
Believe it or not, we are still discovering holiday singles out there that deserve a mention. Even though the video for "Wally Bronner (Christmas Always)" has been around for a month or so, the single doesn't ship until Wednesday. Wally Bronner's, by the way, is a legendary Michigan Christmas Store--the world's largest, if they are to be believed. The Bellyache 7" from the Michigan rock band Hard Lessons comes on white vinyl (with an accompanying CD copy) and features "Oh Holy Night" on the flip. Order direct from the Bellyache Candy Shoppe.


I don't know the band Valencia from a hole in the wall, but they do a kick-ass version of the old Kinks classic. The single should be officially released this week through Amazon MP3 and all the usual digital outlets. In the meantime, you can stream "Father Christmas" and watch the video at PureVolume. Remember. Kick. Ass.


REM's annual holiday single is out and it's one of their best yet. This year, the Georgia boys have gone all Phil Spector on us with a full-on Wall of Sound rendition of Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)". We don't have artwork for this one yet. To the right, you see an image of the 2000 7", the only one I own a copy of (though I've got the boots, of course). We get the audio courtesy of the marvelous Cover Me blog. Stop by some time and say "hello" and "thank you". They're having quite a Christmas party over there this year I hear. Still waiting on Pearl Jam's annual gift.

