My alternative Christmas list

Excellent Norwegian streaming site WiMP has published my alternative Christmas list today, featuring 36 songs that are a bit to the left of the classics that we all know and love. Instead you'll fint Yuletide spirit as interpreted by the likes of Laura Marling, Sufjan Stevens, Mew, Melody Club, Tracey Thorn who has released this year's finest Christmas album, and others, and last, but not least, the Katzenjammer/Ben Caplan/The Trondheim Soloists version of "Fairytale Of New York".

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Introducing... Cody ChesnuTT

It's been ten years since R&B man Cody ChesnuTT from Atlanta, Georgia released his first album The Headphone Masterpiece. It featured the original for "The Seed", a song that was picked up by The Roots who recorded it together with Chesnutt, making it into "The Seed 2.0", his closest brush with success yet. This autumn a follow-up album finally arrived. Landing On A Hundred is a neo-soul masterpiece, where ChesnuTT emerges as a modern day Marvin Gaye with some truly stunning songs throughout. It remains to be seen if the album will become a success, but it's probably too good for that. Here are a few songs to whet your appetite.

"Til I Met Thee"

"What Kind Of Cool (Will We Think Of Next) (live)"

"The Seed 2.0" (feat. The Roots)

Paul McCartney + Dave Grohl and friends - Cut Me Some Slack

"In the middle of a Nirvana reunion" is how Paul McCartney put it yesterday when he fronted a band consisting of Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear at the 12.12.12 Concert for Sandy Relief. It's a heavy, fuzzy bluesrock track, not unlike "Helter Skelter" actually, and McCartney appeared to enjoy his role of frontman for this lot very much.

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 13

Bugge Wesseltoft - "In Dulce Jubilo"

With nothing more than a piano to help him, Norwegian master musician and composer Bugge Wesseltoft released his amazing album It's Snowing On My Piano back in 1997. The album has become a true Christmas classic over the years, due to Bugge's stunningly beautiful, atmospheric and solemn takes on 12 traditional carols. "In Dulce Jubilo" ("Jeg synger julekvad" in Norwegian) dates back to the Middle Ages and will of course survive us all, but let's enjoy it while we are here.

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Yazoo - Winter Kills

What a hauntingly beautiful ballad this is! Yazoo's 1982 debut album Upstairs At Eric's featured the two fabulous hit singles "Don't Go" and "Only You", both written by Vince Clarke, but the Alison Moyet composition "Winter Kills" is almost just as good. And how she sings it, going deep and deeper still, to a seemingly very dark place. The stripped down and hollow arrangement works incredibly well alongside her ghostlike vocals to make it one perfect piece of music.

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Electronic - Forbidden City

Electronic, the fabulous duo consisting of Bernard Sumner of New Order and Johnny Marr of The Smiths, enjoyed moderate success with their three albums, but should have been massive as good as some of their songs were. "Forbidden City", the first single off their second album Raise The Pressure (1996), is a case in point, a song to equal the best of both New Order and The Smiths and a stone cold classic in my book.

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CSS - Music Is My Hot Hot Sex

Brazilian band CSS (Cansei de Ser Sexy, Portuguese for "Tired of being sexy") and their 2005 single "Music Is My Hot Hot Sex" is pretty much as cool as it gets. A fabulous slice of electro-rock with lyrics in both Portugeuse and English and a melody that's so catchy it's almost deadly, it was featured on the band's debut album Cansei de Ser Sexy.

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Introducing... Miriam Bryant

Miriam Bryant is a Swedish singer/songwriter with English father and Finnish mother, who released her excellent debut single "Finders Keepers" this summer, a collaboration with childhood friend and writer/producer Victor Rådström. 21 year old Bryant is an interesting new acquaintance, based on this and the brand new follow-up single "Raised In Rain (Reprise)". They're both excellent piano-based pop songs, performed with a voice that means what it says, and I'm really looking forward to hearing more. Here's "Finders Keepers" and a short interview interspersed with some more music. Expect more to come soon.

"Finders Keepers"

Interview

New Depeche Mode album due in March

After more than 30 years on the independent Mute label, Depeche Mode has signed to major label Columbia Records for a worldwide deal. The band's new, as yet untitled, album, will be released in March. In a press release songwriter Martin Gore says he is "very happy with how the album turned out. The music has a similar vibe to Violator and Songs Of Faith And Devotion, and I think the songs on the album are among some of the very best we've done". That's excellent news if you ask me, as those are probably my two favourite Depeche Mode albums. Below you'll find a collage of new music from the recording studio, and these short excerpts sound very good indeed.

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Erik's musical Advent calendar - December 12

Emmy The Great & Tim Wheeler - "Home For The Holidays"

This one is from the album This Is Christmas released last year, and one of the very best newer Christmas songs I know. With "Home For The Holidays", Ash frontman Wheeler and his girlfriend, singer/songwriter Emma-Lee Moss, have written what is essentially a truly happy, joyful song, about returning home for the Christmas celebrations, meeting old friends and family, shrugging your shoulders wondering where time goes, and having a drink.It's an absolutely gorgeous and sweet song, and the video is very nice too.

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