Austin band The Gougers, whose A Long Day for the Weathervane is one of my favorites this year, are sharing some holiday cheer with the free download "Just Because It's Christmas". I think I could listen to Jamie Wilson's voice all day long.

More free Christmas-y goodness…

• Download your choice of Dean Martin's "Baby It's Cold Outside," Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song," or a remix of Corinne Bailey Rae's "Like A Star" and Clos du Bois winery will donate $1 to the hunger-relief organization Share Our Strength.
   
• Eclectic singer/songwriter gfire is sharing her outer space mix of "Cantique de Noel".
   
• If you haven't had a chance to pick up Raul Malo's Marshmallow World & Other Holiday Favorites, you can listen to a range of full tracks on MySpace.
   
• You can stream The Decemberists' great cover of "Please Daddy Don't Get Drunk This Christmas".
   
• The rejuvenated NPR Music site has a nice rundown of new holiday albums, with a full track available from each. After sampling the list, we bought The Staple Singers' 25th Day of December and Mindy Smith's My Holiday, both of which make nice additions to our holiday playlist. I also have A Twismas Story lurking in a box somewhere at home, but have yet to excavate it for a full listening — but you simply must sample "Happy the Christmas Clown" … words fail me.

I may add to this as time allows.