Short Notes Don't Stop

It's Bandcamp Friday, it's the day after Sinterklaas, so the new Christmas releases pile up. We'll talk you through some of the highlights:

Nicole Atkins' seasonal songs, can't have enough of them on this blog. On the heels of her duet with Gaspard Royant, here's a new dreamy ballad:

As announced by Jim/Christmas Underground, this GREAT alt rocking Christmas tune from Scotland's Cords:

London's Old Dirty Brasstards have made Christmas cover-EPs before, this year they're putting the horns to the Home Alone soundtrack, Feliz Navidad and this version of that ole' alt Christmas staple by The Waitresses:

Richard Cejer and m.demian made a groovy Christmas track, love that electric piano. Taking notes from Paolo Nutini, John Mayer and Tom Misch, these gents like their seasonal song to kick back and relax, with a cocktail instead of hot coco:

Joe la Panic is one of the most promising new French pop names. Her debut album is just out, as a surprise she released a tender, husky not-so-anti-Christmas song:

Cannot have Christmas with this cheerful lot, lighting up the seasons since 2016. Let the Ishmaels wrap themselves around you like a warm scarf

Lovely 50s style, torch song duet, from a musical production:

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Gerhardt - Santa Is No Friend Of Mine

One of the coolest dudes here at Christmas A GoGo undoubtedly is Gerhardt. For a number of years now, he has been surprising us with the most fantastic and diverse original Christmas tracks. So it's no coincidence that he also made an appearance at our first CAGG spectacular in Paradiso Amsterdam two years ago.
Today, his annual release is here and once again he lets a completely different vibe flow from his multi-colored Christmas cocoon to us. Sleigh bells, handclaps, Ho Ho Ho's, choirs and church bells mixed with a touch of tango: in Gerhardt's Christmas universe where Bowie meets Tim Burton meets Queen, all is possible. And waddabout that intro? An absolute highlight! Oh, and Gerrie (as we may call him affectionatly) stresses us to mention that the single cover is NOT made with AI, but a handmade Gerrie's Imaginarium collage.
But despite all that beauty, the big guy in red is no friend of Gerhardt. No wonder, because "Year by year, he passed me by, A promise lost in wintertime, No gifts, no hope, no northern light, Santa is no friend of mine".
Applause.

Gerhardt's Insta here, his musical work over there.

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Finnish Die Hard-inspired Christmas music

We all know that Die Hard is a Christmas Movie, and if artists keep making Die Hard-inspired tunes, we're going to keep track of them as much as possible.

From Helsinki, Finland, where some say Santa is really from, Riikkahoi offers us not only a poppy techno song about being the angel of vengeance (John McClane?), but also an entire Christmas album! Besides 'Die Hard', the slow vibe of 'Kirkka-us' (roughly, 'Brightness') has a mood all its own. Do listen to the whole album: it's not very long and it's a whole vibe in itself.

Besides being having very colourful art with or without cats on instagram, we don't know much about Riikkahoi, so if you do, let us know. Yippy-ki-yay!

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Three more short notes

Slowly but surely things are finally starting to get better and better with good Christmas releases this year. So again: short notes, three this time.

We can't get away from it, Christmas covers. And we don't mind, as long as it's done in a good way. So over to Frosty. We haven't heard of him this year so far, but Strawberry Whiplash is changing that with this cool rattling indie track.
Apart from a howling wind in the distance, there is little that is Christmassy to be found in this track. But nevertheless, 'Xmas Sox' by B.Miles from New York turned out to be a damn good poppy (Christmas) song.

The loud post-Xmas track 'Santa's Coming Down' has to be taken literally, as Jimmy Stash wrote this banger during the final removal of a giant Santa from a mall in Adelaide. That means Arctic Monkeys-esque guitars from The Land Down Under! 

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More Short Notes on Great Christmas Songs

Autista from Chile, with great loud riffs and cool vocals. Catchy song! The bandmembers are actually autistic, the bio on their Bandcamp says. This could very well be AI-enhanced, but still:

The idea of We Never was to record a Christmas album on a portable recorder, and then...that didn't happen. But this loud, pushy punk-track is darn good:

This was spotted by Santapalooza, but Christmas Underground revealed it's a re-release from 2011. The girls make acoustic nsfw country pastiches (random song title: Washin' my big ol' pussy), but this track has a drum machine, synths and screamy vocals. I laughed first, then I loved it:

From a compilation with bands from Portland, Oregon. A rambling, charming song about playing xmas dvd's. Alt Christmas rock at it's best, really:

From a very nice compilation with mostly alt pop songs (listen to the first three on the album!), but this late 80s sounding hiphoptrack is a real highlight, deep groove:

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The return of Gaspard Royant

When we first wrote about him in 2015, we called him 'Frenchy and chic.' We referred to Gaspar Royant as a French crooner back then. Read more about him  here. In 2022 he duetted with Maxwell Farrington, but now he's back with the album All The Best For Christmas!

It’s a mix of some of his older songs and some new work. This uptempo song from 2017 is on it: (C'mon Baby) It's Christmas Time!
The new songs are mainly duets. Like this one with American singer songwriter Nicole Atkins, about the perfect Christmas song.
Nicole Atkins wrote a pretty meanrocking Christmas tune herself, in 2020.

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Val Orendain - Navidad Acústica (Live Session)

Today was release day for the beautiful Mexican alt-rock musician Val Orendain. She recorded six great acoustic live versions of Christmas classics, only accompanied by herself on exquisite electric guitar. Partly sung in English and partly in Mexican, her wonderful, slightly hoarse voice puts an exciting thin frayed edge on the worn-out songs, making them sound cool and authentic again like crunching fresh snow under your shoes. Now I wonder what Christmas with Val Orendain looks like in Mexico. 

Her Insta over there, more of her on YouTube.

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COAMB - Little Cat Xmas

A little cat to keep you warm, what could be better?
A little cat in a Christmas hat and a Christmas sweater!
What could be better?
Two cats in Christmas hats and you and me together!
Well, if that isn't the real Christmas spirit, I don't know what is. One of the best original indie Xmas tracks so far this season, as far as I am concerned, is made by COAMB (Cougar On A Meth Binge). No further information on them unfortunately.

(Oh and we heard about Christmas sweaters three times earlier this year.) 

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Warm covers of 'As-tu vu le père Noël'

Québec's indie favourite Vanille wanted to celebrate her favourite time of the year with a Christmas song and decided to cover 'As-tu vu le père Noël' ('Have you seen Santa') by Québec country singer Renée Martel, released in 1968. We recently featured her father, Marcel Martel, who sang country and western Christmas music. Of course, The Beach Boys' 'The Man With All The Toys' is the original version.

Vanille's garage rock-flavoured version of 'As-tu vu le père Noël' should keep you warm all winter long. "Open your heart and your ears, and you might also see Santa go by!" Vanille is singer-songwriter Rachel Leblanc, who started her career in 2017. She was instantly popular and continues to earn her place in Québec's musical landscape. She oscillates between 1960s folk and French chanson, a winning combination.

Although more commercial, well-known singer Émilie-Claire Barlow's cosy and jazzy version of 'As-tu vu le Père Noël' featuring Québec 1980s sex kitten Mitsou has some lovely harmonies. Barlow has a lot of Christmas music and sings in English, French and Portuguese. Mitsou also has much Christmas experience and a lovely voice, which makes for a solid duet.

Vanille Émilie-Claire Barlow featuring Mitsou The original French version by Renée Martel

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Cover time again: Silver Bells

Like any Christmas classic, there are endless covers of this one too: Silver Bells. The original is composed by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, but the first recorded version is by Bing Crosby & Carol Richards in 1950. We made a valiant attempt to separate the good from the bad and came up with a list of ten not-to-be-missed covers.

"Ring-a-ling, Hear them ring, Soon it will be Christmas day"

Let's start off nice and quiet with the one and only Billie Eilish (live) and her brother Finneas O'Connell on piano. She owns the track immediately and turns the Silver Bells into pretty delicate golden bells at once.

When Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings sink their cover teeth into something, you know it's going to be good. In 2015, they recorded this glowing soulful version of the classic. 

The Annihilators (earlier on the blog this year) came up with this wild 'n catchy, punky pub "woohoho" version.

The Thought Beings from California made Silver Bells sound synthy and digital.

They from She & Him took the plunge in 2010 and came up with a sensitive and basic ukulele only version, carried by the folky sound of Zooey Deschanel's voice.

The famous instrumental version that Booker T. & The MG's recorded can't be missed. They did it for the prestigious Stax label back in 1967 already.
The guys from Ashes To Arrows listened to U2 pretty well, but luckily not enough to ruin the song. What remains is a strong power-pop version of Silver Bells.
Reindeer Tribe are no strangers to CAGG, but they always manage to surprise. Like on their country-a-like version of Silver Bells from 2017.

You can always count on Anni Rossi when it comes to original covers. The New Yorker takes over Silver Bells with minimal resources.

And that makes ten. Time to finish this Silver Bells appreciation post with Silver Bells by The Appreciation Post. So that means no fuss, just loud guitars and going out with a bang! 

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Short notes on a Netherchristmas

Going Dutch in the holiday season, with one of our favorite, ehm, songbirds: Merel Koman aka Blackbird. She released a festive Xmas single in 2021 (this one), that is part of a new seasonal EP that floats on nostalgia. Listen to that gorgeous ragtime piano in this oh so sweet family scene:

Krezip and Danny Vera are big room fillers in Holland. They joined forces earlier, but now for Christmas. As with any good Christmas song, it's longing for the good ole days:

Marcel Kapteijn was featured before on this blog, he claimed fame with THIS Dutch pop classic. This is a very upbeat, good time Christmas pop track:
You can take a girl out of Holland, but you cannot take Holland out of a girl. Because, when from the Netherlands, you make a Christmas song about bikes, right? Stevie Bill, a huge talent from Holland living in NYC, is doing just that:

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A mirrored hat like Noddy Holder

Slade's Noddy Holder is very much present at every Christmas. It's his hoarse cry you hear near the end of Merry Xmas Everybody, THE seasonal glam rock standard that's all over Xmas radio. On this blog, we had various references to Noddy, of course in our big 50 Years of Merry Xmas celebration (HERE and HERE) the honourable mention HERE, and listen how this starts:

And here's another, by Swansea Sound. Their third Christmas single is about dancing to Manfred Mann, while wearing 'a mirrored hat like Slade'. Cool glam riff there:
Thanks to Christmas Underground for this.

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Second Hand Orchestra & Gary van der Steur

Last year we had a guestpost by Joris 'Stereo' Gillet on the first album by The Second Hand Orchestra from Sweden. And we're thrilled that they've released a brand new Christmas album again this year, called 'SLOW, this is Christmas!'.
The concept of this album is pretty much similar to the first one: the Swedish 8-piece DIY orchestra with a loose line up of ace musicians coming and going and who is led by Karl Jonas Winqvist, wanted to bring back the love they once had for these Christmas songs. But for this year they like to do it, the album title already gave it away a bit, "in SLOW, trippy versions to avoid any kind of stress". And that has been more than excellently achieved with these ten tracks. Some are new, some are SLOW edits of last year's recordings, but all are a welcome addition to the slow Christmas winter landscape and not to be confused with easy listening.
Wonder what's coming up next year. A binaural beats Christmas album?  

The Second Hand Orchestra Instagram.


Even more remarkable Christmas music. His name sounds pretty familiar to us CAGG Dutchies, but he really is from Los Angeles, America. Gary van der Steur is not only a designer in various disciplines, but also a musician. At least, he has made a Christmas track that you must have heard and that he himself has filed under the name 'Seasonal Brass' and is "for those who dread the Christmas season". Point taken. 

Gary van der Steur Instagram.

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Loser Company - Christmas Mourning

It's a very drizzly rainy morning in da lowlands as we speak. And if twas Christmas right now, this would be a perfect morning for mourning. Beautifully drawn out Christmassy indie rock track by Loser Company from California. Love the bells, love the choirs that sound in the distance, love the little drummer boy-esque drums in the beginning, love the lyrics. Must fit to your mood though. Happy monday morning y'all! 

Their Insta here, X over there.

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Let the BBC take over

Grapes of Grain is a Utrecht-based, Dutch band; Americana is their genre, with some indiepop tendencies. GoG have quite the discography (see HERE), but this is their first dip into Christmas waters. With an EP, three seasonal songs about missing the sun (can relate), about a house lighting up around Christmas time and the prize song, Christmas TV (great theme!). About handing over the reigns to the BBC, and following their flow of Christmas movies. Because, well, is there any better way to spend the holidays?
The video, up above, was shot in one of the most gorgeous Dutch cinema's in Amsterdam.

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Fifties rockin' Christmas gems from Québec

Marcel Martel from Drummondville, Québec, was a pioneer of the country and western genre. One of his daughters is a famous country and western singer, Renée Martel, who has a few Christmas albums of standards. Over the course of a 35-year career, he released nearly 200 records, frequently collaborating with his wife Noëlla Therrien, his daughter Renée, who also had a very long career, and fellow country singer Paul Brunelle.

Irène McNeil recorded a song with a similar name called 'Rock N' Roll Du Père Noël' in 1957, produced by French immigrant businesswoman Michèle Sandry, who also sang and recorded herself. Good luck finding those rarities. McNeil was also nicknamed 'Mademoiselle Rythme' ('Miss Rhythm'), the title of her first album. Listen to the entire album here, which features another Christmas song, 'Noël en Italie' ('Christmas in Italy').

Unlike Marcel Martel's 'Rock'n'roll du Père Noël', which he wrote himself, McNeil's 'Rock N' Roll Du Père Noël' is an adaptation of 'Boogie Woogie Santa Claus', first recorded by Mabel Scott and popularised by Patti Page in 1950. 'Mademoiselle Rythme' is said to be the first female rock and roll album released in Canada, an honour that goes to a French-speaker as well, which culturally was no small feat.

Just dropped is Germany's Monokini with a nice straightforward and minimalist cover of McNeil's 'Rock N' Roll Du Père Noël' - bonus!

Marcel Martel - Rock'n'roll du Pere Noël Irène McNeil - Rock N' Roll Du Père Noël Monokini - Rock N' Roll Du Père Noël

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COVER TIME: LAST CHRISTMASSES 2024

Yes, we did celebrate 40 years of Last Christmas earlier with a blogpost (THIS ONE), but then we ran into more fine versions from 2024. So we had to do another one. Because, this version by baritone Daniel Knox is quite something. Reminds me of Neil Hannon (of Divine Comedy-fame), Dougie Poole and Stuart Staples (Tindersticks), but with just one red wine too many: Smart arrangement, smart instrumentation (ooh that organ). You need to buy this one to hear 'Lost Christmas', an eerie instrumental of one minute long. Nice, tho.

Already posted on Christmas Underground, but if you missed that, here is Kestrels in all it's dreampop fuzz-pedal-down-glory:

Kestrels · Last Christmas

Boyz of Kumbia! Totally different vibe, electronic cumbia, in Spanish:

Boyz of Kumbia · Last Christmas (Español)

I don't know what to make of this track by Thomas Kavanagh, is it emo-pop? Layerrrrsss of guitars, pop singing:

Thomas Kavanagh · Last Christmas

Also heavy on the guitars, but with a sweet tooth, Flor from Oregon:

flor · Last Christmas

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Mary Moore - Santa Baby

"Hit it boy", well allright then. It's friday night after all. Lots of covers over the years of this one, which is originally performed by Eartha Kitt in 1953.
And you may think that this one doesn't add much to all the previous covers, but come on, it's sooo tasty, tempting, sweet and lovely. So let's give it up for Mary Moore (I'd buy her anything she wanted anyway). 

Her Insta over there.

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Short Notes on Christmas

We have known her for a while at CAGG and unfortunately she was absent last year, but this year Trella is back with a beautiful cover of 'Grown-Up Christmas List'. Her sultry voice is still as irresistible. 

Buffalo Tom, the eighties alt-rock heroes, are still going strong and so is Bill Janovitz, their singer, as we can hear on his first (!) subdued solo Christmas track. There's a first time for everything. He sketched this one out on Christmas Eve 2023 and finished it on Thanksgiving 2024.

An Overnight Low has an original take on Santa's sleigh in this this track that is slightly reminiscent of R.E.M. from the Murmur era and bands like The Feelies.

We met them earlier, Sugar World, with a cover of Low's 'Just Like Christmas'. This year they recorded their very first Christmas original. Call it indie, call it dreampop, call it DIY, but love it. 

Guitarróns, accordion en mariachi music in the U.K. you wondered? Listen to these guys from England and Ireland who call themselves Track Dogs, because "I'd rather have burrito's than a big turkey meal".

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Robin Kester

Robin Kester is one of the artists playing the Christmas A Go Go spectacular in Paradiso, December 16. In 2020, she released an original Christmas song, Small Christmas Tree:

This was a commissioned song, plus an ode to her granddad. Robin writes: 'I recorded Small Christmas Tree with Marien Dorleijn at his studio last month, but I actually wrote Small Christmas Tree a while ago, back in 2020.

I was asked to write a Christmas song by Into The Great Wide Open. It was December 2020, and earlier that month, my grandfather had been moved into a care home because his advancing Parkinson’s disease made it impossible for him to continue living at home with my grandmother. I was so sad for him, especially because, on top of him losing the life he knew, he had to stay in isolation from the other residents because of COVID. It was a very difficult and sad transition for him.

When I tried to write the commissioned Christmas song, all I could think about was how my grandfather was sitting there in his small room, alone in front of the TV, away from his home, his family, with only a tiny Christmas tree in his room for decoration.

And then I thought about how things used to be, and how much I missed those old days when we’d all be together around this time of year, celebrating the end of the year and the start of a new one. I felt incredibly nostalgic, and that feeling ended up in this song.
My grandfather passed away a couple of months later. The cover photo for Small Christmas Tree is a picture of him and me.'

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Christmas A Go Go in Paradiso 2024

The yearly Christmas A Go Go spectacular in club Paradiso Amsterdam is NIGH, people. On December 16, the cream of the alternative Christmas scene will perform a very versatile bunch of Christmas(-y) songs in the upstairs room. New names, old faves, they're all there. And we hope YOU will there too!

So what's in store?

GINGE will be present, the Utrecht-based, sultry soul singer who surprised us with her latin-flavoured, anti-Xmas dinner pop song this year.
S.LOIS will be performing. Our mascotte. The banjo-wielding maestro from Meppel. The bluegrass boogieman. it's his third time at CAGG and certainly not his last. This is the gorgeous tearjerker he released this season:
We are very pleased that Patrick PONDERTONE is performing with a band. His Christmas songs have been highlights on the blog every year. He is upfront about his politically tinted, humane and anti-capitalist opinions in such a way that you can sing along. And although he said he wouldn’t record Christmas music, he did so anyway. Once you’ve been pricked by the pine needles… He’s also bringing a sizeable band to Paradiso. Blast from the past, but new song coming up: TRUUS DE GROOT is Dutch punk royalty. She can say she recruited Lee Renaldo in her band, performed with Rhys Chatham, has an eclectic back catalogue AND a personal view on Christmas classics. This promises to be...different.
ROBIN KESTER made the bestest Dutch rock album last year, so said the two leading newspapers in Holland. Which was totally correct. She was part of the Clean Pete Christmas revue and wrote the magnificent ‘Small Christmas Tree’. This year she will perform a new version of her song, which serves as an ode to her granddad. And she will sing flawlessly and with guitar reverberation.
THE MIETERS play beatmuziek. Garage rock. Nederbiet. Surf rock. Give it a name. In Dutch. We had 'm on the blog with their gigantically cool Christmas tune earlier, and they're rehearsing new stuff as we speak. This will be totally MIETERS:
THE GREY PANTS are Henk and Elke. You know Henk as the singer of Hallo Venray, a cultband in Holland who made several totally fantastic rock albums. As The Grey Pants, Elke and Henk made two very charming indiepop albums, a new one is on the way. They're debuting their Christmas tracks this year at CAGG!

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Sophie Janna - Fairy Lights

It remains the great mystery of Christmas how, despite all the sweaty hours we spend here at the CAGG headquarters, we still manage to completely miss some gems. This semi acoustic, folky track from 2022 is another one of those and we are deeply ashamed. Sophie Janna from the Netherlands is the singer and she wrote this beautiful and moving 'Fairy Lights' thinking about how we can celebrate without some wonderful people who passed away. In just over three minutes she knows how to tell a true story and create a sensitive, serene spot-on Christmas atmosphere.
And as if all that wasn't enough, it comes together with a beautiful animation video by Mark Lohmann. (Wait, Mark Lohmann you said?) So enjoy Sophie Janna, even though we are a little late to the Christmas Party. Luckily we always make room for good music. 

Sophie Janna Insta here.
Sophie Janna also is half of The Lasses, the other half is Margot Merah.

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Merrai Christmais

Artificial intelligence and Christmas songs; if you can have Chat GTP write your essay, you surely can have AI (or an AI-music app like Suno) write a Christmas song. When I was over at the Falalala-forum (HERE), I found some cussin' and grumbling about the stream of AI-generated Christmas songs this year.
Case in point:

Apart from the generic seasonal songs (also try this 'punk' track), there's the trend of unearthing 'lost' Christmas songs from the past. For instance, this one: Of course, there never was a Tammi Bell on the soul scene, not now, not in the past. She's, in the words of her creator, 'a figure of our imagination'. But lord almighty, this one's done VERY good. As I understand it, the lyrics are written by a real human.

Another trend; profane Christmas songs, sounding like musical numbers from yesteryear. There's a full album of this sh*t. Confession: I laughed way too loud listening to this:
More? This one I found on the Falalala-forum. It's from this guy, I'm again sorry to say that I think this is really really funny:

And than there's this. Michel Bouman is a fellow Dutchie from the wonderful city of Dordrecht, who played in several bands in the 90s, and now makes music on his own. I found his rocking, Foo-Fighter-ish Christmas songs on Soundcloud, thought they were really good.

Michel Bouman · No Gifts Tonight

I emailed with Michel on how he makes his music, for I was suspecting help from AI. Michel was really open about his recording process, he does play drums and guitars himself, uses plug-ins and pre-sets and help from Bandlab for the mastering. Michel says that he 'hates singing' and uses software for the vocals. As I understand it, he can tweak his own voice the way he likes it.

Is this cheating? I think not. It's still a musician making music, with some help. Just like the Tammi Bell song and that Untraceable Records-album, there IS some human creativity involved.
This is also interesting (and from the Falalala-forum). 'The track, originally written at very short notice as an experiment after a friend challenged Wilson to create a Christmas song, captures the loneliness and reflective beauty of the winter season, partly thanks to AI-assisted lyrics crafted in Steven Wilson's style.' The video is also AI-assisted (good term, that):

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The Non-Traditionals

There cannot be any Christmas without The Non-Traditionals, at least not on this blog. The guys, who operate(d) under several monikers, have re-mastered their last Christmas album Bye Bye Christmas (a collection of their best moments). And they added a new track, The Santa Express, that sounds like it's sung through a pvc pipe. Love that big organ.

They say it's really their last album. But, remember, their cannot be any Christmas without The Non-Traditionals. So I guess instead of 'Bye Bye', it's 'See you next year'.

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The Soul of Christmas '24

Soul and Christmas go together like holly and ivy, Joseph and Mary, sheep and donkeys, incense and myrrh. James Brown, Otis Redding, all the big Motown names in the past, they all made Christmas songs and albums. Nowadays, soulful artists still put chocolate in the Christmas pudding. We posted about Say She She and De-Robert already.

Take blue eyed soul star Mayer Hawthorne, who recorded more Christmas tunes and spices up the season with this stomper:
Valerie June puts some extra rock in her R&B flavoured version of I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus:
Some bluesy soul by Bella Brown & her Jealous Lovers:

Nice 'n slow we're gliding through winter's wonderland and over the river and through the woods with this sober but smooth and soulful-ish Christmas ballad by Nik Bear Brown.

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Matt Hagen in a bath, on the moon

Matt Hagen has different suits, for every musical project he uses different clothing. This funny article shows cut-out outfits Hagen wears for his metal band Savage Hen, his surf project The High Breaks and the track suit he wears as an MC.
For his (first?) Christmas album, he puts on a 'cheap Santa suit' and sings mid-tempo, country-tinged songs with smart lyrics. About getting clean for the new year, how he forgot to buy a present for his wife and a drinking song about, well, drinking on Christmas.
This song with Grace Potter on vocals is a highlight, plus a very good addition to the ever expanding Christmas in Space theme:

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Madi Diaz: Kid on Christmas

Earlier this month, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Madi Diaz was nominated for two 2025 Grammy Awards. Here she returns with the new holiday song ‘Kid on Christmas’. It’s a nice little acoustic and nostalgic tune in which she sings “I wish I could just feel like a kid on Christmas.” It was written on a hot summers day, as all good Christmas tunes!

MadiDiaz · Kid On Christmas

Madi's no stranger to Christmas songs. This is her original tune with Keegan DeWitt:

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An okay(K) Christmas

New York rapper and songwriter okay(K) is a striking figure in the underground lo-fi hip hop scene. With his tasteful cocktail of personal lyrics, experiment ánd flow, he has created a unique place for himself. The three Christmas tracks he has brewed this year are more accessible than his regular work, but are just as refined. All three songs are originals, nicely laidback and sometimes confusingly funny, like the moment in 'hold my reindeer' where he starts his off-key sung lyrics again.
So hold your horses, here's okay(K). 

okay(K) Insta here, his X over there

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Turkeys Voting for Christmas

This title and that cover art; you KNOW this is Christmas A Go Go-material. To quote the liner notes: 'A rabble of contrarians drinking spiked eggnog, gingerly passing the parcel, aware that beneath the razor wire tinsel and decorative façade lies a Venus flytrap poised to snap. It’s not your typical party spread either – a strict regimen of egg and chips, bar a few sundry carnivores gorging on foot-long currywursts in blankets.'

Reviewing this comp is a bit like spoiling a movie, because almost every track and skit has a totally different vibe. The furious beats of Kitzler's 'Schweine in Decken bei Tag, Schweine in Decken von Nacht', the chilling effect of 'Trinity', a track called 'Boffin Orgy on Nonce Island' that starts with Noddy Holder screaming 'It's Christmas' and then turns into an Asian dub foundation of samples and spoken word...it's like that box of chocolates from Forrest Gump.

Two more traditional songs that stand out (both I'd never heard of before) are this vengeful Al Green-ish track by soul singer Philip Kane, from his 2015-album Flowers and Ledges:
And this very touching song for the lost, from a 2018 single by White Star Bulb Company.
As I understand it, the rest of this album is all new material, please don't let that Pype track unlistened. Dive in. Enjoy.

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La Befana

Earlier this year, we learned that the legend of Santa Claus could have originated from Lapland shamans, taking mind-expanding mushrooms, dressing in red & white and travelling by reindeer-led sleighs. In Italy, there's another Santaclausian figure, a witch called La Befana. She gives presents to the good kids around January 5, and stuff coal in the stockings of the bad children. Read the extensive Wiki about her.

In popular culture, La Befana pops up in Italian folksongs like this one, but also in REALLY GREAT pop tunes by an Australian singer. Taylah Carroll (great last name) writes about her song: 'Inspired in part by Italy’s Le Befana, ‘maybe santa is a witch’ is my feminist Christmas carol. It explores an alternate reality in which we continued to honour a forgotten, but rich, Pagan history of Christmas Witches.'
Make Like Monkeys also made a La Befana song:
And this Italian singer-songwrites imagines what happens when Santa Claus (Babbo Natale) and La Befana get together:

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First snow this winter

Last week, the first snow fell here in Amsterdam. I immediately thought of 'Listen, The Snow Is Falling', the 1971 song by Yoko Ono, which was on the B-side of the single 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)'. The song is now 53 years old and has been covered many times. In the past, we wrote a lot about it. Like in 2022 about the covers from Andy Bell and Kidbug or in 2021 about Labasheeda and Librarians With Hickeys. My favorite cover is still the one from Galaxie 500. 

This year, there will undoubtedly be new versions again. Like this one by Gina Birch. She is a British visual artist and was part of the (post)punk women's band The Raincoats around 1980. She still makes music. Last year, her album 'I Play My Bass Loud' was released. In her version of 'Listen, The Snow Is Falling', no punk can be found. It is a nice, atmospheric ode to Yoko Ono.

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THEME TIME: CHRISTMAS FM

Irish songstress Lisa Hannigan, probably best known for her collabs with Damien Rice and this indestructible song, is no stranger to (recording) Christmas music. We had her on this blog with her version of The Christmas Waltz back in 2014, she recorded her own seasonal original Snow for her 2016 album At Swim, and last year she covered Little Drummer Boy with Villagers.
For this year, she's releasing a track that she wrote & recorded in 2020 with the band Lux Alma, in just 48 hours. See a live version from 2020 here:
On her insta, Lisa writes: 'I started writing this song in the car on my way to Hibernacle Music, a collaborative festival in Doolin in the west of Ireland. It was December and the radio was blaring all the way. When I arrived I asked @theluxalma to help me finish it as she is the most festive person in any room. We had a blast. It’s about my abiding love for Christmas music, just waiting there up in the attic with the tinsel and the lights- a frosty window straight into a different world (in my case, rural Ireland in 1986).'

I really like the little references to the Christmas pop canon (you'll hear 'm), and a song about Christmas radio, that's not very common. We DID have a lot of songs about Christmas TV on the blog, HERE.

But if you start digging, Christmas radio songs pop up. There's of course that fantastic track by fellow Dutchies Audiotransparent, a Christmas song that's a plea to switch off Christmas radio: They re-recorded the song in a faster pace for the How To Throw a Christmas Party project:
Festive friends Connor and Mikey have a love/hate relationship with Christmas radio too:
'I wanna rock around the Christmas tree/Gimme Otis, gimme Nat King Cole', countrypop-trio Runaway June sing:

Runaway June · Christmas on the Radio

If you think that last track was a bit sappy, then get your toothbrushes ready for Olivia:
Let's get lo-fi with this Polivka Brothers, who wrote a meandering song about Christmas songs on the radio and in the streets:
Stretching it a bit, this song does not mention radio, but references a lot of xmas songs. Until Rage Against the Machine gets a nod...
'Spanish Bombs' by The Clash reworked to 'Christmas songs on my car radio':
Time for some appreciation of Christmas songs, Josh Rouse doesn't mention hearing them on the radio, but there's a good chance he did hear'm while in Gothenburg:
Turn the radio on! Turn the radio on! Christmastime is here (and radio might play a better song than this:)
This is what I love about themed posts, you bump into Glammy xmas song like this:
Radio that plays Christmas songs too early, it's a thing:
Countrypop about hearing the Irving Berlin-classic on the radio:
You know more? There's gotta be more. Holler in the comments please.

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