It’s the most wonderful time of the yeeeeeeear! Yes, the Joyzine Advent Calendar is back once again to bring you 24 days of fantastic free music downloads from a amazing array of our favourite artists. This year marks the 21st edition of our online calendar making it (as far as we’re aware) the longest running on the net (though we’re always happy to be corrected). As always, every track is completely free to download and we don’t require you to sign up for a mailing list (though you can if you want to) or hand over your personal data – it’s our way of saying thank you to everyone who’s visited the site during 2024 and to hopefully bring a few more listeners to some very deserving artists.
However, if you do enjoy the tracks we would love you to consider making a donation to our chosen cause, which this year is the wonderful First Timers Fest, a brilliant grassroots DIY organisation helping people take the first step into making music. Alumni include Joyzine faves Big Joanie, Panic Pocket, Charmpit and Breakup Haircut, with many more great bands coming through every year. We asked First Timers for a few words about what they do:
First Timers Fest is all about supporting new people into music! Yes that’s right, we mean you! We demystify the music making process through a series of beginners workshops that encourage people to try something new, no pressure to start a band after. The festival is open to everyone, but we particularly want to encourage people from marginalised groups to apply.
Next year we will be hosting our workshops at the Cavendish in Stockwell but following a sell out festival at the Victoria in Dalston we have decided to host the festival at a much bigger venue: The Oslo Hackney! This will take place on 4th May 2025. See you there!!!
We’ve got a sleigh-full of fantastic tracks for you again this year, including some festive tunes, plenty of exclusives and some of our favourite songs of 2024. Let’s get crack(er)ing!
It’s another Advent Calendar bonanza today with a fantastic foursome of exclusive tracks courtesy of wonderful Brighton-based independent record label Goo Records. We first became aware of the imprint when they released Jopy’s Planet Zombie EP, which led our own Hayley Foster Da Silva to proclaim it “bold, unapologetically queer, and refreshingly original” in her review earlier this year. A deeper dive into the label’s discography unveiled similarly ace releases from Owners Club and The Stanford Family Band, both of whom, along with Jopy and new signings The Roebucks have provided unreleased tracks for today’s calendar window, which you can download below.
If the tracks tickle your fancy then get yourself down to the South Coast on Saturday 7th December, where Goo will host an all-dayer across two stages at the Hope & Ruin in Brighton featuring the likes of Pleasureinc, Black Bordello, Pyncher, Opal Mag and their very own The Stanford Family Band and The Roebucks. Tickets, which we’re reliably informed have almost sold out, are available now via Dice.
Tell us a little about your tracks please
The tracks by The Roebucks, The Stanford Family Band and Owners Club are each one of many demos that were shared with us when we first signed these bands. All three bands had a whole range of excellent songs in demo form, making it quite hard to choose what would become official releases. So while these particular tracks did not end up on records, we still love them very much and are delighted to share them with the world.
The Jopy track, ‘Sailor Sailor’, is actually an exclusive new song and something a bit different to what we’ve put out by them so far.
What have you been up to in 2024?
Goo Records has grown a lot in 2024. We put on our first all-dayer in Brighton in April 2024 which was a sell out. We put out the Stanford Family Band’s For Your Listening Pleasure EP in the Spring. We worked on the Jopy campaign, culminating in the release of the Planet Zombie EP in September alongside a small UK tour that we put together. We signed The Roebucks in October. And we moved into management, taking on Jopy as our first client.
And what do you have planned for the next 12 months?
More releases, more festival appearances. We’re taking Jopy to the US in March for New Colossus Festival in NYC. Stanford Family Band, Jopy and The Roebucks are all appearing at Homegrown Festival in Brighton in April. Jopy will be at Wanderlust in May. We’re also planning a mini tour for Jopy in February, a tour for The Roebucks in April, and more Goo Records showcase nights in London and beyond.
Christmas songs – love them or hate them? Why?
As long as it’s ‘Just Like Christmas’ by Low, then we love them.
Download all of the tracks here
Make a donation to First Timers
Goo Records: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Jopy: Facebook / Instagram
The Stanford Family Band: Facebook / Instagram
Owners Club: Facebook / Instagram
The Roebucks: Facebook / Instagram
Catch up on all of this year’s Advent Calendar Tracks so far:
1: Piney Gir – Reindeer
2: Gabriel Minnikin – Said Information
3: LOUD WOMEN – Smallways, Butterknife, Daddy Issues, Witch Spit, R.U.B, Vipersnatch, Worm Girlz, Lady Lazarus and Stabbitha & The Knifey Wifeys
4: First Timers Fest – Gay Skeleton Club and Skutterfly
Check back tomorrow for another free festive download!
Keep up to date with all new content on Joyzine via
Facebook | Bluesky | Instagram | Threads | Mailing List
2 comments