Peace
Oedipus Podcast #10: Christmas
Join me Friday for my annual Christmas Eve broadcast from 6 pm-Midnight EST on WFNX, 101.7 FM in Boston, 92.1 FM in New Hampshire and WFNX.com.
A commercial free radio holiday extravaganza featuring Christmas music from around the world, new & old, drawn from many genres and heard virtually nowhere else. The soundtrack for your Christmas.
Here is a taste:
Badly Drawn Boy-“Donna and Blitzen”
Captain Sensible-“One Christmas Catalogue”
DJ BC-“You Shook Me All Noel”
The Idea-“It’s About that Time”
Low-“Just Like Christmas”
Suicide-“Hey Lord”
Ron Sexsmith-“Maybe This Christmas”
O Positive-“Ho Ho Ho”
Rufus Wainwright-“Spotlight on Christmas”
Wednesday Week-“Christmas Here (Could Never Be Like That)”
Brett Dennen-“The Holidays Are Here (and We Are Still at War)”
Elvis Costello-“Peace, Love and Understanding”
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My Beerdrunk Soul is Sadder than a Hundred Dead Christmas Trees
The Joy Formidable, a three-piece from North Wales, will release their debut album The Big Roar in January.
Over the past few years the trio has only issued singles including this amazingly intense Christmas song.
Released last year as a free download, it only recently came to my attention and is one of my favorite new Christmas song this year.
From a variation on a quote from poet/writer Charles Bukowski “”my beerdrunk soul is sadder than all the dead christmas trees of the world”, the band has entitled this song “My Beerdrunk Soul is Sadder Than a Hundred Dead Christmas Trees”.
You make my spirit.
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan “Time of the Season”
More free Christmas music, this time from Amazon, America’s largest online retailer. The website is offering 25 days of free holiday music, a song a day.
Thus far we have songs from Fleet Foxes, Superchunk, and Shelby Lynn among others, plus this lovely little treasure from Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan. “Time of the Season” is from their album Hawk released earlier this year.
The season in this song is Christmas.
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“Time of the Season” by Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan
New Christmas Music
Among many musics, I also collect Christmas songs. For years I have hosted a live annual Christmas Eve show on the radio in Boston, commercial-free, and this year is no exception. This Christmas Eve, from 6:00 pm—Midnight, I will once again be on-the-air on WFNX (101.7 FM) and WFNX.com.
Every year I listen to hundreds of new Christmas songs and new cover versions of Christmas classics searching for a few gems. Most of these songs are derivative, dumb, downright dreadful or combination of all three. But there are always a few that rise above the drivel and should be heard.
This year I was presently surprised that Target has put together a Christmas compilation of new songs called The Christmas Gig and is giving it away for free on their website.
Listen now to “Got Something for You” performed by Best Coast and Wavves, two artists that we have featured individually here in the past and “Get Down for the Holidays” by Jenny O., a singer/songwriter from LA.
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“Got Something For You” by Best Coast and the Wavves
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“Get Down for the Holidays” by Jenny O.
Poly Styrene and Black Christmas
X-Ray Spex, one of the early punk bands out of London in the 70’s, is best known for the classic song “Oh Bondage Up Yours” and their only studio album from that era, Germ Free Adolescents.
The band briefly reformed in the 90’s.
Poly Styrene, the lead singer, plans to release a solo album in March and has also recorded a Christmas song.
According to her website, “Black Christmas was written by Poly and her daughter Celeste who features on the recording and was inspired by news about a killer in Los Angeles dressing up as Santa Claus”.
“Black Christmas” is a free download and is the first of a number of Christmas songs to be featured here in the days ahead.
“Black Christmas” by Poly Styrene