Happy Holidays

Posted Dec 23, 2005 by TBO.com

Updated Dec 11, 2006 at 05:15 PM

Ho-ho-how many times can a sane person be expected to hear “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” without ripping the knobs off the radio and trying to use them as earplugs? Seriously.

Let’s face it, people. If you plan to rely on local radio for your holiday music, you’re going to be hearing an inordinate amount of crap over the next few days. And then you’re going to hear it again. And again. And again. Ad nauseam.

Isn’t this one of the reasons you bought an iPod or MP3 player in the first place? Of course it is.

Lucky for you, Found Sounds is here to help. We’ve scoured the Web (as far as you know, anyway) and come up with a handful of holiday treats for our loyal reader. (Hi, mom!)

For starters, there’s Bright Eyes. I know, I know. Conor Oberst can be a little narcissistic and everything, but once you get used to his cracked warble, his take on “Blue Christmas” actually sounds warm and genuine.

A Bright Eyes song courtesy of Saddle Creek:

Bright Eyes: “Blue Christmas” [mp3]

Next we have Clem Snide. That’s not a guy’s name, it’s an indie-pop trio from New Jersey and they’ve done a nice, slightly melancholy version of “Joy To The World.” You know, for those poignant holiday moments.

A Clem Snide song courtesy of SpinART:

Clem Snide: “Joy To The World” [mp3]

Finally, we have “The 8bits of Christmas” by the 8bitpeoples collective. The album, available for free download in its entirety, features holiday classics programmed on old 8-bit video game machines and computers. If you downloaded Beck‘s “GameBoy Variations EP” from iTunes earlier this year, you have some idea what to expect. Our favorites are:

Two tracks from 8bitpeoples:

Bit Shifer: “Let It Snow” [mp3]

Goto80: “Last Christmas (Hot Digi Rmx)” [mp3]

Bit Shifter did “Let It Snow” on a GameBoy. Goto80 (ahh, don’t you miss BASIC?) did “Last Christmas” (yes, the Wham! song) on a Commodore 64. Too cool.

If you know of any other free, legal holiday music downloads out there, link us up.