While our readers and their families prepare their homes for the full-scale tactical assault of festive ornaments, seasonal dishes, slavishly-prepared meals, egregiously overpriced gifts, and the nauseating dancing of inebriated family members and their whiskey-fuelled bloviating, Music Feeds has been hard at work compiling a merry playlist of Yuletide merriment and cheer, just for you.
This year the holiday season has brought with it a veritable snowfall of embittered blogs crying “Bah! Humbug!” and bemoaning the lack of new Christmas classics. We’re having none of it, and are presenting for your consideration, eight candidates to end this Christmas classics recession.
From Motown-tinged groove-trains musing on the lack of suitable entryways for Kris Kringle in the inner-city, to metalcore renditions of classics from the The Nutcracker, to a death metal revamp of a Christmas carols staple, we’ve brought together eight of the best new Christmas songs of 2013!
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings – Ain’t No Chimneys In The Projects
In which Sharon Jones and her mighty Dap-Kings not only deliver a sublime illustration of what makes the soul-revival label Daptone Records impossible to resist, but offer a novel, bittersweet sentiment about spending the holidays in the inner-city projects.
August Burns Red – Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
While classical music may not quite be our beat, we’re fairly confident Tchaikovsky would have been pleased with Pennsylvanian Christian metalcore band August Burns Red‘s slightly amplified take on what is arguably the man’s signature tune…we think.
Bad Religion – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
The way God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, and indeed all of the songs on Bad Religion‘s recent Christmas LP, is so easily assimilated into the band’s instantly recognisable harmony-heavy, melodic punk rock sound is uncanny––you’d swear it was a cut from Against the Grain.
Triple J’s All-Star Cast – Christmas Number 1
Band Aid-style collaborations like this, by law, must occur every five years or so. Featuring the likes of Phil Jamieson of Grinspoon, Elizabeth Rose, Thomas Rawle from Papa vs Pretty, Bertie Blackman, and many more, this is one of the best yet.
All Time Low – Fool’s Holiday (Lyric Video)
A summary of every pop-punk and Christmas cliché known to man, but a viciously catchy Yuletide tune nonetheless. On Fool’s Holiday, Maryland rockers All Time Low wear cheesiness like a festive Santa cap and defy you not to get into the spirit of things. Also, something about broken promises.
J.J. Hrubovcak – We Three Kings
Some of you may know J.J. Hrubovcak as the bass player in Flordiain death metal outfit Hate Eternal. For those unfamiliar with his work, this brutal rendition of Christmas-time traditional, We Three Kings, is an incredibly Dethklok-ish introduction.
Erasure – Gaudete
Vince Clarke, one half of British synth-pop legends Erasure, said that he wanted to explore “the darker side of the season” on their new album, because he’s British like that. This creepy cut comes complete with a stop-motion video created by Tim Burton’s studio.
Nick Lowe – Children Go Where I Send Thee
British singer-songwriter Nick Lowe is considered a seminal figure in UK pub, punk and New Wave rock, and on his latest LP, which features a guest spot from Ry Cooder, he lends his biting wit to some seriously catchy Christmas tunes.
