Year-round Yuletide oddities
Alice vs. Everything may have cuckolded Mr. Gifts in the jaunty garage rock of “A Pirate’s Wife for Me.” I think there’s just pirating (of wives) here, no sea bandits. Pirate can mean so many things.
Lost in space, The Sailing’s protagonist is Singing to the sky A feeble pirate’s cry, ‘Bring me love on Christmas.’ “Stranded Here (On Christmas)” is a soaring prayer to the galaxy/heavens in fine indie fashion. Pirate adjacent indie.
Some boats are pretty famous. They can have Xmas, or the holiday which might allude to that christened craft.
The Animaniacs will never stop in the pursuit of a shaggy dog punchline. Stay with them in their “Noel Song” as Pequod’s Ahab looks for the white whale. No whale, no whale, we ain’t seen no whale….
The Olson Bros Band wonder how you can be “So Cold on Christmas.” Like Jack in ‘The Titanic’ bombing into that iceberg, these guys were blindsided by your harsh holiday breakup. Dorm rock.
Street cred from the slang of “Ain’t Christmas Without You,” but Leroy Sanchez’s cheesy pop about missing you sinks this mess. Even though, when he DOES finally see you: I’d run all about and kiss you Titanic style. Like an iceberg?
“Christmas in a College Town” by George González makes hay with this (apparent?) oxymoron. Can’t do it! Like trying to turn The Titanic around…. More indie, but thoughtful and smart.
Dude, look out for that tree–are basically the lyrics for the fun run of “I’m Skiing.” Helpful folk from Jan Bresters.
“Skiing the Great Divide” by Abquexa is sadder electronic tones that might be called music, or could be the supermarket subliminal soundtrack what makes you buy more ice cream.
Mediterranean mandolin in “Samy ROSENSTOCK Goes Skiing” by Oblivian Substanshall carries the moaning improvisational language of… call it: desire? Whew.
“Skiing at Midnight” by An Dhá is the Celtic instrumental we didn’t see coming. Morose at first, then livelier, then more thoughtful… this runs the gamut. Evocative.
Hyper rock from Hannah Pauly gives us all the advice we need on the slopes when she belts out “Let’s Go Ski.” I’d listen, i were you. Good stuff.
Joyce Manor can’t go wrong on “These Kind of Ice Skates.” Or can they? Hard garage. So just quit.
New Lenox is ready to quit as well. It’s that last moment with here, on the frozen lake, with the parents’ borrowed “Ice Skates.” Then we hear cracking. Powerful alt.
Angry and BLUE ALERT OK Cool doesn’t want any part of this exercise, bc “I Can’t Stand in Ice Skates.” Bitching alt to bring us to a close.
.Icky got a boothang who loves my music and figure skates to me rappin’. That’s “Winter Love” y’all. I mean he’s enunciating and like that.
“Ice Skates or…” is a thought game about breaking with the world. Skating will lead you away i guess. Sorry Snowman gets all indie and alt about it. Stay away.
Jazzy Ash envisions a lazy day on her “Ice Skates.” How lazy? Saxophone lazy! Alt fun. (& scat!)
Les Patineurs, or The Skaters’ Waltz, is a standard for winter backdrop music. Still few lyrics have been pinned to this French ditty. Here is one of the best, The Golden Orchestra and Singers performing “The First Skater’s Waltz.” Kidstuff, but terribly amusing–with real ’60s orchestration.
Skating goes with dating, for some. Gloria Estefan is “Thankful” for you at that time of year: Skating with my crew in the park (cause school is out, yay!). Gospel-ish pop sung by thinkers Gloria Estefan, Emily Estefan, Sasha Estefan-Coppola.
Burnt trees, unread letters to Santa, a shaken snowglobe with skaters suffering vertigo… Bnny Rbbt declares “There’s No Christmas in Hell“–hell being your absence from his love. But this filtered alt is a gorgeous cry for help. Play it again!
American rocking it hard, Noxtrain remembers the old days (with you), which somehow involved ice and tobogganing. “Twenty-Six Seventy” is a journey of maudlin proportions. Good stuff.
Carl Dixon a cappellas to ‘Chopsticks’ about how “Snowflakes are Dancing.” Then it gets jazzy! There are horses, buttoning up coats, snuggling… and then: Some like toboggan or seed cataloguing–not a rhyme i expected!
Hawksley Workman hits the novelty marching rhythm acutely for the alt-pop “First Snow of the Year.” First panic, then consideration, then all-day tobogganing! Magical (and not just ‘cuzza the whistling solo).
Techical Ecstacy shrieks garage about their “Sled” until the bombs start falling. Really.
Sophie Villanelle balances the musical scales with banjo New Age in “The Sled Dog Lament.” It’s a dog’s life.
He sled, she sled from Josh Walther (feat. Robyn Lista) in the easy listening country “Making Christmas Ours.” Basic but danceable.
Percussive alt-pop from X-mas Donkey & The Glittering Balls makes “I Wanna Ride My Sled” a jingling masterpiece. Sax solo!
Lunatic Soul plays with our expectations in “Gravestone Hill,” an alt-folk place for remembering, finding love,–and SLEDDING!
When there’s “No Snow” there’s no sledding. Moira and Claire dum da dum dum through the folksy pop of missing it. But, then– [adorbs]
“What Does Christmas Mean to You” invites a lite-rock laundry list of snowing, caroling, gingerbread… and sleds by Jesse Reid. Yeah, my kid could’ve penned this.
Oh Geronimo stretches the metaphor in “The Sled” to include trust, love, relationship, and, oh, i dunno, descent. Alt prettiness.
Sled Kennedys storm the garage with their “Sledding,” a raucous assault on the hills. Better watch out.
More historical than holiday-ical, “It’s All Who You Know” from Newsboys traces cause and effect. The sled does get snowbound, but it might be Scott and it might be Amundsen. Either way, rocking alt.
Luke Stanage uses new age alt to sculpt a musical landscape in “New Sled (Christmastime is Here).” Tinkling and plonking arrange the snow scape of mind, although whooshing over the scenery seems wanting.