SANTA'S COMING!

It's Chriiiiiiistmas...

Here's Kermit and John Denver...I'm pretty sure I posted this one last year as well, but no Christmas would be complete without the voice of that sweet little green frog.

Merry Christmas everyone!

1 Day to Christmas...depending on where you live (Disney)

Today is a bit weird for me. Being Swedish and all, today is THE DAY, the day when Santa comes round and does his thing. You have the big meal, the family gathering, all that stuff. It's all meant to happen today. So, being in the UK is always a bit weird at Christmas. The 24th isn't really a big thing here...and then the 25th never meant much to me.

But, but...here goes...

Disney is a big part of the Swedish Christmas celebrations. That sounds horrible, but it's actually kinda sweet. At 3pm everyone watches Donald Duck's Christmas Special. Seriously, everyone...they've been showing the same programme at 3pm every year since 1960. It's a collection of shorts, some of them Christmassy, some not. It's hard to pick a favourite, but this is probably it...

Or this one...it's definitely the best Christmassy one...

2 Days to Christmas (Merry Christmas from Nirvana)

Not long to go now!

This clip always makes me smile...a little snippet of We Wish You A Merry Christmas from Nirvana.

And while I'm at it...if you need a yuletide horror for the weekend, I suggest you check out Silent Night, Deadly Night. Contains DEATH BY ANTLERS! yup.

3 Days to Christmas (A Charlie Brown Christmas)

"Charlie Brown. You're the only person I know, who can take a wonderful season like Christmas and turn it into a problem"

Aww...I looooove A Charlie Brown Christmas...I haven't watched this in its entirety for so long. I definitely think that needs to be rectified this Christmas.

46 years old and still just perfect.

And...in general you shouldn't mess around with these things, but I do love Scrubs. So, here's A Charlie Brown Christmas performed by the cast of Scrubs.

4 Days to Christmas (The Vandals live)

Only four days to go. I even baked yesterday. Oh yes. Gingerbread men, gingerbread ladies AND gingerbread trees.

Look!

Sadly, being in the UK meant I couldn't find and pig shaped cookie cutters. Well, I did find some, but they were not the right shape...like this one:

Stupid country. But, we'll have to survive.

Where was I? Oh, yes...counting down to Christmas with music.

The Vandals was one of my favorite bands growing up. They've been around for ages...an early line-up of the band even feature in Penelope Spheeris' classic 1983 punk film Suburbia.

Only remaining member from those early days is Joe Escalante, a man of, to say the least, many talents. Not only is he a bass player in a punk band, he also finds the time to be a lawyer, bull fighter and filmmaker! Yikes! Well, at least he used to find the time to do all those things.

The band is still going, but haven't released an album since 2004. That was Hollywood Potato Chip, an album that has been surrounded by controversy ever since. Not for any opinions expressed or for lyrical content, but for its album cover, which was a parody of showbiz industry shitrag The Daily Variety. For the band name they used a font similar to The Daily Variety's logo...and then all hell broke loose. I won't go into any detail, but the evil big guys sued the nice little guys and the expensive lawsuit has been going on ever since.

You can read all about it on the Vandals vs Daily Variety blog

OK...back to Christmas. In 1996 The Vandals released Oi To The World, a totally awesome festive pop punk record. Here are a couple of live versions of tracks from that release.

Hang Myself From The Tree (live in 2009)

A Gun For Christmas (live in 2003)

5 Days to Christmas (Joseph Spence - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town)

It's pretty impossible to dislike Joseph Spence. Sure, it's not something I can sit and listen to for extended periods, but every now and then, there's nothing quite like a Joseph Spence song to brighten up ones day.

Here's his take on that holiday classic, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. Crazy rhythm, a crazy beat, crazy guitar playing and even crazier singing...all in the best possible way.

If that fails to put a Christmassy smile on your lips, you're definitely going (and staying) on the naughty list.

6 Days to Christmas (The Emotron/Casio Casanova - Drink Until Your Problems Go Away)

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with The Emotron. I do love a lot of his music, but it can go from funny and awesome to annoying and stupid in the space of a single verse. Unfortunately, it even seems to happen in some of my favorite Emotron songs.

Anyway, he just put a new song up on youtube...a Christmassy cover....drinking is quite Christmassy...I suppose. And it's acoustic for a change.

Here is a more electronic live version of the song...

And finally...I said it was a cover and it is...here's the original by Casio Casanova.

Casio Casanova - Drink Until Your Problems Go Away by sethlgraves

I'm suddenly feeling quite thirsty.

7 Days to Christmas (Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - Cold White Christmas, live)

Just one week to go!

It's freezing outside...but still no sign of snow :(

I love Casiotone For The Painfully Alone, I really do. This video is from one of Owen's last shows before calling it a day last year. I always preferred it when he played solo, but this full band version is still quite sweet.

It's a beautiful song, from the album Etiquette.

COLD WHITE CHRISTMAS

cap & gown in purple & gold
you're 22 years old & a woman now you're told
Aunt Beth & Charlie cut a check for the graduating niece
& you marked your independence with a signature on a lease
but home was a photograph you taped to your wall
it's gonna be a cold white Christmas in St Paul

beer for breakfast who's gonna scold
you've got your early hours dulled by the cigarettes you rolled
second shift as a fry cook that's your holiday in grease
& you trudge to work through the snow in a coat down to your knees
& you linger at the twinkle lights as you pass by the mall
& count the days to a cold white Christmas in St Paul

feather down the nights get so cold
& you ignore the smell of mold as you smooth out the folds
when you're on your own you've got no one to please
in a Minnesota city just as bare & as mean as the winter trees
but you'll be damned if you're the one making collect calls
on a cold white Christmas in St Paul
yeah it's a cold white Christmas in St Paul

8 Days to Christmas (The Ramones - Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)

It just wouldn't be Christmas without The Ramones.

9 Days to Christmas (Withered Hand - Real Snow)

I saw Dan play this song at the Hangover Lounge a couple of months ago and I remember thinking it was so perfect and just beautiful. Now it's available as a video that's just, for lack of better words, also perfect and just beautiful.

Withered Hand has a new EP out on 7" in February and it is definitely one of my most highly anticipated new releases for 2012. I think you're meant to be able to pre-order it from the Fence Records website, but I just couldn't find any details of how to. However, It is very possible that I just wasn't looking hard enough.

It's not the first time Withered Hand has given us a Christmas Treat. Back in 2009, he gave us It's A Beautiful Lie, a song that is still available for download for free here.

Have a nice weekend. I hope it snows wherever you are.

10 Days to Christmas (Paul Baribeau - Christmas Lights, live)

It took a while, but I'm finally starting to feel a bit Christmassy. And it's about time...just ten days to go!

We bought a small tree and decorated it...

...and I bought some presents...now all that's missing is some proper Swedish mulled wine.

Christmas songs...there are alot of terrible, terrible Christmas songs out there, so many that it's easy to forget the amazing ones...and there are plenty of those as well. So, I thought I'd do a countdown, featuring some of my personal favorites. It might not just be songs, could be random video clips as well. Who knows?

Anyway, today's one is from Paul Baribeau. A beautiful song, performed live here in someone's house.

Line that gets me every time...

"Sometimes I don't want to make new friends. Sometimes I just miss my old friends"

Perfect.