A Chilly Santa

Before diving into the stocking for more tasty gifts, we'd like to pause a moment to wish Mr. Tom Waits a very happy birthday. He turns 59 today.

Our apologies for missing a day. We've been a bit under the weather. But, hey, considering our usual pace, we've been doing pretty good with this daily thing.

Today's Holiday treat comes to us all the way from New Zealand, courtesy of the almighty Chills. We don't spend near enough time talking about New Zealand/Flying Nun music (The Verlaines, Tall Dwarfs, god's favorite band The Clean, etc.). There's something very Autumnal/Wintry about the music coming out of that there little island, and The Chills are one of our favorites.

"Christmas Chimes" is a shimmering, organ drenched ode to Holiday sadness. "Special Time" ratchets up a Velvet Underground drone into a Yuletide rave-up. With lines about drinking too much. You don't get much better than The Chills.

Also, we've got a couple of specially requested re-posts from The Fall. Oh my, yes.

Santa rocks Down Under!


The Chills: Christmas Chimes (mp3)

The Chills: Special Time (mp3)

Re-post (by request!)

The Fall: No Christmas For John Quays (mp3)

The Fall: (We Wish You) A Protein Christmas (mp3)

Please support your local, independent egg nog makers.