Local holiday music drops for when you need to rock around the Xmas tree

As demonstrated from coverage in years past, we’re big fans of Christmas music here at The Pitch, and love nothing more than to see that some local musicians have tried their hand at holiday fare.

Here’s a selection of this year’s releases, with moods to suit every taste.

Mark Murtha’s Christmas Party in Kansas City

In addition to his work with Maria the Mexican and The Carl Worden Band, Mark Murtha has been lead guitarist for classic rock band Head East since 2022. His new Christmas album, Mark Murtha’s Christmas Party in Kansas City, features performers from all three of those bands, along with members of Shooting Star, the Yards, XYZ, and others, as they run through 22 covers and a Murtha original.

The covers run from the classical (“Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”), traditional (“Up on the Housetop”), rocking (“Zat You, Santa Claus?”), and two cuts from the Charlie Brown Christmas special, along with a one-two novelty punch of “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch” and “The 12 Days of Touring.”

It’s a nice playlist, blending classic rock vibes with some jazz for a collection which feels familiar but new. The talent involved means all the songs are performed with more than the usual perfunctory run-throughs–or worse, ironic detachment–with the Head East songs feeling most accomplished.

Honestly, given the murderer’s row of folks involved, I wish they’d tackled something like “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” toshow just how big they could go, as well as offering a compliment the mostly-instrumental, Trans Siberian Orchestra-like takes on “Up on the Housetop” and “Sleigh Ride,” which are the furthest-ranging interpretations in a collection which is otherwise fairly straightforward.

Sam Billen’s All is Calm and All is Bright

Sam Billen hasn’t really made much traditionally released music since he and his brother Dan stopped making music as the Billions. They now make music for various commercial projects (along with quite a few other folks) with their company Primary Color Music. For a decade or so, Billen used to make a Christmas album every year, but never released them officially on larger platforms than Soundcloud.

This year, he decided to “gather my favorite songs from all those albums into a couple of releases – my personal choices of my own ‘greatest hits’ (lololol).” The albums are called All is Calm and All is Bright, and you can likely guess the vibes from the titles. Alongside hymns and carols can be found some really clever choices, like Mannheim Steamroller’s “Still, Still, Still” or Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.” There’s also a delightful novelty song called “How My Brother Ruined Christmas,” which I am sure Dan is none too fond of.

Most of the songs are accompanied by piano or acoustic guitar, making this a beautiful companion piece alongside your Sufjan Stevens holiday albums.

Jason Beer’s Music for Seasonal Affective Disorder

Though released in 2021, we never covered it then, so Jason Beer’s Music for Seasonal Affective Disorder counts as a new-ish release as it’s now available on Spotify after a few years as Bandcamp-only. While most of Beers’ output as of late has been musical exercises for the Quilt Records family of artists (for more in that vein, see Garth Dohlie’s Christmas Party), this holiday release is mostly just Beers solo with banjo or acoustic guitar, along with a whole lot of sleigh bells.

Music for Seasonal Affective Disorder is the kind of album to put on when you’re feeling low and need something jaunty, but you’d still like to wallow in your misery a bit. Think of it like an uptempo Tom Waits tune, in that there’s a certain savoir faire, but with an undertone of menace.

Leonard Dstroy’s Slay Ride

Leonard Dstroy’s Slay Ride is a cut-and-paste hip hop extravaganza for the holidays. It takes traditional Christmas favorites and deconstructs them, using the component parts to craft an oddly comforting collage. Audio samples from holiday films and radio greetings find their way into tracks which use woozy synths to recreate classic wintertime songs, resulting in an experience not unlike what would happen if you mixed eggnog and Promethazine, as goes one track’s title.

In addition to all of this, Dstroy brings in rappers Ubiquitous and Aaron Alexander on “Nutcracka” and “Miracle on 43rd St.”, respectively, to close out Slay Ride, with both cuts seeing the MCs working well with the backing material, while also dropping lyrics which are simultaneously seasonally appropriate and a little wistful.