XO For the Holidays Vol. IV, various artists (XO Publicity)

Another holiday tradition appears to be XO Publicity's Christmas album featuring artists on its management roster. Number four turns up for 2011 with the usual selection of interesting alt-pop-rockers, though only a few bands in common with previous editions. Piney Gir kicks things off with "Christmas Time," a nice original bit of baroque pop about preparing for the holiday, and Climber gives us some electro-pop with shades of 8-bit video games in the instrumental "Holiday Hoopla." Pictures of Then throw a few doomy electronic trappings over "I Believe In Father Christmas," and the downtempo sounds continue with Magnuson's "O Come Emanuel." Rags & Ribbons get positively bombastic with their version of "Greensleeves"; TSO anybody? The Winter Sounds go 60s pop rock with their breezy "Stranded In Snowville," Jessie Torrisi takes the David Lynch approach with her ballad "I Lose a Little Bit of You," and Kulewa takes to the lounge for the standard "I'll Be Home For Christmas." That leaves Beneath Wind and Waves with holiday love song "The Gift" and Bradley Wik and the Charlatans to conclude with the bluesy ballad "Midwest Winters." Like all the previous years' volumes, this is a free download, but it would be worth paying for if you had to.