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