This band management company has been collecting Christmas songs from their clients for years now, and as usual the 2016 product of their curation is free to download. Up front, I'm disappointed that Piney Gir's contribution is the same "Love Is a Christmas Rose" she contributed to Volume 8 of the series, but if you missed it then, you've got it now. Andrew Joslyn & the Local Strangers bring an orchestra to help them render the aching ballad "Under Mistletoe." EagleWolfSnake provide the folk-poppy "Make It Glow" that concedes San Francisco doesn't do much to provide a white Christmas. Bill Berry's "Twas the Night After Christmas" is a nice boozy acoustic blues, Occurrence breaks out the synths for "This Is How You Know (It's the Holidays)," and Texture and Light add a bit of electronic flavor to their cover of Aimee Mann's "I Was Thinking I Could Clean Up For Christmas." Magnuson knocks out a minor key "Silent Night" to a martial beat (just the thing for the new administration, am I right?) and Blue Skies For Black Hearts top off the collection with a gentle take on the Bing & Bowie medley of "Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth." Another winning holiday gift from XO.
Leave a comment