2021 Christmas Stories, part one.
Can you believe there are but two weeks until this year’s Xmas marathon?! Here are the first half of the Christmas Stories recorded exclusively for the 2021 edition of my 25-Hour Holiday Radio Show on 103.3 fm WPRB.
Part two will appear on December 17th!
Please follow the links provided to support these musicians, artists and talented individuals who were kind to recorded original pieces for the show. Follow them! Like them! Buy their records and books!
May these works encourage you to record something for this year.
You can explore the complete archive of stories recorded from 2011-2021 here.
The Brixton Riot – “These Winter Days”
This is the eighth contribution to the marathon by New Jersey’s The Brixton Riot, who fuse elements of 70’s power-pop and punk, 80’s jangle-rock and 90’s indie rock into a sound that is both familiar and distinct.
The West Philly Players – “Our First Christmas Out of Lockdown”
Every year some configuration of the same group of friends in Philadelphia get together to record some songs to stave off the horror of winter. They are known as the West Philly Players.
Rick Rizzo – “Santa Claus is Coming to Eisbar”
Rick Rizzo is a founding member of Eleventh Dream Day, one of America’s finest, most consistent rock institutions.
Deth Elf – “Vampire Christmas”
Deth Elf continue to be the pride of Lansdale, Pennsylvania. This was their first of two 2021 contributions.
George Korein – “Chestnut Street Fighter 2 (a Christmas Story)”
A story by Philadelphia musician George Korein plus a bonus tale courtesy his daughter Hattie.
The New Birds of America – “Christmas Is”
The New Birds of America is a musical project by Toronto poet Blaise Moritz.
Das Kaltes Eis – “Let’s Have a War on Christmas”
Pethie & Commie Francis of WPRB and Bill of a bunch of bands make songs! NO APOLOGIES TO FEAR.
Iced Shank – “Yule Log”
A genius re-working of one of last year’s most-enjoyed songs recorded in Allston Rock City.
Edith Frost – “Another Year”
Edith Frost has recorded a piece a year for each of the past nine marathons! Go find her on her website, her Bandcamp and/or her Soundcloud, please.
Tobias Carroll – “Undermall”
Author Tobias Carroll‘s second novel, Ex-Members, was published by Astrophil Press.
You can read his 2021 Xmas marathon piece in full here.
DJ Spin-da-Wheela – “Butcher in the Stars: Anthony Daniels vs Bon Jovi vs Happy Flowers”
Not much is known about the enigmatic DJ S-d-W, but it is theorized he has some connection to the podcast Wheel of Randy.
Grass Jaw – “Pretty Paper”
Grass Jaw is Brendan Kuntz. He lives in Ithaca, NY, after a long residency in New Jersey. He’s been writing about about getting older, taking comfort in the familiar, the things we do to keep going, and excuses we make when we don’t.
Sebastian Petsu – “I Am Wrapping In A Room ( Merry Christmas, Alvin Lucier)”
A fourth piece in as many years by Philadelphia’s Sebastian Petsu. There’s a trio of prior recordings on his Bandcamp page. Takes Mars Williams’ sax hook from the Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrapping” and loops it, but each time it comes around another copy of it is added, slightly out of sync, on top. It keeps going round and around for 3.5 minutes until Petsu lets it collapse.
Bret Saunders – “Black Ice, Nebraska-Wyoming Border, December 24, 1987”
Evokes the time Bret Saunders hit a patch of black ice in 1987 near the Wyoming-Nebraska border on Christmas Eve (his birthday!). Saunders is from Denver, Colorado where he can be heard every morning on KBCO.
Pots and Powercells – “Xmas Van Medley”
Any sound can be music.
Inferior Jams – “Christmas Medley”
Inferior Jams is a Cape Cod-based blorp jazz collective.