Today’s Holiday Jam of the Day goes out to all the people who can’t be with the ones that they love this year. Although a myriad of artists have covered it since, including Bon Jovi, Billy Idol, Celine Dion, The Beach Boys, The Pretenders, and even Bright Eyes, Elvis sang it best back in 1957.
Elvis Presley- Blue Christmas:
-Melissa
Filed under Jam of the Day
This song from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra was introduced to me by a friend of mine freshman year of college. I always feel like it has this special rocking out quality because it would be playing during parties in our little dorm room and get huge (positive) reactions from the crowd. Let’s give it another spin this holiday season, with a video of what appears to be some rich dude who synchronized his house lights (etc. and i mean ETC.) to the jam. This man is serious about his TSO.
Trans-Siberian Orchestra – Christmas Eve/ Sarajevo 12/24:
-Drew
Filed under Jam of the Day
Recently, we asked Jupiter One, who we’ve written about a number of times, some questions. Zac Colwell chats about their name, touring with Regina Spektor, some of the records they listened to while recording their recent effort Sunshower, and where they like to go drinking around here.
EV2BK: I read online that your band’s name is derived from the spaceship in the ’60s TV show Lost in Space. And your album is titled Sunshower. Do you guys study outer space in your spare time or something? What’s the significance of the TV show to your band?
J1: K came up with the name of the band. He claims it came to him one day as a compelling set of words. I’ve never seen Lost In Space and I don’t think K has either. It is handy to say that’s where the name comes from though. As far as our album title, we just love the experience of the Sunshower. We tour all around the country in a van and those little natural wonders can take on a sort of mystical air sometimes when you’re living the gypsy lifestyle. The title’s a tribute to our bittersweet lives, maybe.
EV2BK: Yours comments about the van’s natural wonders taking on a mystical air really reminds me of that pretty hilarious new video you guys released earlier this month called “Van Pilates.” If we didn’t already have a few videos in this post, I’d just link to it directly here.
EV2BK: I also love the concept of the video for “Made in a Day” that you posted on your site, which could have been, well, made in a day I guess. Do you guys hang out a lot and shoot videos when you’re not on tour? Speaking of which, touring with Regina Spektor must be pretty rad.
J1: Thanks! Dave Heilman (our drummer) directed that. We made it in one day to specifically reflect one typical day in our touring lives. One hotel room, pilates [see above], booze, showers (separate), girls (if we’re lucky), and lots of dorkyness. The tour [was] incredibly interesting and quite a blessing from the lovely-magical-beautiful Regina Spektor. We’re VERY grateful she brought us along and that her fans have been extremely receptive to us.
EV2BK: Not sure if you’ve had a chance to check out Pitchfork’s Top 200 Albums of the 2000s at all, but I was wondering if you guys wouldn’t mind putting together your own top 10? Top 5? Or at least the top 5 records you listened to while recording Sunshower?
J1: Hm… Well, I hate to speak for the other guys, but we definitely listened a lot while putting together Sunshower:
1. Tom Petty – Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers
2. Beatles – All of ’em
3. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
4. Spoon – All of ’em
5. Apes and Androids – Blood Moon
EV2BK: What’s your favorite venue to watch a show (or play a show) in Brooklyn? In Manhattan?
J1: I think Music Hall of Williamsburg sounds real good. Webster Hall in Manhattan, I guess.
EV2BK: What are a few fun places where you like to hang out when you’re back in BK and/or the city?
J1: The Levee in BK and No Malice in the East Village are popular ones with Pat, our bass player. I just go wherever there’s cheap booze. My house is really fun to hang out at.
As an added bonus, right before Thanksgiving I walked over to the Mercury Lounge for their so-called “homecoming” show after their multi-city North American tour. They sounded pretty fantastic live: clear, balanced, tight, really comfortable. I think this video of an extended version of their song “Unglued,” which closed the night, really served as en exclamation point for Jupiter One.
Jupiter One – Unglued:
You can also check out a couple other live tracks from their Mercury Lounge show on our YouTube Channel:
-Drew
Today’s Holiday Jam is one of the season’s best. Originally released in 1994, Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” was an instant classic. No matter how many times I hear it each year, it’s one Christmas song that I never get sick of. Mariah just released a new dance remix of the song this year, but, in my opinion, you shouldn’t mess with the original.
Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas Is You:
-Melissa
Filed under Jam of the Day
A couple of days ago in Sparta, Wisconsin, a man dressed up in a santa suit stumbled out of a car and proceeded to hug and then interrogate a groups of kids about the whereabouts of his reindeer. Obviously, he was wasted at the time, and was later cited for open intoxicants. Sounds pretty funny to us.
Today’s Holiday Jam is a shoutout to all the reindeer out there, especially our homeboy Rudolph, in this hot version from The Temptations. I guess they just released their 48th album back in 2007! That’s kind of nuts. Kind of like this video.
The Temptations – Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer:
-Drew
Filed under Jam of the Day, News
In a profile today in the Times, landscape architect turned “tree-hugger”, Scott Martin of Torrance, California explains his new Christmas tree rental service. His business is centered around the concept of delivering live, potted Christmas trees that are taken away and re-planted after the holiday is over. Mr. Martin, who delivered trees for a nursery as a teenager in California, explains “California is more attached to the green movement, so they are more willing to try this service here.” To rent a tree, you would visit his website, livingchristmas.com, pick out a tree from among several varieties, and schedule your delivery. Prices range from $50 to $185 depending on size and type of the tree and the recommended length of stay for a tree in a house is two-three weeks. One of the coolest thing about this service is that after the tree is picked up and re-planted, customers have the option of renting the same tree the following year so it may return taller. I don’t know how good that is for the tree, being uprooted and re-planted annually but it’s certainly better than chopping it down. I won’t be surprised if this business concept catches on around the country.
As we are just a week away from Christmas Eve, today marks the start of our week-long Holiday Jam of the Day series. We’re starting things off with a Christmas tree classic from A Charlie Brown Christmas. “O Tannenbaum”, originally a German song, has many versions and is often referred to as “Oh Christmas Tree” here in the U.S., but this is my favorite.
Vince Guaraldi Trio – O Tannenbaum:
-Melissa
Filed under Jam of the Day, New
East Village to Brooklyn 