Ho! Ho! Ho! Canada started 14 years ago as a chance to provide an alternative to the old stale Holiday songs that get stuck on rotation year after year, while celebrating some of our favourite Canadian artists for good measure. All yours to download for free on Bandcamp.

This year we are delighted to feature brand new tracks from Evan J Cartwright, whose delicate solo album 'bit by bit' has rarely left our turntable since it’s release back in April. His gently evolving electronics and field recordings play under extracts from Alice Munro’s "Winter Wind". Michael C Duguay also takes a literary influence, in title at least, for his anthemic “For Whom The Sleigh Bells Toll”.

We’ve chosen seasonal adjacent tracks from some of our favourite 2022 Canadian releases too: The Burning Hell detailing Santa’s summertime experience as part of “The Last Normal Day”, Bells Larsen remembering “Sweater Weather”, and the hazy dream-pop of Winnipeg’s Living Hour, who released a track called “December Forever” in the height of summer. Toronto noise-niks Gloin fuse Sonic Youth’s discordant and aggressive noise bursts with locked grooves and pop melodies on 'We Found This', with the naggingly insistent “Winter Abroad” serving as the albums prettiest moment. Yukon based songwriter Ericah Dee Mah draws on her family’s experience in establishing the earliest Canadian-Chinese communities, fusing folk and the sound of the guzheng to breathtaking effect.

With Hanukkah and Christmas falling at the same time year it seemed like the perfect opportunity to showcase Montreal producer/hip-hopper/film-maker and puppeteer Socalled who bookends the compilation. Having released 'The Socalled Seder' based on the Passover service in 2005, 2020 saw the release of the 'Electranukah' mixtape, which included “Drei Dreidel”, taken from his Yiddish collaboration with Hamburg’s Kaiser Quartett, the spinning, whirling strings spin around Dolgin’s vocal joyously. The mixtape then reworks this into a pulsing electro-dance, sample heavy version. The Burning Hell’s Mathias Kom appears again with a Hanukkah track taken from his wonderful 'Holy Hullabaloo' album -possibly the only Hanukkah track in existence to namecheck Fatal Attraction.

Keen Ho! Ho! Ho! Canada watchers will recognise the return of Kristian Noel Pedersen, who this year has recorded an entire concept album of the solo work of a certain Saul McCartney, an alternative universe popstar from the 60s. Which sounds suspiciously like an excuse for messing around with the synth sound from “Wonderful Christmastime”. Vancouver’s Kingfisher Bluez once again release a seasonal smorgasbord into their Holiday Village series, with local 6-piece Tractor Beam’s spoke-sung ode to being parted at Christmas, while throat-singing duo PIQSIQ also return with the latest in their series decolonialising and examining the festive season, with their striking take on “Ave Maria”.

We celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Jim Bryson’s 'Instant Holiday Album' as a means to also celebrate the release of 'Country Wi-Fi', his 7th album earlier this year. A gentle, hushed swoon of a record that is at once intimate and all embracing, it is a joy to have him back doing what he does best- quietly proving himself to be one of Canada’s finest singer-songwriters.

Our thanks as ever go out to the artists, labels and managers who make this project possible each and every year. You can read full notes on each act as well as links to their work on each individual track page.

Jon Neher assisted making sure everything sounds as good as it can, and Tyson McShane (of Slow Down, Molasses) provided the image of a ski lesson on a farm near Humbolt, Saskatchewan

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.