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Of course at the same time, so much Christmas music is produced with such insufferably cheeriness that it's, well, insufferable. God knows the holidays are just as much about disappointment, an inability to recreate the past and the passage of time as about blithe celebration. Hopefully this mix will succeed in balancing that hope and alongside songs about the imperfect reality that is more often our lot.
As with so much that I do here on OWM, the annual Christmas mix is, like last year's stunning (according to me) debut, an attempt to create a new, more different cannon. This year's edition is another corker. There's a song about Otis Redding followed by a song BY Otis Redding (don't worry, it totally works), an R.E.M. fanclub single version of "Silver Bells" as a country ballad (it's cheesy but don't worry, it totally works) and a live Tom Waits throwing "Silent Night" into a song about a whore (this too will totally work). It feature's Kanye's utterly inappropriate cheer as well as a relatively appropriate version of "The Fairytale Of New York" by everyone's favorite Irishman and some jazzy jive from Chicago legend Kurt Elling. Also, there's a fairly extended Stan Freberg skit - deal with it.
So have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Tip-Top Tet, Kwazy Kwanza and Solemn, Dignified Ramadan.
Download the Mix As A .RAR
1. It's Christmas Time - Yo La Tengo
2. Cool Yule - Kurt Elling
3. Christmas In Harlem [Remix][feat. Cam'ron, Jim Jones, Vado, Cyhi Da Prynce, Pusha-T, Musiq Soulchild, Teyana Taylor, Big Sean] - Kanye West
4. It's Christmas So We'll Stop - Frightened Rabbit
5. This Christmas [Donny Hathaway] - The Dismemberment Plan
6. A Christmas Carol - Tom Lehrer
7. Listening To Otis Redding At Home During Christmas - Okkervil River
8. Merry Christmas Baby - Otis Redding
9. Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin' - Tinsley Ellis
10. Silver Bells - R.E.M.
11. Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto - James Brown
12. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee
13. Christmas Party [feat. Nicole Sheahan] - The Walkmen
14. Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight) - The Ramones
15. Silent Night/A Christmas Carol From A Hooker In Minneapolis [Live On Austin City Limits] - Tom Waits
16. The Fairytale Of New York [The Pogues][Live On WMFU] - Ted Leo
17. Christmas Dragnet - Stan Freberg
18. My Dear Acquaintance (A Happy New Year) - Regina Spektor
Tip top Tet, eh? Like your mix, something for everyone...even Uncle Joe.
ReplyDeleteWell, using Krusty's words.
ReplyDeleteI would have, of course gone with the more formal "cung chúc tân xuân!" (Or "gracious wishes of the new spring!" for the culturally illiterate)