Happy Holidays 2011 from PumpYouUp.com

Here's something different: a collection of dubstep arrangements of Christmas songs (mostly from The Nutcracker) courtesy of PumpYouUp.com.  I am by no means an expert on dubstep - in fact, the only other time I can recall deliberately listening to a dubstep song was when I heard "Pipe Wrench Dubstep" from the Machinarium Bonus EP - so I can't say for sure whether or not this is good dubstep.  I rather like the sound of it, though.  All of the songs are instrumental and have a very unique synthesizer-based sound - I've certainly never heard Christmas music arranged quite like this before.  "Dark Jingle Bell Dub" is probably my favourite of the bunch.

I suppose it's entirely possible that there are entire albums of dubstep Christmas music out there - like I said, it's not exactly something I've sought out before.  But whether dubstep is something you love or if it's entirely new to you, this collection is well worth checking out.  Incidentally, for anyone who is into dubstep, could you tell me how this compares to your favourite dubstep?  And is there any other dubstep - Christmas or otherwise - that you would recommend for someone who is new to the genre?  Thanks, and happy listening!

URL:

http://www.pumpyouup.com/free-christmas-music.aspx

Multiple Album Spotlight: Electric Fantastic Christmas

[Note: As of October 7, 2009, last.fm no longer has these albums available for download.  They are all still available from the Electric Fantastic Sound site, though.]

I've got a great resource of free Christmas music for you tonight. For the past three years, the Electric Fantastic Sound label has released a Christmas sampler featuring its own artists as well as international guests. The compilations, each simply entitled Electric Fantastic Christmas (or X-Mas in the case of the first one), are a great mix of both popular and original Christmas songs, all with an electronic sound that gives them a fun, catchy, and usually danceable feel.

Some of my favourite songs on these albums include Nouvelle Culture's "Douce Nuit", which I actually had as a standalone download from last.fm and liked so much I decided to track down the rest of the album; Bloodgroup's pulsating, sensual version of "Santa Baby"; Neurobash's cover of AC/DC's "Mistress for Christmas"; covers of "Last Christmas" by both Basswood Dollies and PLAS-TICk; Libra's version of Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You", which sounds like it was filtered through Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams"; Electraset's "Christmas Wish", which has an awesome 80s feel to it; and Quelles Paroles' cover of Elvis Presley's "In the Ghetto".

That only really scratches the surface of this great collection of Christmas music; with nearly 2 hours of music between the 3 albums, I find new things to enjoy about them every time one of them comes up in my playlist. If you're interested in checking any of them out, there are a few different ways to download them. The Christmas samplers page on the Electric Fantastic Sound website has links to ZIP archives of each album, which is the fastest and easiest way to download the entire collection. You can also check out each album's page on last.fm (2006, 2007, and 2008), where you can pick and choose which songs you want to download.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope you enjoy what you hear. Happy listening!

URLs:
http://www.electricfantasticsound.com/christmas.php
http://www.last.fm/music/Various+Artists/Electric+Fantastic+Xmas
http://www.last.fm/music/Various+Artists/Electric+Fantastic+Christmas+2007
http://www.last.fm/music/Various+Artists/Electric+Fantastic+Christmas+2008

Album Spotlight: MiMi Loves Xmas

I have a rather unique album for you tonight. This is a Christmas album that is so far outside the realm of "normal" Christmas music that I can't even properly describe it; at the same time, I am utterly intrigued by it and have found myself unable to stop listening to this strange, beautiful music.

The album in question is called MiMi Loves Xmas. My first word upon hearing it was "whoa", and that sense of wonder continued as I listened to the rest of the album. Most of the tracks are not "songs" in the conventional sense, but rather soundscapes that nonetheless bear a vague resemblance to Christmas music. Perhaps the most recognizable song on the album is "Silent Night", which sounds as if someone took the titular Christmas carol and filtered it through Radiohead's Kid A album to deliver a rendition unlike any other. As for the rest of the album, words really fail me, so you'll have to check it out for yourself; I can guarantee you that the experience of listening to this album will be 21 minutes unlike any you've ever experienced.

If you end up liking the album, why not let me know by posting a comment, and I'll see if I can find some more music like it to spotlight here.