Santa Kaskade Is Back With Holiday Tunes

Modern Rock

By Kristi Kates | Dec. 15, 2018

DJ extraordinairre Kaskade presented his first holiday collection of tracks last year, and now he’s returned with another set for this December, simply titled Kaskade Christmas 2018. Kaskade puts some excellent new spins on many of your favorite familiar holiday tunes — think house, future-dance, and trip-hop on classics like “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “Jingle Bells,” and “Santa Baby.” It’s a funky-fresh way to bring classic holiday music into today …

For its upcoming North American tour, Brooklyn-based indie-folk band The Lone Bellow is expanding upon a fan-favorite happening at its live shows: a short acoustic bit, mid-set, featuring the three bandmates singing around one microphone. For the tour, they’re doing taking the approach even further — building each show around one microphone for a focus that’s all about the songs. Those songs will heavily pull from their brand new EP, Restless, which was just released this past October on Descendant Records, along with its first single, “Pink Rabbit” …

Want a unique spring vacation trip that brings out the best of your nerdiness? Check out the Jonathan Coulton-helmed JoCo Cruise, happening March 9–16 2019. Coulton and crew charter an entire cruise ship for this special event, which will feature tabletop gaming, writer/crafter workshops, karaoke, comedy performances, a “Fez and Tiara” social party, and musical performances from the big-indie-name likes of Aimee Mann, They Might Be Giants, and of course, Coulton himself. Get all the nerdy details and your tickets at www.jococruise.com …

Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) is back with his first official solo album of new original indie-folk songs, a project he took on while his main band is on a temporary hiatus. Called Warm, the album is reminiscent of a more downtempo, chilled version of Wilco, with folky melodies, rootsy production, and of course, plenty of Tweedy’s strummed and picked guitar riffs. Among the tracks on Tweedy’s set are “From Far Away,” “Don’t Forget,” and the pseudo-title track “Warm (When the Sun Has Died).” It’s an emotional effort that highlights Tweedy’s songwriting skills, and it’s out now on dBpm Records. Tweedy is already promoting the set with some low-key gigs, including his recent album release show in Chicago just a couple of weeks ago … 

LINK OF THE WEEK
The Electric Forest Festival has taken over two full weekends in Rothbury, Michigan, for the past several years, but for 2019, the fest is being reduced to one weekend only. Tickets for that weekend (June 27–30) are on sale now. Get ’em before they sell out at www.electricforestfestival.com …

THE BUZZ
Port Huron roots/Americana band Gasoline Gypsies is currently promoting its brand new Vagabundos EP (named after their nickname for their fans) with a tour of Michigan and Indiana venues …

Ferndale’s Escaping Pavement, an Americana outfit with bluegrass influences, are touring, too, making stops at campgrounds and parks while trekking across the U.S. …

Get set for a Michigan-to-Illinois road-trip this spring — The Rolling Stones will take over Chicago’s Soldier Field on June 21 as part of its upcoming 2019 No Filter tour …

Great news for Michiganians and, well, pretty much anyone else who uses an Amazon Echo device; Apple Music and Amazon are finally working together to get the former’s music onto Amazon’s players … and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock. 

Comments, questions, rants, raves, suggestions on this column? Send ’em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com.