Released 24 years ago this past October, this is Tooth & Nail/BEC's third volume of Christmas recordings from their rock/alternative artists and other friends of the label. The O.C. Supertones kick it off with a rousing version of the ballad "Heaven's Got A Baby", a cover of a bit softer version written and recorded for Happy Christmas Vol. 1 just 3 years before by Sarah Masen. Kendall Payne, Cadet, Hangnail and Poor Old Lu offer up versions of classic Christmas carols. Earthsuit, Starflyer 59 and Skyline Drive offer up their covers of more modern Christmas classics. Bleach, Joy Electric, Ace Troubleshooter and Dension Witmer pen brand new songs about the Christmas season and do a good job to add to the variety. I love Aaron Sprinke's cover of Randy Stonehill's classic "A Christmas Song For All Year Round" too—It's a nice nod to the CCM genre's roots. And then, well, Relient K must have been in a very Debbie Downer mood this year, because there's two songs of very snarky original Christmas tunes from them, "Santa Claus Is Thumbing To Town" and "I Hate Christmas Parties" (not actually by Relient K, but by their lead singer's other band, Matthew Thiessen & The Earthquakes). It's a good collection of rock/pop Christmas songs new and old with a bit you might not expect, and it's unfortunately not available on streaming, so you might have to find a used CD copy out there if you want to give it a listen.

Release Year: 2001

"Don't overthink it baby." Released this past August, this is the first album from Fielder, a duo of young women—Skye Peterson and Addison Agen—who, despite their age, have both been performing as solo artists for many years. They craft chill indie pop tunes with beautiful harmonies and lots of songs about friendship and relationships. These two also sing about the unexpected things in life and that they don't have all of it figured out. It's a nice album for some quiet contemplation on a dark winter night, i think. This is a pretty good album and I think it will be fun to see these young women improve their craft over time.

Release Year: 2025
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Released 25 years ago this past September, this is the aptly-titled third album from rock band Smalltown Poets. It's maybe not the band's most beloved album, but I really like these songs. "Every Reason", "Any Other Love" and "That Line" are quality rock with a Christian message. Some of the best songs on this album are covers of '90s Christian rock you may not have heard, "Beautiful, Scandalous Night" and "The Lust, The Flesh, The Eyes, And The Pride Of Life". And well, I love a great all-out rock closing track, and "100 Billion Watts" definitely does that here. Smalltown Poets is not one of my favorite bands, but whenever I do give their music a listen, I wonder why I don't listen to it more often because it's good. They also recently put out an EP a month or two ago, which is good too.

Release Year: 2000
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Released 18 years ago this past November, this is the second solo album from Steven Delopoulos, the New York-based folk musician and lead singer of Burlap To Cashmere. On this album, Steven gets very experimental, with songs like "Ruin Of The Beast" and "As If Love Was A Sword" having Gregorian chant/choirs, and songs like "May I Always Keep My Feet On The Ground" and "Halt" having very percussive clapping and/or yelling. Even though it's a bit odd musically, I love his lyrics and melodies, they sound like something Paul Simon might have come up with though a bit more Mediterranean in feel. Songs like "Work To Be Done" and "She Held My Hand" are beautiful acoustic guitar ballads. This man is one of my favorite singer-songwriters ever, and it's terrible that he and his band are not more well-known. This album isn't as stellar as his solo debut, but I definitely love it a lot.

Release Year: 2007
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