Bob Hemauer, celebrated bartender at , sends along this tune with little warning as to its contents, so that's how we provide it to you.
"Me and a few friends (Brendan from Awesome Car Funmaker, Jeff from Czarbles, Beau from Smart Studios) cut an Xmas song that Beau and I wrote," reads the email. "We've no way of getting it out, however."
Those friends comprise a side project known as The New Wrecking Crew and the result of their collaboration is "I Got You For Christmas," a holiday gift best enjoyed lo-fi. With someone special. Or at least that's what Hemauer recommends.
The New Wrecking Crew consists of Paxem Brill (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, bass, hand claps, Maker's Mark), Beau Sorenson (piano, rhythm guitar, non-Tubular Bells), Brendan McCarty (mellotron and hand claps), Jeff Sauer(drums, handclaps, Fool), and Molly Nearman (Jingle Bells). The song was written and produced by Sorenson and Hemauer and subsequently mixed all within a 12 hour period from 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 30.
"The inspiration was Phil Spector, obviously," Hemauer, also known on various stages as Paxem Brill, says. "It's probably best listened to on a broken jukebox or an AM radio through the crappiest speakers in a crappy car while you're necking with your girlfriend. The crappier sound and the more distracted you are, the better."
An MP3 of the track are available in the related downloads at right.
MadTracks highlights and provides MP3s of songs performed by local musicians. All tracks here are provided with permission of the artist. If you are a musician based in the Madison metro area and are interested in sharing your work as a MadTrack, please send a message.