More Christmas music that doesn’t suck
After handing poor Kitty a crushing disappointment by telling her I probably wasn’t going to do a Christmas music compilation this year, I kept running across good tracks that would probably work well on one, hearing about interesting new Christmas albums coming out, and turning on the TV to see artists giving fantastic holiday performances. Then I sorted through my mp3s and realized I had more than five hours of unused holiday songs, including some good ones that I’ve been planning on using since the first volume but kept bumping for various reasons. So, not only was I able to compile a mix for this year, but I’ve managed to get an early start on next year’s compilation. But more on that later (i.e., in one year). Here’s my 2006 holiday compilation. (See previous compilations here.)
X-mas IV (2006)
1. Marah – New York Is a Christmas Kind of Town
2. Guided by Voices – Father Sgt. Christmas Card
3. The Killers – A Great Big Sled
4. Ben Folds – Bizarre Christmas Incident
5. Mojo Nixon & the Toadliquors – Mr. Grinch
6. The Sonics – Santa Claus
7. Belle & Sebastian – Santa Claus, Go Straight to the Ghetto
8. Travis – Last Christmas
9. Marshall Crenshaw – Daddy’s Drinking Up All for Christmas
10. Bright Eyes – Blue Christmas
11. Alex Chilton – The Christmas Song
12. Kristin Hersh – Jesus Christ
13. Sufjan Stevens – Ding! Dong!
14. Olivia Tremor Control – Christmas with William S.
15. The Waitresses – Christmas Wrapping
16. Fountains of Wayne – Valley Winter Song
17. Luna – Egg Nog
18. Brian Wilson – What I Really Want for Christmas
19. Dennis Wilson – Holy Evening
20. Low – Taking Down the Tree
21. Sarah McLachlan – River
22. Tom McRae – Wonderful Christmas
23. Aimee Mann – I Was Thinking I Could Clean Up for Christmas
24. Pilate – Fairytale of New York
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Hey, uh, the links are broken to those mp3s…
How about “Merry Muthafuckin’ Christmas” by Eazy-E?
I can heartily, perhaps even a little lustily, recommend Jonathan Coulton’s ‘Chiron Beta Prime’ as the best Christmas song I have heard lately.
His website is at http://www.jonathancoulton.com/, and the song can be downloaded free from http://www.jonathancoulton.com/songs.
Those are all relatively new songs. Have you ever heard Alabama’s (the band) first Christmas CD? It’s very good!
How could you leave out the Red Aunts’ “Little Drummer Bitch?”
Whatever happened to “Happy Christmas, War is Over” by John Lennon? That’s a good song… And Johnny sings in it.
What about The Kinks’ Father Christmas?
Overdue responses, in order:
Ely: If you could help me find out where and how I might host them, I will gladly post the mp3s to this and the previous compilations for all to enjoy.
MC Ren: I am sorry for overlooking your N.W.A. compatriot Eazy-E. I’m not sure how well gangsta rap would it on this compilation, though.
Phil: I haven’t heard that one, but I’ll certainly check it out.
Nathan: They aren’t all relatively new. The Sonics track dates back to 1966, for instance. The Waitresses’s song is totally early eighties new wave, and of course, Dennis Wilson died around that time, so there hasn’t been anything new from him in a while, nor am I holding my breath waiting for any. (Is it tasteless to say “holding my breath” when talking about a drowning victim? Is it like saying I’m totally starved for some new material from the Carpenters?) Anyway, I’d have to hear the Alabama song, but I’m not sure how well country music would fit in this mix, no matter how good it might be on its own merits.
Coyote Librarian: See Phil.
Alistaire Moon: That is a good song. Sadly, though, it’s really overplayed, which is why I’ve steered clear of it. I heard it earlier tonight in a restaurant, amid a whole bunch of other holiday tunes that made me cringe. But I did include a cover version of it by the Alarm on my first holiday compilation, which you can see here.
Bill G: The Kinks’ “Father Christmas” is a great song, and it very nearly made the cut for this mix. I ultimately decided to hold it over for next year’s compilation, which projects to be significantly more rockin’ than previous volumes. Expect some more Sonics, Pearl Jam, the Darkness, and the Twisted Sister version of “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful”, which sounds ridiculously like “We’re Not Gonna Take it” with different lyrics.
Here’s my list, not all great – some of the songs have been chosen for their prime suckitude – from my musical advent calendar (just add the word “advent” to my URL here to get them all in tasty MP3 format before New Year):
James Brown – Santa Claus, Go Straight to the Ghetto
Chillaz - Clint Frostwood
The Soulful Strings – Sleigh Ride
Hello Kitty – Winter Wonderland
Momus – Christmas on Earth
Kate Bush – December Will Be Magic Again
Ramsey Lewis Trio – Santa Claus is Coming to Town
John Bongiovi – R2-D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Cypress Hill – The Night Before Christmas
Jethro Tull – Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow Decomposure – Little Drummer Boy
The Granville Williams Orchestra – Santa Claus Is Ska-Ing To Town
Joe Pesci – If It Doesn’t Snow for Christmas Stevie Wonder – What Christmas Means to Me Ulver – Christmas
Julie London – I’d Like You for Christmas (Ursula 1000 Remix)
Martin Newell – Christmas in Suburbia
Goto80 – Last Christmas (Hot Digi Remix)
Spinal Tap – Christmas With the Devil
The Hal Bradley Orchestra with Patty Marie Jay – Space Age Santa Claus
Dagon Tabernacle Choir – Oh Cthulhu
Scott Walker – Winter Night
Donny Hathaway – This Christmas
Well, the James Brown song is pretty apropos for this year, isn’t it? I kind of wished I’d used the original now.