Thursday, December 23, 2010

Songs of The Moment 12/23/10 - Christmas, Anyone?

I know it's almost too late to be sharing Christmas tunes, but who cares? I've stumbled upon some super excellent ones this year, most of which actually came out this year (all original!), and I just can't let you miss them! I'll get right to it!!!

1. Snow by Sleeping At Last
Sleeping At Last is quickly becoming my favorite band. I've never been more passionate about something involving music than I am about the project Sleeping At Last is pursuing. They are releasing a series of EPs called "Yearbook". 3 songs every month for a year. So far they've released October, November, and December (December's cover is the image on the top right). Each EP fits with its month and all nine songs so far have been drop-dead gorgeous. You'll see what I mean with Snow, which is hands down THE BEST Christmas song I've ever found, original or classic. The lyrics honestly blow my mind and uber fitting for the holidays. The vocals and instrumentation are spectacular. Don't miss this one! I'll definitely be keeping you updated on January-September.
PS - Sleeping At Last is doing a ton of other cool things with this project. They're letting people submit all sorts of drawing and samples of their handwriting to be used in the artwork for the EPs. Another thing they did was ask for Christmas/winter-related video footage and then they put together this community-generated music video for Snow. I think it's beautiful. Enjoy.



2. Dream of Christmas by This Century
This Century! One of the fantastic bands I not only discovered this year, but saw live! It's awesome they've got these fabulous songs, but it's too bad the concert wasn't late enough in the year for them to play these two cause that would have been fabulous! This use to be my favorite Christmas song until Snow snuck in only about a week ago. It works super sweet as a Christmas love song, the very best type of Christmas song if I do say so myself. Check it out!



3. Kiss Me Like It's Christmas by This Century
Another one from This Century. I honestly thought this one was pretty lame when I first heard it, but then the catchiness of it hit me. I love it! You'll never have more fun tapping your foot to a Christmas tune!



4. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Death Cab for Cutie
This song's a couple of years old, but I just found it this year and Death Cab's amazing so I've just gotta stick it in here. There's lots of fantastic piano/drums dueting going on here; unique, to say the least.



5. Joy To The World by Seabird
Seabird released a couple of its own renditions of classic Christmas tunes last year. This year they added five more and released it in their stunning Christmas EP, the best I've ever heard. Unfortunately, I can't find free, full versions of any of their tunes for you to listen to except one: Joy To The World. It's not my favorite on the EP, but it's dang awesome. Seabird doesn't just make the tunes their own, they transform them entirely. You'll see what I mean. Most of the people I've shown these songs to don't like how much they change songs, but I think it's refreshing. Tell me what you think and check out the whole EP if you like what you hear!



6. When I Get Home For Christmas by Snow Patrol
I honestly didn't foresee a Christmas song coming out of Snow Patrol, but it turns out they had one all along and can pull it off quite nicely. This is another older one (ten years old, it turns out), but I also just barely discovered it and I have no reason to keep it a secret. Nothing extremely wonderful here, but this is a great song.



7. So Much More by Poema
Poema surprised me with a 2010 Christmas EP of their own, which is actually pretty cool because Poema now has a total of 11 songs on iTunes and about half are for Christmas, haha! This one here has a very nice feel to it, not so much Christmasy, but definitely fitting. The lyrics are really cool as well. A real pleasure to listen to.



8. Santa Will Find You by Poema w/ Aaron Marsh

Poema's EP is so good that I have to share one more from it. A couple of the songs on the EP are remakes of the classic Christmas hits, but I'm personally more a fan of the original stuff like this one. This one's just as charming as any Christmas tune out there and Aaron's added vocals wondefully complement everything else that's going on. Fantastic lyrics boost this song even further. I was skeptical when listening to the samples of this EP for the first time, but Poema has really won me over with these awesome songs.



9. Christmas Lights by Coldplay
A couple of well-known artists pleased their fans with brand new Christmas tunes this year. The first was Coldplay. If anyone had the potential to pull off an amazing original Christmas song, it was these guys and they did not disappoint. Most of these songs have just been nice to listen to, but this tune, along with Snow and the two This Century tunes, have really made this Christmas something extra special for me. What can I say? Brilliant vocals and piano here, did you expect less from Coldplay? Just go and listen to it already!



10. Boots by The Killers
The second band to release a new original was The Killers. The mood of it goes right along with what they tried on their last album, and initially reminded me a lot of Human and some of their other previous songs. The Killers, whom I also didn't expect to release a Christmas song, have shocked me with this one. It seems every Christmas original has something special about it. I just wish they'd play this sort of Christmas on the radio instead of the same old songs over and over and over and over. I think you guys will really like the new, Christmas side of The Killers.



11. Wish List by Neon Trees

The Neon Trees are another fairly big band who decided to show off how amazingly they can pull off the Christmas vibe this year. This is one of those songs that screams "Christmas!" with it's first few seconds. It's so groovy! I'm truly sorry if you missed its week as the free single on iTunes. I'm super glad I picked it up. The lyrics have got everything Christmas covered...good stuff.



12. Winter White by A Fine Frenzy
This song was the free single of the week just before last Christmas, but back then I hated it. It has grown on me this year, enough to have a part in my daily Christmas listening. It's not your typical A Fine Frenzy stuff, but it's got a great upbeat feel to it. See what you think.



There it is, Christmas 2010 in a musical nutshell! I hope you guys like these tunes and keep them in your Christmas thoughts! A more-than-ginormous thanks to Sleeping At Last, This Century, and Coldplay for making this Christmas season the best I've ever had!!!

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