Video Premiere: Helvetia – “Christmas Time Is Here”

Just in time for the holidays, Portland-based spacey-indie/post-rock outfit Helvetia, led by Jason Albertini (formerly of Duster and current member of Built To Spill), have teamed up with Pall Jenkins (3 Mile Pilot, Black Heart Procession) to record a new, eerie rendition of the Vince Guaraldi classic “Christmas Time Is Here.”

Helvetia’s classically down-tempo indie experimentation blended with the trippy vibes of Jenkins playing the saw and Marxophone, create an exceptionally gorgeous, albeit gloomy, take on a timeless classic, and a welcome addition to the slowly growing catalogue of non-commercial stab-your-eyes-out Christmas music. And in the spirit of the season, all proceeds from purchases of the track — which is available digitally or on limited cassette through Joyful Noise Recordings (buy it here) — are being donated to The Treatment Advocacy Center, a non-profit organization dedicated exclusively to eliminating barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illness.

Eleven is pleased to premiere the music video for this new holiday classic. Directed by Arden Thira, the video follows a woman through her lonely wanderings around the house and to a neighborhood park where she watches people playing games, and then to the skating rink inside a mall, where she eventually befriends the park-game-players that she’d watched earlier as they skate in a conga line and take photo booth pictures together. It’s a truly heartwarming Christmas story. Watch below.»

– Travis Leipzig