A bit tired of hearing Bruce babbling on about Clarence getting a new sax for Christmas? Us too. Here’s a holly jolly roundup of some little-known originals and some well-known classics done by some of our favorite modern (mostly indie) artists. Have a favorite tune you wish to share? Just Post a Comment (bottom of page) and let us know. Merry Merry!

Boy Least Likely To – “Christmas Isn’t Christmas” -  MP3

The Mynabirds - “All I Want is Truth (For Christmas)” – MP3

Duvall – “Do You Hear What I Hear” – MP3

Sufjan Stevens – “Only at Christmas Time” – MP3
and “That Was the Worst Christmas Ever” – MP3

The Dismemberment Plan – “This Christmas” – MP3

Dream Diary – “Christmas All Over” -  MP3

Mogwai - “Christmas Song” – MP3

Alexi Murdoch – “Silent Night” – MP3

Andrew Dost – “Yeah, I Know, It’s Christmastime” - MP3

Long Winters - “Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas (Sometimes)” – MP3

Cliff Hillis - “On A Day Like Christmas” – MP3

Belle And Sebastian – “Are You Coming Over For Christmas?” – MP3

Death Cab For Cutie – Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) – MP3

Centro-Matic – “Fuselage (It’s Starting to Look Like Christmas Once Again)” – MP3

Descendents - “Christmas Vacation” – MP3

The Swimmers – “A Christmas Sound” – MP3

Adam Arcuragi – “The Christmas Song” – MP3

The Flaming Lips – “A Change At Christmas (Say It Isn’t So)” – MP3

Adventures of Jet – “Waiting for Christmas” – MP3

Pearl Jam – “Let Me Sleep” and “Someday at Christmas” – MP3

Snow Patrol – “When I Get Home For Christmas” – MP3

The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl – “Fairytale Of New York” – MP3 – Video

Chomsky – “Christmas Time Is Here” – MP3

The Soft Lightes – The Last Christmas On Earth – Listen here

The Hives & Cyndi Lauper - “A Christmas Duel” – Video

Harvey Danger - “Sometimes You Have to Work on Christmas (Sometimes)” – Video

Aimee Mann – “Calling on Mary” – Video

The Ramones – “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)” – Video

Low – “Just Like Christmas” – Video

Matt Pond PA – “Snow Day”

Huffamoose – “Hanukkah And Christmas Hand In Hand”

Chris Stamey & Cathy Harrington – “You’re What I Want For Christmas”

Coldplay – “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”

Man or Astroman – “Frosty the Snowman”

Blink 182 – “It’s Christmas Time Again”

More Holiday Cheer!

• Holiday Shopping Tips 2010
• Holiday Shopping Tips 2009
• Holiday Shopping Tips 2008

It’s like sweet baby Santa decided to make and deliver a special gift just for me on his birthday. Milo is my all-time favorite frontman… ever… so this Throbblehead will be sitting on my desk in a couple weeks tasked with the special job of reminding me no matter how bad it gets, “I’m not a loser!”

Aggronautix says, “Milo, the charismatic frontman of The Descendents, is now available in Throbblehead form. This fella is limited to 1000 numbered units, stands at 7 inches tall, and is made of a lightweight polyresin. Displayed in a tri-windowed box, here Milo is accurately sculpted right down to the nerd glasses and bitchin’ stage stance. Thou shalt not be without aforementioned Throbblehead… ALL! P R E O R D E R NOW! SHIPPING DECEMBER 10.”

Price: $16.95

Buy: www.aggronautix.com

Feeling a little nostalgic tonight and just needed a little Descendents magic. Love this super old clip, bad spelling and all. This performance reminds me of seeing the boys numerous times at the historic sweat box City Gardens in scenic Trenton, NJ back in the late 80s. The band was always super tight, fun and in command. There wasn’t a band alive that could whip up a mosh pit faster; within the the first couple notes of “I’m Not a Loser”, the place would explode. It looked like bodies were falling from the ceiling as they joined in on an amazing maelstrom of arm-swinging chaos and swirling madness. If you weren’t dancing, you were singing along, packed shoulder-to-shoulder and front-to-back, oddly enjoying the slight crushing and swaying sensation as you tried your best to keep your ground at the front of the stage.

A thing a beauty.

To this day, no band makes me happier.

Well, Hello Dolly: Check out the new trailer for Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse below. The show, starring the lovely Eliza Dushku, has been retooled a bit and moved from the Fall schedule to February 2009, but it looks very promising. Come on, it’s from the geek god who brought you Buffy, Angel, Firefly and most recently Dr. Horrible. You know it’s going to be solid. Synopsis:

“In Dollhouse, Dushku plays a young woman named Echo, a member of a group of people known as “Actives” or “Dolls.” The Dolls have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas, including memory, muscle memory, skills, and language, for different assignments. They’re then hired out for particular jobs, crimes, fantasies, and occasional good deeds.”

Staying on Top of Things: In case you need a little pick me up, these election result reminders should do the trick: www.isobamapresident.com and www.ismccainpresident.com.  [via Phil]  Want more (real) news about the Team Obama? Check this new site: change.gov.

Impressive Shots: The next President of the United States.

This Phone Rules! The Pomegranate destroys your silly, dated iPhone… and makes you want to head up north.

We Named the Little Guy “Clifford Peache”: “Keepers at Jiaozuo City Zoo have given an orphan monkey its own guard dog, because the other primates in the cage were bullying it.” More>

Beer Goggling: Phoenixville PA’s Iron Hill Brewery has a  Limited Release Triple Bock Bottle with 3-D Label for the Holidays!

Sad News for Fans of the Greatest Punk Band Ever… In Memoriam: Frank Navetta of the Descendents. Frank was an original member and guitarist for 6 years. He played on the “Ride the Wild/It’s a Hectic World” single and then recorded the Fat EP in 1981 and the classic Milo Goes to College in 1982. No cause of death mentioned. While happily delving back into all things Descendents this past week, I kept going back to their best record, 1985′s I Don’t Want to Grow Up. “Silly Girl,” “Can’t Go Back,” and “My World” are still just as killer today as they were many many moons ago.

In honor of Frank, here’s two of his best from the “College” record.

Download:

• Hope [MP3]
• Myage [MP3]

CDs: Linden Calling

I recently went deep into my old CD collection and pulled out some vintage power-pop-punk goodness like Big Drill Car, The Doughboys and Overwhelming Colorfast. I’m so happy I did, you can’t help but feel good — invigorated, I dare say — after listening to these bands. Ahhhh… musical memories… of delicious, fleeting youth…

Songs like BDC’s “Let Me Walk”,  OC’s “Everyday Saturday” and absolutely everything off The Doughboys’ “Whatever” are crunching blasts of pure melody and emotion. These tunes and the overall Cali punk vibe from that era still hold up strong and this made me wonder if anyone is still making this kind of music?

Sure “power pop” is back but most is way too refined and saccharine, and there’s a tad too much of the Brit pop variety. I need me some monster Mould-like waves of distortion, insanely tight drumming and a bit of self-deprecation to temper the sweetness of all the “la la las” and girl trouble topics.

While contemplating my needs, I was more than surprised and excited to find out about Hoboken’s own Stuyvesant. After one listen to the song “Victorian Lawns” I was hooked. Completely. “Party on my lawn?” Why yes, let’s!

Thanks to our pal Dave Hill of Valley Lodge who turned me on to the band in one of his hysterical emails. Stuyvesant will be sharing the bill with the Lodgers at The Mercury Lounge in NYC this Wednesday on October 8th.

While Stuyvesant evokes the aforementioned bands, their sound is fuller with big, layered vocals and many unexpected musical diversions from the pop rock norm (killer harmony break in “Hang Five”). Almost all the songs on “Linden Calling” build to an impressive emotional outburst like on “Tape Hiss,” a song that could be a massive hit if commercial radio actually played anything resembling good music.

Stuyvesant puts legit power in their pop and can rock out with the best of them (“Yahweh from Rahway”).  When I hear a song like “Liars Poker” I can’t help but be reminded of the old and underrated 80s band The Producers (based on the palpable high energy, not the outfits). “I Repent At Stuyvesant” and “Hang Five” have the nice gravelly edge of Armchair Martian and “Forgotten Two” evokes Ted Leo at his hyper-melodic best. “Bullshit Away” is rollicking little ditty that puts a “let’s slow it down and take a breath” capper on a extremely fun and rewarding record.

So if you’re like me and need a change of pace from the predominant and precious, skinny-guy-with-the-big-beard low-fi music that’s all the rage in the blogosphere, Stuyvesant should do the trick.

Website: www.stuyvesantrock.com

Free MP3s:

• “Victorian Lawns” – Stuyvesant [MP3]
• “All of My Loving” – Valley Lodge [MP3]

- Jeff Lyons

Superchunk – “Watery Hands”

The Weakerthans – “The Reasons”

The Lawrence Arms – “Porno and Snuff Films”

Yo La Tengo – “Sugarcube”

Descendents – “I’m The One”

Rocket From The Crypt - “Born In ’69″

A Tribe Called Quest – “Scenario”

The Promise Ring – “Why Did Ever We Meet”

Pilot to Gunner – “Barrio Superstarrio”

Ted Leo And The Pharmacists – “Bottled In Cork”