Dec. 1
"If We Make It Through December" by Merle Haggard. Fresh off her inclusion on my Top 10 for the year, which she must have taken as a great honor, Phoebe Bridgers recently released a version of this song. Her cover version is nice, quiet and a bit eerie, but I think I prefer the jauntier rhythm of Merle Haggard's 1974 version. It's the sound of a struggling father trying to look strong and optimistic for his little girl.
Dec. 2
"I Won't Be Home For Christmas" by Poppy. This oddball YouTube pop/death metal star was pretty close to the bottom of the list of artists I might have expected to get me choked up with a Christmas song, but she got me with this quiet little number. I don't particularly like her ASMR-style whispery vocals, but I heard the refrain and I thought of my mom and dad, and all the people who aren't able to see their loved ones for the holidays in the midst of this awful pandemic, and, yeah, I got a little misty-eyed. Well done, Poppy.
Dec. 3.
"Christmas Together, Far Away," A Flock of Seagulls/Train/Beatles mashup by Paolo Monti. I don't think the Beatles part really works, and I didn't recognize the Train song ("Shake Up Christmas") but the title is certainly appropriate this year, and I'll take any excuse to look at A Flock of Seagulls' haircuts.Dec. 4
Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets, "Let It Snow." Someone asked me recently if any great Christmas songs had been written in the past 20 years. The first one I thought of was Nick Lowe's hilarious "Christmas at the Airport." I've shared that one on the Musical Internet Advent Calendar in years past. This year, few of us will be traveling anywhere for the holidays, but Nick Lowe and Los Straitjackets have us covered with a new single, released today on Bandcamp, for Bandcamp Friday.
Dec. 5
You're not going to get through the season without hearing "Jingle Bells," so why not make it Jim Campilongo's rousing cowboy-jazz version?
Dec. 6.
David Lander, the actor who played Squiggy on "Laverne and Shirley" died yesterday, so let's pay tribute with this Christmas carol, accompanied by longtime comedy partner Michael ("Lenny," "David St. Hubbins") McKean.
Dec. 7
Today I read an opinion column by the chess master Garry Kasparov in which he described the current president*'s recent maneuvers: "This isn't '4-D chess' or any profound plan to reverse the election. I find any comparison to any kind of chess to be insulting, frankly. Trump's team has made so many insane accusations that it's more like 'Tiger King' than 'The Queen's Gambit.'
Historians may study this period in American history for generations, but I imagine if they come across this Kasparov column and read that line, they won't understand the pop culture references. Perhaps they will seem remote even a year from now. In December 2020, who is still talking about "Tiger King," anyway? That's so March. Maybe this is as it should be. Some things aren't supposed to last.
Historians may study this period in American history for generations, but I imagine if they come across this Kasparov column and read that line, they won't understand the pop culture references. Perhaps they will seem remote even a year from now. In December 2020, who is still talking about "Tiger King," anyway? That's so March. Maybe this is as it should be. Some things aren't supposed to last.
Christmas songs are different. We hear the same songs every year and even the ones we never really liked start to blend into our memories of happy times, and to bathe in their reflected glow.
This is what I was thinking about when I listened to "Lonely Christmas," from a young woman who calls herself WALLIS. It's a good song, and she has a good voice, especially when you consider she's only 15 years old. I think I can imagine it entering the rotation in future Christmases, but I wonder if years from now, people will watch this video and wonder why the girls are dancing outside of their grandparents' house, and why they can't go inside. I hope so. In the meantime, it's just right for Christmas 2020:
Dec. 8
"Black Christmas" by Poly Styrene. This song was released for the season in 2010, as a teaser for the ex-X-Ray Spex singer's "Generation Indigo" album, which was released the following March. Sadly, she died from cancer just a month after that. It's done in a sort of pop reggae style -- interesting because apparently she recorded a pop reggae record when she was just 15, a few years before forming X-Ray Spex. On the other hand, the lyrics are pure punk rock: "A child is born on Christmas Day / But they crucified him anyway." Poly may have been the most interesting frontperson to come out of U.K. punk.Dec. 9
A lot of the best Christmas songs have a tinge of sadness to them, but you'd be hard pressed to find one sadder than Julia Jacklin's just-released "Baby Jesus is Nobody's Baby Now." The Australian indie-folk/alt-country singer-songwriter gives us not only loneliness and family dysfunction, but also house fire, miscarriage and (I think) an abusive alcoholic. Wow, and I thought the Merle Haggard track was sad and the Poly Styrene track was dark! Good thing Jacklin's song is so pretty, and it ends on a hopeful note.
Dec. 10
I thought we could use a change of tone after yesterday's selection, so here's a nice number from NYC alt-rockers/power-poppers the Prissteens. This song was not officially released until recently, but appeared on an episode of the 1990s Canadian sitcom "Being Erica." I like the vocal harmonies on this one.
Dec. 11
Hanukkah started last night, and I learned about this song just this morning, so of course I'm going to share this song featuring "Hamilton" star Daveed Diggs and the video featuring some adorable kids and a cute puppy. Happy Hanukkah to all who celebrate.
Dec. 12
Fans of the C86 scene may remember 14 Iced Bears. But even if you don't know what I'm talking about, I have a feeling you will enjoy this holiday song released last year by 14 Iced Bears singer Robert Sekula.
Dec. 13
As long as we're doing a deep dive into indie scenes, let's remember the Elephant 6 collective and one of its associated acts, the long-running Portland, Oregon, power pop/psychedelia band the Minders. They just released a new song that's so Christmassy they had to name it twice.
Dec. 14
Years ago, when I first started putting together the Musical Internet Advent Calendar, one of the first videos I shared had Siouxsie and the Banshees (with Robert Smith of the Cure) doing the French Christmas carol "Il Est Ne' Le Divin Enfant." I was really excited when I first found that video because it was a B-side I had not heard. However, there is a much more familiar Banshees song that also fits the Advent Calendar theme -- although, Siouxsie being the Goth High Priestess she is, it takes the happy occasion of Jesus' birth and uses it to foreshadow his crucifixion. Here's a live version of "Israel," with the late, brilliantly inventive John McGeoch on guitar.
Dec. 15
To mark the 50th anniversary of the release of Donny Hathaway's soul classic "This Christmas," Rhino Records posted this cute video, which reminds me of old "Fat Albert" cartoons without the ... you know. It's sweet.
Dec. 16
In interviews, Pete Townshend comes across as prickly. I don't know why. Maybe he just doesn't like being interviewed. By contrast, as a songwriter, he's empathetic and generous with his characters. In "Christmas," from the Who's famous rock opera "Tommy," he writes from the point of view of Tommy's father, who worries about his deaf, mute and blind son, because he knows nothing of Jesus, and will therefore one day face "the eternal grave." Of course, the rest of the opera will reveal Tommy to be a messianic figure, so maybe his dad doesn't need to worry about his soul. Still, I don't think Townshend is mocking Tommy's father. In this demo version, with Townshend singing, instead of Roger Daltrey, you can hear his empathy. To be honest, I have been harshly critical of Townshend in the past, but I'm going to try to be more generous, myself. This is a lovely song.
Dec. 17
Christmastime comes in the summer in New Zealand, but "Christmas Chimes" by Dunedin's the Chills sounds like being warm and cozy on a snowy night ... And, you know, they're called the Chills.
Dec. 18
Let's stay below the Equator for another day with "Boxing Day Blues (Revisited)" by Courtney Barnett. We don't have a Boxing Day tradition in the United States, but her meaning is clear when she sings about a breakup where she feels thrown out "like a Christmas tree on Boxing Day."
Dec. 19
Dec. 20
"The time will come when this is done, and I won't have to say / I miss you but I can't be there today / I love you and that's why I'm gonna stay away." Billy Bragg wrote "Can't Be There Today" this spring. Back then, it was about missing Mother's Day. Now it's Christmas and it's more appropriate and sadder than ever. There's hope on the horizon, but in the mean time things are going to be hard for a while. Let's all hold tight and keep each other safe.
Dec. 21
Dec. 22
I've probably shared this one in previous years, but I'm going to share it again, in the spirit of overkill. SNL has a way of taking every funny thing it does and overdoing it until it's not funny anymore, and you'd be forgiven if you declared yourself tired of the song "I Wish It Were Christmas Today" after hearing it multiple times a year, every year for the past 20. I'm a little tired of it myself. So, why does it sounds so great when the Strokes' Julian Casablancas covers it?
Dec. 23
What time is it? Time for Morris Day to declare himself cooler than Santa Claus. I like the end where he yells at his kids to go to bed.
Dec. 24
You don't need me to remind you this has been a hard December in a hard year. How about we wrap up the 2020 Musical Internet Advent Calendar with something peppy? Here's Amos Milburn's 1960 single "Christmas Comes But Once a Year." Milburn was a Texas R&B singer, but this number has a distinctly Jamaican-sounding rhythm. It's great.
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