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FOT Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: snogrog on December 15, 2008, 09:48:07 AM

Title: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: snogrog on December 15, 2008, 09:48:07 AM
Hey all. I'm trying to make a 2 disc set of CDs for friends, one having older, more traditional renditions of Christmas/Holiday songs, and the other having more modern takes on classics, and realized I don't have as many songs as I thought I would. Any suggestions?

edit: Actually the songs don't have to be "Modern takes on classics" it can also just be a christmas/holiday themed song that a band made. Only example of this I can think of off the top of my head are examples like, A Great Big Sled by the Killers or The Christmas Song by Weezer from a few years back.
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: yesno on December 15, 2008, 10:47:37 AM
Waitresses, Christmas Wrapping is my annual favorite. Billy Childish has a Christmas album as do various other surf/garage types. WFMU's DJ Terre T plays good Christmas music.
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: masterofsparks on December 15, 2008, 11:03:16 AM
The New Bomb Turks do a great version of Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).

Also, My Last Christmas by The Dirtbombs is a good one.
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: AaronC on December 15, 2008, 11:10:02 AM
A couple that I put on my annual Christmas mix are Belle & Sebastian's "Are You Coming Over for Christmas?" and Yo La Tengo's "It's Christmas Time."  The Raveonettes' "Christmas Song" is a good one too. 
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: Turf Out on December 15, 2008, 11:14:37 AM
Sufjan Stevens  "Songs For Christmas" http://www.asthmatickitty.com/music.php?releaseID=63 (http://www.asthmatickitty.com/music.php?releaseID=63) has some nice versions of traditional songs and some Christmas-themed originals. His version of "O Holy Night" is my favorite.
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: Dan B on December 15, 2008, 11:23:30 AM
What I've heard from the new Fleshtones' Christmas album is pretty tight.
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: chawns on December 15, 2008, 11:51:16 AM
"Fairytale of New York" by the Pogues is the best christmas song you'll ever hear
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: snogrog on December 15, 2008, 11:54:43 AM
"Fairytale of New York" by the Pogues is the best christmas song you'll ever hear

Ah, so THAT'S the song Teddy Leo covered last year...I have his version.
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: <<<<< on December 15, 2008, 12:00:31 PM
I think Low did some Christmas-y studio work.

Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: Andy on December 15, 2008, 12:15:26 PM
sufjan sufjan sufjan
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: Turf Out on December 15, 2008, 12:20:24 PM
I think Low did some Christmas-y studio work.



Yes they did!

"On our way from Stockholm
Started to snow
And you said it was like Christmas
But you were wrong
It wasn't like Christmas at all"
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: courtney on December 15, 2008, 12:25:03 PM
I bring Low's Christmas album and a mix of "tolerable" Christmas music to my family's every year so I don't have to listen to f**king Mannheim Steamroller anymore. Good Lord. My mother loves that Low album and actually asks me to bring it now, so that's good.

Included on the mix are basically all of the above-mentioned songs plus such hits as "We're Gonna Have a DEVO Christmas" by The Ergs, "Mistress For Christmas" by AC/DC, "Santa Claus Goes Straight To The Ghetto" by James Brown, "Santa Doesn't Cop Out On Dope" by Sonic Youth, "Christmas Time In Hollis" by Run DMC (of course), some Ed Shepp X-mas tunes and a bunch of Muppets, Emmet Otter, and Alvin & The Chipmunks stuff from my youth.....




Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: <<<<< on December 15, 2008, 12:31:52 PM
Low is such a great band.  I've liked them more and more over the years.
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: Turf Out on December 15, 2008, 12:46:48 PM
"Merry Christmas" by Wesley Willis is a happy one.
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: Gregory on December 15, 2008, 01:31:00 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcAVheZAxDU


yo la tengo does a good cover of this one
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: Chris L on December 15, 2008, 01:32:25 PM
Aimee Mann - "Calling on Mary," for all your seasonal affective disorder needs.

"Santa Doesn't Cop Out On Dope" by Sonic Youth

Originally by Martin Mull!
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: Pat K on December 15, 2008, 02:11:10 PM
I've been repping "The Singing Saw at Christmastime" by Julian Kloster this month.
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: snogrog on December 15, 2008, 02:34:09 PM
I've been repping "The Singing Saw at Christmastime" by Julian Kloster this month.

Yeah I put Jingle Bells by Julian on the mix. Good stuff!
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: buffcoat on December 15, 2008, 03:13:43 PM
"Kris Kringle Was a Car Thief" is another Wesley Willis Kristmas Klassic.
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: snogrog on December 15, 2008, 03:15:43 PM
A couple that I put on my annual Christmas mix are Belle & Sebastian's "Are You Coming Over for Christmas?" and Yo La Tengo's "It's Christmas Time."  The Raveonettes' "Christmas Song" is a good one too. 

Where could I find the B&S and YLT songs? As in...what albums? Or links if that's allowed...
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: Jonathan Steven on December 15, 2008, 03:16:04 PM
Phil Spectors Christmas Gift?
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: iAmBaronVonTito on December 15, 2008, 05:01:45 PM
im going to second The Fleshtones, Terre T's christmas mix, and Julian Koster.
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: Jack from Arkansas on December 15, 2008, 05:16:16 PM
The Christmas mix for the FOT
1)Eazy E- Merry Muthafuckin Christmas
2)Snoop Dogg- Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto
3)Jimmy Eat World- Last Christmas
4)TLC- Sleigh Ride
5)Run DMC- Christmas in Hollis
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPchA7-NNvE[/youtube]
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: redsplitwig on December 15, 2008, 08:30:10 PM
There is a new Christmas compilation from Stones Throw records called Badd Santa.  I haven't heard it yet, but it's new and it's Christmas.
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: samir on December 15, 2008, 09:59:44 PM
Marah did a Christmas album that was rather ace.

I also love Glasvegas, and they just put one out too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDknRk0E8AA
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: snogrog on December 17, 2008, 01:54:46 PM
Well I think that's as many suggestions as I'm going to get. Thanks for recommendations guys! I'm in a much better position with this CD now!
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: Martin on December 17, 2008, 01:59:45 PM
The Trojan Christmas set is pretty good.
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: Tor_Hershman on December 17, 2008, 11:59:59 PM
Moi's "The Little Bummer Boy" is #2 today on the All Genres Chart at Sound Lift.

http://www.soundlift.com/band/music.php?song_id=82930

Last year, beginning on Dec. 31st, it hit #1 and stayed there for a little over three weeks.
 How well will it do this year?  No one knows and fewer care.

Stay on groovin' safari,
 :o Tor Hershman  :o
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: snogrog on December 18, 2008, 12:37:00 AM
Moi's "The Little Bummer Boy" is #2 today on the All Genres Chart at Sound Lift.

http://www.soundlift.com/band/music.php?song_id=82930

Last year, beginning on Dec. 31st, it hit #1 and stayed there for a little over three weeks.
 How well will it do this year?  No one knows and fewer care.

Stay on groovin' safari,
 :o Tor Hershman  :o

Seriously Tor, you worry me...
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: buffcoat on December 18, 2008, 10:43:57 AM
I sometimes look through the FreeRepublic site.  Yesterday, they did a list of their least favorite carols. Guess what the most mentioned ones were?

Happy Xmas (War is Over), of course.  Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time - apparently the Beatles aren't popular with these folks. 

But the most mentioned song, the one that makes these guys and gals tear their hair out every time they hear it, was...




Feliz Navidad.

Hey, there, fellas.  Could we please stop being parodies of ourselves?  We're trying to have a society here.
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: Pat K on December 18, 2008, 12:24:25 PM
Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time - apparently the Beatles aren't popular with these folks. 

I'll throw them a bone and agree with that choice. Everytime I hear that song I can't shake the feeling that it sounds like he's just making up the words and melody as he's singing it. Come on, Macca - put some effort into it!
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: snogrog on December 18, 2008, 12:28:45 PM
Yeah that song makes my skin CRAWL. Something about the harmonies and stupid synthesizers...::shudder::
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: John Junk 2.0 on December 18, 2008, 06:16:28 PM
I actually kinda respect the level of cynicism brought to the table on that recording. 

My least favorite is definitely Madonna's version of "Santa Baby".  This always pisses me off every time I hear it.  Madonna was supposed to be sexy at this point, and I'm assuming she was like "Hey, this is a retro song, I'll do a retro voice!!" and so made this thing sound even older and more stupid than the original version.  Betty Boop impression for an entire track, huh?  Save that shit for the karaoke bar, whore.










That's right, I wrote "whore".
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: yesno on December 18, 2008, 08:16:02 PM
But the most mentioned song, the one that makes these guys and gals tear their hair out every time they hear it, was...

Feliz Navidad.

If English was good enough for Jesus (http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003084.html) I don't know why it's not good enough for these so-called "Mexicans" and their liberal apologists.
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: Kim Kelly on December 19, 2008, 10:28:47 AM
A couple that I put on my annual Christmas mix are Belle & Sebastian's "Are You Coming Over for Christmas?" and Yo La Tengo's "It's Christmas Time."  The Raveonettes' "Christmas Song" is a good one too. 

Where could I find the B&S and YLT songs? As in...what albums? Or links if that's allowed...

The Belle & Sebastian tune, which is lovely by the way, was available as a free download on their mySpace page during Christmas last year. Lucky you, there's a download link still up at Stereogum (http://stereogum.com/archives/mp3/christmas-wishes-from-coldplay-belle-and-sebastian_007565.html).

A bunch of twee and indie pop labels have been putting out Xmas comps since the early nineties, not to mention singles from people like Saint Etienne, Velocity Girl, and Eux Autres. There are some real gems studded throughout these comps from Parasol, Siesta, Él, Kindercore, and Gaylord. Some of my favorites include:

Franklin Bruno - "Invisible Mistletoe"
Eux Autres - "Another Christmas at Home"
April March and Los Cincos: "Last Train to Christmas"
Tender Trap - "Frankincense and Myrhh"
The Lucksmiths - "The Thought That Counts"
Colin Clary - "Meow Meow" (Side note: Unless you enjoy crying or sobbing, I don't recommend "The Cat Carol" by I forget who. It's not a bad song. It's just the saddest song ever, and I'm welling up just thinking about it.)
The Icicles - "Snowman Song"
Lil' Hospital - "Dear Scrooge"
Shumai - "California Christmas"
The Smittens - "Good Migrations"
The Diskettes - "Noel"
The Muffs - "Nothing for Me"
Shitbirds - "Christmas is a Comin' (May God Bless You)"
Corazón - "El regalo"
Helen Love - "Joey Ramone Snowman"
Luna - "Eggnog"
Au Revoir Simone - "Christmastime Is Here" (A lovely cover)
Dressy Bessy - "All the Right Reasons"
Pipas - "Boxes"
The Pines - "High Street"
Asobi Seksu - "Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight)" (a shoegazey cover of the Ramones classic)
Maia Hirasawa - "You Were All There"
Velocity Girl - "Merry Christmas, I Love You"
Would-Be-Goods - "Christmas in Haiti"
The Pearlfishers - "Winter Roads"
The Mommyheads - "Christmas Song"

And moooooore... My Christmas song collection is rapidly approaching 500.
Title: Re: Contemporary holiday music
Post by: Big Plastic Head on December 19, 2008, 12:11:55 PM
If you are looking for a pretty eclectic mix of Christmas music to stream, check out SOMA FM's (http://somafm.com/) "Xmas in 'Frisko (http://somafm.com/play/xmasinfrisko)" radio stream. They have been doing it for a few years and it is pretty amazing. Some of it is NSFW but there is much hilarity as well as more than a few music gems in there. They also have one that is "Family Safe (http://somafm.com/play/christmas)" too.