On this day six years ago, my sweetie said he wasn’t going to get down on one knee, but didn’t I think we should get married? In my twisty little female mind, that counts as a romantic Valentine’s Day proposal.

I know being a V-Day hater in more in vogue, but I get a little mushy about it.

Ivan and Alyosha - Easy To Love from The Verse, The Chorus (2009)
MySpace | Buy

Joan As Policewoman - To Be Loved from To Survive (2008)
MySpace | Buy

Boombox Repair Kit - 100 Kisses - single (2010)
Bandcamp | Free Download

Muse - Endlessly from Absolution (2003)
MySpace | Buy

Sevigny - When the Stars Go Blue - Ryan Adams cover from Melalcoholic (2006)
Last.fm | Buy

Ben Lee - Gamble Everything for Love from Awake Is the New Sleep (2005)
MySpace | Buy

Filed under: holiday, mix, Ben Lee, Boombox Repair Kit, Ivan and Alyosha, Joan As Policewoman, Muse, Sevigny, Valentine's Day music | 3 Comments

Sorry I haven’t been around much lately. I promised myself last year that I would no longer put blogging first in my life when there are other things to do. And there have been other things to do! When it rains here in So Cal–and it has rained a LOT–it’s time to put native seeds in the ground. November is prime planting time so I am pushing it a bit, but I am always sorry that I didn’t plant more so I’m going for it.

And that brings me to the theme of this week’s Contrast Podcast: GO. This week also marks the 200th podcast, and since it’s a weekly deal, that tells you how dedicated our host Tim Young and my fellow contributors are. I compiled a list of 30 songs with variations on the word “Go,” and these were at the top of the list.

I mistakenly introduced my song choice as being from my third favorite album of 2009 and only later remembered that Kabukimono was actually my fourth favorite album. I’ll excuse that error because I liked my top 5 of 2009 so much, any one of them could have been #1! I am still nuts about Rainbow Arabia’s multi-layered rhythms, Middle Eastern ululations, and microtonal keyboard riffs, and I play the album often–maybe more often than the three albums that preceded it on my Top 10 of 2009.

Rainbow Arabia - I Know I See I Love I Go from Kabukimono
MySpace | Buy

It’s hard to say anything about this except that it is gorgeous.
Ane Brun - To Let Myself Go from A Temporary Dive (2004)
MySpace | Buy

Vintage Queens of the Stone Age! Songs for the Deaf was such an amazing album. I might as well say here that I don’t get the broken light bulb mascots that QOTSA started using a couple of years ago. What’s that about?
Queens of the Stone Age - Go With the Flow from Songs for the Deaf (2002)
MySpace | Buy

Material Issue was one of my favorite bands of the 90s (I had a lot of favorite bands in the 90s). We miss you, Jim Ellison.
Material Issue - Goin' Through Your Purse from Freak City Soundtrack (1994)
Fan Website | Buy

I love how Tony Joe White drawls out ominously, “Y’all ain’t from around heah, are ya?” You just know there’s something about that swamp he isn’t telling.
Boozoo Bajou - Keep Going from Dust My Broom (2005)
MySpace | Buy

And of course, I could have selected one of my favorite songs of all time, “Go Insane.” Lindsey Buckingham is still a damn sexy guy, at least to an old lady like myself. I still love the video too.
Lindsey Buckingham - Go Insane from Go Insane (1985)
MySpace | Buy

Photo: Sky On Fire, December sunset by alt-gramma

Filed under: Contrast Podcast, themes, Ane Brun, Lindsey Buckingham, Material Issue, Queens of the Stone Age, Rainbow Arabia | 4 Comments

Ryan and Rebecca Coseboom

I recently heard “Gladhander” as one of KCRW’s Songs of the Day, and that was all it took for me to scour the interwebs for Stripmall Architecture, the husband-wife duo Ryan and Rebecca Coseboom from San Francisco. Of their two current albums, Object03 is the older but both it and the latest, We Were Flying Kites, have 2009 release dates.

Similar to Beach House and Emily Haynes/Metric but far more adventuresome than Metric’s current album, the Cosebooms combine quirky electronica (”And Then Crazy Kills the Fun” and “Subtle Movements” from Object03), rock (”What’s Wrong With the Kids Today?”), a folkish sensibility (”Beauty Is Suffering”) and cool electronic/ambient (”The Droplet Sounds”) from We Were Flying Kites. My big favorites are “Stop Thief” and “We Were Flying Kites” and its dub version that appears on Object03.

Stream everything at their Bandcamp site, and name your price to download We Were Flying Kites.

Stripmall Architecture - Gladhander from We Were Flying Kites (2009)

MySpace | Buy and Download at Bandcamp | Also at Amazon

Filed under: album review, Stripmall Architecture | 1 Comment

6. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is!

The Lost Highway record label debut of this great Austin, TX soul and blues band led by Joe Lewis is pretty good. The production is great and the songs are tight and jumping.
Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - Gunpowder
from Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is!

MySpace | Buy

7. M. Ward - Hold Time

Pretty good CD, quite similar in style to his great “Post-War” CD from 2006. It’s got some really nice songs, including a very cool cover of Buddy Holly’s “Rave On”.

M. Ward - Never Had Nobody Like You
from Hold Time

MySpace | Buy

8. Leonard Cohen - Live In London

At 74 the master returns to crank out his classics live with a stellar band, and his songs never sounded better. It was quite an experience this year to see him and this great band live at Nokia Theatre in Grande Prairie, TX on April 3rd (link). I hope they go straight into the studio after their tour ends.

Leonard Cohen - Tower of Song from Live In London

Website | Buy | Leonard Cohen Concert Review

9. Van Morrison - Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl

Van reproduces his 1968 classic album in its entirety live in this 2008 concert. Musically, this live CD stays somewhat true to the original folk and jazz combination. And Van’s vocals on this are as spectacular as they were back in the Sixties. It’s a real testimony to his great talent to be able to reprise and expand upon this classic work forty years after it originally came out.

Van Morrison - Madame George
from Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl

Website | Buy

10. Iggy Pop - Preliminaires

Following his Stooges reunion and the untimely death of their guitarist, Ron Ashton, Iggy shifts gears dramatically with this cool CD of songs he wrote based on the novel “The Possibility of an Island” by French writer Michel Houellebecq. The music consists of slow ballads, jazzy numbers, and some near-rock burners. And, The Ig even croons a few songs in French (his high school French class finally hit pay dirt).

Iggy Pop - King of the Dogs from Preliminaires

Website | Buy

Filed under: Favorites of 2009, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, Iggy Pop, Leonard Cohen, M. Ward, Van Morrison | 1 Comment

HAPPY 2010! We’re celebrating today with the first half of Uncle T’s favorite albums of 2009.

1. Heartless Bastards - The Mountain

This third effort is essentially an Erika Wennerstrom solo CD with great production work by Mike McCarthy (Spoon), recorded after the departure of the band’s bassist and drummer and before the latest players had been recruited. Erika emotes about relationship loss, sadness, transition, and moving forward. While the music retains this band’s signature guitar sound, other musicians were brought in to expand and sweeten many of the songs with pedal steel, mandolin, banjo, and violin. As a whole, it’s very good with Erika’s vocals at the forefront. The title song is pure magic, and there are plenty of other great moments.

Heartless Bastards - Sway from The Mountain

MySpace | Buy

2. Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk

Really cool collaboration of M. Ward, Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Conner Oberst and Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes). Surprisingly these guys seamlessly blend together to come up with the sleeper CD of the year. The worst thing about them is their name. For a super-group of their stature, they should have spent a time coming up with a memorable name; I don’t think “James, Oberst, Mogis, and Ward” would’ve worked any better. Oh well, just enjoy the music.

Monsters of Folk - Baby Boomer from Monsters of Folk

MySpace | Buy

3. Booker T - Potato Hole

A perfect summertime CD of instrumentals by the legendary Stax keyboardist with able backing by The Drive-By Truckers and Neil Young on lead guitar. Similar to The MGs, but just a little dirtier. Excellent CD.

Booker T - Hey Ya from Potato Hole

MySpace | Buy

4. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone

This vocalist force-of-nature put out her most consistent effort yet assisted by an assortment of friends (M. Ward, Calexico, Garth Hudson, etc.). The songs are about tornados, killer whales, prison girls, love, regret, and all kinds of other things.

Neko Case - Prison Girls from Middle Cyclone

MySpace | Buy

5. Wilco - Wilco (the album)

Similar in style to their last CD, the excellent “Sky Blue Sky”, this one’s also pretty consistent and good. It seems this band has reached a nice creative musical plateau as a band. And witnessing their live performance at this year’s New Orleans Jazz Festival was quite a treat.

Wilco - Black Bull Nova

MySpace | Buy

Filed under: Favorites of 2009, Uncle T, Booker T, Heartless Bastards, Monsters of Folk, Neko Case, Wilco | Post a comment

Continuing from yesterday and the day before –

16. Alberta Cross - Broken Side of Time

If this debut full-length by Alberta Cross had been released in the late 60s, it would have stood well against music that is now considered classic. These days, due to oversaturation of the music market, it is likely to be overlooked. One problem with this album is its lack of hooks–”singalongability.” Everybody and his sister can sing “Down By the River” and “Cinnamon Girl,” but the lyrics on Broken Side of Time are mostly too unintelligible to provide that kind of familiarity. Still, the lashing guitars provide ample thrill factor.

“Rise From the Shadows” brought my attention back to this album after I found it for my Halloween mix. I love the ending, where layer upon layer of builds over Petter Ericson Stakee’s haunting wolf howls. “ATX” is another great track.

Alberta Cross - ATX from Broken Side of Time

MySpace | Buy | Alberta Cross at Coachella 2009

17. Wye Oak - The Knot

Wye Oak’s second full-length presents Jenn Wasner as she plays onstage, banging out fat, chunky chords like the ones on “Take It In.” Wasner learned well the lesson in dynamics that Jimmy Page was trying to teach in “Ramble On” (watch It Might Get Loud), and she has made those flares of distortion more melodic this time than just noisy as they were on Wye Oak’s debut If Children.

As a whole, the slow pace of the album reflects the sad subject matter of a love gone south. Pretty melodies are a front for bitter words. The best songs are “Take It In,” “That I Do,” and “For Prayer,” and my favorite “I Want For Nothing.” I love the strings and how the song pauses before swelling out to full power again. I am disappointed that I can’t understand the lyrics, which like others on the album are far more sad and angry than the melody suggests.

Wye Oak - I Want For Nothing from The Knot

MySpace | Buy | Wye Oak Concert Review

18. Freelance Whales - Weathervanes

I confess that I haven’t listened to this album very much, as it is new for me, but I do like it even though I suspect the three pretty one-minute instrumentals are filler. The rest, however, seems right up my alley, sometimes sounding like a plugged-in Paul Simon (”Location”), sometimes like School of Seven Bells playing Fleet Foxes (”Generator^First Floor”), and sometimes like the folkish side of MGMT (”Ghosting”). I think I am going to like everything even more as time goes on.

Freelance Whales - Location from Weathervanes

MySpace | Buy | Band Blog

19. Here We Go Magic - Here We Go Magic

Luke Temple turns trippy with his new project Here We Go Magic, a big conceptual departure from his previous folk tradition. “Tunnelvision” and “Fangela” are such brilliant jewels that it’s hard to remember that the rest of the album is quite good too, although I don’t care much for “Nat’s Alien.” I hope HWGM will produce another album of fine songs in the future.

Here We Go Magic - Fangela from Here We Go Magic

MySpace | Buy

20. City of Satellites - Machine Is My Animal

An entire album possessed of crystalline beauty, Machine Is My Animal by Australian outfit City of Satellites is the perfect thing for peaceful chilling out. My Thanksgiving week album review (HERE) did not get much interest; I hope to get you to give this another try.

City of Satellites - Control from Machine Is My Animal

MySpace | Buy

HAPPY NEW YEAR’S EVE!

Filed under: Favorites of 2009, Engineers, Freelance Whales, Here We Go Magic, Stripmall Architecture, Wye Oak | 1 Comment

I realize I am down to the last minute for posting year-end favorites, but I am glad I didn’t feel pressured to meet anyone else’s deadlines because I would have regretted not including several that made this part of the list. For one thing, I was only recently alerted to the fact that Rural Alberta Advantage and The Airborne Toxic Event had re-released their 2008 albums that I did not get into until very late last year and early this year. For another, a couple of very fine late finds leaped onto the list to replace some other albums that I felt only lukewarm about.

Due to issues with WordPress not handling large posts with lots of HTML code very well, I am splitting up the second half of my Top 20 albums into two posts. The next piece will publish tomorrow.

11. Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns

Rural Alberta Advantage’s debut album features minimalist folk-punk with whiny vocals that instantly and unexpectedly channel Neutral Milk Hotel. Last January I regretted missing this album on last year’s Favorites list. I can gladly make up for that now.

Rural Alberta Advantage - Rush Apart from Hometowns

MySpace | Buy | Hometowns Album Review

12. The Airborne Toxic Event - Airborne Toxic Event (Deluxe Edition)

I did not begin to seriously listen to Airborne Toxic Event until I knew we were going to see them at the Coachella last April. Mikel Jollett has a storyteller’s songwriting skills, and this band is one heck of an act to see live. The deluxe edition of ATE’s 2008 album adds acoustic versions of “Gasoline” and “Sometime Around Midnight,” two of their best songs.

The Airborne Toxic Event - Papillon from The Airborne Toxic Event

MySpace | Buy | Airborne Toxic Event at Coachella 2009

13. Sea Wolf - White Water, White Bloom

While I have read that Alex Brown Church’s songs on White Water, White Bloom were inspired by living in Montreal, when I listen to them I see the grand mountainscapes and rushing rivers of northern California. I have so rarely heard the beauty of nature described so clearly and without oversentimentalizing them. The title song is just one of many examples, although the bonus track “Stanislaus” and “O Maria” are also big favorites of mine.

“And coming through the mist into the calm and clear
In the emerald gleam I can feel you near
The dogwoods on the banks glowing in the gloom
On every naked branch, a beautiful white bloom”

Sea Wolf - White Water, White Bloom from White Water, White Bloom

MySpace | Buy

14. Silversun Pickups - Swoon

It took three years and a lot of experiences to put Silversun Pickups’ follow-up to Carnavas, one of our top albums of 2006, on the table. Swoon relates the ups and downs of those years, including the possibility of infidelity in “Catch and Release”–always a road hazard. Songs like “Panic Switch” and “The Royal We” provide the familiar blister of the first album, but the lyrics are clearer and the production is nicely smoother.

“We can laugh about it now
We hope everything works out
Be careful how you lick your wounds
Believe that change is coming soon
How many times do you want to die?
Do you feel safe again?
Look over your shoulder
Very carefully look over your shoulder”

Silversun Pickups - The Royal We from Swoon

MySpace | Buy | Silversun Pickups Concert Review

15. Division Day - Visitation

On their second full-length, Division Day delve less into full-tilty-whirl rock bashes they hammered out on debut Beartrap Island (like “Ricky”), one of the exceptions being “Malachite,” which happens to be one of their older songs. The others are bit more pop-y, even airy and floating, like “Azalean,” nonetheless, Visitation is a satisfying follow-up, with tantalizing dark edges. Rohner Stegnitz has one of my favorite voices in rock; and he is just outstanding on the opener “Reservoir,” “Azalean,” “My Prisoner,” and my favorite “Carrier.” “Visitation” has the neck-prickling chill of a ghost story, and “Chalk Lines” is Division Day at their churning best.

Division Day - Reservoir from Visitation

MySpace | Buy

Filed under: Favorites of 2009, Airborne Toxic Event, Division Day, Rural Alberta Advantage, Sea Wolf, Silversun Pickups | Post a comment

For me 2009 was a good music year where I had no trouble finding entire albums that I loved to play over and over.

Since I am not a musician, nor have I studied music, nor am I a professional music critic, I base my list of favorite albums and songs of the year on what I call “thrill factor,” that indefinable something that makes me keep going back to an album or song again and again. I might think something is good, but if I experience no yearning to listen to it again, it is lacking in thrill factor.

I like the first three of my top 10 albums of 2009 so much that they all could have been number 1, and almost any song on these three could be my favorite from the album. Over the year, I played my top 5 albums more times than I can count, and also went back to the second five over and over, especially for particular songs.

I notice there are more Canadian bands than U.S. bands in my Top 20: Woodpigeon, Handsome Furs, the Faunts, and Rural Alberta Advantage. Scots are represented in my Top 10 with Franz Ferdinand and The Phantom Band.

1. Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand

The initial singles that preceeded the release of Tonight did not capture my interest. It was only when I bought and listened to the whole album that it clicked for me.
As a single unified work, the album is a flashy tale of a confirmed bachelor out on the town wanting only to relieve his boredom. This Ulysses never intends to return home to wife and family.

But quick as the wink of a siren’s eye he is ensnared during a cat-and-mouse game of flirting. Each song builds on the theme while providing dance beats that won’t let your feet be still. Do not deprive yourself of the wonderful bonus disc, Blood [Buy]

Alex Kapranos’ supple lyrics kept me hooked on this album, especially the disarmingly self-deprecating lines in “No You Girls.”

“Sometimes I say the stupid things that I think
–Well I mean I–
Sometimes I think the stupidest things!”

Hear my intro for this song for the Contrast Podcast Festive 50 HERE
Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls from Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
website | MySpace | Buy | Franz Ferdinand at Coachella - Photos

2. Woodpigeon - Treasury Library Canada

In Treasury Library Canada, Woodpigeon’s Mark Hamilton presents an amazing 14 songs of incredible beauty, tender humor, and romantic philosophy. Wandering musician friends provide a loose-knit orchestra of guitars, violins, cellos, harpsichords, and mandolins that weave a framework around Hamilton’s tenor.

Two songs from Woodpigeon’s next album, Die Stadt Muzikanten, due for release January 12, can be heard on the MySpace site and provide proof that Hamilton can keep on turning out amazing and beautiful music. I have already pre-ordered my copy HERE.

Woodpigeon - I've LIved a Lot of Places from Treasury Library Canada

website | MySpace | Buy | Album Review: Treasury Library Canada

3. Fever Ray - Fever Ray

The minute I heard “When I Grow Up” and saw the video, I was pulled in by Fever Ray’s combination of child-like wonder and wizard-like enchantment. Spells are woven around tribal drums and primal chants, with Karin Dreijer Andersson’s voice distorted and disguised in astonishing ways.

I am completely in love with the percussion in “Now’s the Only Time I Know,” my favorite from the album.

Fever Ray - Now's The Only Time I Know from Fever Ray

MySpace | Buy | Fever Ray Album Review | Fever Ray Concert Review

4. Rainbow Arabia - Kabukimono

Rainbow Arabia is the perfect name for the fusion of musical influences channeled by Los Angeles duo Danny and Tiffany Preston. Polyrythmic beats and tribal bass riffs are punctuated by Tiffany’s Betty Boop on ecstasy vocals. Only 7 songs, but every one is a riotous wealth of fun. I keep thinking, “Why isn’t everyone crazy about this?”

Rainbow Arabia - Harlem Sunrise from Kabukimono

MySpace | Buy | Kabukimono Album Review

5. Loch Lomond - Night Bats EP

Loch Lomond prove that less is more on this gem of a 5-song EP. I am under the spell of “Night Bats” and their eternal enmity with day bats. I never found an official site for lyrics, but I think I have these correct:

Night bats are lazy and they sleep all day
They know one thing and that thing is today
But the day bats look forward and they work all day
They have their lives and they laugh and love to play
You know their faces are nice and their hair is very long
That’s why the night bat hates day bat cause they do
Cause they do

Loch Lomond - Night Bats from Night Bats EP

MySpace | Buy | Night Bats Album Review

6. Soulsavers - Broken

I once described Broken as dark and full of despair, however after several more listenings, I feel I need to revise that assessment. I had missed the strong undercurrent of faith that makes enduring the darkness possible. This is a gorgeous album of great depth. Mark Lanegan provides most of the vocals, as here on “Death Bells,” the rockingest track, but Aussie singer Red Ghost (Rosa Agostino) is also spectacular, as on “Praying Ground.”

Soulsavers - Death Bells from Broken

MySpace | Buy | Broken Album Review

7. Faunts - Feel.Love.Thinking.Of.

Faunts created a low-key gem of an album that grew on me slowly since I heard the first songs from it beginning last February. Now I see how every song fits perfectly in its place among its fellows. “Lights Are Always On” melds swelling washes with jangly chords.

Faunts - Lights Are Always On from Feel.Love.Thinking.Of.

MySpace | Buy | Feel.Love.Thinking.Of. Album Review

8. Beirut - March of the Zapotec and Realpeople: Holland

I still don’t believe that two EPs made up of five songs Zach Condon recorded with the Jimenez Band in Mexico and six songs dredged up from his Realpeople recordings is the big followup to Beirut’s wonderful first two albums. I think Mr. Condon, whose MySpace says he is “perdu à Casablanca” is currently buried in concocting his next masterpiece, which he may have intended to finish this year. Still, Condon’s toss-offs are better than the great majority of albums released this year. This song in particular makes the release worthwhile.

Beirut - The Akara from March of the Zapotec EP

MySpace | Buy | The Beirut EPs Review

9. Handsome Furs - Face Control

I have always loved Dan Boeckner the best of the Wolf Parade boys, and I think this album showcased the best of his musical talents. I especially liked “I’m Confused” and this song with its links to the old “Summertime Blues.”

“Baby’s out of step with the occupation
No one’s gonna notice if you disappear
I heard somethin’ ’bout reclamation
Do anything you want, but just not here”

Handsome Furs - Talking Hotel Arbat Blues from Face Control

MySpace | Buy

10. The Phantom Band - Checkmate Savage

From the first time I heard “Left Hand Wave” I was fascinated with it. I am such a sucker for a thick Scottish accent. But besides that, Checkmate Savage is a fierce, feral wolf of an album that contains a quota of nearly equal songs like “Burial Sounds,” “Throwing Bones,” and the jungle-beat instrumental “Crocodile.”

“Your silver cross-borne smile
Could lay me on a grave
O specter, say my name
Come alive in a left-hand wave
Oh my lovin’ heart, underneath the rocks and stones
Shall I stray from love, breathless as stars?”

The Phantom Band - Left Hand Wave

MySpace | Buy

Next: My Favorite Albums of 2009: 11 through 20 and Uncle T’s Top 10 Albums of 2009

Filed under: Favorites of 2009, Beirut, Faunts, Fever Ray, Franz Ferdinand, Handsome Furs, Loch Lomond, Rainbow Arabia, Soulsavers, The Phantom Band, Woodpigeon | 2 Comments

For the previous three Christmas seasons, I have celebrated with this off-the-wall song by Sweden’s Envelopes. I am late with it, but why stop a tradition? The droopy little pink tree above was snapped at Big Lots.

I hope everyone is enjoying the day doing whatever you like to do. We are celebrating by roasting vegetables everyone hates! Next week: My favorite songs and albums of 2009, and Uncle T’s Top 10 Albums.

Envelopes - Pink Christmas from It’s Not Like Christmas (2006)
MySpace | Website | Label: Brille Music Ltd
Buy at Amazon

The National - Pretty In Pink (Psychedelic Furs cover) from their Daytrotter Session, July 2007
MySpace

Asobi Seksu - Pink Cloud Tracing Paper from Citrus (2006)
MySpace | Buy

Hot Springs - Pink Money from Volcano (2007)
MySpace | Buy

Filed under: holiday, mix, Asobi Seksu, Christmas, Envelopes, Hot Springs, the National | 1 Comment

I am no Grinch or Scrooge. I like Christmas. I like the twinkly lights and the green and red. But if I walk into another store where Bing Crosby is playing, I just might scream. These are some familiar carols that benefit from a modern make-over.

“Little Drummer Boy” has always seemed kind of boring to me. This however, is a great version, and even in the 15 years since it was made, no one (that I know of) has done it better than the Dandy Warhols.

The Dandy Warhols - Little Drummer Boy (single, 1995)
Website | Free download

Belle and Sebastian - O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Website | Buy

The next three are from the wonderful Christmas collection at North Platte Records of Provo, Utah, available for Free Download. North Platte is also the home of Desert Noises, who I reviewed earlier this year here.

Don’t miss Joshua James’ cover of John Prine’s “Christmas In Prison” in yesterday’s blog post, and check out his other music as well at North Platte.
Joshua James - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
MySpace | Buy

An electronic version of this beautiful song.
NightNight - Oh Holy Night

This old carol goes from plain to wonderful with these gorgeous harmonies.
JP Haynie - Silent Night
MySpace

How about decking the halls to electro/dub-step?
Aggro1 and Katie Enlow - Deck the Halls from Santastic! Holiday Boots For Your Stockings (2005)
Free download

Photo: a wreath of succulents at the Huntington Botanical Gardens.

Filed under: holiday, mix, Aggro 1 and Katie Enlow, Belle and Sebastian, Christmas, Dandy Warhols, Joshua James, JP Haynie, NightNight | 1 Comment