best buy dec. 25th

Christmas. 2004. Year of your birth. You were the big one. The mix that started it all. The mix that got me mixin'. The mix that got me obsessed. You were the first mix I spent too much time on; you are the mix closest to my heart. If one of those wise men had called in sick, I would have presented you to baby Jesus.

Oh little baby Jesus, will you accept this gracious musical offering in honor of your very first birthday on this planet? It's music inspired by your birth, you know. A concept album based on the concept of your conception. Is there a more perfect gift? I hope you truly feel this, baby Jesus.

I've always liked the idea of seasonal Christmas music, but creating a mix with the usual songs and carols seemed pretty bland. So a few years ago, I set out to find Christmasy sounding songs which, when put together on an album, could pass for "Christmas Music." And thus, the Christmas mix was born. In later years, I've found it harder to replicate the success of this original mix in terms of finding the right Christmas-sounding songs. Subsequently, the annual Christmas mix has since transformed into a winter mix, but this ol' boy will live on.

Notes:

This was the first mix where I actively strove to create unique, creative transitions between songs. The segway between tracks 1 & 2 took me many moons to perfect. And, listening back, I'm still quite proud of it, even though it does sound a little rough now. The transitions between tracks 3 and 4, 7 and 8, 9 and 10, although simpler, are quite smooth and satisfying.

I originally planned to make some kind of liner notes with a narrative that either paralleled the feeling and emotions of the music or used the track titles to tell a story. Or both. In the end, I never wrote that narrative, but I do feel certain holiday emotions for certain songs. Breakdown:

Seasons passing, time flying (track 1), winter setting in (track 2), muzak in the mall (track 3), holiday cheer (track 4), winter solitude (track 5), winter melancholy (track 6), holiday cheer again (track 7), spiritual warmth (track 8), anxiety, holiday rush (track 9), spiritual warmth again (track 10), the long winter (track 11), holiday slow down (track 12), romantic Christmas by the fire (track 13) caroling (track (14), spiritual serenity (track 15).

Also, I recently found a playlist of "Others"—songs I considered for this Christmas mix. Here's a rundown of the songs that didn't make it in the final cut:

"Blue Noel" by John Zorn, "Mahgeetah" by My Morning Jacket, "Ten-Day Inerval" and "Restless Waters" by Tortoise, "1972 Bronze Metalist" by The Bad Plus, "Mouth Canyon" by Gastr del Sol, "A Subtle One" by Jimmy Smith, " another untitled Jim O'Rourke song, "Pines" by Karate, "Drop Me Off in Harlem" by Sun Ra, "Ghosts" by Albert Ayler,...and..."A Better Shade of Blue" and "Ferris Wheel" by Mas Pan.

Download best buy dec. 25th

Tracklist:

1. gastr del sol - the seasons reverse
2. the mercury program - a delicate answer
3. jim o'rourke - untitled 2
4. fly pan am - univoque equivoque
5. jim o'rourke - untitled 4
6. squirrel nut zippers - my evergreen
7. the bad plus - flim
8. bjork - frosti
9. fly pan am - erreur, errance
10. bjork - aurora
11. the mercury program - to-from iceland
12. four tet - first thing
13. geoff farina - olive or otherwise
14. wilco - hummingbird
15. california guitar trio - eve

Total time: 52:13

Preview Track:


squirrel nut zippers - my evergreen