Ho Ho Ho! - You have happened upon Suburban Sprawl Music's annual Holiday compilation. Every year, various friends (from Michigan and beyond) use the SubSprawl Holiday comp as a way to have fun, write some totally sweet holiday songs, and collaborate.
2009: the year of the greater holiday song explosion. This year we were assaulted with 53 tracks (!), and a great cover design by Marty Smith. The comp keeps growing and growing, making everyone's arteries clog with cheer, resulting in a holiday heart attack that hurts so good. We hope you enjoy this year's compilation and consider this a thank you for supporting the arts in 2009!
If you're determined to spend money on something, all Suburban Sprawl titles are 20% off in the Quack Media webstore.
Tis the season right?
Thanks, and Happy Sprawlidays!
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Disc One
The Barrettes offer up a wonderful barbershop styled holiday tune to kick off this year's comp!
From The Future are from the future, which is a pretty intense thing to realize when you meet them. They know when you've been sleeping or awake, and when you're going to be sleeping or awake because they are prophets.
Orlando, Florida's Mumpsy contribute this Beulah-esque pop gem to set your Christmas heart ablaze.
And your Christmas bird can sing? It sure can. Those Transatlantics return for the first time since 2004. What's new in 5 years? Some sweet horn action.
A gorgeous doom and gloom orchestral workout from Chris Hatfield. Also: check the musical "Peter and The Wolf" quote in this one. Nerds love stuff like that.
New comers Pan!c (of Johnny Headband) and Sharon try to imagine Vince Guaraldi and Herbie Hancock gettin' freaky, Christmas style, in 6/8 time.
2 minutes of holiday pop punk courtesy of Mr. Curd. Remember college? Also: check the musical "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" quotes that bookend the song. Nerds love stuff like that.
A tasteful and tasty treatment of the emo-y-ist of all holiday songs. Fall on your knees, and pick up the change with XxThexX XxSpleexX.
Alec Jensen and crew cooked up this Kinks' Christmas classic for 2009. Hopefully they weren't beaten up by rogue Dickensian children afterwards.
Even Santa needs some motivational help this year. Bet you didn't think Chris O. would be taking on that task did you?
A mix of Javelins, Computer Perfection and Lightning Love invite you to sit around the fireplace for tales of time signature changes of yore.
Fun's Andrew Dost brings us a tasteful take of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas." Check the piano to guitar transition, smooth. SMOOTH.
Angela Duncan, Lisa Norton, Phil Southern and Sara Dixon are The Amish Girls. They know you're busy, so 30 seconds of Merry Christmas wishes probably seemed apt.
Long ago, Daniel Zott asked Santa how to properly record drums. Santa delivered, and the rest is history. Also: check the musical "Jingle Bells" quote in this one. Nerds love stuff like that.
Adam moved to Hawaii last year, so his obsession with Polynesian culture peeks through on this epic surf tune.
The Canadian Dollars last appeared on SSMXMAS2005, and The Canadian Dollars is Andy Thompson. Much like the Canadian Dollar, Andy has increased in value since 2005.
Ryan Allen, Dave Graw and Erik Maluchnik moved to Jamaica last year, so their obsession with Jamaican culture peeks through on this epic dub tune.
We were very happy to see that Lightning Love could send in a song again this year. They went the "let's sing about the season instead of the holiday" route. While bold and rare, the move was indeed a smart one.
Dr. Yates paints a picture of a future where the earth is ravaged by a second ice age and people don't understand ice cream. Will intends on compiling his research into a powerpoint presentation entitled "An Icy and Undelicious Truth." In theaters in 2010.
Father and Son (Brad and Scott) Allen mixed some Wilburys, harmonies, rum and cursing into 2009's Christmas gumbo.
Dave and Darin sing about the very best gift winter can bring. No, not soggy pant legs, snowdays.
American Mars realized that Michigan economic woes, pedal steel and winter combine into a tasty SADNESS MCFLURRY.
If you're going to do this, it's best to go all the way and pull no punches. Buffay certainly did that.
The Wise Men are the kind of dudes pop nerds love, and in-laws are the kind of thing pop nerds hate. Also, it's a short joke song. This is like the super soldier serum of songs for pop nerds.
The Paincakes sing christmas carols a la Glenn Danzig. God this was such a good idea. You are most welcome.
Disc Two
Current Brooklyn resident and Detroit ex-pat Alyse Schneider records as The Smoots. Get ready for a one wild ride through a computer!
We were told Buttermilk Daydream is an "obscure Martian Muppet band," but since that was sent by a dude in Computer Perfection, it's safe to assume Buttermilk Daydream is one of them.
Randy Bishop and crew crush your heart and soul with 100 pounds of year-end delight.
Elle Sawa and Aaron Saul: like a good cup-a-nog and a smile.
Zach Nichols (of Frontier Ruckus) and Natalie Bainter treat the world to a tune about myrrh-bringing magi.
Holiday comp vet Jon Cendrowski teamed up with Sean Higgins to impersonate Irish dudes and sing about Christmas, all Irish style, all up in your Irish.
Returning from the instrumental madness of 2008's "Sore Afraid On The Road To Bethlehem," the band brought mighty tales from the city of salt. They also brought vocals.
Kevin Mahler captivates a pack of his devout followers. Side effects of bearing witness to Coach Mahler include religious epiphany, hallucination and the ability to levitate.
Grandma wants peace. Is that too much to ask? The Wise Men don't think so.
Sunil is a ravishing post-modern man who documents his creative process on his website. And we just documented that. The universe. Wooooooosh.
John survived the Hazel Park Tanker Explosion, like a true survivor, Jeff Probst style.
This is the tale of five young musicians (Nicole Allie, Angela Duncan, Katie Galazka, Liz Wittman and Elle Sawa) who hiked into the Black Hills of Burkittsville, Maryland to record a song that subsequently went missing. The five were never found, although their sound equipment (along with most of the music they recorded) was discovered a year later.
These Brandeis Politics PhD candidates get all sadness-warrior on your ass. Cover your hearts, for that is what their wicked arrows doth desire.
Jason Bales records as Lookout Mountain. As a childhood kazoo prodigy, Jason was the first American kazooist to tour the former Soviet Union in 1986.
Alan Scheurman now records as Jaguar Medicine. Both Al and Jaguars were seen as a symbol of power and strength in Pre-Columbian culture.
When the Kingdom of Prussia was established in 1701, a tremendous fun fest occurred. Nobelmen from far and wide rode great stallions through mountainous terrains to attend the fun fest. Prussia wrote a song about it, except in the future? About fucking?
Ever seen a reindeer do a kegstand? The Wise Men have. Totally wicked.
A deep cut from the Motown holiday songbook from Computer Perfection. Once the apocalypse arrives in 2012, purple snowflakes will cease to be notable.
The SubSprawl holiday debut of Fidrych's Jeremy Porter. Also the SubSprawl holiday debut of scarves as a holiday song topic.
The Hard Lessons want you to know that just because someone has a beard, it doesn't make them Santa. Truly, the hardest lesson ever learned for millions of children each year.
Jon Cendrowski and Karen Turk treat the world to their version of this holiday classic. When this song was recorded, Jon was in the shower at the mall, and Karen sat on the counter in an elf costume singing along. Jon was surprised to see Karen in there, and was all like, "WHY WERE YOU IN THE MEN'S BATHROOM?" and Karen was all like, "I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE NAKED." True story.
Ian Saylor wants to know what your wish was. Not that one, that one is not cool. Yeah, the other one. That one. Yeah.
If you ever find yourself stuck in the chimney, just get Darius to pipe this tune up there and the song will act as a lubricant, oddly enough.
Disc One
What happens when you stop getting excited about the Ventures proto-mashup holiday jams? If you are Adam Kempa, you create your own. Adam adds: "I prefer to think of this as weird Ventures fanfic."
Scott Allen and his father, Brad, offer up this Nilsson-esque holiday ditty. Dig those samples!
Will Yates is a man of invention. He has created a new genre: glitch-piano-pop, and it is good.
Sea of Japan have plans to meet you on Christmas Eve. Don't be late. They are busy dudes.
Reborn as DANIEL, Dan Johnson offers up a soulful version of "What Child Is This?" To answer the question, the child is Daniel, and he is a beautiful child.
Former Natural Monuments members Travis Bravender and Aaron Quillen team up with their friend Ashleigh New for a pretty synth-pop jam, CHRISTMAS STYLE YA'LL!!
Not The Dead Bodies, but real close. HAWAIIAN CHRISTMAS STYLE YA'LL!!
Love Axe's Chris Hatfield's move to California's Bay Area hasn't hurt his holiday mojo one bit.
No one ever thinks about what Rudolph feels. No one cares about that guy, EXCEPT DAVE LAWSON.
Em News' Trevor Naud, Kathleen Bracken and Matt Rickle return to the subsprawl holiday comp with an intergalactic holiday space hymn.
Not only is this a collaboration between members of Serenity Court, The Pop Project and The Hard Lessons, but it is also a collaboration between roommates, which you will quickly realize while listening to this song.
Cale crawled into a dark room filled with synthesizers, and emerged with his own rendition of McCartney?'s Christmas megajam.
Friendly Foes offer up more considerations of positivity for the holidays. You should be glad.
Graceful and charming holiday sentiments from subsprawl holiday vet Andrew Dost of Fun.
Kevin Mahler assumes a new identity for a sizable dose of Michigan-centric insanity.
Lightning Love laments their personal connection with Christmas. If this is the soundtrack to holiday disconnect, humanity isn't so doomed afterall.
Shawn (Knight) and Christian (Doble) offer up the deepest cut with a song from the Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer television special. This deep cut cuts real good.
Holiday comp newcomers, Silverghost offer up a tune that is equal parts 4AD and Phil Spector.
Walk with Zach Curd into a holiday dreamworld where autotune and DeBarge meet at the Rhodes break of Minnie Riperton's "Inside My Love."
The Next Door Neighbors take their concept songs even further with musical interpretations of real letters sent to THE BIG MAN. Not Clarence Clemons, but Santa.
K & Ju is a new and refreshing collaboration between The Word Play's Kevin McGorey and Javelins' Julian Wettlin. The result is a dreamy and frantic holiday jambo.
Kiddo's Lizzie and Christian wrote this together about being in love in their messy house during the holidays. Cute!
Ex-Casionaut Jon Cendrowski goes solo and brings all of Ferndale with him to cover John Lennon's holiday classic.
Indianapolis' Everthus The Deadbeats are so into Christmas, they happen to know a Christmas song featuring their namesake!
Blasé Splee put on their own spin on the title theme to a modern film classic. Mavis Staples has got nuthin' on these guys.
The Paincakes shed the progressive excess of the past few years and get down to what Christmas is all about: ordering Santa around.
Disc Two
A song so nice, it's here twice! Lennon's track gets the lady/dude combo treatment this time courtesy of Teleportation Please.
Beaverton, Michigan's own Jeremy Vallender hears angels. Angels sound like key changes, synthesizer polyrhythm and a voice of pure velvet.
Ex-Sight Bobby Emmett, the UK's own Spencer Cullum, ex-Hard Lesson Christophe Zajac-Denek team up, INTERNATIONAL STYLE YA'LL!!
Prussia remind us of what Christmas is all about for some. They also remind us that The Beatles are so good.
Newcomers Allan James & The Cold Wave heard the bells, and those bells are sad.
The Lickity-Splits' and Dark Meat's Timmy Tumble humbly offers up the only song in mono on this year's compilation.
Local blogger and musician Elle decides to drop the Fonts and pick up a Foe in the form of Friendly Foes' Brad Elliot.
The Silent Years' Ryan Clancy normally plays the drums, but decided to play the heartstrings this year for you. Nay, for the world.
Insanity from Brandeis University faculty.
Rangoon Online's Joe Ging decides decides to use his holiday song to hold Zach Curd over the hot fires of devastating satire.
Mystery track! We have no idea who this is, or if you could even consider this a song.
Few people dare to go the "I'm going to sing about winter and not just Christmas" route. Hugs And Kisses doth dare. They doth dare.
The Cartridge Family rolls deep in a field of Christmas cookies. Yum!
Lansing's Flatfoot decided to drop the twang and go all Luke 2:9 on your ass, instrumental style this year.
The Darts might not be as drunk as Santa, but it's a safe bet that they are more drunk than you.
The OFC take the reigns and ride a sled towed by 8 Latin Christmas devils.
Zach Curd: Slowly working his way towards recording the Christmas equivalent of Gentle Giant's 'Knots.'
Introducing the new project by ex Army/Navy members Chris Hatfield (also formerly of Those Transatlantics) and Heath Johnson. Bryan Robb plays guitar and also co-wrote the song.
Scott (Thunderbirds Are Now!) and Brad (Thunderdads Are Brad!) revisit Chipmunks holiday classic. Dig the mandolin and laser beams solo.
Adam Kempa spends a few days each December methodically working towards his ultimate goal of recording a complete tribute to the Ventures' Christmas album. This year's installment is more of a departure from the source material than normal, but it's only a minute long. Tough it out.
Brooklyn's Sean Higgins and Friends sing about spite, in like, the most beautiful way.
Annette (Serenity Court) sings a plaintive finger-picked tune with backup from Matt Balcer (The Codgers) on mandolin and Emily Gustafson (Serenity Court) on thumb piano.
Aloha's Cale Parks goes deep. Tis the season to be JAHly.
Aaron Quillen and Travis Bravender of Natural Monuments present a tight-ass rhythm section for the holidays.
Ryan Allen and friends jam out on positive vibes for the holidays. Praising quality time never sounded so fierce.
Trevor Naud (Zoos of Berlin), Matt Rickle (Javelins), and Kate Bracken (formerly of Those Transatlantics) come together once again to stir the christmas pond.
Daniel Johnson (Judah Johnson, The Elanors) slam dunks another solid track. Write Dan and tell him to come out of retirement, Jay-Z style.
Three key elements all add up to one thing: the Christmas Unspirit! Dave Lawson (The Pop Project/The Drinking Problem) and Darin Ficorelli (ex-Wafflehouse) are veterans to the holiday music circus - burned out on narratives. Angela Duncan joins in on clarinet.
Lansing twangers have fun, sing about baby Jesus. Just in case you were wondering, yes, he is very sweet.
Javelins offer a unique cover with original music, lyrics from an Elvis classic and also from 90's CCM chart-toppers PFR. And no, that sound you hear is not a pig.
Will (The Pop Project/Zoos of Berlin) plays a deep cut from the caroling book on piano while we celebrate Shawn Knight and Ryan Allen's birthdays in the reverbed distance.
Lisa Norton (El Boxeo) freaks out about the future. Her brother, Zach Norton (Child Bite/El Boxeo), ditches their usual Whoa Boats cohorts Zach Curd and Danny Sperry in favor of fake drums and a bass synthesizer pedal to accompany his festive fuzz bass.
Shawn Knight & Christian Doble (both of Child Bite) enlist the help of drummer Mike Durgan (formerly of Thunderbirds Are Now!) for their 3rd installment to the annual compilation. Inspired by the Hawaiian Christmas sub-genre, this year's contribution is their first as an original composition.
More sadness for Christmas from Kevin (The Word Play), featuring trumpet courtesy of his bro Colin McGorey.
The French Skeletons are powerful microorganisms that wreak havoc on the body, making it stronger. Ethereal voice achieved via intense effects masking.
Ypsilanti transplant Tim Schreiber (ex-Cornish in a Turtleneck, current Lickity Splits) sent this song from Athens, GA which he describes as 'Ozzy sings Christmas, which isn't necessary bad.'
Another fun track from Jacuzzi 2.0. This dude lives in Livonia, but no one here has ever met him. Weird.
Andrew Dost (ex-Anathallo) rides a white steed into the city of light, brings power-pop joy, elevates the universal soul of mankind.
Jason Bales (ex-Flatfoot) moves to North Carolina, sings Christmas song, the world rejoices.
Recording the handclap track on this song must have annoyed the crap out of Brook's Chicago neighbors.
Paincakes: an annual tradition, Suburban Sprawl's label founder gets drunk in front of a microphone. Thank the Lord.
Zach Norton (Child Bite / El Boxeo) honors guitar legends Zakk Wylde and Jimi Hendrix with a very special Christmas tribute.
Jon (ex-Casionauts) pays homage to one of his lifelong inspirations: public nudity.
Ryan Clancy (The Silent Years / ex-Rescue) sings about Zach Curd and some other stuff for about 5 minutes.
Mike Hardin (Joiya) turned this in, and I'm not exactly sure how it relates to Christmas. I don't think he's even Greek.
Zach Curd stretches his musical wings and flies high with Annie Moss.
Jeremy writes the some of the spookiest and prettiest music you've ever heard, all from the depths of rural Mid-Michigan.
(members of Javelins, The Pop Project)
(Ryan Balderas of The Casionauts)
(members of The Sights, The Hard Lessons, The Pop Project)
This song has been retired for inclusion on Windy & Carl's Rarities compilation 'Introspection.' Go buy it!
