Episode 93
Boreal – Winterbirds
James Clarke Institute – It’s Still Snowing Outside
Nia Barghouti, Neneh Cherry, Leigh-Anne, Brian Eno – Lullaby
Teenage Kicks – Crying Over Christmas
Andy Shauf, Madi Diaz – Christmas Eve Can Kill You
Cleaners From Venus – Spirits of Old Christmas
Coco Jones – Skip My House
Andemic – Everyone is Sick Every Single Christmas
Matt Rogers – Margaritas for Christmas
Boreal – Winterbirds
We saw Boreal last week here in Ottawa at the Redbird and it seemed very appropriate to start out Christmas show with them.
Here’s a bit from their website
…is the magical musical collaboration of Tannis Slimmon, Katherine Wheatley and Angie Nussey. These three hard-working singer-songwriters, each with their own longstanding, award-winning careers, simply love playing music together. In the winter, Boreal shines their collective light on Canada’s coldest months with their show “Songs for the Snowy Season”. The brighter/warmer months are reserved for “Songs of Renewal”, a show that combines sun-loving, moon-watching, finger-snapping, heart-touching and deeply uplifting songs.
They have also recently been nominated for three Canadian Folk Music Awards
Angie Nussey, Katherine Wheatley and Tannis Slimmon have news to share — the seasoned musicians are kicking off their winter tour, have a brand-new album and recently learned they were nominated for three Canadian Folk Music Awards.
Contemporary Album of the Year
Ensemble of the Year
Vocal Group of the Year
Interesting, the band started out as a winter tribute band – making them a wonderful group to see in December
More from the Tribune
“We are three songwriters that came together to create this trio called Boreal. We started out as a sort of winter-only project with Jude Vidala to celebrate and bring winter in with ease,” said Wheatley. “But now we are a year-round band.”
and, for the first time ever, I was able to ask one of the band members, Angie Nussey, what song they would prefer on our show. She chose Winterbirds.
Nia Barghouti, Neneh Cherry, Leigh-Anne, Brian Eno – Lullaby
From Vogue Magazine, certainly a new reference for us!
Which brings us to “Lullaby”, an original composition from a glittering ensemble of music industry titans that’s now in the running to be Christmas Number One. Neneh Cherry, her daughters Mabel and Tyson, Nai Barghouti, Amena, Celeste, Dan Smith, Kieran Brunt, Lana Lubany, Leigh-Anne, the London Community Gospel Choir, Nadine Shah, Sura Abdo, Yasmeen Ayyashi, Ysee, and more appear on the track. The song is beautiful, haunting, and incorporates a famous Palestinian folk song – “Yamma Mwel El Hawa” – with lyrics that are a “strong confirmation of what it means to be Palestinian”, says Barghouti. “That is, a never-ending sense of resilience, defiance, beauty, dignity and hope.”
Nai Barghouti
Barghouti, whose maqamat vocals are the focal point of the song, is hoping that “Lullaby” will top the charts this Christmas. “It would be a small beam of light in such darkness,” she says. “We all have a responsibility to continue our work for Palestine.”
You can buy lullaby here for around $2.50
Andy Shauf, Madi Diaz – Christmas Eve Can Kill You
Found this on a CBC site – Songs you need to hear to this week. Any time Andy Schauf puts something out it is something I want to listen to.
The icy air I’m breathing′s all that keeps me on my feet
I feel like I′ve been walking all my life
A car goes running by, the man don’t even turn his head
Guess he′s busy being Santa Claus tonight
The saddest part of all is knowing if I switched with him
I’d leave him stumbling ragged by the road
I′d ride that highway to the arms of my sweet family
And forget about the stranger in the cold
Andy Schauf
Coco Jones – Skip My House
Part of her promotional material for this track
Blending her signature velvety vocals with smooth, melodic R&B production, the track flips the traditional holiday narrative with Coco echoing that Santa can skip her house this year because she already has everything she needs. Playful yet heartfelt, “Skip My House” captures the cozy confidence of self-love and gratitude, wrapped in Coco’s signature warmth and style.
Interesting artist. She started acting when she was 12 and won a Grammy for her first album. See more below from wikipedia
She returned to a recording career in 2022, signing with High Standardz and Def Jam Recordings to release the single “ICU” in October of that year. The song was her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 and received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), also winning Best R&B Performance at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. The award was among five total nominations she received at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards—which included a nomination for Best New Artist. Her debut studio album, Why Not More? (2025), moderately entered the Billboard 200 and was met with critical acclaim; its lead single, “Here We Go (Uh Oh)“, was nominated for Best R&B Song at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards.
That same year, she was cast in the starring role for the Peacock drama series Bel-Air (2022–2025). Her other accolades include a BET Award and an NAACP Image Award.[3]
Matt Rogers – Margaritas for Christmas
It’s not a Christmas show without something country. This is pretty silly, but why not.
If you want more (why??) here is a whole list
Hard to find much about this singer. Mostly Instagram and Facebook. Well, not everyone can be famous.
So, I asked Wikipedia
On March 24, 2004, Rogers became the second of the 12 finalists to be voted off of American Idol. Since his appearance on American Idol, Rogers has served as co-host for American Idol Extra and worked as a correspondent on several sports and entertainment shows, including Turner Sports College Football, The Best Damn Sports Show Period, Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, and American Idol. Rogers guest appeared on the ‘Idols’ edition of Family Feud.
Bob’s Picks
James Clarke Institute – “It’s Still Snowing Outside” – single
This is the second year in a row we are featuring a seasonal offering from Toronto’s James Clarke Institute. “It’s Still Snowing Outside” is coupled with last year’s Orange Christmas and was released in late November as a Black Friday Record Store Day limited edition single.
https://www.clarkinstitute.com/
Here’s a nice interview re. said single. https://www.rockdnamag.com/post/interview-the-james-clark-institute-talks-about-new-single-it-s-still-snowing-outside
Merry Xmas from the shores of Lake Ontario!
Teenage Kicks – “Crying Over Christmas” – single
Teenage Kicks were a Canadian alternative rock band based in Toronto, Canada. The band mainly consisted of brothers Peter and Jeff van Helvoort. Formed in 2010, they broke up in 2015. Brother Peter has recorded and released Christmas music for years. He seems to have returned to using the Teenage Kicks name.
One interesting website that focuses on Christmas music is Xmas A Go – Go. They featured Teenage Kicks quite recently.
https://christmasagogo.blogspot.com/2025/12/teenage-kicks.html
Cleaners From Venus – “Spirits of Old Christmas” – single
For the las 45 years, Cleaners From Venus is essentially Martin Newell. He is a singer–songwriter, poet, columnist and author. He first came to my attention in the early 90’s with a “solo’ album, The Greatest Englishman which featured a lovely holiday song, Christmas in Suburbia.
Now in 2025, he’s back with another. And hasn’t missed a beat
Andemic – “Everyone Is Always Sick Every Single Christmas” · The Sick Xmas EP
Andemic is Andy Williams, Not this Andy Williams!
Mistle tunes will introduce this Any Williams.
http://www.mistletunes.com/2025/12/the-sick-christmas-ep-andemic-dallas-industrial.html
This could become a perennial favourite.
In closing, if you are not interested in spending hours in Goodwills or at garage sales looking for Christmas music, let these two websites do it for you.
Whole-Hearted 