Ho Ho Canada Deux hopes to provide an antidote to hearing the same old Christmas tunes year after year, while celebrating Canadian music, as TLOBF's Oh! Canada column does all year round. A mixture of new compositions, cover versions and traditional tunes, Ho Ho Ho Canada also includes 15 tracks that were recorded specially for The Line of Best Fit.

By Ro Cemm (The Line of Best Fit)

As the nights draw in and the temperatures drop, Oh! Canada has been looking back over 2010. We hope that through this years interviews, mixes and reviews we have introduced you to some of best new music Canada has to offer, and that we have helped you to discover some new favourites. We will be looking back on 2010 and looking forward to 2011 with a handful of Canadian artists and writers in the next few weeks, but in the meantime, to get you in the festive spirit we are proud to present Ho Ho Ho Canada Deux!

A follow up to last years Ho Ho Ho Canada, Ho Ho Canada Deux hopes to provide an antidote to hearing the same old Christmas tunes year after year. This year we put the call out early to some of our favourite artists to see if they wanted to be involved- and what a response we had- 30 tracks in all including 15 songs that have been specially recorded for us. The compilation includes new compositions, covers, traditional songs (including one in Norwegian), the occasional curse word (you have been warned), and sleigh bells and festive cheer aplenty. We'd like to thank all of the artists involved for their time and effort in putting this together-please be sure to click on their names to find out more about them and find out what they are up to in the next few months. The artwork was created by Jon Janes using an image of Clear Creek, Yukon by Michael Edwards.

DOWNLOAD (2-Discs)

[.zip]Ho! Ho! Ho! Canada Deux: Part One: (Not So) Silent Night/[alternate link]
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1. By Divine Right: 'Mall Santa'*
2. Paper Lions: 'Jingle Bells'
3. The Mountains and The Trees: 'My Favourite Sweater (Happy Holidays)' *
4. Great Lake Swimmers: 'Gonna Make It Through The Year'
5. Ox: 'Xmas In the Jailhouse'
6. The Zolas: 'Snow'
7. Baby Eagle: 'Fearfully and Wonderfully' *
8. Boxer The Horse: 'Material Xmas'
9. Adaline & Frederick: 'Let's Stay Inside'
10. Sean Nicholas Savage: 'Snowflake'
11. The Russian Futurists: '100 Shopping Days Till Christmas'
12. Kashka (Kat Burns of Forest City Lovers): 'Picture Books In Winter' *
13. Nat Jay: 'Green Trees, Red Hearts'
14. Hooded Fang: 'Tundra Nights' *
15. Teen Daze: 'Medley In D (Holy Holy Holy/ Christmas at Sea/ Goodnight, Sleep Tight)' *

[.zip] Ho! Ho! Ho! Canada Deux: Part Two: Frozen Outside / Warm In/[alternate link]
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1. Leif Vollebekk: 'I'm Be Home For Christmas' *
2. woodpigeon / Laura Leif: 'Winter Song' *
3. Snailhouse: 'Believer' *
4. Evening Hymns: 'Just Like Christmas' *
5. Ruth Minnikin: 'Fur Elise'
6. Superfantastics: 'Northern Lights'
7. Steve McKay: 'Sounds Like Christmas'
8. The Weather Station: 'In The Bleak Midwinter' *
9. The Wilderness of Manitoba: 'We Three Kings' *
10. The Details: 'Strings and Ribbons'
11. Artur Dyjecinski: 'Christmas' *
12. Basia Bulat: 'You Are A Gift'
13. The Provincial Archive: 'Coventry Carol' *
14. Kris Ellestad: 'Jeg Er Så Glad Hver Julekveld' *
15. In-Flight Safety: 'Fairytale of New York'

*= recorded specially for Ho Ho Ho Canada Deux

All of these songs have been given free for your listening pleasure. We hope you enjoy them and have a fantastic festive season. At this time of year especially there are hundreds of good causes all seeking your help-we hope that, in keeping with the spirit of giving, if you enjoy this compilation you might consider giving a donation to one of them. Thank-you.

You can follow Oh Canada on Twitter at @OhCanada_uk for news, links and more.