Christmas is coming and kids are having fun (so said the chorus of my fifth grade play "Shaping Up Santa," for which I still know all the words and thankfully no longer have to wear the green elf costume).I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year because of the overabundance of really bad, synthy, jingly, repetitive Christmas music that bombards me at every pass. But tonight I was listening to my friend Dainon's superb radio show out of Salt Lake City and he filled two and a half hours with the kind of Christmas music that reminds me why I do love it.
I tend towards the melancholy, the meaningful, the achingly pretty at this time of year, and tonight's show inspired me to finally put the finishing touches on my own mix of music for the season. Twenty-five songs to get at the goodness under the busy surface this time of year. Enjoy.
NAUGHTY/NICE CHRISTMAS MIX 2008
No Christmas For Me - Zee Avi (new Malaysian artist I'm excited about)
Joy To The World - Clem Snide
Christmas Is Coming Soon - Blitzen Trapper
Egg Nog - Luna
It's Christmas So We'll Stop - Frightened Rabbit
It Won't Seem Like Christmas Without You (alternate take 6) - Elvis Presley
Christmas TV - Slow Club
Sweet Secret Peace - Neil Finn
Xmas Time Is Here Again - My Morning Jacket
Gift X-Change - Calexico
This Christmastime - Mascott & Gramercy Arms
The Secret of Christmas - Ella Fitzgerald
Christmas - Leona Naess
Just Like Christmas - Low
Song For A Winter's Night (Gordon Lightfoot) - Erica Wheeler
Icicles - Let's Go Sailing [from the Plastic Snow compilation]
Goin Home For Christmas - Nicolai Dunger
Goin Home For Christmas - Merle Haggard
Snowfall - Josh Rouse
The First Noel - Pedro The Lion
Please Come Home For Christmas - Willie Nelson
The Gift of Grace - Denison Witmer
New Year's Resolution - Otis Redding & Carla Thomas
Winter Wonderland - Radiohead
Silent Night - Evan Dando
ZIP IT ALL UP, BABY
If you want even more Christmas music, the excellent WXPN out in Philly is hosting 12 Days Of Christmas with local bands and free mp3s each day. Ten down, two to go, check it out.
Merry Christmas.
[image from the fabulous Anne Taintor]
I feel like I'm getting my presents a week early! I've been listening to last year's mix like a fiend, and I've been looking forward to this year's. Thanks so much for posting these, and thanks for all your posts throughout the year! Your blog has been a great way for me to discover new music and you write about it so well.
ReplyDeleteSome of these song choices seem so familiar for some unknown reason. Hmm. Well played, miss.
ReplyDeleteVery nice mix...I will listen to it in my car during a trip from Strasbourg to Clermont-Ferrand (in France)
ReplyDeleteMerry Xmas Heather and thanks again for your wonderdul blog
The only christmas song released this past decade worth anything is that Frightened Rabbit track. It's absolute brilliance.
ReplyDeletePrior to this, the last great xmas song was "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues.
Maybe it's a little cliche or played but definitely would've loved to have seen the Vandals' "Oi to the World on here".
ReplyDeletecaught the 93.3 show stead of IQs/Young Coyotes ... hey, it was free. Roe impresses me more each time, really a great sound ... the others, eh, not so much, Fulcrum just isn't there ... and The Epilogues, well, fans loved the dance sound, but not much to it.
ReplyDeletethis is awesome, thanks!
ReplyDeletesufjan stevens - sister winter
ReplyDeletefits your description of the melancholy, beautiful, etc. perfectly
thanks 4 the zip, its a real zap! merry christmas and happy 09!
ReplyDeleteHi Heather, thanks so much for all the music. Do you know where to find an mp3 of the *choral* version of "It's Christmas So We'll Stop"? Many thanks and happy new year!
ReplyDelete