Compiled by Etan Rosenbloom, Membership/Marketing Associate and Blog Coordinator
Another holiday season, another 24/7 stream of winter-themed classics blaring from the mall's PA sytem. Don't get me wrong, I love the perennial strains of ASCAP's ubiquitous holiday classics as much as the next guy, partly as a music fan and partly as an anthropologist - as a music-obsessed Jew amidst a sea of Christmas-themed tunes, I actually feel like I'm getting to know a separate culture through its music during this time of year. At the same time, I believe that traditions become empty when we don't seek to make them relevant to modern times. In the spirit of updating the holiday tradition of caroling and mirthful music-making, here are 24 new holiday recordings by ASCAP members.
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Dan Wilson - "Are You Lonely Tonight, Mrs. Claus?"
We'll start off with one song that we missed in our 2010 list. Grammy winner Dan Wilson was once best known as the leader of Semisonic, but he's since become a ridiculously prolific, versatile and successful songwriter/producer, responsible for co-penning Adele's "Someone Like You" and Dierks Bentley's "Home" this year (we also interviewed him for Playback, an only slightly less prestigious achievement). Wilson brought his boundless songcraft and wit to this adorable Christmas song, too.
Chase J - "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)"
This luminous short film from Roc Nation signee Chase J. intercuts gorgeous video of the songwriter/artist (what a voice!) with classic footage of Nat King Cole singing the same song. The generational divide dissolves. The heart melts.
Andrew Jed - "Christmas Time Is Here" (featuring Caitlin Coffelt)
Singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Andrew Jed sent us this delightful, mandolin and glockenspiel-backed Christmas original, sung by Caitlin Coffelt. Says Jed about his creation: "It's fun...AND, I might just release a Chanukah version. Who knows? Oy! This could be the start of a new holiday tradition...no ugly Christmas sweaters required." You can download the song from iTunes here.
Careless - "What Child Is This?"
Pennsylvania-based metal band Careless originally recorded this cover of "What Child Is This?" back in the 80's, then re-cut it after reuniting two decades later and made it into this video. We all know that heavy metal goes great with ominous religious imagery, but who coulda guessed that a 150-year-old caroling classic could rock so hard?
John Zorn - "Santa's Workshop"
There are two factors about avant-garde posterman John Zorn's new Christmas album A Dreamer's Christmas that might cause some eyebrow-raising: 1) Zorn is Jewish, and his record label Tzadik is known for its "Radical Jewish Culture" imprint. 2) This album of jazzed-up holiday offerings is completely accessible. The instrumental "Santa's Workshop" is one of the two original tunes on the album, and it's a total hoot. You can preview the remainder at this great NPR feature about the album.
Steven Gusenoff - "A Little Box of Candles"
Here's one of those rare holiday songs that talks about the experience of both Hanukkah and Christmas. Steven Gusenoff's song resonates particularly strongly with me - the smell of those colored, waxy Hanukkah candles is one of my favorite seasonal sensations.
Adam Arcuragi - "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)"
A lovelorn lyric, a strummed guitar, a haze of reverb, some cooing background vocals. That's all that's needed for singer/songwriter Adam Arcuragi's cover of the Darlene Love original to cast its spell.
Wrnlrd - "Silent Night"
I am not actually positive that Virginian black metal auteur Wrnlrd is an ASCAP member - heck, I don't even know if he has a real name - but his version of "Silent Night," taken from the 2011 holiday EP Unknown Tongue, is too spectacular not to share. There are no distorted guitars here, just some spectral accordions and layered, ethereal vocal wafting from singer Buccinator. They give this track an atmosopheric makeover that brings out a very different side of the age-old song. You can download the whole EP for free here.
Serenades - "Come Home"
This terrific tune comes courtesy of Serenades, a new project from Shout Out Louds frontman Adam Olenius (STIM) and fellow singer/songwriter Markus Krunegård (also STIM). It's a lovely crosshatching of that big-beat, 80's dance-pop aesthetic and sunny Beach Boys production. Anyone who's ever spent the holidays alone will understand what these two Swedes are singing about.
Jenny O. - "Get Down for the Holidays"
So no, contrary to its name, this lovely song from singer/songwriter Jenny O. isn't filled with fatback funk. It IS quite something though, with Travis-picked acoustic guitars and a hushed vocal line worthy of Elliott Smith. This has been a big year for Ms. O., complete with a signing to Notable Music, tours with Dave Matthews, Leon Russell and Ben Harper, inclusion in a Buddy Holly tribute album and the completion of her new album, which will be out in early 2012.
Austrian Death Machine - "It's Turbo Time"
When Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in Jingle All the Way back in 1996, how could he have known that he'd be providing metal band Austrian Death Machine (a side project for As I Lay Dying mainman Tim Lambesis) with the perfect fodder for a career's worth of holiday music? ADM exclusively uses Schwarzenegger quotes as the basis for its songs, and this one turns one of Schwarzenegger's lame leitmotifs from Jingle into a brutal thrash/punk song.
FarCry - "When I Got You (The Christmas Song)"
Nashville-based duo FarCry adds a lil' twang to the season with this laid-back country Christmas song. Check it out for your very own honky tonk holiday!
The Barr Brothers - "Dear Mrs. Claus"
With that 6/8 lilt and blue-eyed soul delivery, this original tune from The Barr Brothers would slide comfortably into the holiday music format on any oldies radio station. "Let me turn on your Christmas light" is the most seasonally appropriate come-on I've heard since ever.
Ryan Miller - "Tiny Tree Christmas"
Guster co-founder Ryan Miller's charming "Tiny Tree Christmas" was used in a national Time Warner Cable ad this season. But that wasn't the only high-profile sync the song got: Miller lent the song to ABC's Good Morning America for their "Your Three Words" segment. I'm quite fond of the home video treatment, but if you want to hear the song unencumbered by visuals, you can download it from iTunes here.
Six13 - "Chanukah Rights"
As a former collegiate a cappella singer, I am contractually obligated to watch every single holiday-themed a cappella video that my friends and family send me (and there are A TON). Here's one from the New York-based Jewish group Six13, who've offered up a silly "We Are the World"-style unity anthem about treating Hanukkah equal to Christmas in the media. I can't figure out if any of the group's members are signed to a Performing Rights Organization, but there are faux-cameos from plenty of ASCAP members, so that counts.
Schuyler Fisk - "It's Christmas, So We're Singing"
Here's one of two original Christmas tunes that ASCAP singer/songwriter Schuyler Fisk wrote for her new EP, Sounds of the Holiday. The title says it all - it's a great anthem for music makers 'round holiday time!
Ara Eissler - "The Christmas Elf (Selfish Isn't Elfish)"
What's to be done with a miserly Christmas elf? Texas-based ASCAP writer Ara Eissler turns in this adorable polka about a grumpy North Pole elf who learns the value of generosity. It comes from his holiday EP The Inn Door, which also includes a Christmas song about a dromedary named Roger.
Justin Froese - "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town"
Justin Froese was a participant in the 2007 Lester Sill Workshop. While his songwriting is what caught our ears, he's also a wicked guitarist, as evidenced by this instrumental version of "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town." It comes from a holiday EP that Froese and fellow guitarist Ivar Rodriguez recorded a few years back, and just got around to releasing in 2011. You can stream the whole thing here.
Sam Mickens - "Dark Christmas"
This woozy tune from Sam Mickens of The Dead Science showcases Mickens' astounding vibrato in harmony with Zac Pennington of the Parenthetical Girls. For some even crazier holiday music from this dude, check out his recent A Christmas Gift to You, Zac Pennington EP, which features his takes on seven seasonal chestnuts. You can download it for whatever price you choose right here. 'Tis highly recommended that you do.
T'Melle - "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)"
Atlanta-based, Philly-bred singer T'Melle was once a member of Egypt, the R&B group that TLC's Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes was developing when she was killed in a car accident in Honduras back in 2002. T'Melle took a hiatus from music after the tragedy, but she's back as a solo artist. Despite the less-than-ideal fidelity, you can hear her passion on this casual a cappella rendition of "The Christmas Song." T'Melle's got a new single out called "Go to War" featuring Waka Flocka Flame. The video drops in early 2012.
Diamond - "Christmas Time Is Here"
This cover of the Charlie Brown classic sounds nothing like the energetic alt-rock that Baltimore-based Diamond make, but far be it from me to complain when the results are so lovely!
Melodie Nicholson - "Lil Drummer Boy"
This has always been one of my favorite holiday songs, and singer/songwriter Melodie Nicholson does it justice with a simple a cappella arrangement that could inspire the little drummer boy to give up his kit and switch to vocals.
Vandaveer - "Silver Bells"
To close out this year's list, singer/songwriter Vandaveer shares an impromptu version of the Jay Livingston/Ray Evans ASCAP classic "Silver Bells," shot just weeks ago in a hotel room in NYC. He's joined by his vocal accomplice Rose Guerin and ASCAP member J. Tom Hnatow (of These United States) on banjo. The holidays aren't all tinsel and parades - they're also warm moments shared with friends, and this simply shot video captures that perfectly.
Stan Jones - "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)"
Recently named as one of the top Gospel songwriters in 2011 by Billboard, Stan Jones, contributes his personalized rendition of "The Christmas Song" by Nat King Cole. While playing the piano, Stan belts the classic tune with genuine love and warmth. His cover is a clear indication that this song will never go out of style.
Happy holidays from all of us at ASCAP!
