers to send in Christmas track. Thirty-one did so. You can stream the comps via the Luisterpaal ( CD1 , CD2 ). Dutch hiphop, Dutch Americana, Dutch rock, Dutch electronica... it's all there (even Chris Rea is!) and most of it is pretty effing great. A few tracks are downloadable, like G.T. Thomas' Winter Birds , iET's Christmas Day , Jörgen Ben Jamin's Days of Christmas and That Band From Holland of course. THIS JUST IN: the gorgeous, Fleet Fox-y song It's Santa! by No Ninja Am I is also downloadable. Here. Go see the video for Bertolfs English Roses (not a Christmas track, more a seasonal song) HERE

New wave Christmas classics. Can you name a seasonal track from, say 1977-1985? I just got acquinted with Basement 5's Last White Christmas from 1980, the last single from this British band that's best know for this track . Any more wavey suggestions?

Last year, blue-eyed soul singer Mayer Hawthorne recorded a beautiful version of Christmas Time is Here (yep, the Vince Guaraldi song). It's up for download again via Stones Throw . Also still available is Clare & The Reasons cover of Last Christmas, here .

One of the best alt.Americana-bands out there just released an iTunes Christmas session EP. With beautiful, irony-free countryfied (lots and lots of steelguitar) Christmas songs to warm your soul by. Stunning stuff.

FANTASTIC Christmas song by Diamond Rugs (= John McCauley, Ian Saint Pe (Black Lips), Hardy Morris (Dead Confederate), Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), Rob Crowell (Deer Tick), and Brian Dufresne (Six Finger Satellite)). [via Rollo & Grady ] Diamond Rugs by Diamond Rugs

Who said fans of progressive rock don't have a sense of humour? Merry Progmas!

Maya Solovey's take on Christmas is the kind of Christmas I long for all year. Warm and fluffy. Just listen to that sultry, soft voice of hers. Midwinter: On Christmas Eve by Maya Solovey

Filles who sing in French, I can blog about that for years. In fact, that's what I did ! Meb, from Canada, released another seasonal chanson (for free, or 'name your price') with the resonance-button up to eleven. Church-y! Noëls d'avant by Meb

Like clockwork, the new (third) Christmas EP by That Band From Holland was released on December 1. Indiepop from Holland (Rotterdam, in fact), with help from the Left-Handed Orchestra. It's a 'name your price' download! The deadweight loss of christmas by That band from Holland (& Left handed Orchestra)

Arab Strap-member Aidan Moffatt released an offbeat Christmas EP on Bandcamp today. Including synthesized covers of Last Christmas and Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and a creepy track called A Not So Silent Night Before Christmas. Oh! What A Not So Silent Night Before Christmas by Aidan John Moffat

French fragile hardrocker France de Griessen covers Les Sales Majestés brilliant anti-Santa song PP Haine

when trying to explain how bad this is. Hardcore punk band Enrage should rather toast on better songs.

I've never related more to any song's lyrics. Ever. Wish the music of this Bicentennial Bear song was just as good, but I'll settle for kick-ass lyrics. Listen closely and you'll be rewarded with more funny lines than you can take. "I don't care who plays drums. All I want for Christmas is an Afghan Whigs reunion." Righteous. A Very Ohio Christmas by Bicentennial Bear

Jamie Cullum & Eliza Doolittle sing a lovely version of Baby It's Cold Outside on Jamie's BBC Radio2 show. Up for download via Soundcloud (click below) Jamie Cullum & Eliza Doolittle - Baby It's Cold Outside

If Karen Carpenter had fronted Stereolab, it could've sounded like the songs of G.T. Thomas. This U.S.-born, Amsterdam-dwelling songwriter/arranger/producer released a very delicate, nifty album (go HERE ), and wrote and recorded in a few weeks this lovely seasonal track. Enjoy. Go HERE to download (free, or name your price)

From last year, but still very, very beautiful Christmas Presence by Bella Ruse

As a fellow Christmas music addict, you DO follow kindred blogs like Stubby's , SWOT and M&B , right? Another bunch you want to check out are Big Rock Candy Mountain , for your daily dose of oddball, hard-rocking, psycho-bluesy Christmas songs. Also nice (yet kitschy) is Hi-Fi Holiday

Swedish rockers Mando Diao, best known for party songs like this one , made a sweet Christmas track with strings, flute and high-pitched organ. It's about a family hating each other during the holidays, so this sure will get you in the right mood ;) Mando Diao - Christmas could have been good

Mr President, from France (no, not Mr Sarkozy, the band), will release a special Christmas track next week. It's an excellent dance track with lots of percussion, afrobeat-woodblock and screaming horns. LOVE this! Mr President - It's Christmas Time (Soundcloud link)

Photos Like Postcards from Darren Hayman on Vimeo . Darren Hayman is an indie singer-songwriter who made a Christmas record (10 inch vinyl, the coolest of formats) with original songs. To promote that, he made a website on which free (!) Christmas songs are posted, by Hayman and his friends. Go HERE.

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You start throwing around some ideas for songs, and before you know it you end up with a Christmas album. It happened to Tom Smith (from Editors) and Andy Burrows (ex-Razorlight), Funny Looking Angels is one of the bestest seasonal releases of this year. A few covers, several smart originals. Dramatic, moody (single When the Thames Froze starts off with the word 'Goddamn'), but balanced. Short but sweet is the duet with angelic Agnes Obel.

The one compilation I was dying to hear, fell on my doormat today. And as it goes with things you want real bad, it's a bit of a letdown. The guys behind the Tramp-reissuelabel compiled a bunch of funky, soulful and hard to find Christmas songs from the 60s (bar two) by no-names like Detroit Junior and Rose Graham. Now, I love vinyl, I really dig the cracks and pops of an old black plate. But when you put vinyl to cd, you can do a better job then the Tramp-guys did for this comp. The sound is distorted, wobbles and is unbalanced. Could be that the source-records sound exactly like that, but I have a version of Gary Walker's Santa's Got a Brand New Bag (from a blog) that sounds waaay better then the one on the Tramp compilation. Be advised! That said, there isn't a bad track on SS&FCP. The season never sounded so soulful Lee Rogers - You won't have to wait till Xmas

We Three Keanes = record producer John Keane and his 17-year old twin daughters. They recorded a bunch of Christmas classics (ranging from O Come Emmanuel to Jingle Bell Rock). From the press-release: 'For years, the Keanes have made annual Christmas recordings for the entertainment of family and friends. This family tradition has evolved into O Christmas, Where Art Thou? a fully produced collection of nine traditional holiday songs rendered in a sparse, folksy style, with mostly acoustic instruments and tight three-part harmonies.' The cd is for sale via John's website . Though a tad traditional for most Christmas-a-gogo ears, this version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings, with some nice steelguitar, is a good one. We Three Keanes - God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman/We Three Kings

'Melodic Pop of Montreal' is how the Lay Jains describe themselves. Stereolab'd nerdcore, I'd say. Love those synths, that phat bass. The right atmosphere. And totally FREE Christmas Kind Of Year by The Lay Jains

It's HEEEERE! Santastic Six, the very entertaining series of Christmas mashups under tutelage of dj BC. Go HERE to download