Telafonica & Friends Presents: Given To Me Long Ago

Yes, it does feel like Telafonica has been quiet of late. That's mostly because we have actually been pretty quiet of late - what with a worldwide pandemic, as well as the small thing of members giving birth, getting married, changing dayjobs and the like. However, no matter what the circumstances, Christmas will always get us back into gear. A bunch of different side projects have done the annual shakeout, as well as  a bunch of friends and their side projects. All together, it makes for an eclectic and decidedly non-generic blast of Christmas cheer. Stream or download for free (set the price to $0 - or make a donation if you wish). And spread the love.

Telafonica And Friends Present...

Telafonica and Friends Present:

The ABC Jugband - Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)

The ABC Jugband
(featuring Blake, Ellie, Rebecca and Adrian from Telafonica, + Matt from St Jambience, Cory, Costa and Æowyn on tap dancing)
covering The Ramones' christmas song for the compilation
I Saw Three Ships (click to get the free download)

Telafonica and Friends Present :

Each Other Now Embrace

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Released December 3, 2012

For Christmas 2008, inspired by heroes like Sufjan Stevens, Perry Como and the Christmas Cocktails Collection, the members of Telafonica decided to make a Christmas compilation for their friends. Splitting off into their various solo guises and different internal collaborations, a handful of tracks were created. Buoyed by the fun and satisfaction of that first collection, they've continued the tradition every year since. In that time, they've given up the pretense of making any real actual Telafonica group tracks, and have also invited some of their friends (and children) to join in the festive fun. Their main goal has been to create Christmas music that the discerning Mariah Carey disliker can enjoy during the end of year season.

Which brings us to 2012. A few new styles, configurations and friends added to the blend means some new artist names and new shades of Christmas. But the same old spirit of making Christmas music that won't make you nauseous, or get stuck in the back of your throat, pervades. We hope you enjoy 'Each Other Now Embrace'. All of the previous years' compilations are also floating around on the world wide web for free download for those who care to look, so go and track them down.

1. Lessons In Time - Be Thou My Vision
2. the onestarband - To The Belly Of A Girl
3. St Jambience - Good King Wenceslas
4. Goldberry - O Little Town Of Bethlehem
5. The ABC Jugband - Do You Hear What I Hear?
6. StephenFox - I Wonder As I Wander
7. Joshua David Lynch - A Seed Is Born
8. The Bells - God Rest You Merry Gentlemen
9. The Vicars - The Little Drummer Boy
10. Los Naranjitos - Mary Had A Baby

Glory To God In The Lowest

Glory To God In The Lowest is available for free download. Click here.



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Released December 9, 2011

The 2011 edition of 4-4-2 Music's Christmas cheer is ready for the holiday season. Starting out with St Jambience using the old Reich-ian phasing technique to get you into the mood - Rudolph on repeat in the shopping mall this ain't!!!! From here, Telafonica's various members head off to their own bedrooms and loungerooms to make contributions that range from intimate folk, to expansive pop, doo-wop to Lowrey organ kiddie-funk, moody atmosphere to electronic minimalism.

Download the album for free (or pay something if you like), burn it to disc and print up some artwork to hand out to friends for Christmas. Then go and download the previous 3 editions as well. You'll never need to listen to Mariah Carey again.

1. St. Jambience - Jingle Phase
2. the onestarband - Glory To God In The Lowest
3. The Bells - Mary's Boy Child
4. Eliza Magill - Go Tell It On The Mountain
5. Lessons In Time - O, Come All Ye Faithless
6. Goldberry - The Friendly Beasts
7. StephenFox - In The Bleak Midwinter
8. The Flying Go-Go Girls - Good King Wenceslas

TelafoniChristmas Invite

Two Things

When is a band practice not a band practice? When Cherry, Blake and Ellie step into the breach and mind children while Adrian and Bec take Bec's mum to Emergency with a bout of Total Global Amnesia. No, Ladies and Gentlemen, never a dull moment at Telafoniland! So first of all I want to say a big thank you and I love you to C., B. and E. who showed us tremendous love and servanthood on Friday night!

Second, I want to announce that this year's long awaited Telafoni-Christmas CD is about to take shape. The title is going to be "Myrrh is Mine" - a phrase from "We Three Kings" which is going to be the song that AJE and I work on. I chose it because it tells a bigger picture about Christmas and I think it captures the difficult year that many of us have had and are still having.

SO, Ellie, Cherry, Blake, Steve, Dave, Celli and the Bells, it's time to whip out your offering for this year's effort! AND we still need to figure out when this year's Christmas party is going to happen - complete with sing-a-long around the old pianer!

Love to everyone! Looking forward to playing with you on Friday night. Let's hope our rescheduled rehearsal on Thursday will be perfect first go. :)

O Come All Ye Faithless

O Come All Ye Faithless is available for free download. click here

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released november 14, 2009
The extended Telafonica family releases its second annual Christmas EP. Featuring the band and its various members' offshoot and side projects, Christmas cheer is attacked from all angles.

Proceedings start with The Bells singing along to a brass band, the lyrics of the classic carol given a more theologically correct twist. Next up Eliza Magill goes for the acapella route in the grand tradition of carolling, only hers is breathtakingly spectacular instead of painfully monochrome. Blake Wassell's Lessons In Time then chimes in with a brand new composition, a stark ballad from the point of view of the shephards. StephenFox breaks his self-imposed silence and telafones in his rendition of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - the recording made with a set of headphones as the microphone. Telafonica itself then rounds out the collection with a version of the Australian Christmas classic The North Wind. Anyone who has been to primary school in Australia in the last 50 years will no doubt remember learning this song from the ABC songbook which celebrates the fact that here we celebrate Christmas as it should be celebrated - protecting yourself from sunburn and bushfire while watching the heat dry up the grass before your eyes.

To see the full download page, click here.

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1. The Bells - O Come All Ye Faithless
2. Eliza Magill - Ding Dong Merrily On High
4. Lessons In Time - Lying Beneath Strong Clouds
5. StephenFox - God Rest Ye Mery Gentlemen
6. Telafonica - Christmas Day (The North Wind)

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the north wind

blake, have you done anything with the christmas song that bec wants us to do? i have a nice rhythm track that i quite like, but can't work out anything nice and atmospheric for the music. do you have a chord structure at all? i've got it happening in g at the moment. i quite like the melody, and since there's only 2 verses, i'm not completely convinced we need to change the melody, but a darker chord structure underneath would probably do the trick. the rhythm i have is a lot slower than any recording of it i've heard before.

david, would you be interested in recycling your old christmas desktop images? i had a thought that it might be nice to put your old christmas desktops as bonus things on our christmas giveaway cds this year. or new ones.

A Whale In A Manger

A Whale In A Manger is available for free download. click here

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released december 6, 2008

Telafonica and its various members' solo projects played an end of year gig together on December 6, 2008. To commemorate, a limited edition Christmas EP was recorded, featuring the different offshoots - Lessons In Time, Eliza Magill, The Onestarband and The Bells, as well as Telafonica - doing versions of Christmas songs. Inspired by Sufjan Stevens and The Desks, the idea was to make a short run for friends and fans to receive for free at the show.

With all the physical copies now gone, the EP has been made available for free download through 4-4-2 Music. Featuring 320kbps mp3 files and 300 dpi pdf artwork. Or you can stream it on the player below.

Read a review here.

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1. The Bells - A Whale In A Manger
2. Telafonica - Angels We Have Heard On High
3. Eliza Magill - Joy To The World
4. Lessons In Time - O Holy Night
5. The Onestarband - O Little Town Of Bethlehem
6. Telafonica - Good News (Sing For Joy)

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