A black and white and red and white Christmas

Jingle those bells! Joyous news! Barry Hyde and Jaff of The Futureheads and the brothers Brewis of Field Music have teamed up along with an assortment of other North Easterners including This Ain't Vegas, The Golden Virgins, Kathryn Williams and ex-members of Kenickie to record a cover of 'The Twelve Days Of Christmas'. It's due for release on Monday, but as it's limited edition and likely to be sold out, you're probably best off going here to hear it.

And the best thing about it? The collective are calling themselves The Joseph & Mary Chain.

As the website says: "Even if you aren't bothered about the charity, you should still buy the record because it's mint". And I can assure you that that, in the North Eastern vernacular, is the highest form of praise.

(Thanks to Simon for the links.)