Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 24

Smith & Burrows - When The Thames Froze

This is by far the best Christmas record since The Pogues' exquisite "Fairytale Of New York" appeared in 1987. Smith & Burrows are Tom Smith, lead singer of The Editors, and Andy Burrows, once the drummer of Razorlight and today a member of We Are Scientists - and also a very talented solo performer. Their Christmas album Funny Looking Angels was released in 2011, and "When The Thames Froze" was its highlight, a metaphorical song about the bad times following the credit crunch of 2008. After only three years it has become a rightful Christmas classic, but like "Fairytale Of New York" it is timeless, and not necessarily a song that's about the holiday season as such. This is songwriting as good as songwriting possibly gets. Merry Christmas, y'all!

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Christmas playlist

OK, so here's a Christmas playlist featuring some of my favourite seasonal songs. They range from the well-known and familiar (even hated by many) to the obscure and, hopefully in a few cases, surprising. There are even a few songs in Norwegian. All I care about is really that I think they're all good, and will brighten any Christmas party. The list is only in WiMP, but if you're a Spotify user, do compile the list yourself. It's worth it. Merry Christmas!

Playlist

Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 23

Brad Paisley - Winter Wonderland

"Winter Wonderland" is one of the most famous Christmas songs of all time, having been recorded by a truly wide range of artists, from the original by Richard Himber and his Hotel Ritz-Carlton Orchestra back in 1934 when it was written by Felix Bernard and Richard B. Smith, to Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga singing it this year. Inbetween it has been done by everyone from Frank Sinatra to Earth, Wind & Fire and possibly anyone you can think of besides, including country maverick Brad Paisley who did a great version on his 2006 album Christmas.

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 22

Tom Waits - Silent Night/Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis

Tom Waits wrote "Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis" for his 1978 album Blue Valentine, one of his finest. It's a decidedly different Christmas tune, written as a letter from the titular lady of the night to an old beau called Charley. At first it reads like a happy story, as if she's managed to turn her life around, but then at the end she admits everything she's told him are lies. In this live clip Waits bookends the song with portions of "Silent Night", adding to the sadness of the story. This is absolutely beautiful.

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 21

Detroit Junior - Christmas Day

A real obscurity in Erik's musical Advent calendar today as we pave way for blues pianist Detroit Junior, born Emery Williams Jr. in 1931, and no, not in Detroit, Michigan, but Haynes, Arkansas. He began his career in Detroit, backing touring musicians like Amos Milburn, Eddie Boyd and John Lee Hooker, thus his stage name, but later made a career for himself in Chicago, His "Christmas Day" single was released in 1960, and has popped up on sundry "eclectic" Christmas compilations, and that's basically how come anyone's heard it or even heard of it. It's a great stomper of jolly fun, perfect for any Christmas party.

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 20

Bruce Springsteen - Merry Christmas Baby

I promised a more uplifting entry today after yesterday's gloomy Christmas song by The Handsome Family, so here goes. Among the songs Bruce Springsteen has covered is the R&B standard "Merry Christmas Baby", written by Lou Baxter and Johnny Moore in 1947, and if that doesn't get your spirits up, nothing will. The rousing version below is from a guest spot at Conan O'Brien's show in 2002, and let me tell you it's a lot of fun!

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 19

The Handsome Family - So Much Wine

Husband and wife duo The Handsome Family a.k.a. Brett and Rennie Sparks, finally got their fair share of recognition when their song "Far From Any Road" was picked as the theme song for the awesome HBO series True Detective. "So Much Wine" (from 2000's In The Air) is their dark stab at a Christmas song, revolving around a disenchanted couple whose relationship is a violent, drunken mess. So today it's not about misteltoe and holly in my musical Advent calendar, rather the complete opposite, but it's a really good song, and sadly, this is also what Christmas can be. I promise a far more upbeat song tomorrow.

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 18

Mud - Lonely This Christmas

Let's make way for the Christmas ballad today in Erik's musical Advent calendar. The soppy-and-sad-in-a-good way "Lonely This Christmas" is simply astonishing and has become, to me at least, essential seasonal listening. Hitmakers Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman owned the British charts in the early to mid-seventies, writing and producing singles for (mostly) glam rock acts like Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Smokie and Mud. The latter's fabulous Christmas single became the band's second number one hit, topping the UK charts in December 1974. It's an Elvis-imitating, self-indulgent, super-sentimental and very beautiful ballad.

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 17

Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters - Mele Kalikimaka

"Mele Kalikimaka" is Hawaiian for "Merry Christmas" and the title of a 1949 song written by Robert Alex Anderson. It has been covered by many, but the most famous (and best?) version is Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters' 1950 recording. Christmas doesn't get sunnier than this.

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 16

Frank Sinatra - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

One of my all time favourite Christmas songs, "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" was written by Ralph Blane and Hugh Martin and first performed by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me In St. Louis. In 1957 Frank Sinatra recorded his legendary version for his album A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra, and in the years since it has been recorded by more acts than you can think of. This year British wonderboy Sam Smith did his take on the classic, but even though he's got an impressive voice, his version is totally insignificant when compared to Sinatra's. This is simply as Christmassy as music gets.

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 15

The dB's - Home For The Holidays

The second song of this title, but a different one from the Emmy The Great & Tim Wheeler masterpiece of three years ago. American pop band The dB's recorded this in 1987 and it was only released as a limited edition promo single. Thankfully it popped up later on the I.R.S. Records compilation album Just In Time For Christmas (1990), also featuring songs by Squeeze, Wall Of Voodoo and others. "Home For The Holidays" is the best song on it by a mile... or more!
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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 14

Irma Thomas with Preservation Hall Jazz Band - May Ev'ry Day Be Christmas

Two years ago Starbucks' record company Hear Music released a weird Christmas album called Christmas Rules. It featured a wide variety of artists, ranging from Paul McCartney to fun., from The Shins to Calexico, from The Punch Brothers to The Civil Wars. Best of the bunch however was New Orleans legends Irma Thomas and Preservation Hall Jazz Band with their amazing take on Louis Jordan's "May Ev'ry Day Be Christmas". A true joy to listen to, again and again.

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 13

CeeLo Green feat. The Muppets - All I Need Is Love

On CeeLo Green's Magic Christmas, released in 2012, the powerful soul singer recruited the help of the Muppets for the song "All I Need Is Love" and made the Christmas preparations a whole lot lighter and more good-natured. Actor Craig Robinson turns up in the video portaying an eggnog-guzzling Santa Claus, and there is also a muppet version of CeeLo present called Lo-Co. So, if you're not smiling after watching this, there's probably something seriously wrong with you. I mean, who in their right mind does not love The Muppets? Also, do watch the credits as they roll, because the jokes go on and on.

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Alexander Lindbäck - Santa Is Real

Norwegian singer/songwriter Alexander Lindbäck, formerly of Seven Doors Hotel and sometime member of The Jayhawks, has released a great "Anti-Christmas" single called "Santa Is Real". The protagonist finds himself in prison during Christmas, and his whole family is dead. An ambiguous tale of murder where his mom has "been strangled with gingerbread dough" and dad has "been stabbed with the very same knife he cut the turkey with", and we're left to guess whether the singer is the murderer or if it's someone else. Quite different from "Driving Home For Christmas" or "Jingle Bells", in other words, but a great little country song nonetheless.

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 12

Penthouse Playboys - A Kind Of Christmas Card

Today I'm attending a Christmas party with all my wonderful co-workers and we're going to the Rockefeller concert venue in Oslo to see Penthouse Playboys perform. Enigmatic singer Jens Pikenes would probably not like it if I called his band a novelty act, so I won't. After all this is a time for holiday cheer and good times. I'm sure they'll perform their latin version of a-ha singer Morten Harket's "A Kind Of Christmas Card", and I'm equally certain that they will raise the roof while doing so. The song appeared on Penthouse Playboys' 1996 debut album Sånn skal det gjøres (That's the way to do it), and it still sounds awesome.

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 11

The Three Wise Men - Thanks For Christmas

Christmas cheers today from The Three Wise Men, or XTC really. In 1983 the Swindon boys decided to use on a pseudonym for their single "Thanks For Christmas", another one of my seasonal favourites. It's very, very Christmassy, and also sounds uncannily like XTC. Now, that's what I call the best of two worlds! Fun fact: The composers of "Thanks For Christmas" are listed as Kaspar, Melchior and Balthazar, and the production credits are shared by The Three Wise Men and The Good Lord.

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 10

Merle Haggard - If We Make It Through December

For some, Christmas can be an awful time, like if you lose your job such as Merle Haggard's protagonist in his 1973 classic "If We Make It Through December". It was first featured on the album Merle Haggard's Christmas Present and tells the tale of a man who's "laid off down at the factory" and tries in vain to make his daughter understand "why Daddy can't afford no Christmas gift". No wonder it's become a classic as it resonates deeply within many, many people, and as an added bonus it's a killer country song.

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 9

Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song

Few songs are as christmassy as "The Christmas Song", written by Robert Wells and Mel Tormé, and made utterly famous by Nat King Cole who's recorded it a whopping four times, twice in 1946, then again in 1953 and 1961. The version below is the 1953 version (I think) but no matter which one it is, it is as beautiful as you please. Now go put that extra log on the fire, and locate the chestnuts, OK?

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 8

Emmy The Great & Tim Wheeler - Home For The Holidays

Today I'm playing a really sweet song in Erik's musical Advent calendar, "Home For The Holidays" by Ash frontman Tim Wheeler and his girlfriend, singer/songwriter Emma-Lee Moss. The pair released an album's worth of Christmas songs in 2011 called This Is Christmas that also features a great song called "Zombie Christmas", but "Home For The Holidays" is by far the best of the bunch. This is essentially a truly happy and joyful song, about returning home for the Christmas celebrations, meeting old friends and family, wondering how time flies and having a drink. The video is just as sweet as the song.

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 7

Jim Croce - It Doesn't Have To Be That Way

Some songs are more beautiful than others, and Jim Croce's "It Doesn't Have To Be This Way" is more beautiful than most. The amazing American singer/songwriter who died in a plane crash only 30 years old in 1973 wrote some seriously good tunes in his time, and his Christmas song "It Doesn't Have To Be That Way" (1973) is one of the very best. Lines like "Down the windy winter avenues, there walks a lonely man" evokes some really nice images, sad as they are. This is songwriting at its best.

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