Oh, yeah, now this is the stuff! I heard this one this morning and it immediately shot to the top of my list of finds of the year. This is my personal Christmas Number One. Hands And Knees are an Indie Garage Rock band out of Boston and their new Christmas single is "James Brown Died On Christmas Day" b/w "The Biggest Snowflake". You can buy the tracks for $1 apiece through Bandcamp. Or get the limited edition (of 200) signed and numbered 7" vinyl single for $7 (plus postage) which comes with instant download. A little too late for this year's comp; it'll be on next year's for sure. Head to Bandcamp for all the gory details and pay a visit to Hands And Knees on Facebook.
Things are only beginning to pop in the UK where everybody is vying for Christmas Number One. How bout these chaps? The band Stairway trades in hard rock, but for "Christmas Merry Christmas" they are going for nostalgia, hoping to create the sound of the Christmas classics......like Slade, Darkness, and Roy Wood's Wizzard. Pay a visit to Stairway's web site to hear the song, which will be officially released in mid-December and should ultimately find its way to iTunes (US).
"If I ain't drunk, then it ain't Christmas." Taking his stab at Christmas Number One, Corey Taylor pulls no punches on his delightful anti-Christmas song, "X-M@$", even pausing at the end to say "Hi, Simon"--a reference to Simon Cowell whose X-Factor winners have dominated Christmas Number One for nearly a decade. Taylor, you might know, is the frontman for the bands Slipknot and Stone Soup. The single is due December 12th, but you can hear the unexpurgated (parental advisory) version on Soundcloud. It's a hoot, exactly the kind of thing they should love over at one of my favorite blogs, Big Rock Candy Mountain. Although one does have to hope for a cleaned up "radio" version, so that it's suitable for public airing.
Here's another solid competitor for Christmas Number One. The Futureheads not only have a great title, "Christmas Was Better In The 80's", and that cool Pac Man Christmas Tree cover art, but the song is great! It's a Punk Pop number that sounds completely punk yet completely Christmas. The song will be released in England on December 19th. Don't know how long it will be before its available domestically. But you can listen to it now on Songcloud. Be sure to sit patiently through the downtempo open; it kicks into high gear about 40 seconds in.
Here's another UK single. The Selfish Lovers new Christmas song is called "Getting Home For Christmas". You can listen to about a minute of it on their MySpace page. It's got a really nice Phil Spector meets Twee Pop feel to it. The full length version is not yet available, but we'll let you know when it is. Hey, I know that font.
I don't know why, but George Michael has decided to record and release a new version of "December Song (I Dreamed Of Christmas)". On his web site, the blurb for this highlights the phrase "PLUS brand new cover artwork", so that's something you should think about. This one comes in a standard 4 song version and a deluxe version which features a Christmas card with a special message from George himself. Also, the new version will give you access to bonus content on the singer's web site including a new video for the song. Purchase this one through Amazon or direct from George.
By now, you already know that Kylie Minogue, who earlier tried her hand at "Santa Baby", has recorded "Let It Snow" in a pretty much traditional style. It doesn't snow in Australia in the winter and I think you lose points for debuting your song on Perez Hilton. Nonetheless, her song will debut on iTunes this coming Tuesday as she makes her bid for Christmas Number One.
Much more interesting is this single from Lola Dutronic, "(Another) Christmas Without Snow". This lovely piece of Electronica debuted on iTunes on October 10. Somehow, the song manages to sound Christmas cheery and bleakly depressing at the same time. I love when that happens! I even love the manga cover art. The Canadian duo have 4 or 5 albums out by now and they're quite popular in Germany (I think its the cheery/depressing thing). Pay a visit to MySpace to listen to the whole song.
This is also in the running for my favorite single of the year. I don't know if you remember but there was a time when Christmas records were hard to come by. And some of the best Christmas records back in those days were obscure independent releases like "Happy Birthday Baby Jesus" on the Sympathy For The Record Industry label or maybe The Residents doing "Santa Dog" on Ralph Records. The stuff was so wild and out there that it was irresistable to Christmas music collectors. This one from Deer Tick is like a blast from the past. The A Side, "Christmas All Summer Long", is a great rockin' track with plenty of distortion and inaudible lyrics. The B Side is the one with the dirty word in the title, and that one is half punk half swing with the overall feel of a Residents meet Snakefinger track. Don't see hard copies anywhere, but the download can be had at iTunes or ThinkIndie, where you can also stream the whole thing. Or you can get the download free with any Deer Tick purchase through Partisan Records.
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