Month: April 2025

I Want to BELIEVE:XXII

Kenny Loggins’s “December” is virtuosoistic piano playing into NewAge sentiment. Pretty, but it’s only vaguely connected to mythologies.

Hoping to Elvis the sentiment, Manos the Wild sneers through the reverential retro-pop”I Believe in Christmas.” He’s fighting the non-believers, and i believe, he knows karate.

Romany pop from Endiamonds brings “Make Believe” into focus. They’ll explain what you’ll need.

Bringing back that banging folk of a thousand years yon “I Believe in Christmas” by LUX the band highlights the upper reaches of faith.

The LoveMonkeys with JD Rankin believe in so many things with the holiday season spurring them to pop music (and a Carrib accent?) in “I Believe in Christmas.” Danceable.

“I Still Believe In Christmas” by Freddie Guarella is more than decent folk indie that actually believes in YOU. Uplifting.

Corvair tries for NewAge with echoic filter and tubular bells in the moody “I Believe in Christmas.” It IS hypnotic.

I Want to BELIEVE:XXI

Groovy Uncle schools us in retro pop via “(I Do Believe) It’s Christmas Eve.” Is that sitar?

Ian Coss plays tennis with his vocals in “The Believer.” Old timey ragtime pop that reevaluates the belief levels Xmas morn.

Fleshtones club rock “I Still Believe in Christmas” with bounce and body and everything else that makes a hair do. It’s proselytizing!

Mary Smith (feat. Tyler Schaefer) reduce folk to easy listening in the platitudinous “A Christmas to Believe In.” Cliches falling like gentle snow.

Marc Broussard hammers out piano easy listening in “When Christmas Comes Along.” It makes him believe again. You know, in magic.

Yvonne Lyon adds an edge to her indie folk “I Believe in Christmas.” A tale of hesitant celebration is told.

I Want to Believe:XX

Trying again, Kelly Nolf & Wyndi Harp look from a Santa doll to a Nativity scene and realize “I Believe Again.” Clip clopping country with perspective.

Pistol Annies will do it for love. “Believing” is a seasonal folk country anthem. Toys, reindeer, and snow rate on their preferences. Disillusioning baby brothers, however, is a turn off.

Ellie Laver brings back 18th Century hymning in the form of diva pop. “Rejoice All Ye Believers” translates well into today’s music morass.

From the musical comedy ‘Welcome to Virginia’ “Anything Can Happen” is the palate cleanser belief provoker that makes you shift uncomfortably in your folding chair and go Hmm.

Dolly Parton is here to stir you back onto the right path with her country-gospel “I Still Believe.” She spends most of the song giving you reasons to give up, but brings it back around in the end.

Razzamatazz Productions wind up the Whirlitzer for a special grandparents’ show featuring “I Still Believe in Santa.” A show tune from Vaudeville times!

Ron Lehner uses angels to ask “Do You Believe in Him?” Resonant folk that makes you look up.

I Want to BELIEVE:XIX

Time to kneel to the knell of church bells! Do you hope to believe? Do you believe to hope?

Trying again, Matthew West’s “The Hope of Christmas” is reverent folk for the big guy born as a little guy on this day.

“Blessed Hope” delivered by The Glenn Mohr Chorale is the feel God of the season.

“Season of Hope” allows Andina and Rich to strew secular tidings about the miracle of Gospel.

Barry Johnson gets all unplugged and thoughtful with his folk related pop “I Believe in Christmas.” But it’s only about that one guy.

Sounds of Blackness swirl a multitude into “Why Don’t You Believe in Me?” He really wants to know. And He might be God. I can’t really tell.

Alexa Green & Graham Scott Fleming apply symphonic piano to the gospel-freindly “The Moment You Believe.” There’s gonna be angels!

The Ohio city Singers use “Love and Hope” to decorate their holiday home with Boogaloo bebopping.

I Want to BELIEVE:XVIII

“Is Santa Real??….” is BLUE ALERT practice time from ƒucĸvɪlle & Lil Dookie. This supposed comedy is masturbatory garage experimentalism. Erm.

HorrorScene rehaunts our blog with the echoic indie “Believing in Santa.” It’ll keep you up nights.

Aspiga will do anything–out of a broken heart–and “I’ll Make You Believe” apparently in love. But comparing your heart to the North Pole connects us to the holidays. Reverb indie.

Insistently Make Like Monkeys figures The Jig is Up when they retro pop as cool as Big Daddio when they attack in the mall. “Mr. Santa Claus, I Know Who You Are” results in an humbling melee, but belief is maintained. Groovy.

Jaime Adler, Ilan Galkoff, & Harriet Turnbull also wrestle with misidentification (wrong as wrong gifts!), but apply reconciliatory pop with “Santa, You’re Still My Friend.” Despite snitching, this letter ends in a kick line. Weee!

Will you still “Believe in Me” Cassie McMullin chants to a toy piano. This oddly underdeveloped indie shares vulnerability, but inspires little hope. The season’ll do that to a body.

I Want to BELIEVE:XVII

Trying again, David Phelps returns us to 1983 for the hypothetical country rocker “If Everyone Believed.” More than Santa seems to be at stake here.

Looking over the evidence of Santa’s visit should be a “Beautiful Morning.” But Darkcave’s soothing indie take on this seems like the aftermath of a tragedy. Kids are going to need therapy here.

Blasphemous Basement (feat. Sinnysounds and Babbling Blubber) hit us with an experimental mixed media “Santa is Real” full of opinion and criticism. The debate is hotly contested.

“Santa Claus is a Real Guy” by Dnice and the Experiments tends to dink around but that’s all well in good in the Believe Santa campaign. Swallowed pop.

Comic relief from Eva Via repurposes the concept. “Make ’em All Believe” is about convincing the family that I Do Have a Boyfriend. This Guy I Brought. See? Poor recording of a pop hit.

Occam’s razor tells us when it smells like a rooftop landing “It Must Have Been Ol’ Santa Claus,” here revisited by Keli Vale. Changes a non-believer into a suspicious investigator. Ragtime fun.

I Want to BELIEVE:XVI

Trying again, The Hooves caution against proving Santa with peeking; instead go with it and BELIEVE you had a “Hoof on the Roof.” Good ol’ Rock’n’Roll.

Others need something more tactile. Loop Line claims “We Know Santa’s Real” bc they rode in the sleigh. To the North Pole. And to the mall. Okay, they just KNOW. Swing and sway pop.

Ben Rendall takes some R+B pop moves to prove “Santa is Real.” Don’t care how you feel…. (The Chipmunk Version surprisingly undermines the whole process.)

Bug-eyed Jerry Colonna returns with proof of Santa. It’s “Sleigh Bells In The Sky,” a 1953 jazz band wack-as-doody of silliness. That’s Paul Sells leading the orchestra, not Spike Jones. Not that i can tell.

“If There is a Santa,” begins Nooshi… then itemize all the good you’d see in the world as a result. Like in Quantum Mechanics and stuff. Electronic indie leaning into kidsong.

I Want to BELIEVE:XV

Trying again, Maxwell Miles (feat. Gary Zimmer) emphatically declare “Santa is Real” with pounding pop music. Believe or get outta the way.

Sasha Alex Sloan draws a country line between childhood and fairy tales, and nasty growing up with divorce and illness in the sobering “Santa’s Real.” Brace yourself.

Subliminal singing from Monster and the Family makes a prog rock mess out of “Santa is Real.” As my wife likes to point out, some forwarding will improve your enjoyment.

Lenne Brothers Band livens up the party with rockabilly and “It Could be Santa.” Just in case.

Wild Hares broaden horizons with indie possibilities “If You Believe.” It’s conditional.

In ‘Elf: The Musical’ Santa’s existence gets questioned. The mom and kid make a list of demands while making their lists. If they get personal gifts (NOT CASH), they showtune “I’ll Believe in You.” Quid pro quo.

I Want to BELIEVE:XIV

Trying again, Todd McHatton allows You can believe what you want to believe. But, for him, “A Plate of Cookies (Yes We Believe).” Rocking pop recounts how the cookies vanished–ipso ergo.

Jugo raps out both sides of “Santa Exists.” All i can say is Hugo exists.

Ana Cristina Cash slathers country onto showtune for her “Santa Claus is Real.” It’s a bit of fun from the only living witness.

“Santa Claus is Real” by Freakboy & Friends featuring Nehedar, Roy Peak, Sue Bachner, and many more! is a sing-along party you are definitely invited to. How do all these people know? Because because I believe it! So there.

One of my favorites is the zydeco-adjacent Brave Combo discovery of “Santa’s Polka.” If he dances, he exists! Be ready–steps will be called.

From a BLUE ALERT musical comes the how-to “Believing Is an Easy Sorta Fing” from Sam Poole (feat. Nik Prsa). Follow the bouncing moods and swing along.

I Want to BELIEVE:XIII

Trying again: “There are Much Worse things to Believe in” landed here before as a TV song, but it’s been covered dozens of times since. I enjoyed the winsome take from ElectrOlivia. It’s a piano lounge do-over for this somber duet.

“Santa Claus is Real” is the unending refrain in todayshits.tumblr.com’s quiet indie. Blunt force logic.

Red Sovine tugs the heartstrings with his country yarn “Is There Really a Santa Claus?” In this three-hanky learning lesson we discover trading a dad for a bike is all we ever wanted to do.

“Santa is Real” stupid-raps Rugby with amazing evidence that should better convince you. If not, listen again! Color me overwhelmed.

Sarah Connor beseeches “Santa, If You’re There” for all the wrong reasons. See, Mama died and she wants one more minute. Not a church-goer, so this is the only number she has. Country tragedy.

Sad Lenny Puppet wrestles with the existential dilemma “Does Santa Exist?” in chipmunk parody form. Thanks for the smirk, Mitch Lager.