Long time followers of my blog will be quick to point out that every year (annually, some of them might even say) I put out a very robust Christmas mix/playlist for our collective season’s listening pleasure. Traditionally, it’s been rather difficult to distribute this to the masses, though I’ve experienced some moderate success via several venues, so, you know, not every year is a total failure.
It’s a tradition that actually goes back all the way to 2002 when I was working at Hollywood and was allowed to burn a CD (20 song limit) to play on the store’s stereo system. I had to do this, you see, because another employee decided to make their mix, which was thoroughly unlistenable. My first mix was just a mix of Dean Martin and Phil Spector tracks, but from those oh-so-humble beginnings, a spark grew into an uncontrollable, raging Christmas fire of magical flames.
So this year’s mix is the 12th annual one, spanning 120 tracks, and entitled “Through the Snow”. This year is special because I’m actually able to share it with you directly via popular upstart music thing Spotify. The playlist is public and will be available forever.
About this mix, I recently explained it thusly:
It’s pretty much a presentation of 3 types of music which I feel best represent the holiday. There are the 40’s-60’s classics: Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, etc. Then you have the modern interpretations of classics: Aimee Mann, The Heartless Bastards, Jars of Clay, etc. Then you have the very reverent, solemn hymnals, which I hold dear to my heart, probably because of the memories of Christmas Eve services at St. Paul’s. In any case, the mix is specifically designed to ebb and flow through these 3 fields of Christmas music thematically. As the playlist presses on, especially past track 100 (into the final act, as it were), it definitely takes on a more solemn tone, focusing more on the religious theme than the other two. You should notice it flowing from classic to contemporary, from upbeat to relaxing, but maintaining a sense of proportion throughout. The reason it takes me so long to make these mixes is because I’m trying to strike a very delicate balance of presentation; I need it to accurately reflect what I love most about the holiday, and there isn’t a stretch of tracks on the mix that is thrown together without thought to this.
So, it’s really important to know, though, that while I had this option last year, I chose not to do it for one very good reason: Spotify doesn’t have all the songs that are featured on my mix. Specifically, after making it this year, I noticed they didn’t have 17 tracks that I did (that’s 15%, for our accountant friends). So, what you get will be a bit of an edited version. I did the noble thing and actually found semi-suitable replacement tracks for the missing ones, though, really, there’s no replacing some of them. There were 4, in fact, that just didn’t get replaced. For reference sake, the liner notes included here let you know what you’re missing:
02. Silver Bells (Arthur Fielder)
10. The Christmas Song (Ricky Nelson)
25. O Holy Night (Sleeping at Last)
42. Away in a Manger (Instrumental)
48. Silver Bells (Sleeping at Last)
55. We Three Kings (Vienna Boys Choir)
59. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Sleeping at Last)
62. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (Moss)
75. Happy X-mas War is Over (Sleeping at Last)
84. O Come, O Come Emmanuel (Instrumental)
92. I Wonder as I Wander (Mormon Tabernacle Choir)
97. Go Tell it on the Mountain (Instrumental)
102. I Saw Three Ships (Instrumental)
103. Cradle in Bethlehem (Sleeping at Last)
110. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear (Instrumental)
113. What Child is This (Sleeping at Last)
117. Carol of the Bells (Vienna Boys Choir)
The biggest missed opportunity on Spotify’s part here was that they don’t have any of Ryan O’Neil’s (Sleeping at Last) Christmas tracks, so, you guys really miss out there.
Anyway, hopefully this goes SOME WAY towards proving I don’t hate Christmas or Christmas music (as was–and still is–the thought promoted mostly by my controversial post from a couple years ago). Season’s greetings, all.
The Glass City 