Yes, it’s that time again; the nights are drawing in, the temperatures are plummeting and every high street lamppost in the country is festooned with fairy lights. Advent has arrived and round these parts that means just one thing: the return of The Joyzine Advent Calendar. Since 2004 we’ve been unveiling free musical treats for our dear readers to unwrap from the first to the twenty-fourth of December and for our 13th consecutive outing we have a bumper festive feast in store, with over 40 tracks to be unveiled between now and the big day including plenty of exclusives and a hearty helping of seasonal specials.
As has become tradition over the past few years, we’re kicking things off with a couple of tracks from Advent Calendar veterans and this year the honour of opening the first window is shared by US country sweetheart Piney Gir and cult indie heroes MJ Hibbett & The Validators, who between them have shared enough Christmas tunes on our calendar to keep a greetings card shop going from now until Boxing Day.
Track #1: Piney Gir – It’s Christmas
It’s been a relatively quiet year, musically speaking, for Piney Gir following an action packed 2015 which saw the release of her sixth studio album mR hYDE’S wILD rIDE (though a show with Hidden Cameras last week at The Lexington gives us hope for more to come in the new year). With perhaps the highlight coming in another form with her co-curation of an art exhibition titled ‘Violet Beauregarde’s Gum’ with food artist Alice Straker at White Conduit Projects in July.
‘It’s Christmas’ is the latest of Piney’s festive repertoire to be featured on the calendar – a wonderfully sparkly number with chiming guitars, jingling bells, and more la-la-las than you can shake a sprig of mistletoe at.
Track #2: MJ Hibbett & The Validators – Leaping Hare In Broadgate
MJ Hibbett & The Validators have so many Christmas tunes that you can get an entire selection box over at their website (with a new one for 2016 to be added shortly). However this year we’ve got an exclusive non-festive track for you, initially recorded for their latest album Still Valid but never used – in MJ’s own words “It’s not particularly Christmassy, but it is DEAD funky!”
The band play the Totally Acoustic night at The King & Queen in West London tonight, and return to the same venue on 16th December, with plenty of shows also in the pipeline for 2017. Full details can be found here.
Download ‘Leaping Hare In Broadgate’
Find out more at mjhibbett.co.uk where you can currently order Still Valid and get a second MJ Hibbett & The Validators album completely free in the run-up to Christmas!
Check back tomorrow for more fantastic free tunes to download.