This edition of Sound Sunday is a Christmas Special. Ten albums to relax and get into the holiday spirit. Take the time to enjoy the season.

If you like any of the music below, please consider donating to the artists. It's Christmas after all!

The comments are open for you to share your thoughts on this week's edition or suggest genres and artists. Also feel free to eMail me [tina at makeuseof dot com]. I wish you wonderful holidays and hope you will enjoy the Sound Sunday Christmas Special!

Unfortunately, most of these downloads are no longer available.

Sleeping At Last - Christmas Collection 2010

Genre: alternative, indie, folk rock

Sleeping At Last from Illinois has been around for over a decade. They were signed to Interscope Records with the help of Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan in 2002 and had their song Quicksand featured on the third season of Grey's Anatomy. Over the past couple of years they have been releasing music independently.

Download their Christmas Collection 2010 from NoiseTrade.

 

High Street Hymns - Christmas & Advent Songs

Genre: christian, folk, acoustic

From their Facebook Profile: "High Street Hymns exists to provide creative resources for music ministries seeking to integrate revitalized and renewed hymns in a way that is consistent with contemporary worship formats."

The Christmas & Advent Songs album is available from NoiseTrade.

 

Paul and Storm - It Might Be Xmas

Genre: comedy, geek, pop

Paul and Storm are a comedy music duo from the Washington, DC area. They have been performing together since 2004. All of their music is released under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Creative Commons license. This means you can re-use the material, provided it's non-commercial, you give credits to Paul and Storm, and release your work under the same CC license.

It Might Be Xmas is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

 

Lou Draws - An Autotune Xmas

Genre: rhythm & blues, comedy

From their Bandcamp page: "In collaboration with Onustees.com, Lou Draws created his Christmas masterpiece entitled 'An Autotune Xmas'. Six classic Christmas songs done in Lou Draws' fashion with a little autotune to funk it up."

An Autotune Xmas is a name your price download from Bandcamp.

 

Sarah Story - Hello Christmas

Genre: alternative, pop

As her Facebook profile reveals, Sarah Story is "striving to create not only the perfect sound, but also the perfect crème brûlée." I hope she will share the perfect recipe!

Hello Christmas is a donation-based download from NoiseTrade.

 

So Elated - The Bewildering Light

Genre: acoustic, indie, folk rock

So Elated is Ben Thomas from Chicago, Illinois.  Soul-Audio writes "the songs carry with them a quality that makes them hard to put out of mind."  You can verify this statement by previewing The Bewildering Light Christmas album above. We have also featured So Elated's selftitled album in a previous edition of Sound Sunday.

Get The Bewildering Light from NoiseTrade.

 

Naomi LaViolette - Christmas Songs

Genre: jazz, pop

Naomi LaViolette is a pianist and vocalist from Portland, Oregon. Rob Cullivan of The Portland Tribute writes she "is a lyrical musician who knows how to string together the perfect run of notes, just enough to show you she's got chops, on the keys or in her voice, but not so many that she overwhelms the beauty of a melody."

Make a donation when downloading Christmas Songs from NoiseTrade.

 

Nathan Tasker - A Star A Stable A Saviour

Genre: christian, acoustic, rock

In 2006 Nathan Tasker was named 'Artist of the Year' and awarded 'Song of the Year' (for Like You Love Me) by the Australian Christian Music Charts. This year, his version of Angels We Have Heard On High was included in the Christmas Compilation of Blood: Water Mission.  The song can also be found on his Christmas album A Star A Stable A Saviour.

A Star A Stable A Saviour is a free album available from NoiseTrade.

 

Omaha Collective - Christmas EP

Genre: acoustic, folk rock

The Omaha Collective is a group of worship leaders from Omaha, who get together from time to time to write and record music. Members Mike Harvat and David Potter also make and release music outside the Collective and maintain their own homepages.

Get the Christmas EP from NoiseTrade.

Omaha Collective Facebook.

 

Slugs & Bugs - Christmas Sampler

Genre: christina, country, kids

Slugs & Bugs is a band project of Randall Goodgame and Andrew Peterson from Nashville, Tennessee. Their motto is 'silliness is next to godliness' and hence they make music for kids.

The Christmas Sampler is available from NoiseTrade.

 

Didn't find the kind of music you like? Browse past editions of Sound Sunday for more free albums. Do get in touch with me [tina at makeuseof dot com] to share free material, suggestions, and feedback that you don't want to post in the comments below.