As OBT so graciously called out on 12 Days of X-mas Gift Ideas (Day 6), each Christmas I give an annual X-mas Mix to family, friends, relatives, passerby’s, people I make eye-contact with, etc.

First, I need to point out that, no, it’s not Christmas music (sorry, Buble fans). It’s a year-end compilation of what I deem to be the “best” (which is quite loosely defined and completely subjective) music of that year. I try my darndest to “mix” it up with different bands, genres, styles, etc. Admittedly, it is harder and harder to produce each year, but I still do it for alot of reasons – a large one being it keeps me in the game so to speak. Getting older,  coupled with work, family, kids, F3. etc. and  the continued slow death of radio, it is almost impossible to keep up with new music. Enter iTunes and new music Tuesdays – pretty much my lifeline to music relevancy (Bless you, Steve Jobs). Just sit down, pick your genre(s) and see what pops up. As most know, the brilliance of iTunes is the ability to sample and then buy only the songs you want. However, the unintended consequence of this is the “death of the album.” No one (and by no one I mean me) buys albums anymore. Why would you? When you can cherry-pick the two or three best singles and scuttle the rest? The result is that my musical knowledge has grown broader, but not necessarily deeper (i.e. I might compile a sample set of 500+ songs over the course of a year, but buy only a handful of full albums….basically Long Tail Theory). So if not for iTunes (or for others Pandora, Spotify, etc) I would still be blasting my Zeppelin III tape with Six Mike. But I digress.

The anticipation among a few fervent X-mas Mix fans keeps me at my computer every Tuesday morning, combing through what seems to be an ever expanding world of music (seriously, there is A LOT of music out there now). There are some go-to staples (e.g. Crooked Fingers, The Twilight Singers, Mike Doughty), but occasionally finding a random gem out right field makes it worth the time and effort (e.g. Enemy Lovers, Fink, Elvis Perkins in Dearland…in some ways my namesake).

So with Christmas less than 48 hours away here’s a quick rundown of all the X-mas Mixes. There is method to the madness of what does/doesn’t make a mix, the song order, etc. All songs have to be released  (in some fashion) that calendar year. No artists can be repeated on the same mix. And I always end the mix with an actual Christmas song.

Looking below at each year creates an interesting timeline (and triggers for me some nostalgia for a particular time & place). It also tells me I really, really love Crooked Fingers, dig Mashups, have a cover fetish, and apparently a fondness for Kings of Leon (though I don’t consider them one of my favorite bands despite making the mix four times). Also, did I really put a John Mayer song on there? (Hey, it was ’03…a down year). 

Again, if you want this year’s or a compilation MP3 disk of them all, just shoot me a note*. 

Hope you enjoy them.

Rawk on.

Sweeper Boy

*Parental Advisory: Take it slow. Way too much music to digest all at once. SB is not liable for heads exploding.

 2011

1. Web in Front – Archers of Loaf
2. You are a Tourist – Death Cab for Cutie
3. Gunshots – The Twilight Singers
4. Get Some – Lykke Li
5. Alabama Pines – Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
6. Cooleemee Girl – The Balsa Gliders
7. Make Some Noise – Beastie Boys
8. Shake it Out – Florence + the Machine
9. Went to the City – Crooked Fingers
10. Extreme Ways in the Deep – Adele + Moby Mashup
11. Same Mistake – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
12. White Blank Page  (live on BBC) – Taylor Swift
13. Can’t Keep Johnny Down – They Might Be Giants
14. Booty City – Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears
15. Ali’s Song – Stephen Shealy
16. Discoverer – REM
17. Good Man – Raphael Saadiq
18. Not Enough – J Mascis
19. Little White Doves – Dirty Vegas
20. Curl of the Burl – Mastadon
21. Littlest Birds – The Be Good Tanyas
22. O Holy Night – Nat King Cole

 

2010

1. Swim Until You Can’t See Land – Frightened Rabbit
2. Kill Me Carolyn – The Whigs
3. The Cave – Mumford & Sons
4. White Sky – Vampire Weekend
5. Hurricane J – The Hold Steady
6. American Slang – The Gaslight Anthem
7. Everybody’s Hurting – Jacob Dylan
8. A Perfect Hand (feat. Steve Earle) – David Byrne and Fatboy Slim
9. Breakneck Speed – Tokyo Police Club
10. Love the Way You Lie – Eminem
11. My Gap Feels Weird – Superchunk
12. Colorshow (live) – The Avett Brothers
13. Cinema Star – Black Francis
14. She Aint a Child No More – Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
15. We Used to Wait – Arcade Fire
16. Poker Face – Glee Version (Lady GaGa)
17. Gentle on My Mind – Crooked Fingers
18. No One’s Gonna Love You – Cee Lo Green
19. Hometown Glory – Adele
20. Joseph, Who Understood – The New Pornographers

 

2009

1. Something is Squeezing My Skull – Morrissey
2. Straight to Hell (feat. Mick Jones) – Lily Allen
3. Kick Drum Heart – The Avett Brothers
4. You Never Know – Wilco 
5. Last One to Die – Rancid
6. Fly One Time – Ben Harper and Relentless7
7. Panic Switch – Silversun Pickups 
8. Web In Front (acoustic) – Eric Bachmann
9. Eet Regina – Spektor
10. Feel It – The Enemy Lovers
11. Sort of Revolution – Fink
12. Fresh Blood – Eels
13. People Got a Lotta Nerve – Neko Case
14. Like Love – Rhett Miller
15. First Train Home – Imogen Heap
16. Turn On Tune In Drop Out With Me – Cracker
17. Shampoo Elvis Perkins In Dearland
18. Slumdog Millionaire – Wyclef Jean
19. Proofs – Mates of State
20. Notion – Kings of Leon
21. Frosty the Snowman – Fiona Apple 

 

2008

1. Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa – Vampire Weekend
2. Little Black Sandals – Sia
3. Mr. Pitiful – Matt Costa
4. The University of California At Santa Barbara  -The Balsa Gilders
5. I Just Want the Girl In the Blue Dress – Mike Doughty
6. Lord, I’m Discouraged – The Hold Steady
7. Stumble In  - Sleepercar
8. Inní mér syngur vitleysingur  - Sigur Rós
9. Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts  - The Gaslight Anthem
10. Right Hand On My Heart  - The Whigs
11. Time to Pretend  - MGMT
12. Color of a Lonely Heart Is Blue  - Old 97′s
13. Your Control  - Crooked Fingers
14. Mercy (feat. The Game) –  Duffy
15. Sex On Fire  - Kings of Leon
16. Always a Friend – Alejandro Escovedo
17. Lay It Down (feat. Anthony Hamilton) – Al Green
18. Murder In the City – The Avett Brothers
19. Blue Christmas – Elvis Presley

 

2007

1. I’m a Soldier – The Afghan Whigs
2. Better – Regina Spektor
3. Fluorescent Adolescent – Arctic Monkeys
4. I Got It (What You Need) – Galactic & Lyrics Born
5. You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb – Spoon
6. Methamphetamine – Son Volt
7. Wake Up  - Tim Armstrong
8. Call It Off  -Tegan and Sara
9. Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill) [feat. Akon, Lil Wayne & Niia] – Wyclef Jean
10. On Call  -Kings of Leon
11. Tonight I Have to Leave It – Shout Out Louds
12. Far Behind – Social Distortion
13. Nobody Knows My Name – Rickie Lee Jones
14. Kingdom – Dave Gahan
15. Is There a Ghost – Band of Horses
16. Grip Like a Vice – The Go! Team
17. Sweep the Leg  - No More Kings
18. The Golden State  - John Doe
19. 1234  - Feist
20. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas  - Chris Isaak 

 

2006

1. Underneath the Waves – The Twilight Singers
2. See the World – Gomez
3. That Old Pair of Jeans – Fatboy Slim
4. Notes On Air – Alejandro Escovedo
5. Crazy – Gnarls Barkley
6. This Is Us  -Emmylou Harris
7. King Without a Crown  -Matisyahu
8. Conceived  -Beth Orton
9. I’m Going Down  - Frank Black
10. James River Blues  -Old Crow Medicine Show
11. Woman In a Bar  - Lloyd Cole
12. The Needle Has Landed  - Neko Case
13. Another 1000 Years  - World Party
14. Free Adidas – Run DMC Vs. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
15. Something You Ain’t Got  - Cracker
16. 9 Crimes (Demo)  -Damien Rice
17. Love Train  - Wolfmother
18. Crazy  - Ray Lamontagne
19. Feliz Navidad  - José Feliciano

 

2005

1. Callin’ On Sunday – U2 Vs. Lyrics Born
2. I Turn My Camera On – Spoon
3. The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
4. Unsingable Name – Mike Doughty
5. Feel Good Inc. – Gorillaz
6. Twilight Creeps  -Crooked Fingers
7. Golden Boy  -Greg Dulli 
8. The Bleeding Heart Show  -The New Pornographers
9. Love Is Stronger Than Death – Angela Mccluskey
10. Gauze of Friendship  - Bob Mould
11. Trouble – Ray LaMontagne
12. Lyla – Oasis
13. When In Rome – Nickel Creek
14. Waiting for Your Letter – Cary Brothers
15. My Doorbell – The White Stripes
16. Over My Head (Cable Car) – The Fray
17. Ocean Breathes Salty – Sun Kil Moon
18. Fairytale of New York – The Pogues

 

2004

1. Float On – Modest Mouse
2. Jenny Was a Friend of Mine – The Killers
3. Take Your Mama – Scissor Sisters
4. Wagon Wheel – Old Crow Medicine Show
5. City of Blinding Lights – U2
6. Move On – Mike Doughty
7. Coma Girl – Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros
8. Son of the Morning Star – The Twilight Singers
9. Won’t Be Home – Old 97′s
10. Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand
11. Hummingbird – Wilco
12. Staring at the Sun – TV on the Radio
13. Section 14 (Two Thousand Places) – The Polyphonic Spree
14. Stray Paper – Tift Merritt
15. Noah’s Money – Spookie
16. Little Drummer Boy – David Bowie & Bing Crosby

 

2003

1. Teenage Wristband – The Twilight Singers
2. The Laws Have Changed – The New Pornographers
3. Hey Ya – Outkast
4. Back of My Hand – Gemma Hayes
5. Sweet Marie – Crooked Fingers
6. The Art of Losing – American Hi-Fi
7. American Car – Mike Doughty
8. Bad Day – R.E.M.
9. California Waiting – Kings of Leon
10. Are You Gonna Be My Girl – Jet
11. Bigger Than My Body – John Mayer
12. In Da Club – 50 Cent
13. Stacy’s Mom – Fountains of Wayne
14. Six O’clock News – Kathleen Edwards
15. Honestly – Zwan
16. Hurt – Johnny Cash
17. Sympathy For the Devil – The Rolling Stones (Fatboy Slim Remix)
18. Keep Me In Your Heart – Warren Zevon
19. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town – Bruce Springsteen

 

2002

1. Lonesome Day – Bruce Springsteen
2. The Middle – Jimmy Eat World
3. Show Me (Fea. Pos from De La Soul) – Mint Royale
4. Prequel – The Balsa Gilders
5. Guess I’m Doing Fine – Beck
6. Madeleine and Nine – Mike Doughty
7. Soldier Girl – The Polyphonic Spree
8. Lose Yourself – Eminem
9. Nightingale – Norah Jones
10. Letter from an Occupant – The New Pornographers
11. Flake – Jack Johnson 
12. When U Were Mine – Crooked Fingers
13. Hate to Say I Told You So – The Hives
14. The Sharp Hint of New Tears – Dashboard Confessional
15. Jesus, Etc. – Wilco
16. Don’t Let Me Get Me – Pink
17. Dead In the Water – David Gray
18. In My Place – Coldplay
19. We’re Going to Be Friends – The White Stripes
20. The Christmas Song – Dave Matthews

 

2001

1. Life On a Chain – Pete Yorn
2. Singular Girl – Old 97′S
3. Smile – Flickerstick
4. Grace Is Gone – Dave Matthews Band
5. New Drink For the Old Drunk – Crooked Fingers
6. Video – India Arie
7. Jenny & the Ess-Dog – Stephen Malkmus
8. Looks – Mike Doughty
9. Last Nite  - The Strokes 
10. Everything’s Not Lost – Coldplay
11. Never Gonna Come Back Down – BT (feat. Mike Doughty)
12. Voodoo Candle – Jay Farrar
13. It’s Not Me – The Swedes
14. Phone Sex – Superchunk
15. Twilight – The Twilight Singers
16. Do They Know It’s Christmas – Band Aid

 

10th Year “B-sides” Mix

Note: this was a special addition to the 2010 Mix. Every year I “discover” a handful of great songs only to realize they didn’t come out that year (Doh!). So this is a mix of what woulda/coulda/shoulda made previous mixes from ’01 – ’10. Some (i.e. me) might argue it is the best mix of them all. 

1. Stuck Between Stations – The Hold Steady
2. Fidelity – Regina Spektor
3. Cath… – Death Cab for Cutie
4. Woman, I’ll Find a Way – The Balsa Gilders
5. New Girl – The Long Winters
6. The Perfect Boy  -The Cure
7. Bag of Hammers – Thao
8. November Blues (Live) – The Avett Brothers
9. Guns N Hovas – Jay-Z vs GnR
10. Burnin’ Streets – Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros
11. Devil Town – Bright Eyes
12. Esta Noche – The Twilight Singers
13. Anything You Want – Spoon
14. Cannonball – Damien Rice
15. The ’59 Sound The Gaslight Anthem
16. Ooh Child Beth Orton
17. Back On My Heels – The Swedes
18. Muzzle of Bees – Wilco
19. Wonderboy – Tenacious D
20. Sweet Lord In Heaven – Mike Doughty
21. Hands of Time – Groove Armada