(Volume 27 of Clifton’s Corner. Clifton Weaver, aka DJ Soft Touch, shares some of his favorite spins, old and new, in the worlds of soul, r&b, funk, psych and beyond.) The long, strange year that has been 2016 is finally coming to an end. The holiday season is upon us and we’re all probably looking […]

Lucy Van Pelt loves the beautiful sound of clinking nickels. She wants real estate for Christmas. Snoopy challenges passersby to find the true meaning of Christmas by winning “money, money, money” in his “spectacular super colossal neighborhood Christmas lights and display contest.” For her part, Sally Brown forgoes her lengthy list of gifts, asking Santa […]

If you have a window near, go ahead and look outside. Chances are, there are some Christmas lights up somewhere within view. In the coming weeks, you’ll probably frantically brave mall crowds and horrific parking lot jams for last-minute gifts, wondering why it is that you avoid the mall for an entire year only to […]

It’s the second week of December. The egg nog is spiked, the Christmas tree is trimmed, and if you grew up in the 80s, Jim Henson’s 1977 holiday epic, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, really needs no further explanation. Unsanctioned soundtrack and video after jump. Welcome to Frogtown Hollow.

In December of 1978, Tom Waits recorded an episode of Austin City Limits. The now-mainstay music program was in its relative infancy – only its fourth season – and had built a solid fanbase of Americana music enthusiasts. As the ACL website notes: “…the show came in through the back door, so to speak. Terry […]

“Haul out the holly!! Put up the tree before my spirit falls aga…” Nope, just kidding, none of that here. Conversely, Lit Up Like A Christmas celebrates the, er, other side of seasonal tidings — holiday esoterica from the far corners of vintage twang, fuzz, scuzz, r&b, blues, country, garage, lounge and beyond. So, in […]

We’re not sure who the mysterious folks behind the Bolan Boogie Bandcamp are, and even less sure how we missed the 4-track T.Rexmas! EP they uploaded last December, but here it is. T.Rexmas! is mainly built around the stomping woulda-been hit “Christmas Bop,” recorded in 1975 for an aborted single that would have been paired […]