If, like me, you've heard the same dozen Christmas songs over and over on the radio and in the shops over the past few weeks, then here's an album to take the edge off the festive period. They're still Christmas/Winter-themed songs, but by some of my favourite bands (most of them already have a post on the site), and the majority are in the alternative genre, with just a couple of more mainstream acts, but with songs that tend not to make it to the ubiquitous Christmas compilation albums. Low issued one of the best ever Christmas albums in 2010, and I was tempted to include the up-beat 'Just Like Christmas', but instead I went for a lesser-known song from it, although do check out the whole thing as it's a classic. Cheap Trick, Ramones, The Flaming Lips, Sparks and AC/DC give us a cynical or left-field viewpoint of the holiday, while the offerings from Squeeze, Smashing Pumpkins and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are surprisingly restrained. Galaxie 500's take on Yoko One's 'Listen, The Snow Is Falling' is simply breath-taking, and I've also included songs by two of my favourite current singer/songwriters, with 'Goodbye England (Covered In Snow)' from Laura Marling and 'Winter Song' from Billie Marten. I hope that this hour-long collection of little-heard Christmas songs adds some joy to your holiday. 
Track listing
01 Christmas Christmas - Cheap Trick02 A Christmas Song - Jethro Tull03 Christmas Was Better In The 80's - The Futureheads04 Listen, The Snow Is Falling - Galaxie 50005 Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight) - Ramones06 Christmas Time - The Smashing Pumpkins07 If You Were Born Today (Song For Little Baby Jesus) - Low08 All I Want For Christmas - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs09 Christmas All Over Again - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers10 Winter Song - Billie Marten11 Christmas At The Zoo - The Flaming Lips12 Father Christmas - The Kinks13 Home For Christmas - Kate Bush14 Thank God It's Not Christmas - Sparks15 Christmas Day - Squeeze16 (We Wish You) A Protein Christmas - The Fall17 There Ain't No Santa Claus On The Evening Stage - Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band18 Mistress For Christmas - AC/DC19 Goodbye England (Covered In Snow) - Laura Marling
During the long career AC/DC didn't keep much in the vaults, and even the recent 'Backtracks' box set only managed to find a few rarities, including songs that featured on Australian-only releases, movie soundtracks, single b-sides and tour CDs. I've concentrated on just the b-sides, which span the whole of the band's lifestime from early singles in 1976, to a rare b-side from 2000, and the set is split pretty much 50/50 between the Scott and Johnson eras. 'Jailbait' is an excellent start to the album, although when 'Fling Thing' started I was a bit worried that they might have decided to tape novelty songs for the flips to their singles, but luckily it was a one-off, and obviously a tongue-in-cheek nod to their Scottish roots. The rest of the songs are what you'd expect from a band at the fore-front of the hard rock scene. 'Crabsody In Blue' is taken from early UK and Australian pressings of 'Let There Be Rock', before the record company started having second though about the subject matter (pubic lice) and removed it from future pressing. This was in fact the first album of theirs that I bought, so my old vinyl copy includes this disgraceful song! If there's one thing that this album shows, it's that once they found their sound they stuck with it for life, as apart from the vocalist you'd hardly be able to tell a 1976 song from a 1990 one.
Track listing
01 Jailbreak (single 1976)02 Fling Thing (b-side of 'Jailbreak')03 Love Song (Oh Jene) (b-side of 'Baby, Please Don't Go' 1975)04 R.I.P. (Rock In Peace) (b-side of 'Dirty Deeds Done Cheap' 1976)05 Carry Me Home (b-side of 'Dog Eat Dog' 1977)06 Crabsody In Blue (from UK and Australian editions of 'Let There Be Rock' 1977)07 Cold Hearted Man (b-side of 'Rock 'n' Roll Damnation' 1978)08 Snake Eye (b-side of 'Heatseeker' 12" 1986)09 Borrowed Time (b-side of 'That's The Way I Wanna Rock 'n' Roll' 12" 1988)10 Down On The Borderline (b-side of 'Moneytalks' 1990)11 Big Gun (single 1993)12 Cyberspace (b-side of 'Safe In New York City' 2000)
