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Welcome To Hip Christmas! I think you'll enjoy my
dysfunctionally vast web archive dedicated to holiday music that rocks, rolls, swings, and twangs. If you do, please support
me by shopping at Amazon, iTunes ,
and Sheet Music Plus! Regardless, the best of
the season to you - no matter what month it is! [about me] |
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What's New In 2011? I've catalogued dozens of brand
spankin' new Christmas CD's for your convenience and pleasure - including albums by She and Him, Kate Bush, Buck Owens, and the Gripweeds. The Christmas crush is upon us!
[read more] |
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A Christmas Gift For You. Five super cool,
ultra rare Christmas songs to download for free - Blondie, garage rockers the Blues Magoos, power poppers Super Deluxe, L.A. legends the Long Ryders, and a band called Christmas! [listen & download] |
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the Christmas Jukebox. My online Christmas music player is bulging with over 350 songs - and counting!
Now you can listen to the music I write about - the coolest, weirdest, and loudest holiday tunes ever. All while enjoying my inimitable prose.... [press play] |
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Keep Austin Wired. Here's one for my homies - Holiday HAAM Jam, a benefit for the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, with Shelley King, Jon Dee Graham, Kevin Welch, and many more. Available for download, plus a limited number of CD's through local outlets. [cut a slice] |
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A Killer Christmas. Las Vegas modern rockers The Killers' annual holiday release is The (RED) Christmas EP, an iTunes exclusive which compiles five years of singles plus one new track, "The Cowboys' Christmas Ball." [download] |
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Fruit Cakes Made of Stone. Ready to crawl under a rock this holiday season? Join the Black Swans and singer Eve Searls (Bird & Flower) who lament the annual family holiday ritual on their new single, "Christmas Alone." "My family gives me the blues," sings Eve. Can you relate? [stream or download] |
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How stupid does this record look?
It's great! Back in 2008 her record company said, "All the way from Norway comes a power pop powerhouse called Vibeke ready to introduce herself to America in a big way!"
Well, that didn't happen, but look what we got! [hit the slopes] |
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If it ain't Scottish, It's Crap! From way across the pond comes a free three-song EP of Christmas punk rock. Christmas All Over This Town is a noisy holiday present from The Plimptons, a five-piece D.I.Y. band from Glasgow. [shake it with me] |
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Festive Loafing. Pick up For the Kids! Creative Loafing's Holiday Mixtape for a dose of Christmas rock 'n' roll and a warm, fuzzy feeling. Proceeds benefit the The Children's Home in Tampa, Florida. You pay what you want, but don't be a scrooge, Ebeneezer. [loaf now] |
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Tarheel Tinsel. North Carolina rockers Stratocruiser are offering yet another Christmas freebie - "Anytown USA" - through Bandcamp. Even better, they've compiled seven years of their annual Christmas singles on a new EP, Holiday Music. [get yours now] |
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Hugs and Kisses For Xmas. This is getting to be a habit! For the fourth straight year, our friends at XO Publicity have compiled a free sampler of hip tunes - XO For The Holidays, Volume IV. What's more, you can still pick up Volume I , Volume II , and Volume III - gratis, as usual. [download now] |
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What's the Frequency, Santa? R.E.M. announced their break-up a short while ago. What better way to honor their legacy than reading my recently-updated review of their multifarious fan club Christmas singles?
[read more] |
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Top 20 Christmas Albums. Actually, 40 - I
started unwrapping presents and just couldn't stop! Anyway, who said Christmas music has to be
boring? Not me! These sterling platters will put you in the Christmas spirit faster than you can
say, "Go Cat Go!" [read more] |
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Top 100 Christmas Songs. Countdown to Christmas
Day with these always wonderful, frequently crazy songs - from Phil Spector's celebrated Wall Of
Sound to obscure punk, country, and rhythm & blues. [read
more] |
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Jews For Jesus. A surprising number of popular
Jewish entertainers have recorded Christmas albums and songs. From Irving Berlin to Beck, we've
got the shmutz on this strange phenomena. Plus, Jews we wish would record a Christmas
record - and Jews we hope do not! [read more] |
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Horny Holidays. Some people love to bask in
the warm glow of friends and family during the holiday season. Others feel like starting a
family (or something to that effect) at Christmas time. Read about the 20 naughtiest songs in the
history of the holiday. You'll never look at a candy cane quite the same. [read
more] |
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'Tis The Season For Stalkers. In the 50's
and 60's, a number of Christmas songs were recorded about the two most popular artists in rock
history - Elvis Presley and the Beatles. Read about this strange and obscure - and obsessive -
phenomenon. [read more] |
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Christmas In Vietnam. Most holiday music
is escapist. Who, after all, wants to think about death and mayhem during the season of hope? Nevertheless,
the Vietnam war intruded into this idyllic genre during the turbulent 60's, and we examine six
songs that looked at Christmas through the eyes of soldiers and their families. [read
more] |
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My Wish List. It
wouldn't be a record collector's website unless I published my wish list - Christmas songs
I'm still hunting down, and songs for which I'd happily barter from my relatively
vast treasure chest. If you have a copy of any of these rare goodies, let's talk! [read more] |
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Humbug Hit Parade. If the annual deluge of holiday music hokum is driving you to suicide-by-fruitcake, Spin Magazine has 25 of the weirdest, darkest, most awesome ought-a-be classics you'll never hear in a mall this season. [read more] |
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Top 40 Christmas Oldies Songs. The web is crammed with blogs and tweets, obscuring the fact that experts might know more than know-it-alls armed with a quick wit and a laptop. To me, that's sad, and this rock solid list from About.com shows why. [read more] |
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12 Worst/Best Songs of Christmas. I enjoyed this list from Spinner Magazine so much that I just had to share it. I am proud to say I own all 12 best songs of Christmas - and all but one of the worst! [read more] |
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The 12 Plays Of Christmas. The Indie Rock Cafe has published an amazing set of holiday playlists ranging from a handful of classics to an endless supply of genuinely obscure bands sure to thrill the kiddies and stump obsessive collectors. [listen & download] |
