I'm Mr. White Christmas. I'm Mr. Cool.
So I'm a liar.
Last year I promised that after compiling the fabulous Shake Hands With Santa Claus! mix, I'd never do another Christmas mix, as not only could that one not be topped, but I got so burnt out on Christmas music entirely that I couldn't imagine putting myself through another Christmas music wild goose hunt this year.
And yet, here we are.
While I don't think this mix tops last year's, I do think it equals it, and maybe keeping in mind the weeks of work last year's took, I was able to stay focused and put this together in a few days.
Plus, among the crappy Christmas music released year in and year out, there is some good stuff to pick out for saving, and well... here we are. This blog's THIRD annual Christmas mix.
Ladies and gentleman, Down the Chimney Tonight.
01. The Nat King Cole Trio - All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth) [MJ Cole Remix]
Last year I included a remix along with the stipulation that I generally detest remixes, but once in awhile, they turn can be made pretty cool. MJ Cole's tuneup of this Nat King Cole version of one of the most annoying Christmas songs ever is not only far from annoying, but actually rides a nice modern groove and serves as a good opener for this year's mix. The rest of the 2005 compilation Merry Mixmas is hit and miss, but with most remix albums, there's usually at least one cool thing to be found. Here it is.
02. Louis Armstrong with the Commanders - Cool Yule
I don't know why, but along with "'Zat You, Santa Claus?," Louis' 1953 Christmas songs have reaped heaps of acclaim and inclusion in recent years, and of course, a lot of cred amongst music snobs, despite the fact they're turning up in movies like "Elf" and "Four Christmases" (the former of which is actually quite alright and the latter I don't really plan on ever seeing). I would have liked to have heard this more when I was young, but alas. I have it now, and so does everyone, but beans... it sounds good in the #2 spot.
03. Vashti Bunyan & Twice As Much - Coldest Night of the Year
My knowledge of Vashti and/or Twice As Much is incredibly limited, but this is culled from an anthology of her time on Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label, and it has a nice, mid-60s thickness to it. I guess we can all make assumptions as to why Vashti never got enough props in her own time (maybe the name wasn't unique enough?), but as with most 1960s music that flew drastically under the radar, it only makes finding it later that much cooler.
04. Mel Torme - Good King Wenceslas
Strangely enough, Torme didn't get around to doing a Christmas album until 1992, which is odd considering he'd penned "The Christmas Song" almost 40 years prior. Christmas Songs has a few nice moments -- it's pretty much what you'd expect a Torme Christmas album to be, but to his credit, he not only did his song, but bucked the trend that everyone seems to take with this song in doing it in the most traditional means imaginable. Thank God someone realized this could swing... albeit quietly.
05. Lou Rawls - Christmas Will Really Be Christmas
Lou's voice, I think, was almost as tailor-made for Christmas songs as Nat King Cole's was, and the fact that Rawls was a bit more adventurous with the kind of material he wanted to do in his career and on his Christmas albums (ranging from easy listening standards to this kind of more soulful original material) gives him a bit of a leg up. The sentiments here are pretty run-of-the-mill and the whole shebang comes and goes almost too quickly, but the fact that it's driven by a tight little drum and bass groove probably makes this track one of the most potent holiday numbers Rawls ever recorded.
06. Meiko - Maybe Next Year (X-Mas Song)
I'm still going through my crisis of trying to determine whether Meiko is OK to like or whether I'm buying into something that a lot of high school girls are, but in the meantime, she's still releasing pretty cool stuff. This whole song is kind of dark -- dude making the girl sin, girl gunning the dude down and, therefore, not expecting any presents from Santa this year -- but the big refrain of "Maybe next year I'll be good, maybe next year I'll be better" is pretty cool, as is breaking into "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" during the instrumental break.
07. Bing Crosby - Looks Like a Cold, Cold Winter
At my last count, Bing released somewhere around 4,029 Christmas records, and if any guy ever seriously wanted to make a play at being the official musical voice of Christmas, they'd have to take Bing down (and apparently he wasn't one to back off from a fight, either). I have no idea where this was originally culled from -- I pulled it from a recently released Crosby/Andrews Sisters compilation and not only was it a song I'd never heard, but it also wasn't too terribly schmaltzy. So there you go, listen to this and try not to think too much about the guy's temper.
08. Rotary Connection - Christmas Love
From Rotary Connection's 1968 album Peace, I think this song probably drove the people at Motown crazy. I think this is the kind of stuff Motown was shooting for with its Christmas songs, but if it's artists weren't trying to vamp up standards, its songwriters were predominantly writing non-secular material (despite having hits with secular originals like "What Christmas Means to Me"). Nevertheless, Rotary Connection turned in a vaguely Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell-sounding duet with this track, and (for my money, at least) momentarily bettered the Motown formula.
09. Randy Greer & Ignasi Terraza Trio - Wrap Yourself in a Christmas Package
When I think "Italian jazz" and an album recorded in Barcelona, pretty much the last thing on my mind is "Christmas," yet, here we are. This pull from 2005's Christmas Swings in Barcelona highlights one of Charles Brown's less famous Christmas tunes (everyone always goes right for "Please Come Home For Christmas" or "Merry Christmas, Baby"), and while this isn't as entirely endearing as the more famous stuff, it's not without its charms either. Plus, even if you are entirely indifferent to it, it says its piece in under two and a half minutes. I think it's pretty cool, though.
10. Booker T. & the MG's - Jingle Bells
Throughout the years, "Jingle Bells" has pretty much taken the mantle of being my most personally detested Christmas song. I loved it to death when I was all of three and four years old, but for the same reason that I loved songs like "London Bridge" and whatever they sang on "Sesame Street" - it was easy to remember and I learned all the words. Now I just find it innane. So leave it to Booker T. and Co. to cut out the vocals, replace 'em with organ and electric guitar and win me right back into this song's favor. I ask you, is there anything an organ can't do?
11. 747s - Blue Christmas
This was pulled from a 2006 indie Christmas compilation called It's Not Like Christmas, and while I probably would say I dig this (I'm a big fan of the 747s' lone album, Zampano), I think the fact that they stayed faithful to Elvis Presley's reading -- even down to the lazily spiraling backing harmonies -- is pretty cool and shows their true faithfulness to early rock and roll. I'd have liked a full Christmas album from 747s. Then again, I'd have liked another album of any kind from 747s.
12. Patti Page - Frosty the Snowman (Rondo Brothers Remix)
This was culled from the same Six Degrees Christmas Remix albums that culled last year's Louis Armstrong & Velma Middleton's remix. I'm not as up on this one as I am that or even the Nat King Cole one, but I think "Frosty the Snowman" can be a cool Christmas song, but everyone just seems to do it in an annoying or overly emotional way. Page's original veers toward the latter, but putting a bit of a thumpy beat underneath it and giving this thing some muscle does wonders.
13. Eric Reed (feat. Paula West) - Santa Baby
Pulled from the jazz pianist's 2003 holiday album Merry Magic, Reed does the impossible here by employing jazz singer Paula West and finding a medium in which to make me like this song, which I've always thought was grotesque in it's overstated attempts at sexiness. Don't get me wrong -- I like Eartha Kitt (particularly in "The Emperor's New Groove"), but it's when the Pussycat Dolls and pretty much any girl with half a breathy voice gets their hands on it, that I get a little peeved. West's delivery is a bit more direct and the jazzy backing really does wonders for this thing.
14. Over the Rhine - Darlin' (Christmas is Coming)
I had a big personal dilemma about putting this on the mix -- I don't even remember how I stumbled upon this song in that I don't know anything about Over the Rhine, and this song teeters a bit too close to the coffeehouse schmaltz that can produce some good stuff but also produce a lot of oversentimental crap. Ultimately, though, the quality of the tune won out, and as good music should, it earned its spot on here.
15. William Bell - Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday
Bell, probably most famous for "I Forgot To Be Your Lover," wrote some fantastic blues songs in his time at Stax -- "My Whole World is Falling Down" is especially worth checking out -- and this song pretty much follows that theme, just includes allusions to the holidays, and so, gets constituted as a Christmas song. Cheap way in, maybe, but who can't use a bit of William Bell (a.k.a. good soul) on their mixes? Certainly not me.
16. Brenda Lee - Papa Noel
Everyone knows Lee for "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and thoughts of a Michael Jordan standup cutout circling the McAllister family living room on a train as Macaulay Culkin tries one of many early attempts to confound Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. But on the original 7" of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," this cut was on the B-side. Maybe it's years of hearing the A-side, maybe it's the fact that I always thought it was a halfway cool song, but not entirely, I don't know... For my money, however, this song trumps the A-side and needs to get a bit more play. Here's my humble push for that.
17. Raul Malo - White Christmas
I don't know much about Malo or his recent Christmas album Marshmallow World, but I like this version of "White Christmas." Bing did the most famous version, the Drifters did the best version, and this finds the perfect medium. Putting a lot of emphasis on the baritone lead vocal, but balancing with a bit of a simple soul backing (in this case, just bass and fingersnaps), the song doesn't overstay its welcome. Which is good. Because in so many versions I've heard, it really does.
18. Belle & Sebastian - Are You Coming Over For Christmas?
Belle & Sebastian need to do a Christmas album. Seriously. From already putting round a fine version of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" to opting to cover (and do a good job of) "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto" for a BBC session, they've showed their well versed at the holiday stuff, and have the panache to back up their choices. Even the originals -- like this one, put up exclusively on their website and MySpace page last year -- is terribly good. So why wait any longer? Let's get on that holiday album, you Scots.
19. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Mr. Heat Miser
I didn't like the late 1990s ska fad and to this day I've never seen "The Year Without a Santa Claus," but I like this version of this song. It's a bit of a left field choice, it's delivered with some verve and I can get away with putting Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on a mix, because it's under the catch all excuse of being a Christmas mix. Hell, if the Jonas Brothers recorded a good Christmas song... no. No, I wouldn't.
20. Old 97's - Here It Is Christmas Time
Rhett included a solo demo of this song on his MySpace page two years ago, and then last year it was posted on iTunes as an Old 97's song, so I'm guessing they pounded this one out in the midst of recording this year's fabulous Blame It On Gravity album. This runs a bit close to solo Rhett material (try not to think it's "Come Around" when that first chord hits), and the bit about "delicious peach pie" makes me roll my eyes a little, but c'est la vie. It's the Old 97's, right? I love the Old 97's. And for all it's shortcomings, this song is still pretty damn good.
And a Merry Christmas season to all you fabulous readers.
Last year I promised that after compiling the fabulous Shake Hands With Santa Claus! mix, I'd never do another Christmas mix, as not only could that one not be topped, but I got so burnt out on Christmas music entirely that I couldn't imagine putting myself through another Christmas music wild goose hunt this year.
And yet, here we are.
While I don't think this mix tops last year's, I do think it equals it, and maybe keeping in mind the weeks of work last year's took, I was able to stay focused and put this together in a few days.
Plus, among the crappy Christmas music released year in and year out, there is some good stuff to pick out for saving, and well... here we are. This blog's THIRD annual Christmas mix.
Ladies and gentleman, Down the Chimney Tonight.
Down the Chimney Tonight
The 2008 "Ain't Superstitious, But These Things I've Seen..." Christmas Mix
DOWNLOAD IN A ZIP FILE FROM SAVEFILE (click on link to take you to download page)
DOWNLOAD IN A ZIP FILE FROM SAVEFILE (click on link to take you to download page)
01. The Nat King Cole Trio - All I Want For Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth) [MJ Cole Remix]
Last year I included a remix along with the stipulation that I generally detest remixes, but once in awhile, they turn can be made pretty cool. MJ Cole's tuneup of this Nat King Cole version of one of the most annoying Christmas songs ever is not only far from annoying, but actually rides a nice modern groove and serves as a good opener for this year's mix. The rest of the 2005 compilation Merry Mixmas is hit and miss, but with most remix albums, there's usually at least one cool thing to be found. Here it is.
02. Louis Armstrong with the Commanders - Cool Yule
I don't know why, but along with "'Zat You, Santa Claus?," Louis' 1953 Christmas songs have reaped heaps of acclaim and inclusion in recent years, and of course, a lot of cred amongst music snobs, despite the fact they're turning up in movies like "Elf" and "Four Christmases" (the former of which is actually quite alright and the latter I don't really plan on ever seeing). I would have liked to have heard this more when I was young, but alas. I have it now, and so does everyone, but beans... it sounds good in the #2 spot.
03. Vashti Bunyan & Twice As Much - Coldest Night of the Year
My knowledge of Vashti and/or Twice As Much is incredibly limited, but this is culled from an anthology of her time on Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label, and it has a nice, mid-60s thickness to it. I guess we can all make assumptions as to why Vashti never got enough props in her own time (maybe the name wasn't unique enough?), but as with most 1960s music that flew drastically under the radar, it only makes finding it later that much cooler.
04. Mel Torme - Good King Wenceslas
Strangely enough, Torme didn't get around to doing a Christmas album until 1992, which is odd considering he'd penned "The Christmas Song" almost 40 years prior. Christmas Songs has a few nice moments -- it's pretty much what you'd expect a Torme Christmas album to be, but to his credit, he not only did his song, but bucked the trend that everyone seems to take with this song in doing it in the most traditional means imaginable. Thank God someone realized this could swing... albeit quietly.
05. Lou Rawls - Christmas Will Really Be Christmas
Lou's voice, I think, was almost as tailor-made for Christmas songs as Nat King Cole's was, and the fact that Rawls was a bit more adventurous with the kind of material he wanted to do in his career and on his Christmas albums (ranging from easy listening standards to this kind of more soulful original material) gives him a bit of a leg up. The sentiments here are pretty run-of-the-mill and the whole shebang comes and goes almost too quickly, but the fact that it's driven by a tight little drum and bass groove probably makes this track one of the most potent holiday numbers Rawls ever recorded.
06. Meiko - Maybe Next Year (X-Mas Song)
I'm still going through my crisis of trying to determine whether Meiko is OK to like or whether I'm buying into something that a lot of high school girls are, but in the meantime, she's still releasing pretty cool stuff. This whole song is kind of dark -- dude making the girl sin, girl gunning the dude down and, therefore, not expecting any presents from Santa this year -- but the big refrain of "Maybe next year I'll be good, maybe next year I'll be better" is pretty cool, as is breaking into "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" during the instrumental break.
07. Bing Crosby - Looks Like a Cold, Cold Winter
At my last count, Bing released somewhere around 4,029 Christmas records, and if any guy ever seriously wanted to make a play at being the official musical voice of Christmas, they'd have to take Bing down (and apparently he wasn't one to back off from a fight, either). I have no idea where this was originally culled from -- I pulled it from a recently released Crosby/Andrews Sisters compilation and not only was it a song I'd never heard, but it also wasn't too terribly schmaltzy. So there you go, listen to this and try not to think too much about the guy's temper.
08. Rotary Connection - Christmas Love
From Rotary Connection's 1968 album Peace, I think this song probably drove the people at Motown crazy. I think this is the kind of stuff Motown was shooting for with its Christmas songs, but if it's artists weren't trying to vamp up standards, its songwriters were predominantly writing non-secular material (despite having hits with secular originals like "What Christmas Means to Me"). Nevertheless, Rotary Connection turned in a vaguely Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell-sounding duet with this track, and (for my money, at least) momentarily bettered the Motown formula.
09. Randy Greer & Ignasi Terraza Trio - Wrap Yourself in a Christmas Package
When I think "Italian jazz" and an album recorded in Barcelona, pretty much the last thing on my mind is "Christmas," yet, here we are. This pull from 2005's Christmas Swings in Barcelona highlights one of Charles Brown's less famous Christmas tunes (everyone always goes right for "Please Come Home For Christmas" or "Merry Christmas, Baby"), and while this isn't as entirely endearing as the more famous stuff, it's not without its charms either. Plus, even if you are entirely indifferent to it, it says its piece in under two and a half minutes. I think it's pretty cool, though.
10. Booker T. & the MG's - Jingle Bells
Throughout the years, "Jingle Bells" has pretty much taken the mantle of being my most personally detested Christmas song. I loved it to death when I was all of three and four years old, but for the same reason that I loved songs like "London Bridge" and whatever they sang on "Sesame Street" - it was easy to remember and I learned all the words. Now I just find it innane. So leave it to Booker T. and Co. to cut out the vocals, replace 'em with organ and electric guitar and win me right back into this song's favor. I ask you, is there anything an organ can't do?
11. 747s - Blue Christmas
This was pulled from a 2006 indie Christmas compilation called It's Not Like Christmas, and while I probably would say I dig this (I'm a big fan of the 747s' lone album, Zampano), I think the fact that they stayed faithful to Elvis Presley's reading -- even down to the lazily spiraling backing harmonies -- is pretty cool and shows their true faithfulness to early rock and roll. I'd have liked a full Christmas album from 747s. Then again, I'd have liked another album of any kind from 747s.
12. Patti Page - Frosty the Snowman (Rondo Brothers Remix)
This was culled from the same Six Degrees Christmas Remix albums that culled last year's Louis Armstrong & Velma Middleton's remix. I'm not as up on this one as I am that or even the Nat King Cole one, but I think "Frosty the Snowman" can be a cool Christmas song, but everyone just seems to do it in an annoying or overly emotional way. Page's original veers toward the latter, but putting a bit of a thumpy beat underneath it and giving this thing some muscle does wonders.
13. Eric Reed (feat. Paula West) - Santa Baby
Pulled from the jazz pianist's 2003 holiday album Merry Magic, Reed does the impossible here by employing jazz singer Paula West and finding a medium in which to make me like this song, which I've always thought was grotesque in it's overstated attempts at sexiness. Don't get me wrong -- I like Eartha Kitt (particularly in "The Emperor's New Groove"), but it's when the Pussycat Dolls and pretty much any girl with half a breathy voice gets their hands on it, that I get a little peeved. West's delivery is a bit more direct and the jazzy backing really does wonders for this thing.
14. Over the Rhine - Darlin' (Christmas is Coming)
I had a big personal dilemma about putting this on the mix -- I don't even remember how I stumbled upon this song in that I don't know anything about Over the Rhine, and this song teeters a bit too close to the coffeehouse schmaltz that can produce some good stuff but also produce a lot of oversentimental crap. Ultimately, though, the quality of the tune won out, and as good music should, it earned its spot on here.
15. William Bell - Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday
Bell, probably most famous for "I Forgot To Be Your Lover," wrote some fantastic blues songs in his time at Stax -- "My Whole World is Falling Down" is especially worth checking out -- and this song pretty much follows that theme, just includes allusions to the holidays, and so, gets constituted as a Christmas song. Cheap way in, maybe, but who can't use a bit of William Bell (a.k.a. good soul) on their mixes? Certainly not me.
16. Brenda Lee - Papa Noel
Everyone knows Lee for "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and thoughts of a Michael Jordan standup cutout circling the McAllister family living room on a train as Macaulay Culkin tries one of many early attempts to confound Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. But on the original 7" of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," this cut was on the B-side. Maybe it's years of hearing the A-side, maybe it's the fact that I always thought it was a halfway cool song, but not entirely, I don't know... For my money, however, this song trumps the A-side and needs to get a bit more play. Here's my humble push for that.
17. Raul Malo - White Christmas
I don't know much about Malo or his recent Christmas album Marshmallow World, but I like this version of "White Christmas." Bing did the most famous version, the Drifters did the best version, and this finds the perfect medium. Putting a lot of emphasis on the baritone lead vocal, but balancing with a bit of a simple soul backing (in this case, just bass and fingersnaps), the song doesn't overstay its welcome. Which is good. Because in so many versions I've heard, it really does.
18. Belle & Sebastian - Are You Coming Over For Christmas?
Belle & Sebastian need to do a Christmas album. Seriously. From already putting round a fine version of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" to opting to cover (and do a good job of) "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto" for a BBC session, they've showed their well versed at the holiday stuff, and have the panache to back up their choices. Even the originals -- like this one, put up exclusively on their website and MySpace page last year -- is terribly good. So why wait any longer? Let's get on that holiday album, you Scots.
19. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Mr. Heat Miser
I didn't like the late 1990s ska fad and to this day I've never seen "The Year Without a Santa Claus," but I like this version of this song. It's a bit of a left field choice, it's delivered with some verve and I can get away with putting Big Bad Voodoo Daddy on a mix, because it's under the catch all excuse of being a Christmas mix. Hell, if the Jonas Brothers recorded a good Christmas song... no. No, I wouldn't.
20. Old 97's - Here It Is Christmas Time
Rhett included a solo demo of this song on his MySpace page two years ago, and then last year it was posted on iTunes as an Old 97's song, so I'm guessing they pounded this one out in the midst of recording this year's fabulous Blame It On Gravity album. This runs a bit close to solo Rhett material (try not to think it's "Come Around" when that first chord hits), and the bit about "delicious peach pie" makes me roll my eyes a little, but c'est la vie. It's the Old 97's, right? I love the Old 97's. And for all it's shortcomings, this song is still pretty damn good.
And a Merry Christmas season to all you fabulous readers.
Labels: Mix
posted by Paul at 28.11.08
5 Comments:
Great mix - I especially like that you've added Meiko's holiday song in there - and don't worry - I'm a 30 year-old woman who loves Meiko - my girl (and guy!) friends do too - we saw her play live about a month ago and she hung out and did shots with us at the bar after the gig - she's awesome in our books!
OK. I'm taking your word for it. Glad you enjoyed the mix.
Hey there, you may or not be interested but we released our own Christmas compilation this afternoon featuring such lumanaries as Jape, the Cloud Room, Bill Baird, The Winks and Idaho. All the festive tunes are original and 13 of them were written especially for ‘An Indiecater Christmas’. The album is streaming 24/7 at http://www.indiecater.com
Merry Christmas to you, too, Paul!
Any change you can re-post 2007 and 2006 Christmas mixes? Please? Pretty please with all sorts of carbs on top?! I just found your blog and I really want the complete collection!! Thanks.
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