'Christmas in L.A.' : The Killers ft. Dawes

Last year I complied a list of the most depressing Christmas songs of all time. The Killers' 2013 Christmas single benefiting (RED), could easily make that list. "Christmas in L.A." features Owen Wilson as a struggling actor, wondering how mush longer he can stay in a city that seems just about impossible to call home. Dawes co-wrote the tune and also play on it.  

Be-Bop Santa Claus : Sweet Daddy Lowe

                              

Writing about this feels a little like telling secrets, but I've got to blurb the finest retelling of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" there ever was. The song, as you might imagine from the title, is a jazz version where Santa drives a red Cadillac and leaves behind Dizzy Gillespie records. Sadly, I don't know as much about it as I would like. "Be-Bop Santa Claus," written by Lloyd Williams, was originally recorded by Babs Gonzales in 1954. The B side of the record was a song called "Manhattan Fable." It's appeared on a few jazz Christmas collections over the years, like Hipsters' Holiday, which features Louis Armstrong on the cover dressed as Santa. Might want to Google that one.

I first heard the song on WMOT, which is a public radio station in Middle Tennessee that plays jazz. The version I heard in 2002 though, was by Sweet Daddy Lowe. It popped up on Blue Note Records' Yule Be Boppin' Christmas compilation in 1997, and more recently on the label's newer compilation Blue Christmas. No disrespect to Babs, but the Sweet Daddy Lowe version is my favorite. It's moodier.

"Be-Bop Santa Claus" is typically my secret weapon when it comes to Christmas mixes, but it's such a cool song, I think you should take it for a spin.

In the words of Be-Bop Santa, "Have a crazy cool Christmas, but don't get knocked out."

Review: I Love the Holidays : Office Romance

I just reviewed Office Romance's new EP I Love the Holidays for Chicago-based music site Consequence of Sound. Hop on over there and check it out.

Album Review: Office Romance - I Love the Holidays EP

Most Depressing Christmas Songs of All Time

Though hyped as a time of unmitigated joy and good will, Christmas songs can be weirdly depressing. Every time I hear "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," I picture a guy sitting at a bar, crying into a beer with a tiny Christmas tree on the countertop. In a way, there's no better time to be absolutely miserable than when you're supposed to be happy. From the maudlin to the down right dark, I crowd sourced (many thanks to mis amigos) a list of the most depressing Christmas songs of all time. Enjoy?

+ The Christmas Shoes : NewSong
+ Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis : Tom Waits
+ One More Drifter in the Snow : Aimee Mann
+ All I Ever Get for Christmas is Blue : Over the Rhine
+ Another Lonely Christmas : Prince
+ 1913 Massacre : Woody Guthrie
+ Christmas in Prison : John Prine
+ Christmas in Jail (Ain't That a Pain) : Leroy Carr
+ Blue Christmas : Elvis
+ I'm Not Really in the Christmas Mood This Year : Foxtails Brigade
+ River : Joni Mitchell
+ Pretty Paper : Roy Orbison
+ Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) : Darlene Love
+ Santa Claus, Go Straight to the Ghetto : James Brown
+ Did I Make You Cry on Christmas Day (Well, You Deserved It!) : Sufjan Stevens
+ That Was the Worst Christmas Ever : Sufjan Stevens
+ I'll Be Home for Christmas : Bing Crosby


Here's a convenient Spotify playlist, but you know what? Don't listen to all these at once. My God. Throw this in there.

Video : I Feel it in My Bones : The Killers

Presented without comment because the last shot of the video speaks for the whole thing. Enjoy.

I Feel it in My Bones : The Killers : Christmas

It wouldn't be Christmas without The Killers. Well, that's not at all true, but it is time for yet another Killers Christmas song. This year's offering is "I Feel it in My Bones" featuring Ryan Pardey once again reprising his role as the menacing Santa Claus. Think Santa with some kind of vendetta... against you. Merry Christmas!

 Money line: "Hey Kringle, you mean to say that when you were young it never got wild?"

 The track goes on sale Dec. 4 with proceeds going to Red, the AIDS charity.

Mr. Frosty Man : Sufjan Stevens

Because the world isn't grim and unsettling enough, please enjoy the latest from Sufjan Stevens's forthcoming Christmas album Silver and Gold, entitled "Mr. Frosty Man."

The premise: A nuclear reactor spills radioactive goo on a graveyard and zombies attack a little family who lives near by. Fortunately, the family's snowman is part Rambo. Much blood is spilled. Intestines wind up EVERYWHERE. And it's a claymation– the quintessential childhood Christmas special medium. So yeah, might need to spike your eggnog after this 2-minute Christmas bonanza of joy.

Indie Claus Mix '11

File photo: Indie Claus

We're a week out from Christmas, so this is your last to overdose on all the Christmas tunes you'll hate by Jan. 1. In case you need some help in that department, it just so happens that my good buddy Indie Claus has put together a stellar Spotify playlist with the very coolest Christmas songs he could find on the interwebs, just for you. After all, a little Andy Williams goes a long way, and what could be more charming than Hurricane Bells's take on that Chipmunks classic "Christmas Don't Be Late." I kid you not. It's quality stuff. 

Anyhoodle, click below to listen to the Indie Claus Mix '11. Also, stay tuned for The Musically Inclined Top Finds of 2011 coming this week. 

Click me!

01 : Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Slow Club
02 : I've Got My Love (Remix) by Kay Starr
03 : Santa Stole My Lady by Fitz and the Tantrums
04 : Just Like Christmas by Low
05 : Christmas Don't Be Late by Hurricane Bells
06 : Jingle Bell Rock by Rogue Wave
07 : Silent Night by Class Actress
08 : The Christmas Song by The Ravonettes
09 : Christmas Time is Here by Woods
10 : Be-Bop Santa Claus by Sweet Daddy Lowe
11 : Party Hard by Zach Gill
12 : I Bought You a Plastic Star (For Your Aluminum Tree) by The Blenders
13 : Blue Christmas by Tristen
14 : I Bet on Flying High by Matt Costa

Brushfire Records Heats Up December

There's something I've always loved about Brushfire Records. They've just got this feel that makes me want to head West to warm climates, palm trees and sun. If you don't know, it's not only Jack Johnson's label, but the home of Rogue Wave, Matt Costa and G. Love. Happily, I saw on Rolling Stone the other day that Brushfire's releasing This Warm December - A Brushfire Holiday, Volume 2. It's an album full of  easy flowing Christmas tunes and it plays like the perfect cool Christmas music mix that you've always wanted to make.

Some of the songs are covers (Rogue Wave tackles "Jingle Bell Rock") and others are originals (Zach Gill's "Party Hard"might unseat "Christmas with You is the Best" by the Long Winters as my favorite tribute to holiday rowdiness.) Zee Avi's quirky Eastern European spin on "Frosty the Snowman" is multiple kinds of cool.

Either way, if you pick it up you won't be disappointed and proceeds go to charities benefiting children's music education. 

This Warm December hits stores on the Nov. 15. Until then, stream it courtesy of Rolling Stone. And if you're curious, Volume 1 came out in '08. Here's the Amazon link. 

Christmas with Kanye

I have to admit, Kanye would have earned my vote for most unlikely to put out a Christmas song. And yet, he did. If you want to hear "Christmas in Harlem," Nah Right.com has a player on their page.

It's sure join the cannon of classic Christmas songs alongside Perry Como's "I'll be Home for Christmas" and Sinatra's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

Money line: "I'm like bad santa, try to sit on my lap."

Bob Dylan - Must Be Santa Video

Rolling Stone brings us the premiere of Bob Dylan's latest, "Must be Santa"(plus non embeddable video) from his new Christmas album, Christmas in the Heart.

I am fairly certain that if Santa actually showed up at this chaotic Christmas house party, he'd either get gang mugged or wind up too drunk to finish making his deliveries. Also, the relationship between Bob Dylan's age and level of creepiness on a graph looks like this.

And why, yes. That is an exponential growth rate. Thanks for noticing.