'Tis the season for Christmas songs, I guess. While the malls and grocery stores are blasting out tried and true covers of carols and seasonal songs, indie rockers are in their basements making cute and clever recordings of more obscure selections.

If you're tired of hearing "Let it Snow" by Dean Martin, Gene Autry's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," or the best Xmas song ever, the Jackson 5 version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," I have a local solution for you. And, unlike most the rest of the Christmas songs ever made, the goal is not to cash in on our generous spirits, but to simply spread some musical cheer.

Local indie septuplet Exohxo have released five freely downloadable X-mas songs for your listening pleasure. Their carefully placed orchestrations and They Might Be Giants indie voices will bring new joy to the following seasonal standards:

1. "All I Want for Christmas is You" [yes, Mariah Carey's song]
2. "Blue Christmas" [an old country song, but Elvis popularized it, of course]
3. "Shchedryk" [a Ukranian New Year's carol, says Wikipedia]
4. "Snoopy's Christmas" [Guest vocals by Speaker Speaker's Colin McBride]
5. "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" [Guest vocals by the amazing Shenandoah Davis]

To download, follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/exohxmasmp3s.

Exohxo are playing next at Q Cafe with Post Harbor and Trevor Davis this Friday, December 11. It's all-ages and starts at 8 p.m.

Happy holidays!