Think jazzy ethereal carolers. If I legally could, I'd tie Smoke Season to a tree outside my house and command them to sing at me indefinitely. A radio-worthy cover of a classic Christmas carol. I have a real weak spot for anyone who can take a song I've heard thousands of times and recreate it, so much that I can be caught up in elements I never knew existed. This is probably going to be the song to shut my eyes to while visions of painful Christmas morning hangovers dizzy me off to sleep. Incredibly well done. 

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas- Smoke Season (Cover)

A well named song. The ambient chords liberated with plenty of reverb would accurately depict any sound made while sitting some glacier tunnel, wherever glacier tunnels exist. Titanics' work with panning make "Glacier Machines" worth a listen on some quality headphones; pay attention to where Mark Lombardo seems to be (near or far, left or right, etc.). What you'll notice is that there's a great deal of movement, which I like because it gives my ears something to "track" while listening. A pleasant sound with some subtle recording techniques; this track can accompany you through those lazy Sunday hibernations in deep winter. 

Glacier Machines- Titanics

This is most certainly the song you want to turn on at midnight Christmas Eve, just as a quiet winter storm begins to dust the silent world below. I love the use of church bells and violins; they create such an emotionally evocative sound. The type that makes you want to cry over fond memories from a happier time long ago. This song is for the families stretched far across the country, making every attempt at togetherness despite weather, past feuds, and time passed. I think I'll go hug my mom. 

FC's Last Christmas- Stilts Foster

Yes! This is what I was waiting for! This song is snap-along worthy; it's bob your head and raise your eggnog worthy. I'm a sucker for soaring falsetto vocals and Frederick really delivers. "If you've hit the bottom, the season of joy will lift you." So true. Christmas is the ideal time to recess real life troubles for a little while. This is a song made for embracing holiday clichés, because holiday clichés are fuzzy, warm, and easy to enjoy. "All We Have" is a song for throwing ornaments on the tree just before the family shows up, about the last five minutes of your long drive home after being gone far too long. Merry Christmas, friends. 

All We Have - Frederick

Here's a comedic spinoff of holiday spirit that's really under-represented. Christmas is publicized beyond belief, while Hanukkah is frequently left by the wayside. So, for putting together a joyful sounding message to the many Jewish boys and girls kept up each year, pondering why Santa's charity skips their chimneys, we salute you, Such Hounds, and wish you a Merry 24th of December. 

Lonely Jew- Such Hounds

Ah, love a good lyrical hook like "forgetting where I used to belong". Who hasn't felt that feeling at least once in their life? Love the harmonica fading in and out of the background of this. I find myself imagining this playing in some abandoned freight car, with a group of drifters huddled around a flaming metal garbage can. A kind of "make-it-with-whatever-you've-got" Christmas feel. It makes me think of past relationships, or friends long since fallen out of contact. It makes me want to take a walk down the ice covered sidewalk just to catch glimpses of various Christmas gatherings behind gaily lit living-room windows. "Silent Tonight" is a somberly pleasant soundtrack to catch up on your thoughts. Kick back and focus on the "back in the day" for a little while. 

Silent Tonight- the Silver Things

"Tongue's bleeding red and my words are pale green": this song is just beautiful. It speaks to the chipped and decaying world behind the festive plastic euphoria. "Little Plastic Bells" is like the whispered background hymn of those left uninvited to any hallmark family gatherings. I love how Lontalius chooses to sing this song- lighting every word up in echo and reverb, as if to remind the listener that this is no personal reflection, but rather the collective thoughts of a chorus of lonely minds. While many find merriment in an indoor world, the exterior is left especially bare and lifeless. I love a song that can comfortably show the darker side to socially accepted norms; this song can run the next hour on repeat in your headphones.

Little Plastic Bells- Lontalius

Twitter: @LeaveJayAlone
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We all have our own personal connections to the blustery back-track which starts and ends this song. To me, it brings me back to pulling a toboggan through feet of un-trampled snow, looking for the unclaimed sledding hill, alone with my numb toes and runny nose. This song is for watching your dog outside rolling around in the recently blanketed backyard. It's the sound to go along with the hope that, somehow, somewhere, there's a hot mug of cocoa beside a crackling fire waiting for us. This is a song for appreciating the warmth in a world of deep cold. 

Indie Happy Hour

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