Toaster Does Santa, Day 30: The Polyphonic Spree

as the holidays draw near i've decided to create a sort of advent calendar of mp3s. so each weekday you can pop over here while we count 'em down and grab a holiday tune that we've found or heard forever, from a bunch of different styles and ages. i'll tell you straight off that holiday music is terribly lacking in the nondenominational department, so the vast majority of songs are geared for the Christmas audience. it's also as a result of my upbringing, i suppose. i'm not religious in any sense, but every year we had a tree and santa showed up and all. so now, over the years, i've twisted the meaning of the holidays into my own bright celebration of new england's cold weather, shameless commercialism, family parties, and hot 'n frothy beverages.

so here it is, NfT's newest feature, Toaster does Santa.

so! with all of that said, i'm going to start you off with a lovely little jaunt from The Polyphonic Spree covering Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." i don't quite do word shortenings - for instance, you'll never read "dunno" or the classic "lol" or "omg." but it's truly "Xmas," as Lennon and Yoko intended, so it's Xmas here damn it.

The Spree makes one of the most depressing Christmas songs ever made into still one of the most depressing Christmas songs ever made. it's a switch for them, however, highlighting vocals like they never quite do, sounding just the slightest bit like Wayne Coyne (Lips) on, say, "Do You Realize??." it works perfectly, with the chorus of children in the background singing exactly the part you would have them sing - "waaaarrrr iiiiiiss ooooooo-ver.."

::::so this is Christmas, and what have you done? (sob.) :
The Polyphonic Spree - Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

this track appears on the compilation Maybe This Christmas Tree, released in 2004, featuring a few other great artists that we might be throwing in for the rest of this mp3 advent calendar.

Labels: series, Toaster Does Santa

  shan  7:11 AM  |  view comments (0)