Amelia’s Magazine | Favourite Christmas Indie Tunes for 2011

Ukulele Christmas Carol by Abi Hall
Ukulele Christmas Carol by Abi Hall.

Christmas tunes from respectable bands have never been more popular – both original compositions and covers of old favourites – here’s my round up of the best.

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Piney Gir has put together this absolutely adorable lo-fi animated video for her festive ditty Christmas Time – just a few paper dolls with joints and a tacky set. And it works brilliantly! Best of all there is a free download of the tune.

Christmas, Single - Viv Albertine by Sam Parr
Christmas, Single – Viv Albertine by Sam Parr.

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One of the original purveyors of girl power – Viv Albertine of The Slits – has put together a typically alternative single, radically titled It’s A Christmas, Single. I love the lyrics, which include gems such as ‘I like being single, cos I get stuff done.’ Speaking as one who has spent many a Christmas in the single state I can testify to this truth. It’s another free download so get stuck in.



On a slightly different tangent make sure you check out Darren Hayman‘s Christmas Advent Project. Together with Fika Recordings he has been releasing a split single every day of December. In the spirit of Christmas all the tunes will be distributed for free at the end. Watch accompanying videos for the project above.

Christmas Illustration by Camille Block
Christmas Illustration by Camille Block.


My Tiger, My Timing take on the commercialism of Christmas in 2011 for the cute sleigh bell driven ditty See You On New Year’s Day.

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From Manchester Flow Machines bring us their remake of the Saint Etienne and Tim Burgess classic I Was Born On Christmas Day. In exchange for a download they are encouraging fans to make a donation to Barnardos – a very nice touch. The single also has a fab retro inspired video.

I reviewed the debut album from Fairewell recently, and singer Johnny is hot on the case with a festive offering – he lends his inimitable woozy filmic sound effects to a new no-sing version of In The Bleak Midwinter, accompanied by a sad little film.

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Dog is Dead present Christmas Wrapping, a song by seminal 80s band The Waitresses that most will recognise – only this time harmonised by men in fairisle jumpers. Nice. And free to download too.

Honour Before Glory
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On the cover tangent how about Honour Before Glory‘s cover version of Chris de Burgh‘s festive classic A Spaceman Came Travelling. It’s a real oddity – a spaced out laid back version of the original.

Reindeer music by gaarte
Reindeer music by Gaarte.

Yet another free track: A Wombling Merry Christmas by The Very Most gets the lilting folk treatment that transforms it into a song that can be enjoyed by adults as much as kiddies. Indiecator have released a whole EP for Christmas.

Summer Camp

Summer Camp cover a famous tune with their oddly titled All I Wonderful Christmas Is You.

Finally not forgetting the latest single to be taken from A Very She & Him Christmas, also reviewed on these pages: Christmas Day can be heard here.

Next up: my review of whole Christmas albums. Yup, some bands have really taken the festive theme to new limits.

Categories ,A Spaceman Came Travelling, ,A Very She & Him Christmas, ,A Wombling Merry Christmas, ,Abi Hall, ,All I Wonderful Christmas Is You, ,Barnardos, ,Camille Block, ,Chris de Burgh, ,Christmas, ,Christmas Advent Project, ,Christmas in Haworth, ,Christmas Time, ,Christmas Wrapping, ,Darren Hayman, ,Dog is Dead, ,Fairewell, ,Fika Recordings, ,Flow Machines, ,Gaarte, ,Honour Before Glory, ,I Was Born On Christmas Day, ,In The Bleak Midwinter, ,Indiecator, ,It’s A Christmas Single, ,Laura Millward, ,Moshi Moshi, ,My Tiger, ,My Timing, ,Piney Gir, ,Saint Etienne, ,Sam Parr, ,singles, ,summer camp, ,the slits, ,The Very Most, ,The Waitresses, ,Tim Burgess, ,viv albertine

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Amelia’s Magazine | Album Review: She & Him – A Very She & Him Christmas

She & Him by HoBoJoBo
She & Him by HoBoJoBo.

Generally the realm of fluffy instrumentals and cheesy lyrics, it’s hard to take a Christmas album too seriously. But the joy of A Very She & Him Christmas is that Zooey Deschanel (She) and M. Ward (Him) contribute knowingly to an escapist genre and this is obvious right from the getgo. The album’s cover photography features hilarious shots of the duo in matching Yuletide get-up, complete with Santa hats, tartan prints, and a toy reindeer. It’s also worth noting that Ward first discovered Deschanel after hearing her sing on the 2003 comedy Elf.

She & Him by Barb Royal
She & Him by Barb Royal.

M. Ward puts She & Him’s music in context on their website: ‘I believe good production should be like a good photograph, which is a great contrast between dark and light… Somehow it all evens out, creating this perfect picture of life. Because life is not always sunny, it’s not always dark—it’s somewhere in between.’ And so it is that the album’s smiley lyrics are sometimes complemented by skeletal accompaniments or underscored by minor keys, making this a somewhat darker addition to the musical Christmas family.

She & Him by Autumn de Wilde
The Christmas Waltz is the opening track, a gentle number with delicate acoustic guitar, piano and vocals. It’s a whimsical entrance that signals a sparser sound compared with the duo’s earlier albums, Volume 1 and Volume 2 (read Ian Steadman’s lovely Volume 2 review for Amelia’s Magazine here).

Christmas Waltz

What hasn’t changed is the influence 1950s and 60s pop music has had on the pair, and their cover of the Beach Boys’ Christmas Day is an excellent example, where catchy guitar solos and multilayered backing vocals abound.

She & Him by Barb Royal
She & Him by Barb Royal.

The interesting bass line and arpeggiated chords of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, coupled with even more applaudable backing vocals make this feel like one of the most sincere songs on the album, while the sleigh bells and lovely rising outro of I’ll be Home for Christmas formed an upbeat reinterpretation of the classic tune.

She & Him by Autumn de Wilde
She & Him by Autumn de Wilde.

Christmas Wish is where your ears will really perk up though, as you hear the contrast between M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel’s voices. His is gravely and hers has an edgy timbre—combined, the result is magic. Again on Baby, It’s Cold Outside, the whistling, and effortless call and response between the duo make the track sound like it’s born from two people who are musically perfectly attuned to one another. My personal favourite is Silver Bells, stripped back to vocals and a simple ukulele strum, which draws our attention to the lyrics and the pauses between phrases.

Little Saint Nick, whose lyrics can irritate even the most avid Christmas carol lover, takes the Beach Boys influence to further glorious heights with gorgeous vocal harmonies, inspired key changes and a beat contagious enough to have you singing along in a West Coast frame of mind. A Very She & Him Christmas paints a quirky picture in darkness and light, and I’d recommend it for anyone in need of a winter pick-me-up: out now on Domino Records.

Categories ,A Very She & Him Christmas, ,Autumn de Wilde, ,Baby It’s Cold Outside, ,Barb Royal, ,beach boys, ,Christmas Wish, ,domino, ,Elf, ,Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, ,HoBoJoBo, ,I’ll be Home for Christmas, ,Little Saint Nick, ,M. Ward, ,She & Him, ,Silver Bells, ,The Christmas Waltz, ,Volume 1, ,Volume 2, ,Zooey Deschanel

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