Monthly Archives: December 2007

Songs For Christmas XX

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Well, term finished today, and I’m pretty brain dead. To say nothing of going Christmas Shopping, and finding the streets of Edinburgh full, and I kept running into kids I teach…however, I did finally manage to get a vinyl copy of Malcolm Middleton’s ‘We’re All Going To Die.’ (Fopp in Edinburgh still have copies, if a) you want one and b) you are in a position to get there).

I was also very flattered yesterday to get an email from a reader, Ryan, in California, who said it would really make his month if I featured his song on one of my Christmas posts.

Well, why not, seeing as his band Ten Thousand Dollar Tattoo (and that link leads to his MySpace) are pretty damn good, and I’m up for featuring new stuff:

Ten Thousand Dollar Tattoo -‘My First Santa.’ mp3

And a few other goodies that might appeal…

First up, the Eels (picture of singer E above):

Eels -‘Christmas Is Going To The Dogs.’ mp3

Eels -‘Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas.’ mp3

and also Weezer…

Weezer -‘Christmas Celebration.’ mp3

Weezer -‘The Christmas song.’ mp3

Four more posts to go for Christmas…

Songs For Christmas XIX

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Well, I’ve very nearly caught up on the Christmas posts, term finishes tomorrow (and not a moment too soon), and I’m off to see Aberfeldy tonight (review, along with that of the Emma Pollock gig the other night) to follow very soon.

I’m going to dedicate this post to my brother, Miles; I don’t know if you’ve got these tracks, our kid, but I know you love Ben folds’ music, so these are for you…

Ben Folds -‘Lonely Christmas Eve.’ mp3

Ben Folds -‘Bizarre Christmas Incident.’ mp3

And I might even decide on the final running order for my albums of the year. Yes, Arcade Fire are in there, but the order is proving troublesome…

Songs For Christmas XVIII

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A Chemikal Underground special for you today!

First up, this is from the now-disbanded (sob!) Aereogramme:

Aereogramme -‘Asthma Came Home For Christmas.’ mp3

and two absolute classics from Mogwai (above):

Mogwai -‘Xmas Steps.’ mp3

Mogwai -‘Christmas Song.’ mp3

More to come… : ))

Songs For Christmas XVII

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I know, it’s the first day this month I haven’t posted, the internet was down yesterday.

Anyway, as anyone who has been anywhere near this blog in the last six weeks should be aware, yesterday was the release of Malcolm Middleton’s bid for the Christmas No.1with ‘We’re All Going To Die.’ So, here’s an acoustic version of the track:

Malcolm Middleton -‘We’re All Going To Die (Acoustic).’ mp3

Malcolm’s old band, Arab Strap, are winding down their website, a year after their last gig, and here’s a Christmassyish track from their website, a live version of ‘To All A Good Night.’

Arab Strap -‘To All A Good Night (live).’ mp3

And there’s a couple of other tracks from Malcom’s website that I’ve linked to for your pleasure here…

Malcolm Middleton -‘Burst Noel (Damien Shackleton version).’ mp3

Malcolm Middleton -‘Cheer Down (Damien Shackleton).’ mp3

Ok, so a different style of Chrsitmas post from some of the others, but this deals with the here and now…

Songs For Christmas XIV

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Two very different tracks for you today.

I’m not aware of many Hip-Hop Christmas tracks (note: I didn’t say there weren’t many, I said I wasn’t aware of many, which is something else entirely). This one dates from about 1986 or 1987, I think, as a kid at school stuck it on a tape for me (as in when I was at school, not the kids I teach, who are probably now only vaguely aware of either cassettes or Run DMC). Anyway, this is Run DMC’s Christmas in Hollis:

Run DMC -‘Christmas in Hollis.’ mp3

As to whether this track is a Christmas one…well, it was a Christmas no.1 for East 17 and it sounded vaguely Christmassy, and maps have stuck this out as a free download. Only became aware of this today, but I rather like it.

Maps -‘Stay Another Day.’ mp3

There will be more Christmas stuff on here, for those of you interested in that sort of stuff, and when I finally work them out, my albums of the year. I got taken to task earlier for not including Arcade Fire in my Festive Fifty. Is it some kind of unwritten rule amongst mp3 bloggers that we have to praise them above all other bands?! Oh well, see you soon…

Songs For Christmas XIII

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Here are today’s contributions.

These two tracks, originally from their limited 1993 single Snow, are the Cocteau Twins’ takes on two Christmas Classics. They have already been hosted over at I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday, but I thought I would share them here too:

Cocteau Twins -‘Frosty the Snowman.’ mp3

Cocteau Twins -‘Walking In A Winter Wonderland.’ mp3

…and because it’s nearly Christmas, why not the Jackson 5’s take on Frosty, too?

Jackson 5 -‘Frosty the Snowman.’ mp3

And, as ever, there will be more tomorrow…

Rob St John

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For once, some music that is nothing to do with Christmas.

Rob St John is an edinburgh-based musician who has just released his debut EP and it’s gorgeous and sublime.

There are three songs on it, which can be heard at his MySpace site, along with other tracks. This is the title track, which is just beautiful. It can be bought at Avalanche records in Edinburgh and Glasgow and should soon be available at Rough Trade in London. It’s a limited edition of 100, so act quickly.

Don’t just take my word for it -check it out! Beautiful melodies to lose yourself in (and quite possibly find yourself, too).

Rob St. John ‘Tipping In.’ mp3

Songs For Christmas XII

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Well, it’s now the twelfth, so I’m already halfway through my Christmas posts. Here are three more to share with you.

All About Eve -‘Last Christmas.’ mp3

XTC -‘Thanks for Christmas.’ mp3

Yo La Tengo -‘It’s Christmas Time.’ mp3

Hope you are still enjoying these, people are still downloading them, so I guess somebody is!

Edx