Fireplace Songs: Holiday Sampler From the Music Bed, various artists (Music Bed)

Music Bed is a licensing company that seeks placements for songs on albums and in TV and movie soundtracks, and to call attention to their roster of artists they've compiled this 2012 collection, which is free from NoiseTrade. For some reason, they've included two versions of "Silent Night," Green River Ordinance's being more of a rock-oriented drone while Katie Herzig takes the acoustic Americana approach. Act As If provides us with "Sleigh Bells & Reindeer," an uptempo original with a contemporary hit radio flavor, as is Saints of Valory's "Winter Lights." Trent Dabbs' "Raise the Tree" is a midtempo pop song, Sugar & the Hi Lows' "Home For the Holiday" is a last-century soul ballad, Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors takes a pop-jazz approach with "Christmas For You and Me," and Jules Larson offers "Oh Holiday," a pop-rock crowd pleaser. Another song in a similar vein is Tim Halperin's "Under That Christmas Spell." The Young Internationals and Matthew Mayfield give us acoustic-based power pop with "This Year" and "Christmastime Again," respectively. Amy Stroup's "You Make the Cold Disappear" is a nice piece of 60s-era baroque pop, and wrapping things up is Future of Forestry with "What Child Is This" and A New Normal's "Angels We Have Heard On High." Payment is requested, but you can get it free if you like.