Merry Christmas! And welcome to this new edition of Six Degrees Christmas special with the collaboration of our bands, and readers.

Six degrees always features 6 bands: 2 videos, 2 tracks and 2 live performances. But today we have special guests. During the last month we have been receiving many songs and videos for this special day. Thank you to all the bands and artists that answered to my “Christmas call”. Thank you for sharing your music with us. I hope you all enjoy the works that we have received and that we share a little moment together with this music coming from all of our small Fresh On The Net community.

Enjoy!

MUSIC VIDEOS

Holly and The Wolf – Marzipan Reindeer

Marzipan Reindeer is the lead song from Holly and The Wolf new EP, a Christmas folky waltz that the band shared with us for this special day. The video was directed by Tony Johnson, featuring an animated characterization of Holly (Dearden), her piano and her wolf. The video is excellent and it includes elements inspired from mythology and children literature. It is a semi black and white record just broken by the red colour on Holly clothes, the wolves’ eyes and the Christmas spheres, creating a dramatic impact that match perfectly with this amazing song, Marzipan Reindeer.

Official | Soundcloud |  Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

Neuman – West Silvertown

Neuman are a post rock band from the south of Spain and they are the reason why one day I found Fresh On the Net. Neuman are, in my case, a beautiful example of the relation between bands and music blogs, when music blogs get involved helping those bands in which they believe. I was one day helping them to submit their music to other sites when I found this “violet music community” with musicians, readers and all kind of people meeting every weekend to listen to 30 songs and give their feed back. Since that day I have been here and this is why I wanted to share their music today.

Neuman is the band that I help and I try with all my energy that people listen to their work. This song was released for Christmas last year, featuring the Coral Orpheus Music from Murcia. Neuman have released two albums to date and they are now working on an EP recorded with the collaboration of Ken Stringfellow (The Posies, R.E.M).

Official | Soundcloud |  Facebook | Twitter | Youtube

6 Degrees Christmas Special Video Playlist

From all the stuff that we received for this special 6 degrees edition, we have received some nice videos. As including all of them independently it would take a lot of space, I have embedded a YouTube video playlist with all the videos that we have received. I have included also some videos from FOTN bands that I found in my subscriptions to our bands.

To browse the videos on this player you just have to play the first one and then click on the right symbols, the first one from the left on the right side (“Playlist”).

12 Videos

Tracklisting

1. A Band Called Quinn – It’s Christmas Time
2. La Shark VS Fiction – Snowballin’
3. Yvonne Lyon – Everythings Fine
4. Lisa Redford – I Believe in Father Christmas
5. Of Arrowe Hill – Christmas Distance
6. Bela Takes Chase – Radiate
7. Chris Selman – Loneliness
8. The Portraits – I Believe In Father Christmas
9. Pete Bennett – Crisis at Christmas
10. The Pocket Gods – Kentucky Fried Christmas
11. Jeff Jinx- Winter is Coming
12. Christopher Roland Burrows – Let the snow

MUSIC/MP3

The Jar Family – Broken Minded

“A Christmas Treat from The Jar Family”, this is the name of the new songs that The Jar Family have released for this holidays. Including “Broken Minded” and “Santa’s Sack”, these two songs are a big gift from a big (8-pieces) band. The Jar Family shared both of them with us and I have selected the first one “Broken Minded” because of its fantastic rhythm and the happy memories that it inspire on me. I am a big fan of bands like Pogues and this song keeps that air of the best folk English bands. But if you want to listen to the other one and have fun with it, just play it from here.

Official | Soundcloud |  Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

The Darlingtons – After All It’s Christmas Time

This is probably the most different song from all the ones that we are featuring today. This song is very far from what most bands compose for Christmas. Maybe because it was recorded before the band was touring this winter, but it is more a nostalgic song about the season than a song for the season. A great song in any case. The song is available for free download at the band Soundcloud page, here.

Official | Soundcloud |  Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

6 Degrees Christmas Special Playlist

During the last month I have been saving all the music that our bands and also some readers sent to us after my “Christmas call” for this special day. I am really happy to receive all these songs. They are very good and they are a proof of the nice level of the musicians that participate in our blog. I have arranged the playlist a little bit like a Dj session, I always organise my playlists like this. But when it is about Christmas music any song can be at any place. Especially when all the songs are so beautiful like these ones. Play and enjoy them. For all of us, from all of us.

Tracklisting

1. Laurence Made Me Cry – You Can’t Have Christmas, It’s Mine
2. Al Lewis Band – Clychau’r Ceirw
3. Jay Stansfield – Man In Red
4. The Caves – Arrow hits the Ground
5. The Lucky Face – Another Christmas Song
6. Conrad Vingoe – Winter Wonderland
7. Rebekah Delgado – Mad World (Tears For Fears Cover)
8. Benjamin Shaw & Fighting Kites – This Christmas (I Just Want To Be Left Alone)
9. Stylusboy – O Little Town of Bethlehem
10. The Spook School – Bah Humbug!
11. Alice Jemima – Driving Home For Christmas
12. The Tumbledryer Babies – Song For The Season
13. Rose Betts – Coming Home
14. The Low Countries – Carry On Christmas
15. Moya – Let It Snow
16. Rodeo Terrorists – I Believe In Father Christmas
17. UMA – Youth Illusion (A Thousand fuegos cover)
18. Death Rattle – Christmas Dig
19. Sly and Reggie – Auntie Evil’s Christmas Special
20. Free Swim – A Rip-Roaring Christmas
21. Early Cartographers – In The Old Days
22. Shane Beales – Merry Christmas Baby
23. Robb Murphy – Stars
24. JazzMorley – In The Bleak Midwinter
25. Richard Kapp – Christmas Time
26. Sons Between Guns – The Other Side
27. Debs McCoy – Christmas On The Street
28. The Maginot Band – Veiled Clock
29. Alexander Highton – Hip With The Kids
30. Tissue Culture – Santa, Mate. It’s November?
31. Drunk Mule – Feels Like Christmas
32. JoosTVD- Bigger Things
33. Beanz Rudden – Christmas Star
34. Olympic Cyclone Band – Little Drummer Boy

LIVE SESSIONS

Halflight – Waves (Live at Holy Trinity Church)

Halflight are a 6-pieces indie rock band from London with influences by Arcade Fire, The National or Guillemots. Waves‘ is the first of three live recordings that the band did at Holy Trinity Church in Cambridge. You can find the other two at their YouTube channel here. This session, specially, the performance of Waves is highlighted by the special acoustic of this church. The piano and the voice of Chris Cookson mark an epic growing theme for a great song.

Official | Soundcloud |  Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

Jose Vanders & Keston Cobblers’ Club – O’ Holy Night

To finish our Christmas special edition I have selected this video by Keston Cobblers’ Club. A traditional song performed with a charming simplicity and accompanied with the piano and the beautiful voice of Jose Vanders. “Cobblers’ Collective” is the name of this folk band from Bromley, Kent now joined by Vanders. The video is a little bit cold, the band playing in this small church, with so few public. But the way they sing is very warm and they give to the song a perfect “family” atmosphere for our day together on this last edition of 6 degrees this year.

Official | Soundcloud |  Facebook | Twitter | YouTube + Jose Vanders

I hope that you all enjoyed these 6 bands. But specially the music from the bands that have participated to be with us today. I want to say thanks again to all of them. Also thanks to Tom, that was helping every week from Twitter spamming the call for bands.

Well, that was all! Enjoy your day.

Merry Christmas, and see you next year!!! :)

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