Conflicted by Carols II - A Very Indie Xmas

Here it is, the cheery classic carols and a handful of christmas originals from your favorite indie and folky bands. I hope it's enjoyed by those that like christmas songs because it was a bit of a struggle to put all this good cheer and songs of joy and peace in one playlist without gagging. Just kidding...kind of. If you want the darker side check out yesterday's anti-christmas playlist. There's some secret bonus songs on the ZIP file not listed below too.

A Very Indie Xmas // Download ZIP

1. He's My Brother She's My Sister - Merry Christmas Everybody
2. Ohbijou - Last Christmas
3. Carnival Moon - Ring Christmas Bells
4. Dawes - Christmas Time is Here
5. A B & The Sea - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
6. Emmy the Great & Tim Wheeler - Home for the Holidays
7. Seryn - Go Tell it On The Mountain
8. Brown Feather Sparrow - Let Us Come Together
9. The Wilderness of Manitoba - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
10. Zaac Pick - Silent Night
11. Over the Rhine - Darlin' (Christmas is Coming) 
12. Scott Currie - Angels We Have Heard on High
13. Frontier Ruckus - Christmas Eve, Driving Home
14. The Ruffled Feathers - The Highest Mountain
15. Beta Radio - The Song the Season Brings
16. How To Swim - New Beginnings
19. DJ John - The Christmas Massacre of Charlie Brown
20. Paul Simon - Getting Ready for Christmas Day

Enjoy the list with eggnog or your holiday libation of choice. Mine is a Cranberry Smash made with Jameson and as my Christmas present to you, I wrote down the recipe because it's delicious and you should go make it right now. My sister, who doesn't even like whiskey, loves this drink. It's that good, plus you can make it as sweet or as sour as you like. Happy Holidays.

Cranberry Smash
Ingredients:

• 2.5 ounces Irish Whiskey
• .5 ounce Demerara* simple syrup
• half of a medium sized lemon
• 1/4 cup cranberries

*Demerara is a granulated brown sugar and really works better in this drink than regular simple syrup

Directions:

• Cut lemon into small pieces. I usually make 4-5 circular slices and cut those in half.
• Muddle cranberries and lemon pieces in mixing glass. (Don't break the glass, that would suck. But make sure you actually smash the cranberries for literal and maximum flavor purposes.)
• Add whiskey and simple syrup to mixing glass.
• Add ice to mixing glass, cap with mixing tin, and shake vigorously for 10-15 seconds.
• Strain into crushed-ice filled old fashioned glass.
• Garnish with whole cranberries.

Conflicted Over Carols

It's that time of year where I get conflicted over Christmas carols. We only have 5 more days of listening to them thankfully. But at this point, I wonder if I should continue in my grinch like ways hating the nauseating carols that play in every store, coffee shop, and radio station all month long and placating it with healthy doses of bourbon and anti-christmas songs, or do I dig in to the treasure trove of indie christmas carols that have been plaguing my inbox since December 1st? Due to my conflicted nature, I'm going to give you both. Today just happens to look perfect for the anti-christmas song variety. Tomorrow you'll get the sweeter side. I hope you can handle the bipolar nature of these two lists. But the bottom line is no matter which side you're on the artists and bands behind the songs are awesome and worth your time. Some of these anti-songs you can even listen to after the holiday season. I left out some of the more obvious older ones and went with what was mostly new this year. Also check out last year's very bitter anti-holiday cheer mix here.

Anti - Christmas Songs // Download ZIP

1. Whale Tooth - Hibernation Song
2. Typhoon - Merry Xmas Anyways
3. Artur Dyjecinski - Christmas at Turnagan Pass
4. Sean Nicholas Savage - Wasted in Snowstorm
5. Frightened Rabbit - It's Christmas So We'll Stop
6. Jeremy Lister - Santa's Lost His Mojo
7. Gruff Rhys - Slashed Wrists This Christmas
8. Brown Feather Sparrow - December Radio
9. Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys - Hole in the North Pole
10. K.S. Rhoads - Why are Mommy and Daddy Fighting on Christmas?
11. Diamond Rugs - Christmas In A Chinese Restaurant

It wouldn't be an Anti-Christmas list without my all time favorite Christmas song originally by The Pogues...

Matthew and The Atlas - Fairytale of New York

A few of these songs come from delightful compilations such as the Fuel/Friends December Mix, Ten Out of Tenn Christmas album, and my yearly favorite The Line of Best Fit's Ho Ho Ho Canada. All are free to download and overall less bitter.