Holiday MP3 Post #1: Home is Where the Heart Is

As threatened in my recent post about the Bert Dax compilation, A to Z is going to blitz readers with holiday MP3s over the next few weeks. I realize it's not December 1, but, well, consider this the nineteen days of Christmas. Or something.

Part of the reason I'm doing this is selfish and self-indulgent: I want to keep my spirits up during the holidays, and holiday music (even the sad stuff) inherently makes me happy. The older I get, the more I realize that the carefree Christmas whirlwind isn't so carefree, what with family members growing older, work stresses taking precedence and general holiday moodiness creeping in more often.

So I figure, what better to start off this series than with MP3s from people close to my adopted home -- St. Louis -- since (cue Hallmark cheesiness!) home is where the heart is?

Ludo recently posted an MP3 for download on its MySpace (along with a giggle-inducing picture of the band huddled around the Christmas tree). The quintet's annual Christmas show is Thursday, December 27, at the Pageant.

Also, via the Interweb, I found a chestnut from ska heroes MU330 -- who are also playing a ska-liday show, although at Off Broadway on Saturday, December 29 with Murder City Players, Zeda's Beat Box and a reunited Kickbacks.

Speaking of that latter band -- one of its members is Mike Cracchiolo, now of Bureau fame. I've been trying to track down his band's excellent yacht-rockin' Dan Fogelberg cover from last year's Bert Dax comp; haven't yet. So check back, as I'll post it as soon as I procure it. And heck, the Bureau's also playing a holiday show at Off Broadway, on December 21, with the HIbernauts, the Makeshift Gentleman and Witch's Hat. (And that's only part one of a two-day Christmas party extravaganza!)

MP3: Ludo, "A Very Ludo Christmas"

MP3: The Bureau, Dan Fogelberg cover coming

-- Annie Zaleski