Once again it's time for the annual 'Zaftig Research Holiday Sampler,' this time with the following artists: Stolen Light, Fail, Wilt Praying For Oblivion, Noise Hangover, Ben Arp, D.K.E., Narishkeyt, Orange, Persons Unknown & Praying For Oblivion, Goose, Platonoff, This What I Hear When You Talk, and R4. So let's delve into the goodies left under the tree this year, shall we? Stolen Light's "Black Friday Doorbusters" is a holiday shopping frenzied nightmare with a full consumer riot and noisy as fuck. Fail's track title "Something Far More Witty and Seasonal Would Have Been Here Had I Spent More Time On This" belies the excellent grey atmospheric droney dark ambient piece they offer in a little over 4 minutes. An ever darker, more malevolent ambient piece by Wilt follows, "Abyssal Soltice Chant," and even though I didn't hear any chanting, it's still a very cool piece. Praying For Oblivion's "Platschhonk + Bahkauv" is a sheet of industrial noise with modulations. When you are "Alone in the Space" Noise Hangover will drop by and terrorize you, sublimely and discreetly. Ben Arp's "Silent Night" at first sounds like the iconic carol was played on a glass harp, then turns into an industrial rock instrumental. D.K.E.'s "Christmas In T.V. Land" sounds like a noisy surrealistic dream in nightmare land. Go down the "Rabbit Hole" with Narishkeyt and experience a different kind of noise. Orange gives us "Father Christmas" which features the chains of Marley's Ghost, an electronically processed vocal recitation but is cut off abruptly. "Stechpalmen" by Persons Unknown & Praying For Oblivion is a howling, phase-shifted noise piece that I swear is masking some choir music. Goose steers us into some "Holiday Traffic" but the roads seem only lightly traveled. Platonoff's"Escalation" smacks with buzzy resonance and then the sound of things being broken, I think. Home invasion under the Christmas Tree or Krampus's Industrial Workshop? And the award for the artist with the longest track title goes to This What I Hear When You Talk for "I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus. The she started kssing all the elves, which was awkward. Once she moved on to the reindeer, I felt it was time for me to stop filming and leave." The track is a chaotic bundle of noise and voices and other sounds. Makes as much sense as the title. Thankfully, R4's "Silent Night" is not a rehash of the Christmas carol, but a very low key grey ambient soundscape. And there you have it, the '2024 Zaftig Research Holiday Sampler' and a good one at that. I think I've enjoyed this one more than previous Zaftig Holiday Samplers, and thanks for the Peanuts Christmas card Brett. Happy New Year!