Its Getting Boring By The Sea — Here are a few festive tracks to keep you going, 100% RATM free. MP3: Dum Dum Girls// Crocodiles- 'Merry Christmas Baby (Please Don't Die)'Julian Casablancas- 'I Wish It Was Christmas Today' (Youtube)Reuben- Christmas Is Awesome'Fucked Up- 'Do They K... more info

The Music Fix — News Flash: 2009 has been a busy year for 4AD, and a pretty great one at that. Amongst many highlights we've seen Camera Obscura score their first ever Top 40 album with My Maudlin Career, The Big Pink achieve their first ever Top 40 single with 'Dom... more info

Rock Sellout — Thought our readers may enjoy this. Continuing with what I hope to be a great give away week/month I got this email... "The Christmas season is pretty damn cold in Chicago, so 4AD recording artist Anni Rossi stays inside with the nog and cuts some f... more info

Stereogum — John Davis stepped out from behind the drumset when his beloved D.C. outfit Q And Not U went RIP, launching the short-lived follow-up project Georgie James. That band with Laura Berhenn saw John on songwriting, vocal, and other instrumental duties, r... more info

8/1 — 50 Bombay Bicycle Club - I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose 49 Neko Case - Middle Cyclone 48 Atlas Sound Logos 47 Telepathe - Dance Mother46 Gallows - Grey Britain45 Richard Hawley - Truelove's Gutter44 Oneida - Rated O43 Franz Ferdinand - T... more info

411 Mania — This week, the 411Music Staffers look back at a year of good albums and filter through what floated for the top for them. They discuss everything from Eminem's Relapse to Jay-Z's Blueprint 3, Alice In Chains' Black Gives Way to Blue to Dave Matthews ... more info

Pitchfork - Forkcast — Photo by Donald Milne Camera Obscura strip it down for this live, on the street performance of My Maudlin Career standout "French Navy" for Viennese blog They Shoot Music-- it's just an acoustic guitar, a trumpet, and a shaker, plus Tracyanne Campbel... more info

I Guess I'm Floating — Happy December! With Thanksgiving already in the books and my neighbors already busting out their holiday lights, it's safe to say "that time of the year" has started rolling downhill like a wayward snowball once again. Alongside of doorbuster sale... more info

My Old Kentucky — Rest up tonight Indianapolis because the fun starts tomorrow night!Monday (Bloomington) 9pm - Camera Obscura at The Bluebird! (More info...)------------------------------------------------------------------Tuesday 10pm - Lockerbie Pub - LET GO AT TH... more info

Guardian Music — Paul Morley introduces his alternative view of the decade that wasI don't know about you – and I'll just get this out of my system before the ghost of Christmas past comes to give me what for – but if there's one thing worse than a care... more info