Ex-editor of the sadly defunct Melody Maker, author of Nirvana: The Biography and now proprietor of the excellent Collapse Board website, Everett True has not one but two Christmas mixtapes available to download just now. They covers all bases from the popular to the obscure, from funk to country to punk to indie(ish) and everything in-between. Everett himself says:
I spend great chunks of early December arranging and rearranging the 1,500+ Christmas songs in my iTunes folder into various playlists: for family, for friends, not for the children, and so on. Odd that I do so, as I’m really not fond of this time of year otherwise (although that feeling is changing as our family increases). This year, my task has been somewhat hampered by Daniel (aged 2) destroying the external hard drive, just two weeks after I’d transferred my entire cache of 2011 music onto it.
I suspend most of my regular aesthetic values when it comes to this season. As long as there’s a sleigh bell or an overtly schmaltzy production or a smart-ass lyric decrying the fact Santa NEVER BRINGS ANY FUCKING PRESENTS or some soulful heartfelt emotion or … well, anything to do with the season, really … I’m happy. I do have limits of course: Fiona Apple, that excrescence of a Bob Dylan Christmas album that appeared a while back, most of the She And Him Christmas album (although they still manage to sneak onto the collection below), most of X Factor (but not all), anything too self-consciously smart and/or indie. But really. Where else are you going to find a compilation that boasts Mariah Carey, The Moonbears, Willie Nelson, Can and Wild Billy Childish’s killer cut ‘Christmas 1979′?
As ever, the following restrictions apply:
The track-listing on the mix-tapes differs slightly to the one below. Copyright considerations, and all that. Also, the compilations will be available for a limited period only. If you like any of the featured artists, please track back to their MySpace sites, record company home pages and the like, and show support by purchasing their music direct.
Download A Christmas Gift from Everett True 2011, part one here.
Download A Christmas Gift from Everett True 2011, part two here.
As he says, download these now as they’ll be taken down very soon.
A Christmas Gift from Everett True 2011, part one:
1. Can – Silent Night
2. She & Him – Silver Bells
3. The Long Ryders – Christmas In New Zealand
4. Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas Is You
5. The Darkness – Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)
6. Eartha Kitt – Santa Baby
7. Factory Star – Lucybel
8. Joey Ramone – Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
9. Louis Armstrong And The Commanders – ‘Zat You, Santa Claus?
10. The Moonbears – We Can’t Spoil Christmas (edit)
11. Low – Blue Christmas
12. The Residents – Dumbo The Clown (Who Loved Christmas)
13. Shakin Stevens – Merry Christmas Everyone
14. The Staples Singers – Who Took The Merry Out Of Christmas?
15. Ten Bensen – Snowman, Snowgirl
16. Willie Nelson – Please Come Home For Christmas
17. Ed Harcourt – In The Bleak Midwinter
18. Wild Billy Childish & The Musicians Of The British Empire – Christmas 1979
19. The Flaming Lips – A Change At Christmas (Say It Isn’t So)
20. Michele Cody – All I Want For Christmas Is My Daddy
21. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – All I Want For Christmas!
22. Magnapop – Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis
23. Otis Redding – White Christmas
A Christmas Gift from Everett True 2011, part two:
1. Eux Autres – Another Christmas At Home
2. Fear – Fuck Christmas
3. Jinx Lennon – Don’t Lose A Stone For Christmas
4. The Beach Boys – Little Saint Nick
5. Diana Ross & The Supremes – Just A Lonely Christmas
6. Rudolph And Gang – Here Comes Fatty Claus
7. James White And The Blacks – Christmas With Satan
8. John Baker – Christmas Commercial
9. The Dirtbombs – My Last Christmas
10. The Ronettes – Frosty The Snowman
11. T.Rex – Christmas Jingle
12. Dolly Parton – I’ll Be Home For Christmas
13. Wild Billy Childish & The Musicians Of The British Empire – A Poundland Christmas
14. The Fall - No Christmas For John Quays
15. James Brown - Santa Claus, Santa Claus
16. The Long Blondes - Christmas Is Cancelled
17. Akim & The Teddy Vann Production Company – Santa Claus Is A Black Man
18. Six Fat Dutchmen – Sleigh Bell
19. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - There’s No Lights On The Christmas Tree Mama There Burning Big Louie Tonight
20. Rocket 455 - Santa Ain’t Coming for Christmas
21. Lord Nelson - A Party For Santa Claus
22. Joseph Spence - Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town
23. Shonen Knife – Space Christmas
BONUS!
Shonen Knife’s “Space Christmas” (as featured on ACGFET2011 vol two):