18 songs from Folk Angel

For a limited time - until December 22, to be precise - Folk Angel are offering their entire catalog (2 EPs and a full-length album, a total of 18 songs) for free.  You have to enter the case-sensitive password COMPASSION to access the downloads (I found the password on this site, in case you're curious).

I've been listening to these albums tonight and they're quite nice.  The third volume seems to have a much more varied sound than the first two, with the biggest surprise being the rap in the middle of  "Ring Christmas Bells (Carol Of The Bells)" - it comes from out of nowhere, but it works amazingly well.   "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus / Joy To The World", the final song on the second volume, has a very uplifting ending and is another highlight.

Happy listening!

URLs:

http://www.folkangel.com/?page_id=813 (music)

http://blog.compassion.com/how-about-some-free-christmas-music/ (password)

Eddy Christmas

So yes, I did miss a post yesterday.  Things just caught up with me and I ended up falling asleep much earlier than I usually do, leaving me with no chance of getting anything up.  It was a good run while it lasted, though - I believe I posted for 25 days straight, including a number of days when I managed to get a couple of posts up.  I'm still going to give it my best shot for the remaining days, though - there's too much good music left to quit now!

Some of my favourite Christmas music last year came from an artist known simply as Eddy, who released a couple of tracks each week leading up to Christmas; curiously, though, I don't think I managed to get a post up about her music.  Fortunately, she is doing the same thing again this year, and she has even been kind enough to rerelease two of last year's songs, presumably for those who didn't get them last year.  The rereleased songs are an incredibly groovy "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" and "We Three Kings", both of which are done acoustically as duets.

The first set of songs for 2010 includes "Carol of the Bells" and "Last Christmas".  "Carol of the Bells" has an acoustic base, but there are a lot of layered vocals and it is a much busier arrangement than last year's songs.  My favourite of the bunch is "Last Christmas", which has more of a rock sound than the others - I actually hear a bit of Paramore in there at times.  It's a great arrangement, and I'm really looking forward to hearing what else she has in store for us this year; the site artwork indicates that there are still two releases to come.  Happy listening!

URL:

http://eddychristmas.com/ 

The Brantley Family Band

The Brantley Family Band has a massive (and growing) collection of Christmas music available to download.  Every year since 2004, they have released a little Christmas album with 4 to 6 songs "as a sort of musical Christmas card for [their] friends, families, and fans all over the world."  There is nothing available for 2010 yet, but in the meantime you can download all 28 songs from the first 6 albums directly from their website, or from Bandcamp, where you can download a .zip file of the entire collection (if you do that, though, just note that "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" may be mislabelled as "Deck the Halls").

Your musical tastes will need to be at least a little bit on the adventurous side in order to take it all in.  For the most part, things sound pretty "normal", but there are also songs like "Silent Nite", which veers toward death metal with its chugging, distorted guitars and growling, processed vocals, or "Jingle Bell Rock", which goes through about a half dozen different styles in its 2 minutes and 21 seconds.  "Last Christmas" and "Feliz Navidad" are both performed fairly straight, at least until you get to the random metal outbursts in the middle of them.  I'm not trying to scare anyone away from downloading this collection - just trying to get the idea across that it is rather more eclectic than most Christmas music that I come across (in all honesty, it was the odd, reggae-tinged rendition of "Blue Christmas" found here that prevented me from posting about it the other day, when I opted for Joshua James' more straight-ahead version).

Some of the highlights are rocking, guitar-based versions of "Linus and Lucy" and "Joy to the World", both of which would not sound out of place on a Merry Axemas album; a bluesy "Merry Christmas Baby", which works surprisingly well as a duet (at least I've never heard it done that way before - if there are other duet versions of this song, please let me know!); and a beautiful, acoustic guitar-based, instrumental version of "Morning Star".  My favourite of all, though, is "Fat Daddy", a song I'd never heard before.  The whole song has a zany Frank Zappa feel to it, from the "La la la la laaaaa" female vocals, to the spoken section near the end, to the ripping guitar solo that closes the song.  About the only information I can find on this song is that it's an obscure song recorded by a radio DJ in the 1950s, so I'm glad that the Brantley Family Band has made a version available for everyone to hear.

Happy listening!

URL:

http://www.thebrantleyfamilyband.com/

Artist Spotlight: Ballard C. Boyd

It's hard to imagine a ukelele-based Christmas album being anything but fun.  Ballard C. Boyd seems to be hell-bent on proving that theory, as he has been releasing a ukelele-based Christmas album every year since 2005.  I only discovered his music within the last week or so, after his latest album, Yule Kulele, was released; fortunately, the other 4 albums are also still available, so if this sounds like something you'd be even remotely interested in, you can head over to his website and download all 5 albums right now.

 

There are many obscure Christmas songs covered on these albums that I had never heard before, as well as more familiar songs like "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow", "The Christmas Song", and "Holly Jolly Christmas" (always a favourite of mine because of its inclusion in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, my favourite Christmas movie).  There are also a few original songs on most of the albums (all except the first), and Boyd even puts his own spin on some old favourites such as "The 12 Days of Christmas", which is updated as "The 25 Days of Christmas".  There are even a few "hidden tracks", including a cover of Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls" and a mashup of Steve Miller's "The Joker" with Weezer's "Undone - The Sweater Song".  One of my favourite songs turned out to be a cover of Robert Earl Keen's "Merry Christmas from the Family", which I had never heard before - the line "Little sister brought her new boyfriend, he was a Mexican. We didn't know what to think of him until he sang 'Feliz Navidad'" had me cracking up laughing as I listened to it.

 

Ballard C. Boyd's ukelele Christmas albums are definitely not the most traditional Christmas albums you will ever hear, but they will almost certainly be among the most fun.  You can download the MP3 files separately or grab a zip file for each album right here.  Happy listening!

 

URL:

http://www.ballardcboyd.com/music/

Artist Spotlight: Northern Light Orchestra

Sometime in mid-June, I began getting references in my RSS feeds to a band called Northern Light Orchestra, which supposedly had free Christmas music available for download.  At first, I dismissed these blog posts as spam for a number of reasons: first, they were rather poorly written, as if they had been written in another language and then auto-translated into English; second, when I clicked on the links in the posts, I could never find the music that had been promised; finally, well... who writes about Christmas music in June anyway?  Still, I was curious, and as time went on, I began to learn a little more about Northern Light Orchestra.  When I discovered that musicians like David Ellefson (former Megadeth bassist), Dizzy Reed (Guns N' Roses keyboardist), Bruce Kulick (former KISS guitarist), and members of bands like Whitesnake, KoRn, and Quiet Riot were involved with the project, it became something I simply had to hear.

 

After reading a couple of these blog posts each week for several months, I was finally rewarded in the last week of October when the link led to a page with actual downloadable MP3s.  I downloaded the MP3s and began listening to them immediately.  Since I had been waiting to hear this music for such a long time, I can't possibly think of a more appropriate way to officially begin the 2009 free Christmas music season.

 

As might be expected given the musicians involved, Northern Light Orchestra's sound is primarily rock and metal based.  I was immediately reminded of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, but I think that is more due to the fact that there just isn't that much rock-based Christmas music around.  My favourite song so far is "God Was Born a Baby", which starts off with the sound of a choir before launching into an excellent rock groove.  Just when it sounds like the song is over at around four and a half minutes, it picks back up for an epic guitar solo, which lasts almost two minutes, and then winds down with an orchestral outro.  "Joy to the World" features a great instrumental breakdown with a drum solo and soaring guitar leads.  There are mellower songs, too.  "Joseph's Song" has an adult contemporary feel to it, while "We Have Come to Worship" you is a nice ballad with gorgeous vocal harmonies.  "Goodnight" is a pretty little piano- and vocal-based lullabye sung to baby Jesus.

 

There seem to be alternate versions of some of the songs on the band's iLike page.  "Joy to the World", for example, features some additional orchestration and vocal harmonies as compared to the version on the band's website.  This exemplifies the only real problem I have with NLO - namely, a great deal of confusion.  Their website states that their album, The Spirit of Christmas, contains nine songs, and that they have another nine songs in production "for next year" (not sure whether they mean 2009 or 2010 by that); however, the amount of songs available for download is neither nine nor eighteen, and the songs that can be downloaded have different album names and track numbers between the different versions.  It's not enough to stop me from listening to the music, but I can't help but feel how much better it would sound as an album with a proper track list.

 

Though Trans-Siberian Orchestra may have popularized rock-based Christmas music with their trilogy of albums, Northern Light Orchestra proves that there is still room for more of this type of music.  Their take on Christmas music is a thoroughly enjoyable one - this is something that I would gladly pay for if given the chance to have it as a proper album.  I hope you enjoy it too - please leave a comment here or send me an email to let me know what you think of it.  Happy listening!

 

URLs:

http://www.carangel.com/northern-light-orchestra/

http://www.ilike.com/artist/Northern+Light+Orchestra/songs

Artist Spotlight: Joel Rakes

[Update: The first volume does not seem to be available anymore, but the second and third volumes (as well as the fourth, which is new for 2009) can be found at Joel's Bandcamp page.]

Joel Rakes has started a rather cool annual tradition: each year since 2006, he has recorded an EP of 5 Christmas songs, which he releases one song at a time on his website in the few weeks before Christmas. The first two volumes of festive.mood.inducing.music can still be downloaded in their entirety, while the first three tracks from this year's volume are currently available, with the remaining songs to follow next Sunday and Christmas Day.

The first volume is very bare bones, with just vocals and acoustic guitar; it features a very nice rendition of "I Saw Three Ships", as well as a cover of Bebo Norman's "Mary's Prayer", which is a very touching and beautiful song. Volume 2 adds some more instruments to the mix, including the banjo that he is "more than obsessed with" (according to his bio page), and also a couple of original songs in "No Mo' Ho Ho Ho" and "Lost Christmas". Joel's sound continues to evolve on the three songs released so far this year, and I am really looking forward to hearing the remaining two songs, which haven't even been named yet.

The wide range of moods and styles captured in this growing collection of songs makes it a worthy addition to any Christmas music lover's collection. I think you may also agree with me in hoping that this annual tradition will last for many years to come. If you haven't done so already, go check it out, and happy listening!

URLs:
http://joelrakes.bandcamp.com/
http://christmassongs.joelrakes.com (no longer available)
http://www.joelrakes.com/about/

Artist Spotlight: Dolores Dagenais

[Update: The music linked to in this post is no longer available.]

For me, one of the biggest benefits of this whole Free Christmas Music project has been the opportunity to discover artists that I probably never would have discovered otherwise. Many of those artists come from genres that I don't normally listen to; thanks to the ability of Christmas music to transcend all notions of genre, it is easy to find myself in previously unexplored musical territory. One such genre is folk music, and I am happy to say that I have found a couple of really great folk artists who have been generous enough to make their Christmas albums freely available for people to enjoy. I'll be doing this post in two parts, featuring one artist today and the other whenever I get the second part written, hopefully tomorrow.

Today I want to feature Dolores Dagenais, a singer/songwriter from Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada. Dolores has made her Words of Warmth album available for free download from her website. The album features eight songs, seven of which are traditional Christmas carols; the final song, "Empty Pocket", is an original song that was written in 2000 after she "witnessed the body of a homeless man being picked up off the sidewalk one cold January day." This song is absolutely beautiful and features some very moving lyrics. Another highlight of the album is "Away in a Manger", which is done completely a capella and features some stunning vocal harmonies. In fact, many of the songs on Words of Warmth feature very distinctive vocal harmonies which are an absolute joy to listen to.

Words of Warmth will only be available on the website until January 2008, at which time it will be taken down to make room for more new music, so you should head on over there now if you want to check it out.

Dolores has also added another original Christmas song to her website. "Fragile Light" takes a look at the true meaning of Christmas, and, like "Empty Pocket", is a very moving song. "Fragile Light" has been given its own page on the website, complete with artwork and lyrics.

Part two of my exploration of folk Christmas music will be up soon. In the meantime, though, please head on over to Dolores Dagenais's website so you can hear her beautiful music for yourself.

Artist Spotlight: Jonathan Coulton

[Update: the link to "Christmas is Interesting" no longer works, but I found a live version that can be downloaded here.]

According to his website, Jonathan Coulton is "a musician, a singer-songwriter and an internet superstar". I first became aware of him last year when I came across a list of Creative Commons Christmas songs, which features a few of his songs: "Podsafe Christmas Song", "Christmas is Interesting", and "Chiron Beta Prime".

• "Podsafe Christmas Song": Uh-oh, it seems that there are no podsafe Christmas songs for anyone to play! Will Jonathan and his friends be able to save Christmas by delivering a song that's safe to play?  You'll have to listen to this delightfully quirky little song to find out.
• "Christmas is Interesting": Christmas is interesting / Like a stick in your eye / It's so freaking interesting / That it might make you cry says the chorus of this song, which looks at Christmas through the eyes of characters from stories like It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, and even Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Bittersweet and beautiful, this one has to be heard to be believed.
• "Chiron Beta Prime": a Christmas greeting from the Anderson family, who have unfortunately been banished to an asteroid by the Robot Council.  More quirky humour along the lines of "Podsafe Christmas Song".

Definitely not your traditional Christmas carols.  If you're looking for some Christmas music that's a little (or maybe a lot) different, these songs from Jonathan Coulton would be a great place to start.  My favourite of the bunch is "Christmas is Interesting", with "Podsafe Christmas song" not too far behind.  What's your favourite?  Post a comment and let us know!