Listen To This: "How Many Sleeps 'til Christmas?"

SpeksGlassesIsland.jpgA lot of the Christmas songs I've been posting or mentioning have tended toward the silly, goofy, and light. This song is not any of those. But I like it nonetheless. It's from the Irish band The Speks, a band whose debut album Sing-Along Songs from Glasses Island I like and really should've mentioned here by now and don't really have a reason for not doing so. Perhaps I'd heard waaay too much Irish music on a "Prairie Home Companion" episode about the time I got their disk. Anyway, they typically do traditional kids songs with an Irish music twist (that's the cover to their debut Sing-Along Songs from Glasses Island at top), but this song is a little different from most of their music. It's a modern take on a Christmas song that features a children's choir from County Clare in Ireland. It teeters on the edge of sappy, but doesn't fall over the edge. Download the song here. A video and more free songs after the jump.

Listen To This: "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" - Tangerine Tambourine

The seasonal goodies continue (and will continue on later today). Right now it's Alabama's Tangerine Tambourine doing their best Supremes-covering-a-Gene-Autry-cover. (Uh, that was complicated.) Anyway, fun stuff... Tangerine Tambourine - "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" [time to take it down...] (Yeah, I know Jeff just posted it, too... sometimes it just takes a while for all of us to get around to a mass e-mail.)

Listen To This: "Christmas Songs" - Todd McHatton

Anybody who releases a free Christmas EP which includes "A Christmas Song for Harry Nilsson" is OK by me. Todd McHatton is OK by me. Fans of the Jellydots and the Hipwaders (and the Flaming Lips and Matthew Sweet) should check it out. Fans of Santa, too, perhaps. <a href="http://toddmchatton.bandcamp.com/album/christmas-songs">Santa Flying In Your Sleigh by Todd McHatton</a>

Where's My MP4 Download Category?

TheFineFriendAreHere.jpgI've had a mp3 download archive from the very beginning here at Zooglobble, but this is a new one -- Dan Zanes is offering a free download of the "Water For The Elephants" live video (mp4) from the Dan Zanes and Friends DVD The Fine Friends Are Here. More significant, perhaps, you can download 3 other videos here for $1.99 each (my favorite of those is "Wonder Wheel," though "Pollito Chicken" has a certain energy). Zanes has been in the vanguard of getting his music out there in different ways -- we'll see how this one works...

Listen To This: "With a Smile (It's Christmastime)" - ScribbleMonster

ScribbleTripleJ.jpgNew music from ScribbleMonster, even if it's a re-worked version of a previous release, even if it's holiday-themed and therefore has a somewhat limited shelf life, is always welcome. So get yourself over to the ScribbleStore and download the sweet "With a Smile (It's Christmastime)" for free -- I do so dig multiple singers singing multiple melodies. Photo credit: the band.

Listen To This: "Party Like a Twinkle Star" - Charity and the JAMband

New music from San Francisco's Charity and the JAMband and the best part is you can listen to the whole thing. Following in the steps of the Nields' Rock All Day, Rock All Night, Party Like a Twinkle Star features one up-tempo CD, one down-tempo CD. Or, as Charity puts it, "10 songs for rocking out... 10 songs for tucking in." You can download the (rocking out, sort of) song "We Are Stardust" for free here. Or just listen to the whole darn thing below. (Click on "Download" to purchase it for $20 from the band.) <a href="http://charityandthejamband.bandcamp.com/album/party-like-a-twinkle-star">Get Your Booty Out of Bed by Charity and the JAMband</a>