Christmas Underground
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Featuring articles all about Christmas music.
Christmas Underground
4M ago
Folkmonger Records
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It wouldn’t be Christmas without The Ornaments. I rather think they would agree… though, time does march on, and all good things do end. Thus, each year when the email comes in, I take a moment to appreciate that this dark tradition continues. The Ornaments‘ tunes are not your normal Christmas songs… they are dark, weird, and interesting. This year’s song, which my wife LOVED the title of, is “Would It Kill You To Kiss Me Under The Mistletoe?.” The song centers on a Mrs. Claus whose marriage is mistletoe-dependent… on a good day. Pair this one with Elliot Manig ..read more
Christmas Underground
4M ago
Kill Rock Stars
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You may recognize poet and singer/songwriter Caleb Nichols from his previous feature on this blog, or perhaps my 2023 Christmas mix, I’m an Igloo, which features his gorgeous 2021 song, “I Fell in Love on Christmas Day.” Well, this year Caleb has packaged up his previous Christmas tunes, including the wonderful, nearly brand new “Christmas, California,” from his 2023 album Let’s Look Back, and added a spectacular new track that is sure to delight many fans of this thing called pop music we all love.
This brand new, exclusive to this release song, as opposed to tha ..read more
Christmas Underground
4M ago
Self Released
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T Swift has us all talking in eras lately, and I am not immune to the culture – so here we go. Kristian Noel Pedersen began his Saul McCartney era last year, with the stellar Saul McCartney’s Magical Holiday Season (AKKCXIV). The Evermore to that Folklore, KNP has gifted us with an unexpected and glorious follow-up, Christmas Around Town!. For those unfamiliar with the concept of these records, they are an imagined collaboration between KNP and imaginary 60’s pop icon Saul McCartney. This year’s record features an increasingly strained relationship between the two ..read more
Christmas Underground
4M ago
Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp
How is it that folks put out these weird, fun little Christmas projects… and don’t find my fun, weird little Christmas website? Who knows… maybe Aux Caroling (aka Scott Deaver) has been caught in the spam filter, both literally and the malfunctioning one that is my attention span. Harking (the seasonal form of hailing, obvs) from North Carolina, Aux Caroling has released a whole mess of Christmas tunes in the past two years, a full album last year (Holly, Jolly, Melancholy), and an odd, wonderful EP this year. The EP starts off with “Bulls vs. Lakers, Christmas 2011 ..read more
Christmas Underground
4M ago
Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp
Manchester’s Big Society is becoming one of those bands you must watch when December rolls around. With three Christmas releases since 2020, they haven’t put out a dud yet. I somehow missed “On a Winter’s Night” last year, but with the last few days of Christmas deluge, I have to cut myself a break. Thankfully, this year’s glorious new track, “December, forever,” dropped early enough to be featured on my 2023 mix, I’m an Igloo. What do I like about it? It sounds warm and lovely, despite the complicated feelings that run through the song. To think they achieved this ..read more
Christmas Underground
4M ago
Self Released
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Back in 2020, Christmas a Go Go highlighted the vast amount of Christmas songs that tackle the subject of whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie or not. CAGG even updated the post last year to reflect new additions to the canon (still dated 2020 though!). I thought one of the songs on that massive list deserved a little bit more attention – and here we are. Litany is an alternative pop artist from England (and just signed to Nettwerk as of this week) whose 2022′ “Die Hard (Is a Christmas Film)” with an e ..read more
Christmas Underground
4M ago
I suppose you’d think that experience makes things easier, yes? But you know – listening to MORE Christmas music… actually makes it quite hard. You become a tougher customer and find things that surprise you less. Sometimes you find your lane has narrowed, and everything is starting to sound the same. I tried to break out of that a bit this year, with a few sounds I’m not really known for. Whether that works or not, well, that is not for me to decide. I like them all, so I’m cool, but I do try to share with some folks with the hopes that it’ll hit with a few of them. There’s certainly a lot to ..read more
Christmas Underground
4M ago
Self Released
Buy: Bandcamp
hey, this is ned. i’ve hosted a weekly radio show called no love for ned for twenty-some years and also made annual christmas mixes that i sent out between 2000-2010.
holiday music remains my jam and somehow (jim/sixtywatt/christmas underground) and i ended up building adult lives in the same rural town twelve years ago. since then we’ve been goading each other into ordering obscure indie music (both christmas and otherwise) from all over the world to split the shipping costs. i’m envious of his ability to still churn out a yearly christmas mix despite family obliga ..read more
Christmas Underground
4M ago
No Coincidence Records
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The Oh Hellos are no stranger to Christmas music, as I recall their E.P., The Oh Hellos’ Family Christmas Album, was released 10 years ago! I had also completely forgotten that they pressed it on vinyl in 2016… try to get ahold of that one, I dare you. This year they return to the seasonal fray with “December ’04,” which begins with the memory of an inch of snow in Texas – an inch that didn’t melt away immediately and became a childhood moment encased in amber. The song moves to the ..read more
Christmas Underground
4M ago
Lolipop Records
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Los Angeles’ Lolipop Records are ALWAYS a good source for excellent indiepop/rock Christmas singles, having dropped excellent tracks by Jacklen Ro (I can’t believe I missed the cover of “Happy Christmas (The War is Over)” from 2021 – though it is streaming only) and Lost Cat in previous years. This year they are releasing an excellent new track from New Orleans/Los Angeles/Nashville’s (lots of places appear to claim him) Duz Mancini. “Christmas Special” is that kind of laid-back alt ..read more