But fear not, because of the eight day backlog, I come bearing gifts. Not just one, but eight songs that’ll bring the Christmas cheer to fill up the eight day absence of our song a day / Christmas countdown. It also comes with a promise (that I plan to keep!) that we’re going to have a new song a day.
Since I’ve got a ton of new artists sending me amazing stuff to post, this is going to our Fresh from the Post Christmas edition — which also makes up for the my eight-day gap for the Christmas Song countdown.
1. French Kissmas by Chelsea Jade and James Duncan
To start off, I’ve got a song from the land of hobbits and flying conchords – which interestingly, sounds like it came off a post-modern, european spy movie set in France. It’s a duet from Auckland singers Chelsea Jade and James Duncan entitled French Kissmas.
2. Grown Up’s Christmas by Cool Rainbows
Since New Zealand is such a treasure trove for really great Christmas songs, and amazing independent artists, song number two is also from kiwi-land. This and the first song off our list is actually from Little Monster’s Studios Christmas album called A Very Little Christmas which is a free download available at the Little Monster’s site. It’s a cool song, that features my favorite (and often heavily abused instrument in the indie scene) – the glockenspiel 🙂
3. Santa’s On His Way by The Pipettes
My favorite 60’s inspired girl-band, The Pipettes, have also got some Christmas cheer to share with their new holiday single Santa’s On His Way. Fortuna POP!s got it as a free download on their site, so if you want to celebrate Christmas The Pipette’s style – head on over to this link to grab a copy.
4. Last Christmas by Oh Bijou
This one’s over a year old – but then, what Christmas wouldn’t be complete without a cover version of that classic 80’s hit by Wham? Oh Bijou gives it a very different flavor that’s both cute and charming in a twee-ish, chamber pop-ish kind of way. This one comes from their 2009 release Egg Nog.
5. Not on Christmas Eve by Boca Chica
Giving our list a bit of Americana, is Boca Chica’s Not on Christmas Eve. This one’s a sampler from this year’s Indiecater Christmas album – a lovely Christmas tradition over at Indiecater Records who never fails to offer amazing Christmas compilations each year. You can head on over to the Indiecater Records who’s streaming the whole album up their site.
6. Santa Stole My Lady by Fitz and the Tantrums
To those craving for a little bit of soul over the Christmas season – Fitz and the Tantrums has just the single for you. A song that paints Santa as the true ladykiller that he is, it replaces ‘I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus’ in the list of Santa’s gone wild holiday songs. It’s also perfect background music since I’ve got the copy of the The Commitments waiting on my bedside table for my over the holiday catch-up reading.
7. White Nights (Psychic TV cover) by The Golden Filter
Don’t be fooled by the cheery sleigh bells in the background, because at its core, White Nights is an eerie holiday song. Although The Golden Filter makes it a little bit less creepy (or maybe more), the original Psychic TV song had verses lifted from Rev. Jim Jones’s Jonestown death tapes. In any case, it’s the perfect alt-Christmas song to add to your list if you’re looking for a something a little bit more different than the usual.
8. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Slow Club
Along with Last Christmas – a Christmas song list won’t be complete without a cover of Christmas (Baby Please Come Home). This one is off Slow Club’s album Christmas, Thanks for Nothing that’s just had it’s US release this year. They’re also returning to the Union Chapel in London this year, on December 22nd for their 3rd annual Christmas show.
photo by Lali Masreira
