“I’m Not Red[&Green]dy for a Relationship”

Andrew Mellor imbues his blues with American rock in the wallowing “Another Blue Christmas“. No Elvises were referenced in the making of this downer.

Country twanger “Another Christmas With You Gone” is Nashional crying out of every orifice over you.

Another “Another Christmas Without You” countries the folk with sparkly New Age vocals from Cyril Niccolai & Orianthi. Without love, what–?

Johnny Fun and The…Hesitations decide “I’ll Miss You Christmas Eve (That’s what I’m gonna do)“. But the club rock dithers more than despairs.

Barely keeping it together, 4 Star Review (feat. Rintryp) folk Indies “Christmas Worlds Apart” about an emptiness. Then the elder backup starts in…. Fair song; fairly bad recording.

About the bleakest i’ve ever heard Rudy Casoni, “Ain’t Christmas Without You” plumbs the depths of Christmas cliches, breaks them apart, then croons over the cheap lounge music. Fantastic.

Christmas? That and a Dime’ll Get You a Cup of Coffee

Truman Proudfoot & David Kandal get screechy looking for the blame that “It’s Christmas Eve“–the toilet swirl of holidays. Dark pop, with throat clearing.

A moving hymnal round, “Christmas Was Not Made For Us This Year” apologizes while complaining–as sung (approaching scat) by Extra Virgin. A conversation starter.

Party the Hut and Friends take Xmas into their own hands when they don’t get any good presents. With “Pots and Pans” and some snappy folk indie, they make their own middling fete out of doors.

Sarah Connor also has proposals to fight the inks around now. “Don’t You Know That It’s Christmas?” she pop divas. So, what if i don’t? Some aggressive frown turning, so watch out.

Eraserheads are far away from you, so not in the mood. How far away? “Lightyears“. Sloshy indie that wants to be pop when it grows up.

The Snowman mounts the lounge stage to air his grievances in the showstopper “Christmas is a Drag“. That trombone says it all.

Christmas… I Don’t Care

Family Friend identifies the problem with “Boring Christmas (Blaze Away)” fingering the Apollo Xmas mission as the tedium on the Te Deum (even though they hadn’t been born yet). Way to complain.

All I Can Manage For Christmas” by Tommy and Trace Bateman encapsulates the true Millennial question: Why? All they can manage is this folky indie.

I Don’t Know, from Atco MC (feat. Angelina Randazzo & Julie Andaloro) seems to answer that question. It’s in the refrain of “Savior“, electronic pop that’s not sure it needs to get out of bed.

No Snow In Outter Space” by Silver Louzy And Friends ! (ft. Petit Pied) makes it BORING! A frolic of pop garage complaint.

Hench wants to “Hide from the Holidays” (with you). Again we ditch the celebrations to get consensual. Why not both? Intimate lounge.

Xmas Instrumenting: Laughing

Humans might be the only animals that laugh, but everyone else is laughing at us.

Brian Acosta folks through “The Christmas Laugh Song” with a ha-ha-hallelujah or two. But i’m taking it seriously.

Santa Claus & His Helpers step out of the ’50s with the overly orchestrated kidsong “Santa’s Laughing Song.” Sure he ho hos, but when wound up–this guy’s flipping.

Monty Haper relies on “Santa’s Laugh” as a mode of identifying that big stranger in the front room. Reggae kidsong.

Koji and Junko Shioyama offer “Santa Claus Laughing” as a CW cultural mashup with our friends across the Pacific Rim. Who‘s kissing Susan?

Lispector’s “The Laughing Valley” is the truly Japanese setting for the happy holidays.

Got that? Now Automatic Timers would like you to relieve holiday stress the easy way and “Laugh Like Santa Claus.” Indie pop with a message.

Still not sure how? Herschel Cedricson’s tutorial “Mr. Santa” ought to just about do it. Basement parody. —Now you!

‘Course there’s always Another Side to every story. Mulberry Bunch swings blues to tell how “Santa Learned to Ho, Ho, Ho” by me (in Idaho).

Or worse, “Santa Lost a Ho” as we learn from The Christmas Jug Band. Swinging ragtime polka. The richest kind.

The Laughter Of This Christmas” by Aaron Long is folksy pop about childhood memories. We did laugh when someone else had to worry about everything, didn’t we?

The Superions put it bestest with “Laughter at Christmas,” an island conga beat with experimental undertones.

Polysomnography: Lullaby.11

Jennifer Paz doesn’t miss power, provided she’s got God on her side. That’s her “Christmas Lullaby.” Loud, yet elegant pop–like a TV theme song from 40 years ago.

SWMCLB goes minimalist with their “Christmas Lullaby.” Spare of melody, lyrics… but not of love.

Tammy Moxon slips into bilingualism (i think) in “A Christmas Lullaby,” a country corrido that arouses and soothes at once.

Robyn Spangler’s seductive lounge act “Christmas Lullaby” is a promise of sleeping for her Santa Baby. Is it getting hot in here?

Sandy Claws

You know what’s as much fun as praising St. Nick? Tearing him into li’l pieces!!

To begin, we’ll recognize the global phenomenon of Mr. Christmas, almost as widely recognized as Mickey Mouse. But, to get multicultural about it, “Some Children See Him” as different colors and adorned in local accoutrement. Others have made this a kidsong, but TEF’s 1958 rendering is gospel pontificating.

The Snowman translates from Earth-tongue to Ozzie in “Who is Father Christmas?” A globetrotting characterization with boings and skritching brings Music Hall home. Racist? Don’t make me laugh!

Balloon Man (feat. Julie Tweddle) needs an “International Santa Claus.” This must be in order to have enough room to–DANCE! Electronica from the ’80s.

The Golden Orchestra brings it back USA in “The Jolly Gent Who Jingles.” Jazzy kidsong that’s so retro i forget how old i am.

Ruining children’s joy, Rickey Royale slapdashes “Santa Claus Around the World.” Stop the world, i want to get off.

Rudy Casoni lets his xenophobe flag fly with his Sinatra homage: “Snowtime Fatty.” It gets nasty, but it’s lounge luscious!

Damn That Holiday: Hellions

BLUE ALERT for Busdriver’s mad rant over the holidays. “Ding-a-Ling-a-Ring-a-Ling” is a rap for the ages (adult only) that compares cashiers to hellions. It gets worse. Catchy bicycle bell though.

An actual hellion enters stage right in ‘Possessive! The Musical.’ Yet this Darian merely interrupts the satanic conjuring of his sis in order to get filled up with badness. He wasn’t ever getting but a Whole dang coal mine Christmas stocking; still i figure this is more victim than minion. Listen to the metal limned “Friday the 13th (Intro Intro Intro)” to figure it out.

Elevnety Seven (feat. Spaceman Jones) Suffered a nervous breakdown Bringing Christmas Eve back to Halloween Town crawling out of the “Hellmouth.” Rapping the pop song. So, bleak AND annoying.

Fleetwood Mac figures If today was Christmas day And tomorrow was Christmas Eve, there wouldn’t be need to worry about the “Hellhound on My Trail (Take 1).” Tinkly lounge music that reminds us Xmas trumps Hell-things.

Christmas Countdown: 50…

BLUE ALERT Blight Dolezal slips in a chipmunk filter to his rap”Trappin’ on Christmas” with lots of drugs, but Mess with the money and we pull the trigger–No child jobs we ain’t babysitters: 50 strippers, beat ’em to the bed Then go back to gettin’ richer.

Not terribly surprised by “50 Shades of Christmas.” Liz Moriondo jazzily R+Bs the usual wordplay into a near-decent ditty about blindfolded foreplay.

Santa Baby” gets a remix rap treatment from The Christmas All Stars (Salt-N-Pepa · Onyx · Snoop Dogg · P. Diddy · Keith Murray · Mase · Joseph Simmons). Late night, stars are bright We gettin rocked! With the 50 St. Nicholas Start rippin this. Is it the cops? The money? The nunna my beezneez?

More tomfoolery from Jeff Dunham’s persona Bubba J covering “Roadkill Christmas” (which we have featured before from The Road Kill Band). The wife outwrestles the not-quite-dead deer peeled off the road, since she had 50 pounds over him. Har. Country music har.

Warbling surf rock is also silly. So “Santa’s Got a Surfboard Guitar Sleigh” (with a fifty foot deck!) is Julius Davis giving us the humor.

BLUE ALERT NoneSoo gets crazy in “3 Hos” with driving under the influence (getting bout fifty) and a backseat full of women. Careless rap.

Well, it guess it’s Christmas Eve when Carrie Underwood’s protagonist–with 50 miles to go–spins out on black ice and begs “Jesus Take the Wheel.” So, Xmas adjacent.

Codlist (feat. Still Stevens) plays the fool with the ironic lounge idiocy of “Crack Open an Ice Cold Christmas.” 50 years ago this day a baby was born in Bethlehem, This triggered a phenomenon known as “Christ Mas.” You celebrate in your way, and i’ll stay over here.

Christmas Countdown: 1965

The Seething Coast gets antic with a rap-like folk diatribe “Tinker’s Blues” which brings out some thinking, including Sometimes I think of Christmas time in 1965. This may be a Viet Nam riff, but also a groovy ditty.

The Beatles’ Third Christmas Record” careens through Israel, all-white policy, success, Vietnam, copyright infringement, and the weather. A candid snapshot of the time.

WyGuy raps out the loss of spirituality for the holiday in “Mean Spirited” by alluding to several movies/specials, including the Charlie Brown one Way back three years after the Christmas of 1962. Do the math, i guess.

Allan Sherman (remember him?) tells it like it makes you itch with newsfed laughter in “Have Yourself a Sixties Merry Christmas.” But he means 1965. He says so. Schlocky lounge comedy, but that was king back then. (Aka ‘Draft Cards Burning on an Open Fire.’)

Christmas Countdown: 1984

The Kinetics romp and stomp the pop with “Christmas 1984,” a time of superficial glee. Bodacious.

Low Fidelity Love Songs is more introspective with “Christmas (1984).” Just wants to feel like he’s alive, guys. Alt-garage.

The Fragments get bitter with “Merry Christmas 1984.” Indie as she goes. Stop crying in the gutter!

Well, this is no silly old year. This is a literary allusion you should all recognize. Meet the Seavers go highball low lounge jazzy with “Christmas 1984,” pointing out the lengths and depths surveillance Santa will go to. Watch out! Be good!