For Whom the Sleigh Bell Tolls, That Band From Holland & ne pas de machine (self-issued)

That Band From Holland has been churning out short albums of holiday tunes for a number of years now, and for 2014 they've split the billing with ne pas de machine, about whom I don't know much except that at least one member of one is a member of the other. Unlike in previous years when That Band collaborated with the Left Handed Orchestra, ne pas de machine did half the songs and That Band did the other half. The guests provide such future classics as "Elvis Shaped Snowman," "Reindeers (In My House)," "Fake Antlers," "Me, the Snow and the Tree" and the preposterously titled "Don't Swallow the Glitters, Gary," about a house burglary. That Band From Holland likes their Northern European language titles, like "Rovanimi," "Jolasveinar" and "Silvester Gemeint," although only the latter is actually sung in Dutch. They also do the album's title song, a short but portentious horn-driven instrumental, and close things out with "Artificial Tree," in which the singer asks, "Play a little song for me." Maybe one of the ornaments is an MP3 player? The players span the range from 60s retro-pop to thrashy, kind of punkish rock, with lyrical ideas that are alternately dour and whimsical. Something different for the holidays, for sure, and very much in keeping with That Band's previous work. Check 'em out on Bandcamp.