HO HO WHO: On the first day of December/my Pitchfork brought to me/this cover of my favorite holiday classic that is also regarded as sonic shorthand for dejection.
THE MAN WHO DESCENDS FROM THE SKY TO GIVE YOU PRESENTS: Woods' version of "Christmas Time Is Here" is faithful enough to the Peanuts original by Vince Guaraldi (a man [...]
HO HO WHO: Red State Update, the Tennessee-based duo of Jonathan "Dunlap" Shockley and Travis "Jackie Broyles" Harmon. The Sleigher swears to Jesus Himself that he hadn't heard of these guys until a few weeks ago. They do ironic political comedy. They have a new and really long album called Santa Is Real. There is [...]
HO HO WHO: Des Ark has been plugging away at rock songs and folk songs for years, once via Richmond and now via Philadelphia. The band has been a trio, a duo, and–as in this case–a solo affair. Though it's had relatively few official releases, Des Ark has been involved with local labels from Exotic [...]
HO HO WHO: English synthpoppers and French soccer aficionados Saint Etienne, who have recorded numerous Christmas songs over their two-decade career, gave their fan club an early Christmas gift this month with A Glimpse of Stocking, a compilation of their seasonal tunes along with seven new tracks including "Wintertime Love."
HEATING UP THE HOLIDAYS: Dropping most of the [...]
HO HO WHO: As the days get shorter (at least for a few more days until the winter solstice next week) Charm City's favorite shoegazing duo Beach House have released "I Do Not Care for the Winter Sun" as a free download on their website.
I'VE GOT A PROPOSITION FOR YOU: Though it's been sunny today, [...]
HO HO WHO?: Celebrating its 10th year as a band , Sunderland's post-punk revivalists The Futureheads recorded the holiday single "Christmas Was Better in the '80s," capping off a busy year that included the release of its fourth full-length, The Chaos.
THE 1980s ARE THE SOLUTION: The realization that Christmas morning ain’t what it used to [...]
Freshly leaked Christmas spirit! The Sleigher had to double up today:
HO HO WHO: The king of pop-cultural cachet finally cashes in on Christmas. His latest LP is already making rounds on critical year-end lists, and now Kanye West has managed to grab our collective attention one last time before 2011. There's no denying the man [...]
HO HO WHO: Hasidic reggae's (only) hero shoots for a holiday classic with a Jewish twist. Matisyahu has been rocking the yarmulke and toasting about Yahweh to the jam band kids for a few years now, and it's only natural that he would release a Hebrew-flavored seasonal track.
LATKES AND KUGEL: The Sleigher is stoked to [...]
HO HO WHO: R.E.M., with its annual fan-club-only single. This year's features a standard—a cover of Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"—and some stocking stuffers—an instrumental mix of three songs from the trio's upcoming full-length.
THE WALL OF SOUND: Nevermind that it has nary a thing to do with Christmas, if the dub mix "IHT [...]
HO HO WHO: Southeast D.C.'s Lady Moet Beast & D.C. Ty The Monster aren't just a rap duo; they're married, too. And through their own label, Draztick Measurez Recordz, they've released the 12-song Urban Christmas.
TODAY WAS NOT SUCH A GOOD DAY: The album's pièce de résistance is "Bad Santa," a wry, bottom-heavy slow-roller that depicts [...]
