ATTN: PARTY PLANNING COMMITTEE

Here's a whole bunch of music to get the guests riled up at the your Xmas joint, yo. All told, the songs and mixes below equal 10+ hours of ignoring the turntable. Not that I'm a supporter of ignoring the turntable. These will just free you up to park your ass under the mistletoe.

The bulk of the material below is from Spread the Good Word, who's host, the Rev Tom Frost, is a pretty mean musician himself. It's a go-to blog for vintage rock n' roll and stuff the Cramps would have have listened to. His mixes are legend amongst lazy party hosts. A bunch more down there are from Big Rock Candy Mountain, a country and western, blues and roots music blog. Besides his mixes, he always has individual holiday songs, posted liberally all through December. I'm a newcomer to Decibel Tolls, but any mix with the Sonics, Can and Lee Perry is A-OK in my book. I may post more, but there's more than enough to keep you busy and out of the spouse's hair.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

The Sonics - Santa Claus mp3 at Sailor Jerrys
Eddie Kookie Byrnes - Yulesville mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain
The Ventures - Sleigh Ride mp3 at the Decibel Tolls
Candye Kane & Country Dick Montana - Let's Put the X Back in Xmas mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain
El Vez - Poncho Clause mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain
Rev. Tom Frost - Santa Bring My Baby Back (to Me) mp3 at Spread the Good Word
Patsy Raye - a Beatnik's Wish mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain
Mixes:
A Bloody Christmas Mix (Part 8) at Spread the Good Word
Mix with the Bell Rays, the Twist Kings, the Cadillacs, James Brown, the Neptunes, and more. Plus links to the first seven Bloody Christmas Mixes! Hours of yuletide oddities.
A Big Rock Yuletide Egg Nog Mix at Big Rock Candy Mountain
Flat Duo Jets, Leadbelly, Replacements, Dave Dudley and more.
A Big Rock Candy Mountain Stocking Stuffer Mix at Big Rock Candy Mountain
Billy Childish, Hank Thompson, Solomon Burke, the Enchanters, and more.
Holiday Mixer at the Decibel Tolls
20 individual mp3s featuring the Sonics, Lee Perry, the Ventures, Can, Sonic Youth, and more.

SANTA'S GOT A MIXED BAG

Here's another mixed bag of last minute holiday downloads. The quick lowdown on these: Nathaniel Mayer is, well, Eli "Paperboy" Reed lite. The ladies probably dig him as some sort of dreamy soul dude version of Chris Issacs (he, in his Herb Ritts meets Roy Orbison thang). Personally, I like my guy soul singers with a little more grunt, but he does have a good voice. The next one, by El Vez, is a surprisingly good rockabilly song, easy on the usual El Vez shtick. The Dirtbombs cut is of interest, if for no other reason, because, it's uncharacteristically mellow. Same goes for Rocket From the Crypt, although I'd put in on anyways to give props to my homeboys, in my opinion one of the best bands ever to come out of San Diego (really, their rockin' stuff is way better). The John Lennon song should be familiar to everyone (I really dig the "War is over, if you want it" background vocals). The Ramones cut woulda been better it it was on one of the first three albums, if'n you know what I mean. But, hey, it's the Ramones. Ooh, ooh, the Jimmy McGriff cut is way cool, in a smokey lounge sorta way. (The dude could take a shit on a Hammond B3 and I'd probably dig it). Pee Wee Dynamite's in there for a little international flava, but really, when you think afro-funk, do you ever think of Christmas? Threw in Gary Walker's take-off of the James Brown classic, I guess to represent all of those bands back in the sixties that would cover a song, right after the original came out, because either they actually thought they could do a better job or because they figured that people loved the song so much that they would buy it twice (ala the Raiders and "Louie Louie"), The Busy Boys are in here because I love the sparse DIY sound of early rap, when small labels popped up out of nowhere, and total unknowns had their own crews. The Marquees cut is straight out of the Cadets' ("Stranded in the Jungle") playbook. As much as I appreciate the smooth doowop, I really like the slightly more colorful oddball stuff. Finally, what Christmas would be Christmas without Link Wray? Leave it to Billy Childish to throwdown with some yuletide grease..

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On that note, I'll now retire to getting the shit done that I've been putting off for weeks. Happy Holidays to all of you knuckleheads.

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Nathaniel Mayer - Mr. Santa Claus (Bring Me My Baby) mp3 at Liquid Dilemma

El Vez - Santa Claus is Sometimes Brown mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain
The Dirtbombs - My Last Christmas mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain
Rocket From the Crypt - Cancel Christmas mp3 at Liquid Dilemma
John Lennon - Happy Christmas (War is Over) mp3 at Yosemite Lanes
The Ramones - Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight) mp3 at Mp3.61baobao.com
Jimmy McGriff - Merry Christmas Baby mp3 at Liquid Dilemma
Pee Wee Dynamite - Groovy Christmas and New Year mp3 at Liquid Dilemma
Gary Walker - Santa's Got a Brand New Bag mp3 at Liquid Dilemma
Busy Boys - Funky Fresh Christmas mp3 at Liquid Dilemma
The Marquees - Christmas in the Congo mp3 at Big Rock Candy Mountain
Wild Billy Childish and the Musicians of the British Empire - Comanche (Link Wray's Christmas) mp3 at Liquid Dilemma