Somehow I never knew this existed. Ray Davies did an album covering some of his great Kinks hits with the help of the Crouch End Festival Chorus in 2009, but he included this original, which he had intended to duet with British singing icon Vera Lynn. Instead, ex-girlfriend Chrissie Hynde got the nod after being approached by their daughter Natalie. That the two of them did not maintain contact after the birth of their daughter, and in fact did not appear in the studio together for the recording, puts an interesting edge on the story behind this downbeat holiday tale.
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This was rattling around my iTunes library and I just stumbled over it today. Glenna is an Americana artist from Texas and this folky ballad is from her 2008 album The Road Less Traveled. Glenna has a road-weary voice that contrasts nicely with the novelty-inspired sentiment of the title, and who wouldn't want a valentine on Christmas, anyway?

I remember trying to track this down when it first came out and coming up empty. In 2009, the Toronto band recruited a bunch of minor musical celebrities to re-enact the Geldof-Ure holiday special in a more indie-rock vein. Participants included Andrew W.K., Bob Mould, David Cross, Ezra Koenig, GZA, Kevin Drew, Kyp Malone, Tegan & Sara and Yo La Tengo. It remains available as a download. There was a vinyl single, though I'm betting it's reasonably rare now. Like the original, this was a charity project, in this case benefitting three organizations who assist in finding missing and murdered indigenous women. Only place I could find it was iTunes, so no link-through for purchase.
Oh heck, one more for the road:


Don't know much about this act, but the song, originally out in 2008, is a humorous rocker about having a holiday birthday, name-checking numerous celebrities a la Adam Sandler who were born on Christmas day. Although the first verse appears to be factually wrong: "Here's a problem Jesus never had to deal with." Or maybe not. Anyway, it's good fun.





Just recently had my attention directed to this on Bandcamp. These albums were curated by Ben Gortmaker and released between 2006 and 2008 on CDs. I had downloaded a compilation that included cuts from all three, but when I went back to Bandcamp that collection appears to have been remaindered, though all three of the original albums remain available. So this rundown of songs cuts across all three albums, which remain up on Bandcamp. Ben himself performs "All Is Emmanuel" and a folky Americana version of "Angels We Have Heard On High" that segues into something a bit dronier about halfway through. Natalie Prass sings the jazzy shuffle "No Better Time," Treva Blomquist takes the acoustic pop approach to "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus," while David Spencer adds some pop sheen to the same approach on "O Come All Ye Faithful." Sanders Bohlke sounds positively mournful on "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," as does Mikky Ekko on a harmonium-led "Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming." Stephen Gordon misses a lost lover on "Christmas Cards," and sadness overwhelms Aron Wright on "Christmas Ain't Christmas This Year." "O Star O'er Bethlehem" by Erika Chambers leads with a gypsy violin, Joe Gilder does an acoustic "O Come O Come Emanuel," and Chelsey Scott offers "In the Bleak Midwinter and Charlie Hardin performs a slow acoustic "O Holy Night." There's a heavy emphasis on traditional songs and forms here, though there are some more pop and rock moments as well.







Discovered this Belgian band via the Facebook page Cool Christmas Songs. This is from their 2007 album Stars on the Wall, which you can download from Amazon. They appear to be a power-pop ensemble, and while this sounds a little dour, the lyrics are a bit on the optimistic side. Don't know what eventually happened to the girl who keeled over after biting into the enchanted pizza, though....






These folks have all the buzz of the season this year because of their Hyundai ads in which they perform either "Jingle Bells" or "Up On the Housetop." Needless to say, these songs aren't available anywhere unless you're happy listening to the 30 or so seconds available via the car ads, and since Hyundai doesn't have a blog affiliate program, I can't be bothered. UPDATE: Stubby's Christmas proves us wrong again, although you need to take part in an elaborate Christmas charity donation in order to get a 5-song Christmas EP featuring all the songs mentioned here plus a version of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy." For now, what is generally available, and free from the band's website, is a download of the ancient carol mentioned in the title as done by this quirky pop chamber orchestra. They also have a video of this, as well as their original Christmas song, "Always In the Season," which also isn't available other than via the video. Enjoy.






