12 Days of Christmas

Day 11: 1809 Studios

December 24, 2014

Day 11 of our 12 Days of Christmas comes to us from Macedon-based recording studio, 1809 Studios. If you haven’t had a chance to check out their sessions and space, I really suggest you do. It’s a top notch studio in a converted 19th century ale house that we’ve been admiring from a distance. Anyways, the fellas over at 1809 Studios gave us a Christmas present of their own, a spirited version of “Click Click Click,” arranged by Dave Drago with visuals by Jon Lewis. One more day til Christmas ya’ll.

Day 10: Alex Berkley & Kayleigh

December 23, 2014

One of the nicest holiday projects to come out of Buffalo this season was a charming covers album, titled Put Some Records On While I Pour, from newly married couple, local singer/songwriter Alex Berkley and his wonderful wife Kayleigh. The two tackled some classic holiday standards, even “Auld Lang Syne” if your New Year’s Eve mix is a song or two short. Surprisingly, the best track on this album is the pair’s cover of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” Its a touching number sung between the two, giving the song a bit more depth and heart than you would normally expect from Carey’s original. Stream the full album here, and listen to “All I Want For Christmas Is You” below.

Day 9: ABCDJ

December 22, 2014

Day 9 of our 12 Days of Christmas countdown comes from DJ duo, ABCDJ. “A Funky ABCDJ Xmas” is like Christmas stocking full of samples, even clips from Home Alone. The track could easily be a holiday tune from Aussie sample masters, the Avalanches. Get down to the song below and see how many samples you can catch.

Day 8: Mink

December 21, 2014

I don’t know what we would do without this Steak and Cake sampler. It has been a God-send  in a Christmas music season where we are usually our inbox is full of on-the-fly covers and originals of yuletide staples. This year, not so much. Luckily the many musicians who came together on this project are all legit. Day 8 of our series comes from Mink with “bells will be ringing” which is a cover of the 1960 Charles Brown classic. Thanks wikipedia. Mink shares this cover with another band that Buffalo loves, Bon Jovi. Throw some hot cocoa in a mug and listen below.  

Day 7: Supergoner

December 20, 2014

When in doubt while searching for Christmas songs to post about during our annual 12 Days of Christmas post, you can count on Steak and Cake Records’ Christmas Meltdown 2 compilation. Today’s holiday themed song comes from local indie rock quartet, Supergoner, with their song “the most wonderful of time the year (feat Skosh).”  Supergoner makes probably one of the sappiest holiday songs actually enjoyable and manages to lose the cheesiness of the song. Stick around til the end for the Chirstmas horns.

Day 6: Aircraft

December 19, 2014

Another leaked song from the forthcoming Steak and Cake Christmas Meltdown 2 compilation comes from Aircraft. The psych rock quartet submitted a cover of the Billy Hayes’ penned and Elvis popularized “Blue Christmas” to the record. Aircraft’s submission sounds like what Youth Lagoon may have done with the song: dreamy reverb over fragile vocals. Its a nice cover for sure, one that makes the song Aircraft’s own. Check it out below.

Day 5: Billy Martin

December 18, 2014

Besides the slowly leaking Steak and Cake Christmas compilation, Buffalo is about to be lapped by Rochester’s scene in regards to holiday themed releases. Perhaps they are more in the holiday spirit. Is there something in the garbage plates? The latest comes from Rochester-based multi-instrumentalist Billy Martin, who also plays  guitar in the band we’ve been hearing a lot about, No Glitter (featuring past members of Sports, Revengineers, and Like Wolves). Martin was able to find time to hole himself in the home-studio to put an indie-rock spin on everyone’s favorite high-pitched Christmas tune by Alvin and the Chipmunks, “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late).” Check it out below.

Day 4: the gifted children

December 17, 2014

There are certain absolutes that you can count on during the holiday season. The first is that you’ll definitely want to rip years ears off after hearing Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” at least three dozens times by now. The second is that after saying “I’ll finally get a tree this year,” you won’t. The third is that Rochester’s the gifted children will release their impressive annual holiday album, with this year being no different. This week, Rochester grizzled vets, the gifted children, released their seventh annual holiday album.  Much like the six past years, the band somehow manages to put a cool indie tinge on the same songs you’ll hear at your nephew’s Holiday Pageant. Christmas, Volume 7, features some hip renditions of “Over the River and Through the Woods,””O Come All Ye Faithful,” and three different songs from The Nutcracker to name a few. My favorite[...]

Day 3: Small Signals

December 16, 2014

The third day of our 12 Days of Christmas series sees our first Rochester tune in the mix. Small Signals, the new solo project from Taking Under Water and Pleistocene drummer Stephen Roessner, released a two track holiday covers EP last week. Christmas 2014 EP includes an angsty rendition of “White Christmas” and a take on “Taking Down the Tree,” a holiday original from slow core heroes, Low. The full EP can be streamed here, and you can listen to Small Signals cover of Low’s “Taking Down the Tree” below.

Day 2: Jack Topht and Little Cake

December 15, 2014

I am very happy that Steak & Cake Records decided to release their second annual Christmas Meltdown compilation with singles staggered starting on December 13th for two reasons. The first is that last year’s December 23rd release could only be enjoyed for like 48 hours tops. The second is that it makes writing six out of the twelve “12 Days of Christmas” posts a lot easier. The first song from Steak & Cake Records’ holiday compilation comes from Allentown’s own Jay-Z and Beyonce, Jack Topht and Little Cake. Titled “Santa Bae,” the song puts a spin on the Christmas classic in a way that you could only expect from the alt-rapper and soulful songstress. If you have Jack Topht for secret Santa, buy him a DVD player.

Day 1: DJ Pizza Pizza

December 14, 2014

Why do the 12 Days of Christmas start AFTER Christmas? Who wants to listen to holiday tunes after you open your gifts and the tree is becoming increasingly more pathetic looking? Here at the blog, we like to start our count down leading up to the big day, so from now until the 25th, we will be presenting you an original or standard holiday tune from the WNY area. For Day 1 of our countdown, our favorite pizza loving DJ, Yung Zza, delivers his own little Christmas miracle with “I Have To Make A Shitty Christmas Song,” which samples holiday standards like “Jingle Bells” and “God Rest You Merry Gentlemen.” You can listen below. The house DJ for our annual holiday party this coming Saturday, December 20th, at Duke’s, Zza may have a couple extra treats on hand so don’t miss it.