I am still adjusting to this whole, "it doesn't snow in December anymore," thing so it has been somewhat difficult to get in the Christmas spirit. So I went to bed last evening with some reservations about today's post. Someone out there must have been aware of my concern as they sent 3 friendly spirits to help me find the perfect indie holiday jam. The ghosts were actually rather friendly, and took me on a whirlwind tour of indie Christmas songs past, present, and future. Before I warn you about the carols of 2042 (and I need to warn you because they were made for cyborg ears and will actually destroy a human ear drum), the ghost of recent Christmas past helped me dig up this cover by Belle and Sebastian.

The ghost took me back to 2002. In his bedroom, a plucky 18 year old religiously checked the website of his favorite bands to get any information he could on new music or tour dates. Said 18 year old just finished his first semester of college and was sitting around on a snowy afternoon (it still snowed in those days) and came across an exciting bit of news, his favorite band would be playing a Christmas concert on the BBC's venerable John Peel radio show. At first, the boy was despondent, how could he possibly hear a show airing in England in a room in Buffalo? Hope was lost...

But, what was that you say? The concert was streaming, and it was streaming at that very moment? Why, it is a Christmas miracle! So, the boy quickly turned on the stream and listened to his favorite band put on a bit of holiday cheer. Christmas was saved! (Thankfully, the ghost did not take me back to 2005, when I ruined Christmas. It is a very long story, and I apologize to that reindeer.)

Ten years later, and with the help of 3 ghosts,I am leave you with one song from that concert, Belle and Sebastian's jazzy rendition of "O Little Town of Bethlehem." Happy holidays everyone!