Happy Christmas!

First of all, a Happy Christmas to you all. It has been so long since I posted here, I'm not sure anyone will read this but Happy Christmas anyway!

For the last few years I have posted a special Advent version of Free Download Friday offering links to free festive music on the four Fridays before Christmas. This year, I managed two Free Download Fridays and no Advent downloads. Sorry. I did, however, collect a few good freebies, so I offer them here as a Christmas present.

1) Joe Bonamassa

Another year, and another Christmas download from Joe. Perhaps not as strong as previous offerings (no longer available, but you can read about them in my previous post) but a new track from Mr Bonamassa is always worth a listen. You can download it from his website in exchange for enduring a particularly bizarre web page!

2) Hayseed Dixie

Thanks to my colleague, Mr Mosh, for this link... I posted a video of Hayseed Dixie back in 2009 but they have never featured in this blog as a free download. But just in time for Christmas, they posted links on their facebook page to two Christmas tracks. White Trash Xmas is good and well worth a listen but Misty Wonderland Hop is outstanding! Download it now and put it on repeat for the rest of Christmas - you'll thank me later.

3) Roadrunner Records

At a time when free downloads are becoming harder to find, it's great to see that Roadrunner Records is still making tracks available on a semi-regular basis. This year, it looks like the main free download (well, the one featured on the front page of the UK site) is No Presents For Christmas from King Diamond. After a deceptively traditional start, it soon launches into its full metal glory! As well as the this track, they have also "re-released" Black Stone Cherry's Santa Claus Is Back In Town which is outrageously good! The sweartastic X-M@$ from Corey Taylor is also available for free but I'll leave you to find that one yourself. (This is a family friendly blog after all!) Finally, while looking around to see what else is available, I found a track from 2012 that I obviously missed last year that is still available for download: Royal Republic have an acoustic cover of Chris Rea's classic Driving Home For Christmas. The sound quality is a bit tinny but it is still a good track.

4)  For everyone else

I realise that the three sets of download above will not be to everyone's taste, so here are a few alternatives where hopefully there will be something for everyone.

• CBC's Twelve Days Of Christmas: thirteen tracks to choose from. I like The Little Drummer Boy from Walk Off The Earth and I Believe In Father Christmas from Moist but my favourite by a long stretch is the boogie-woogie piano version of Winter Wonderland from Michael Kaeshammer (see video below). 
• Paste Holiday Sampler 2013: Fourteen tracks in this one. My favourite is Children Go Where I Send Thee from Nick Lowe but I like the submissions from Otis Redding, Little Hurricane and The Last Bison too.
• Classical guitar - Craig Ogden: A beautiful version of Deck The Halls.

That's it for this year. Merry Christmas and, in the words of Tiny Tim: God bless us every one!

Free Download Friday #134: Fourth Friday In Advent

Give Love On Chrsitmas

To make up for what is possibly the latest Free Download Friday ever, here's an eleven track Christmas download:

This is another one where you can download the tracks for free but, if you want, you can make a donation to a charity; in this case to a charity called Blood:Water Mission. The Noise Trade site gives the following information about the charity:

Blood:Water Mission was established by Grammy Award winning band Jars of Clay to empower communities to work together against the HIV/AIDS and water crises in sub-Saharan Africa. Since its launch in 2005, Blood:Water has raised millions of dollars through the creative efforts of individuals seeking to make a difference. To date, Blood:Water has partnered with more than 1,300 communities in Africa, providing life-saving water for 800,000 people in 11 different countries and access to HIV/AIDS education, treatment and support for nearly 40,000 people.

Have a good Christmas!

Rock Advent Calendar

Should have posted this a couple of weeks ago... my Rock Advent Calendar is back... I admit, it is very similar to last year's but there are a couple of new tracks in there. Feel free to make suggestions on tracks I should have included.

Day one is an obvious choice... and I don't care what anyone says, they are a rock band! As the days go on though, I hope you will find a diverse and occasionally bizarre mix of Rock and Blues Christmas songs. Enjoy!

Free Download Friday #133: Third Friday In Advent

A few Christmases ago, iTunes gave a copy of the Glasvagas song A Snowflake Fell And It Felt Like A Kiss as part of its 12 Days Of Christmas promotion. It is an achingly beautiful track and is about as far from holly and jolly as you can get.

They have released another  track this Christmas that can be downloaded for free. It's called No Her, No HYmN.

While it can be downloaded for free, if you go to their website, they suggest making a donation to Scottish Care & Information On Miscarriage, an organisation that "...offers counselling for women who have suffered miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death following loss, before trying again and in pregnancy following loss. Our counsellors are university trained and have personal experience of loss."

Despite the liberal application of jingle bells throughout, this is not your typical Christmas song and I'm not sure it will find its way onto my Christmas playlist but it's worth a listen and it's a worthy cause.

Free Download Friday #132: Second Friday In Advent

I was a bit worried last year when I started the Advent downloads because I didn't have enough downloads up my sleeve but as the weeks went by, I ended up with more than enough. I assumed the same would happen this year but I am still struggling.

I am, however, relatively pleased with this week's freebie:

The download is described as a "Holiday EP" but only one of the six tracks on offer is overtly Christmasy - I Don't Need No Santa Clause. It's largely acoustic and has a Country music feel to it - not my usual taste but it belts along at a good pace and it is Christmas after all!

The other tracks are worth a listen too, for example, I like track 6 - My Forgetful Baby. One of the great things about the NoiseTrade site is you can listen to the tracks before downloading. It's also interesting that you can download for free but, if you want, you can leave a "tip" for the artist.

So have a listen, download if you want and let me know what you make of Fiction Family.

Free Download Friday #131: First Friday In Advent

As I've done the last few Christmases, I hope to give a links to free Christmas music every Friday on the run up to Christmas.

First up then is a three track sampler from a band called Willet.

They are not a band I'd heard of but they give a rousingly raucous (or should that be rock-ous?) renditions of two Christmas classics before offering up an original song called Glory which is a bit more mellow.

Of the three tracks, I'd say I like the sound of the first one best. What do you think?

...Oh, and happy Advent!

Part 3 - Rock Advent Calendar

And here's the final eight. Have a great Christmas!

Day	Artist	Video	Download
17	Steve Lukather	The Christmas Song	Amazon (CD) iTunes
18	Northern Light Orchestra	Away In A Manger /  Come Let Us Adore Him	NLO Website
19	B. B. King	Please Come Home For Christmas	Amazon iTunes
20	The Ramones	Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)	Amazon iTunes
21	Joe Perry	Blue Christmas	Amazon (CD) iTunes
22	Keith Richards	Run, Run, Rudolf	Amazon iTunes
23	AC/DC	Mistress For Christmas	Amazon (CD) iTunes
24	The Darkness	Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)	Amazon iTunes

Let me know what you think of the selection and feel free to offer alternatives.

You can see all of these and more on the online Rock Christmas Advent calendar.

Free Download Friday #119: Fourth Download in Advent

A bit of a bonus this week. First the one I was going to do last week and then a couple of others I've come across, including the one I was going to do this week.

Sandi Thom @ O2 ABC2 Glasgow 7th May 2010, 
a photo by Vhazza on Flickr

I suppose I must have been aware of Sandi Thom because, although I couldn't hum it to save myself, I at least recognised the title of her breakthrough single: I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in My Hair). It was, however, her album, Merchants And Thieves, that really caught my eye though because it features a collaboration with Joe Bonamassa.


When I heard that she was offering a free Christmas download, I was hopeful that it would be in the same Bluesy style as the track she did with Mr Bonamassa. Unfortunately, it's not,. But fortunately, it is still a good free Christmas download.

She has recorded a fairly gentle acoustic version of Merry Little Christmas which you can download when you enter an email address. (And unlike many of these offers, you don't have to wait to get an email and then follow a link back to get the download - the download button becomes active as soon as you enter your address.)

As I say, the track is fairly gentle and shows off her vocal ability. Personally, I would have liked the guitar to feature a bit more prominently in the mix but despite that reservation, I can see this track working really well as a late night listen. What do you think?

Next up is a Christmas song from Rob Halford - yes as in Judas Priest. On Halford's site you can buy a Christmas For Everyone from the site shop for the princely sum of $0.00. To me, it sounds a bit more Ramones-ish rather than Judas Priest-y but I like it. What do you think? If you like what you hear, check out his free music page where you can download a variety of non-Christmas tracks.

Finally, a couple of links that I've not had a chance to process properly so I offer them here without comment:

• Yazz - Angels From The Realms Of Glory
• The Hives and Cyndi Lauper - A Christmas Duel (Time limited download)

Hope you enjoy. And have a great Christmas and a happy New Year.

Part 2 - Rock Advent Calendar

And here's the next eight:

Day	Artist	Video	Download
9	Manowar	Silent Night	YouTube only?
10	Joan Jett And The Blackhearts	Little Drummer Boy	Amazon iTunes
11	August Burns Red	O Come, O Come Emmanuel	Amazon iTunes
12	Seasick Steve	Xmas Prison Blues	Amazon iTunes
13	Radwan Hoteit (?)	Happy Xmas (War Is Over)	Amazon iTunes
14	The Black Crowes	Back Door Santa	Black Crowes
15	Jethro Tull	Ring Out Solstice Bells	Amazon iTunes
16	Alice Cooper et al	Santa Claws Is Coming To Town	Amazon iTunes

Let me know what you think of the selection and feel free to offer alternatives.

You can see all of these and more on the online Rock Christmas Advent calendar.

Part 1 - Rock Advent Calendar

File this one in the "It seemed like a good idea at the time..." category.

I like Rock music and I like Christmas music but Rock radio stations seem reluctant to play Christmas music... perhaps because it is generally associated with a high cheese factor. We were discussing this issue on a Rock Radio facebook page and I said that you could easily fill a couple of hours of programme with Christmas music that would appeal to Rock fans. Unfortunately, Don Macbeth called my bluff and challenged me to post a different Rock Christmas song every day in advent.

So that's what I've been doing. I only made two provisos: one, I didn't want any grumpy comments about this or that not being Rock; and two, I was going to include some Blues.

I noticed, however, that my daily posts don't seem to show up on my facebook wall, so if you don't go the the right page, you wont have noticed the songs. Therefore, I created an online music video Rock Advent Calendar and I wrote this post. This will be the first of three posts, taking me up to Christmas Eve, when I will list the last eight of the videos.

Let me know what you think of the selection and feel free to offer alternatives.

Day	Artist	Video	Download
1	Slade	Merry Xmas Everybody	Amazon iTunes
2	Bruce Springsteen	Santa Claus Is Coming To Town	Amazon iTunes
3	The Greedies	A Merry Jingle	Amazon (Vinyl) iTunes
4	Twisted Sister	O Come All Ye Faithfull	Amazon iTunes
5	Joe Bonamassa	Santa Claus Is Back In Town	Try Joe's download from last year
6	Joe Satriani	Silent Night/Holy Night Jam	Amazon (CD) iTunes
7	Dio, Tony Iommi et. al	God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen	Amazon iTunes
8	Eric Clapton	Christmas Tears	Amazon iTunes

Free Download Friday #118: Third Download in Advent

I had another post lined up and ready to go... then I saw this advertised on the Roadrunner Records site:

It's gone. :-(

They say it will only be there for one weekend, so go get it now!  If you haven't already downloaded it, you're too late but you can still listen to Santa Claus Is Back In Town on Soundcloud:

I've posted a link to the Joe Bonamassa version of this track before (Free Music Friday #82: Happy Christmas from Joe Bonamassa). This version is much more raw and raucous - dirty even! Excellent!

Free Download Friday #117: Second Download in Advent

Given that I'm a teetotal Rock music fan, this is not my usual musical choice... But it's Christmas!

Under The Christmas Star from Stella Artois offers seven jazz flavoured Christmas songs. (Or possibly eight songs if you are still in the first so many hundred thousand downloads). Only restriction is you have to be over eighteen)

Check out the facebook page for more details.

As I said, not my usual taste but maybe I'm in a good mood because it's Christmas because I quite like this. And a whole album's worth of Christmas songs for free is not to be sneezed at.

Free Download Friday #116: First Download in Advent

Late again. I am therefore posting the first Friday in Advent download on the second Sunday in Advent...

First up though is a bonus. I have posted a link to this track before (see Free Download Friday #40: Final Friday in Advent) but in case you missed it, Mr Bonamassa has made Merry Christmas Baby available again. Just go to the Christmas page on his site, enter your email address and Joe's your uncle!

Now a new download from a band (duo?) I've never heard of before but I'm really impressed with what they have done with an old classic:

Baby It's Cold Outside - really simple acoustic arrangement, two voices that work well together, and a performance that isn't cheesy and doesn't have a forced coquettishness. I really like it.

Not very Rock or Blues but very Christmas. What do you think? A good start to the Advent downloads?

Free Music Friday #84: Happy Christmas from the girls

Last week's post was Free Music Friday #83: Happy Christmas from the boys, or at least from mostly male vocalists. This week it's the turn of the girls, or at least mostly female vocalists.

Not much time today since there is loads to do with it being Christmas Eve (It's a Wonderful Life at the GFT and choir at the Watchnight Service among other things) so without further ado...

• Sweet Bells by Kate Rusby. A few years ago, a friend won tickets for Celtic Connections. What I remember mostly is that there was a lot of fiddling about on fiddles. Mostly it's a style of music I don't listen to, so I'm ashamed to say I remember nothing about any of the artists or the tunes they played. The one exception is Kate Rusby, who played a belter of a set. Just her, and acoustic guitar and her distinctive and memorable voice. This Christmas track reminded me why I was impressed the first time I heard her.
• Last Christmas by The Puppini Sisters. A 1940s, Andrews Sisters-style, retro version of this Wham Christmas song. (The page linked to from the song title has a couple of other downloads you might want to check out too.)
• Santa's On His Way by The Pipettes. You wait all Christmas for one retro female vocal band to come along... but this time it's more Phil Spector than 1940s.
• No Cure For The Common Christmas by Saint Etienne. Great title and breathy vocals. Another fine free download from those nice people at RCRD.LBL.
• O Holy Night by Trin-i-tee 5:7. A gospel trio sing too many notes... but it sounds good anyway.

That's all I've got time for just now. Off to see Jimmy Stewart.

Hope you have enjoyed the Advent posts and that you have a great Christms.

Free Music Friday #83: Happy Christmas from the boys

Second last Friday in Advent and, although I was worried about not having four songs when I started this year, I now find I have a load of downloads and only two weeks to go. I'm therefore going to give a pile of links with minimal review. This week, I'll start with downloads from the boys and next week, it will be the turn of the girls. (Unless I come across something really interesting between now and then!)

But I'm going to start with a streamed track rather than one for download. Last week I embedded a video from Black Stone Cherry singing Santa Claus Is Back In Town (see Free Music Friday #82: Happy Christmas from Joe Bonamassa). I said at the time, I couldn't find the track for download but it is now being streamed on their record company's site. This is an out and out Rock version of a Blues classic and I love it... but I think I would have preferred a version with the Blues harp like they performed in the video I posted last week!

So on with the list of downloads:

• Downhere: I really like their version of Good King Wenceslas (apart from the odd beginning). Sign up with the widget below to get the free download.

• Casting Crowns: While You Were Sleeping. A bit of politics and a bit USA-centric, slightly over produved... but it has a nice feel to it. (Also, the band has a couple women in it but it's a male vocal, so I'm including it in this weeks downloads.)
• 33 Miles: Joy To The World. Upbeat and slightly updated take on this song. Almost completely wrecked though, by cute kid section at the end! (Note, you need to create a login before you can download.)
• Mercyme: If you create a login to get the 33 Miles track, you might as well get Silent Night while you are there. It's alright but not my cup of tea.
• Great Transparency: O Holy Night. Driving guitars and good fun.
• Miaoux Miaoux: Snow and Snow (Remix). Electronica pop/rock - Not sure if it is about Christmas but certainly winterish.

• Rockapella: A capella version of Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. I think this is my favourite out of this week's downloads.

A bit of something for everyone this week? What's your favourite? (Or do you dislike them all?)

Free Music Friday #82: Happy Christmas from Joe Bonamassa

Joe Bonamassa featured in last year's Advent downloads (see Free Download Friday #40: Final Friday in Advent) thanks to his excellent version of Merry Christmas Baby (which is still available for download on the record company's site).

Just yesterday though, I got an email from him (I assume he sends them to me personally even though it looks like a form letter) with this year's Christmas download: Joe Bonamassa - Happy Holidays. In exchange for your email, you get to download his take on Santa Claus Is Back In Town.

I'm not sure if the track starts with a sample from the Elvis version or if Joe has just managed to get his backing singers to do a passible imitation of The Jordanaires but either way, it sets up the Christmas feel perfectly for Joe to pick it up and run with. Now I have to admit that vocally, Mr Bonamassa isn't a match for Mr Presley but but for screaming Blues guitar solos, Joe's version wins hands down. This is a great Christmas track. I hope that Joe Bonamassa releasing a free Christmas download is now established as an annual event!

For another take on the same song, here is some backstage video from Black Stone Cherry:

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM BLACK STONE CHERRY

Black Stone Cherry | Myspace Music Videos

Apparently they streamed their version of this song on Myspace last year but at the moment it is nowhere to be found on the Internet (or at least, I can't find it). It seems, however, that it was played on Rock Radio the other day so I'm vaguely hopeful that they are going to make it properly available as even the rough video clip embedded above, with its poor audio quality, hints at another interesting take on the song.

Free Download Friday #81: Poly Styrene - First Friday in Advent

It looks like last week's pre-advent Christmas download from Paul Simon (see Free Download Friday #80) is still active, so I guess the site that told me it was only going to be available for four days was wrong... which is excellent news. This means that you will get five Christmas themed Free Friday Downloads this year instead of four!

The first official Advent download though comes from Poly Styrene. If you are about my age, and from the UK, you might just recognise the name. She was the lead singer in X-Ray Specs in the mid to late seventies. Unfortunately, although I recognise the name, I am not familiar with her back catalogue. The problem is, when I was a teenager in the seventies, you could either like Punk or Rock... and I liked Rock.

It seems though that Ms Styrene is about to launch a new album and to whet our appetites, she is giving away a Christmas track that will not feature on her album. The track is called Black Christmas and you should be able to get it from this widget:

Or failing that, you can hear it streamed from the wonderful RCRD.LBL site:

And, you can also download it from the RCRD.LBL site.

It is a great track although the lyrics are quite dark in places:

I never knew a very merry Christmas

Santa Claus was a real bad guy

I’m dreaming of a Black Black Christmas

But the darkness is undercut by a the bouncing Reggae beat - try listening to it without bobbing your head! And if you turn up the volume, prepare to have your teeth rattled by the bass line.

Something Old

As well as giving a link to something new, I thought I'd link to something from last year that I didn't manage to feature. Or at least, this time, it's something I thought I'd missed last year. (See What a nightmare! I missed it.) In 2009, Nightmare Records gave away an album, or rather a double album, called Merry Metal Christmas, with more than two hours of free music. I thought I'd missed it but either, they've re-instated it or I was looking in the wrong place.

I am not a huge fan of the screaming "Wooorrrarrghh!" style of Metal but the tracks on this album are very much in the Melodic Metal mould and some are even a bit Progressive.

Although it is called Merry Metal Christmas, there are only three tracks that are Christmas themed. I guess the rest are Christmas presents rather than about Christmas. You have to download the lot because they come bundled together in two zip files but the three Christmas tracks are:

1. Bethlehem by Theocracy
2. Wicked Land of Winter by Sacred Dawn
3. The Chronicles of Jacob Marley by Order of Nine

And all of them are jolly good. I did think Kings will Come by Narnia might have been about the journey of the Magi but it seems to be about kingdoms rising and falling instead and, despite not being a Christmas song, I think it is one of my favourites. Although most of the album is not really Christmassy, there is still good stuff there that will be worth listening to in January.