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!!!
Make a donation to First Timers
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!
West Midlands are, in their own words, “a weird rock and roll band / art project / cricket team from London who make heavyweight hits about dying. Think David Lynch Roth, or a depressed stand-up comic fronting Hawkwind.” (the cricket team bit is genuine btw: check out Paddington Rabbits CC here – new players welcome). They’ve been at this Advent Calendar lark on and off for some time now and also had an exclusive track featured on our 20 Years of Joy compilation album – Frontman Andrew Wolfman even hosted a show on The Joyzine Podcast Alliance for a while, and guitarist Paul of Sound is well known round these parts for his time behind the sound desk at everyone’s favourite South London independent music venue The Windmill.
Speaking of The Windmill, you’ll find West Midlands playing there on 17th December alongside Me=U, Red Peril and The Fragile States – tickets here. For those elsewhere in the country fret not, you can catch Andrew Wolfman DJ sets on Friday 13 December at Kidderminster 45 Live (with Big Country), Saturday 14 December at Stourbridge Town Hall (with Jonn Ned’s Atomic Dustbin and Adam Pop Will Eat Itself) and Friday 20 December at Exeter Cavern Club (with The Maisonettes, Bramwell, Spitting Blood).
We caught up with Mr Wolfman to find out what they’ve been getting up to of late.
Tell us a little about your track please
A sage someone once said that “in their last moments people show you who they really are.*
Disappointingly for me that death-bed true-self turned out to be a middling provincial stand-up comic; getting big laughs from the medical staff but seemingly learning very little.
‘Totally Killing The Community Clinic’ is the latest instalment in West Midlands’ ongoing indie-rock opera / documentary / horror story The Complete History of Popular Music 1984 – 2038.
It says here that it’s, “a slab of seriously heavy light entertainment. A death-defying DIY fever dream that’s equal parts Born to Lose, Born to Die and Born to Run played through a haze of distorted radios, half-heard hit singles, hospital hallucinations and serious drugs.” And who am I to disagree with that?
*just checked this quote and it might be from Batman. Still stands though.
What have you been up to for the last twelve months?
Well. West Midlands’ cosmic Scouse axeman Paul of Sound severed his finger in January, which, understandably, slowed us down somewhat, but failed to stop us altogether. Now back-and-heavier-than-ever thanks to his new Franken-finger we’re celebrating with a ‘triumphant’ return to the Windmill in Brixton on Tuesday the 17th December (that’s next week!) The last few tickets are available now. Don’t miss it, who knows how long that thing is going to stay on for.
And what do you have planned for the next 12 months?
Work is well under way on something sort-of-secret (and definitely over-complicated) that has a working title of ‘Shearer’s Workshop’. It’s a sound-lab, community art-hub and song suite (from the 2030s end of the Complete History of Popular Music) overseen by the band’s wizard-in-chief Doug Shearer.
At the same time, and with a slew of new rock biopics coming out in the new year, we were very surprised to receive some interest in a big-screen version of our story from a couple of (apparently not made up) US Production companies. Zero promises, obviously, but talks are underway with Licorice Pizza’s Cooper Hoffman, Maya Hawke (Stranger Things) and Jesse Plemons rumoured to be attached. We assume West Midlands drummer Canada Jez will mostly be CGI, but frankly the whole thing has been so weird and unexpected everything is up for grabs at this stage.
Christmas songs – love them or hate them? Why?
There are great Christmas songs and terrible Christmas songs in the same way that there are good songs and bad songs about space wars and sex dungeons (probably). The setting and the season doesn’t really matter if the song somehow speaks to people. That’s the real magic isn’t it?
I always feel bad for those people who try not to hear ‘Last Christmas’ for the whole of December. Dudes, you’re missing out. Imagine writing something even 10% as good as ‘Last Christmas’. The economy of line! The relatability! The tune! It doesn’t matter at all that it’s set at Christmas. That thing would be just as good if it was ‘Last April’ or ‘Last Tuesday’ (it might actually be better if it was ‘Last Tuesday’ the pathos) But the Christmas setting makes sense because that’s, typically, a time people give each other gifts. It’s bulletproof. ‘Last Christmas’ is the Die Hard of Christmas songs. It works all year round, it just makes more sense its hostages are having a party because that’s what people do at Christmas. And aren’t we all sort of hostages at Christmas?
Actually, that’s a pretty good title. I fully intend to have Hostages of Christmas with you by December ’25. Please remind me if you haven’t seen anything by November.
Download ‘Totally Killing The Community Clinic‘
Make a donation to First Timers
West Midlands: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bluesky / Bandcamp / Cricket Club
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 ft. Smallways, Butterknife, Daddy Issues, Witch Spit, R.U.B, Vipersnatch, Worm Girlz, Lady Lazarus and Stabbitha & The Knifey Wifeys
4: First Timers Fest ft. Gay Skeleton Club and Skutterfly
5: Goo Records ft. Jopy, The Stanford Family Band, Owners Club and The Roebucks
6: Dead Horse – Historic
7: Gemma Rogers – Never Have I Ever
8: Umarells – Closer
9: MJ Hibbett – Moshi Twistmas
10: The Indelicates – Mom Is Waking Up (acoustic)
11: The Fades – Caca (BBC 6Music Session)
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