
Joyzine's Advent calendar is in its tenth year. Each day in December, you get to unlock a new mp3 gifty. Some are Christmas and some aren't. Some are old and some are new. Some are from other projects and some were recorded just for Joyzine. It really makes it one of the most fun of the Advents, to me, even if some others yield more Christmas tunes. So far this month, Joyzine has unlocked Piney Gir's "Christmas Island" (also available on the XO Publicity comp) and a pair of songs that really aren't Christmas tunes, but sort of Christmas adjacent. The Elephants & Castles track from Day 2--"The World's Greatest Complainers"--does speak of "cups of cheer" (it also happens to be a great tune). And Day 5's "Trinidad" from Penny Orchids sounds a bit like a Christmas song, even if it has nothing to do with it (it is a song about misplaced optimism; does that count?).
But we're here to talk about Day 4's present. Uncle Luc is the former front man for Stagecoach, a London Alt Rock/Noise Pop band that critics and fans raved about for a decade. Luke Barham went solo after Stagecoach split up and, mostly, really enjoys being an Uncle. Since there was already a musical artist going by Uncle Luke, he became Uncle Luc. "Oh To Be A Boy (At Christmas)" is described as Luke's "lost" Christmas song. And, to be honest, that title sounds awfully familiar to me. I'm wondering if it hasn't made the rounds of the Internets before. Perhaps someone out there with a better memory could fill the holes in my own. Regardless, it's free at Joyzine (you'll have to do the "right click" thing) right now and its a pretty sweet piece of Indie Pop.
Additionally, Uncle Luc will be releasing a Christmas single on the 15th--"Christmas 1994"/"Ice Cream". You can stream the songs on Soundcloud right now. There will be a vinyl 45, but you're going to have to hustle to get it; only twenty are being pressed--TWENTY--and we are assured there will be no re-press (and I thought 50 was insane). If you're interested, pre-order from Uncle Luc's web store.