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musical advent calendar Archives
Musical Advent Calendar: The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl, 'Fairytale of New York'
Thursday, Dec. 25 2008 @ 10:58AM
By Albert Ching in musical advent calendar
As if there were any other way to end this thingie--the best Christmas song of all time, courtesy of iconic Irish folk punks the Pogues and the late, great Kirsty MacColl. Perhaps the only Christmas song to use the word "faggot," and in an oddly inoffensive way. "I could have been someone," "Well, so could anyone." Too true.
I missed a couple days last weekend, so some bonus Christmas tunes are after the jump!
I missed a couple days last weekend, so some bonus Christmas tunes are after the jump!
Continue reading "Musical Advent Calendar: The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl, 'Fairytale of New York'"...
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Musical Advent Calendar: The Ramones, 'Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)'
Wednesday, Dec. 24 2008 @ 8:54PM
By Albert Ching in musical advent calendar
From a latter-day Ramones work--1989's Brain Drain. Great stuff, especially the skits in the beginning and the end. Nope, those aren't lame at all.
Musical Advent Calendar: Squeeze, 'Christmas Day'
Tuesday, Dec. 23 2008 @ 11:44PM
By Albert Ching in musical advent calendar
Squeeze was one of the earliest bands I was introduced to as a young Albert--my siblings seemingly played Singles--45's and Under on a constant loop--and I still have a special spot in my heart for them. Songs like "Black Coffee in Bed," "Pulling Mussles from the Shell" and "Cool for Cats" were ahead of their time, and still sound great today.
They released a Christmas single back in 1979, rather plainly titled "Christmas Day." It wasn't much of a success, and is ultimately definitely one of their lesser works, but hey, it's about Christmas and it beats the Sixpence None the Richer version of "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear." As a bonus, this homemade YouTube video is full of goofy religious imagery!
They released a Christmas single back in 1979, rather plainly titled "Christmas Day." It wasn't much of a success, and is ultimately definitely one of their lesser works, but hey, it's about Christmas and it beats the Sixpence None the Richer version of "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear." As a bonus, this homemade YouTube video is full of goofy religious imagery!
Musical Advent Calendar: Aimee Mann, 'I Was Thinking I Could Clean Up For Christmas'
Monday, Dec. 22 2008 @ 11:22PM
By Albert Ching in musical advent calendar
As we all (should) know by now, there's a lot more to Aimee Mann than "Voices Carry." She's released six solo albums, including this year's @#%&*! Smilers. She also just seems pretty cool; she was in The Big Lebowski, an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer back in 2002 and wrote a song specifically for Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!. She's released a handful of Christmas tunes, like this one, from 2005's The Forgotten Arm--here's her playing it at the El Rey.
Musical Advent Calendar: No Doubt, 'Oi to the World'
Saturday, Dec. 20 2008 @ 4:45PM
By Albert Ching in musical advent calendar
Tonight is the annual "Vandals Christmas Formal" at the House of Blues in Anaheim, and we talked earlier this week about No Doubt getting back together in 2009, so what better OCriffic song for today than No Doubt's cover of Vandals Christmas tune "Oi to the World"? None more better.
Unfortunately, all the videos on YouTube have "embedding disabled by request" (the Internet's becoming a real police state) so check it out here.
Unfortunately, all the videos on YouTube have "embedding disabled by request" (the Internet's becoming a real police state) so check it out here.
Musical Advent Calendar: 'That Was The Worst Christmas Ever,' Sufjan Stevens
Thursday, Dec. 18 2008 @ 9:56PM
By Albert Ching in musical advent calendar
Oh Sufjan, is there anything you can't do? Write albums about all 50 states (eventually), get mentioned by Snow Patrol and release lots and lots of Christmas music. This is from 2003's Ding! Dong!: Songs for Christimas, Vol. III.
Yes, he's wearing wings. What of it?
Yes, he's wearing wings. What of it?
Musical Advent Calendar: Tiny Tim, 'Santa Claus has Got the AIDS This Year'
Wednesday, Dec. 17 2008 @ 11:48PM
By Albert Ching in musical advent calendar
No one said that Christmas songs had to be tasteful. Well, at least he has an excuse in case you don't end up getting what you want...
From the late Tiny Tim in 1985, back when apparently people thought AIDS would only slow you down for about a year.
From the late Tiny Tim in 1985, back when apparently people thought AIDS would only slow you down for about a year.
Musical Advent Calendar: Heavy Metal Charlie Brown
Tuesday, Dec. 16 2008 @ 6:01PM
By Albert Ching in musical advent calendar
The venerable "A Charlie Brown Christmas" airs 8 tonight on ABC, and of course we all know and love the Vince Guraldi score. This video interprets things a little differently thanks to "Perfect Night for a Hanging" by Christian thrash metal band Tourniquet.
Musical Advent Calendar: Noel Gallagher, 'Merry Xmas Everybody'
Monday, Dec. 15 2008 @ 5:00PM
By Albert Ching in musical advent calendar
Musical Advent Calendar: Bob Dylan, 'The Night Before Christmas'
Sunday, Dec. 14 2008 @ 11:40AM
By Albert Ching in musical advent calendar
Continuing our mini-theme this weekend of iconic singer/songwriters, let's turn to Bob Dylan. To his credit, he hasn't released any cheesy Christmas tunes in his near 50-year career, though the holiday comes up in tunes like "Arthur McBride" and both Christmas and Santa are mentioned in "Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie." But don't think that makes Bobby D some kind of scrooge. Two years ago, he recited "A Visit from St. Nicholas"--the poem of disputer authorship more commonly known by opening line "'Twas The Night Before Christmas"-- on his XM Radio show Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour. As you might guess, it's neat, kind of weird and somewhat creepy. Instead of dreaming of seeing St. Augustine, we're spotting St. Nick. On Lily! On Rosemary! On the Jack of Hearts! Here it is.
Musical Advent Calendar: Bruce Springsteen, 'Pilgrim in the Temple of Love'
Saturday, Dec. 13 2008 @ 11:50AM
By Albert Ching in musical advent calendar
There aren't a lot of songs in the holiday canon that talk about blowjobs, but there's a reason why Bruce Springsteen is the boss.
Yep, strip clubs, Santa receiving oral sex, erections, vomit--not necessarily what you'd expect from a Christmas song or Springsteen. It's from his circa '95-'97 Ghost of Tom Joad tour, where he'd frequently pepper sets with funny, often raunchy tunes (like this one).
Yep, strip clubs, Santa receiving oral sex, erections, vomit--not necessarily what you'd expect from a Christmas song or Springsteen. It's from his circa '95-'97 Ghost of Tom Joad tour, where he'd frequently pepper sets with funny, often raunchy tunes (like this one).
Musical Advent Calendar: Death Cab for Cutie, 'Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)'
Friday, Dec. 12 2008 @ 4:28PM
By Albert Ching in musical advent calendar
At this point, who hasn't covered the Phil Spector co-written classic "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"? Mariah Carey sang it on her 1994 Merry Christmas album, U2 on the 1987 Christmas compilation A Very Special Christmas. Original singer Darlene Love performs the tune every year on "The Late Show with David Letterman;" even Smash Mouth has their own, no doubt terrible, version.But my favorite version is from 2004's Maybe This Christmas Tree--check out the awesome cover by Shag up in the corner--by Death Cab for Cutie, just before they hit it big with their major label debut Plans and "Soul Meets Body." It's not necessarily "cool" to like Death Cab these days, given their appropriation by the masses and teenage girls--especially for us that have been fans pre-The Photo Album--but I still fall for Ben Gibbard and his high-pitched, adorably nerdy charms every time.
Musical Advent Calendar: Snoop Doggy Dogg, et al, 'Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto'
Thursday, Dec. 11 2008 @ 2:26PM
By Albert Ching in musical advent calendar
Death Row Records--co-founded by Dr. Dre and Suge Knight in 1991--was, of course, incredibly influential in the world of west coast rap in the early '90s. And incredibly controversial.But not everything released on the label was quite as provocative as say, "Deep Cover." There was also 1996's Christmas on Death Row album, which boasted songs like opener "Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto"--not to be confused with, but likely inspired by the James Brown song of the same name--by Dat Nigga Daz, Nate Dogg, Tray Deee, Bad Azz and the LBC's own Snoop Doggy Dogg (as he was still called back then).
Musical Advent Calendar: The Long Winters, 'Christmas With You Is The Best'
Wednesday, Dec. 10 2008 @ 5:23PM
By Albert Ching in musical advent calendar
I know it's a sore spot for many of you that lived 'round these parts while it was on the air, but not everything that had to do with "The O.C." was that bad. There was their many volumes of compilation CDs, for instance, which, if you can get past the murky ickiness of a TV show dictating to people what cool hip young kids should like, did a lot of good work exposing some great bands to wider audiences.One of those bands was Seattle pop heroes The Long Winters; Barsuk records labelmates with Death Cab for Cutie, who owe at least some of their current success to being namedropped on the show. On "Music From the O.C. Mix 3: Have a Very Merry Chrismukkah," the Long Winters appeared alongside Jimmy Eat World, Ben Kweller and Ron Sexsmith, contributing the original song "Christmas With You is the Best."
Continue reading "Musical Advent Calendar: The Long Winters, 'Christmas With You Is The Best'"...
Musical Advent Calendar: Before Braille, 'Merry Christmas, I'm Cheating'
Tuesday, Dec. 9 2008 @ 5:58PM
By Albert Ching in musical advent calendar
![CharlieBrownTree[1].jpg](http://blogs.ocweekly.com/heardmentality/CharlieBrownTree%5B1%5D.jpg)
Yes, most advent calendars start on Dec. 1. Eat it.Christmas is awesome. Sorry non-observers; I love you but it's true. You get presents, you get to give presents and spread holiday good tidings and so on. And come on, Candy Cane Joe-Joes.
Since Christmas music is perhaps the most awesome part of the holiday, I thought it'd be appropriate to have a countdown of sorts of some great seasonal tunes. And what better way to start than with a band from my old stomping grounds: the east valley area of metro Phoenix?
Continue reading "Musical Advent Calendar: Before Braille, 'Merry Christmas, I'm Cheating'"...
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