featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
Christmas 2023
Scott Foley, purveyor of a tasteless amount of tinsel
I agree. There can be a good deal of pressure on us to make a meaningful holiday. Economic, spiritual, familial, musical. As children, we're lucky if we have parents who carry this weight for us. As we age, it's all on our shoulders to hear the jingle bell, to embrace that silent night. Heck, for some of us the entire thing is just a burden against which we'd just as soon pull the blinds.
So here at R&B HQ, we're starting with the big assumption that many of our readers will be grateful for this service that we've provided year-upon-year. We beat the holly bushes, scour the online blogs, and keep our ears peeled for a telltale jingle, gradually collecting thirty brand new holiday-adjacent songs for you to stream when it's what you need. And in the event it's not your bag, you have every right to just ignore it.
The best of this year's holiday ROUTES-cast comes from Joshua Ray Walker, whose 2023 has been dedicated to celebrating iconic pop divas (in the process perhaps earning a diva badge of his own). Eels, purveyors of "Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas", return with another seasonal gift, wrapped in barbed wire. And Sophie Gault offers the first single from her 2024 follow-up to last year's superb Delusions of Grandeur. As is our habit, you'll find trad rubbing elbows with originals, irreverence sharing the space beside reverent observation, like we like.
And yes, there are two takes of John Prine's perennial "Christmas in Prison", one of which features the eerily disembodied voice of the jolly man himself.
Of course, this season finds us in the wake of the passing of Shane Macgowan, the angelic auteur of "Fairytale of New York", without a doubt one of our most cherished holiday offerings. Glen Hansard and Lisa O'Neill delivered a genuinely heartfelt take at Macgowan's funeral, but we hold as firm as ever in our opinion that any cover of the tune pales miserably aside the original. We'll close this Episode with a lyric from that revered hymn, lighting a candle against the dark.
I could have been someone / Well so could anyone / You took my dreams from me / When I first found you / I kept them with me babe / I put them with my own / Can't make it all alone / I've built my dreams around you
Oh, and we'll also pause to extend our heartfelt gratitude to those blogs living reliably to the right (my left) in our short list of links. R&B wouldn't be what it is if it weren't for the good work of these other blogging elves, hard-working purveyors of music who have widened my own artistic awareness from day-to-day and week-to-week. Please know that your good work (and your often excellent taste) is greatly appreciated by this one.
Next Episode: Our Favorite Albums of 2023
Dec 31: Our Favorite Covers of 2023
CHRiSTMAS CHRiSTMAS 2023
- Ane Brun, "First Day of Christmas" Rarities 2 (Balloon Ranger, 23)
- Hayes Carll & Melissa Carper, "Christmas In Prison" single (Carll/Carper, 23)
- Alela Diane & Hackles, "Santa's Gospel" It's Always Christmas Somewhere (Rusted Blue, 23)
- Brandy Clark, "My Favorite Christmas" single (Warner, 23)
- Van Plating, "In the Bleak Midwinter (ft Jack Barksdale)" single (Singular, 23)
- Tyler Halverson, "Christmas By Myself" single (Atlantic, 23)
- Joshua Ray Walker, "All I Want For Christmas Is You" single (JRW, 23)
- Grey DeLisle & Rosie Flores, "Don't Make Her Christmas Wish Come True" single (Hummin'bird, 23)
- Erin Enderlin, "Horse Named Christmas (ft Kimberly Kelly)" single (Black Crow, 23)
- Buddy Miller, "Christmas Memories" Mercyland Christmas (Mercyland, 23)
- Rhyan Sinclair, "Getting By (This Christmas)" single (Sinclair, 23)
- Sophie Gault, "Christmas In the Psych Ward" Baltic Street Hotel (Petaluma, Apr 12)
- Wynonna, "Beautiful Star of Bethlehem" single (Anti, 23)
- Angela Perley, "North Star Bound" single (Perley, 23)
- Fred Eaglesmith & Tif Ginn, "Good Winter Time" Christmas Card (Sweetwater, 23)
- Karen Jonas, "Blue Christmas" single (Yellow Brick, 23)
- Josiah & the Bonnevilles, "Wintering" single (Josiah, 23)
- Little Mazarn, "Snowin' in Raton" A Very Homie Holiday (Resound, 23)
- Villagers & Lisa Hannigan, "Little Drummer Boy" single (Domino, 23)
- David Dondero, "Water Rabbit Christmas" single (Double D, 23)
- Fenne Lily, "Christmas Alone" single (Dead Oceans, 23)
- Silos, "It's a Little Late For Christmas" single (Sonic Pyramid, 23)
- Matthew Logan Vasquez, "Last Christmas" single (MLV, 23)
- Mal Blum, "Xmas Eve" single (Better Weather, 23)
- Eels, "Christmas Why You Gotta Do Me Like This" Eels So Good: Essential Eels (PIAS, 23)
- Jeb Loy Nichols, "Very Little Christmas (ft Clovis Phillips)" single (Jeb Loy's Yard, 23)
- Greyhounds, "Back Door Santa" single (Bud's, 23)
- Gary Louris, "Christmas In the City" single (SHAM, 23)
- Delines, "Christmas In Atlantis" single (El Cortez, 23)
- Bright Eyes, "Christmas In Prison (ft John Prine)" single (Oh Boy, 23)
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To enjoy our weekly Spotify ROUTES-cast, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months. Or click here for a preview:
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