Well, Ho Ho Ho and Merry Christmas Eve! I honestly wasn't going to do a sampler this year, but I saw that my friend Reggaexx at Distinctly Jamaican Sounds (who had also said he wouldn't be doing his awesome Christmas mixes anymore) had gone and done one anyway and I thought, "well, hell." I had hoped to get this posted yesterday but, on the other hand, in years past, we never got it up before Christmas Day. So consider it a Christmas miracle that it's here the day before.
As always, the mix is composed of some of the free downloads we've written about this year. And, as always, it sort of compiled itself. The ending of one track would suggest the beginning of another track and so on. I seem to have very little control over where these things go. There's a bit less diversity and fewer female vocals than I'd like. A single disc this year, I do love every track, but so many more that I love aren't here. The one that stopped me in my tracks every time through was Beta Radio's "Winter Eclipse". Lovely thing, that. Just so you know. Top of the Pops with you. One reason I like doing this is that there's always a song or two that'll you'll see and think, "No kidding. I guess he was serious that he loved that one." Last track eliminated, with much sadness, was Jumbled's "She Wants It All", which had both the virtue and curse (from the perspective of this collection coming together) of being really short. Bumping it got us just 6 seconds under the 80 minute disc length limit (to press it to disc, you'll have to make sure there's no time between the tracks). And the biggest challenge is always getting the track volumes to roughly the same level; I did the best I could on that, considering the whole time thing.
As always, the mix is composed of some of the free downloads we've written about this year. And, as always, it sort of compiled itself. The ending of one track would suggest the beginning of another track and so on. I seem to have very little control over where these things go. There's a bit less diversity and fewer female vocals than I'd like. A single disc this year, I do love every track, but so many more that I love aren't here. The one that stopped me in my tracks every time through was Beta Radio's "Winter Eclipse". Lovely thing, that. Just so you know. Top of the Pops with you. One reason I like doing this is that there's always a song or two that'll you'll see and think, "No kidding. I guess he was serious that he loved that one." Last track eliminated, with much sadness, was Jumbled's "She Wants It All", which had both the virtue and curse (from the perspective of this collection coming together) of being really short. Bumping it got us just 6 seconds under the 80 minute disc length limit (to press it to disc, you'll have to make sure there's no time between the tracks). And the biggest challenge is always getting the track volumes to roughly the same level; I did the best I could on that, considering the whole time thing.
In years past, we've always had one Stubby's House exclusive. Those just sort of happened organically. For good or bad, I'm usually very bad at asking people for favors. Even at my advanced age, I still have that 7 year old "I can do it myself, Ma" attitude. But, being as we didn't have a Stubby's House exclusive, this year, I contacted the good people of the Fayetteville Ska Alliance and asked if I might include a song from them this year. They graciously agreed. And, so, this year's collection includes "Jingle Bells" from the new Christmas album "Merry, Happy, Jolly, Good Time", an exceptional Ska set and a charity effort benefitting Spay Arkansas (Mrs. Katz--not her real name--insisted they be the artists I ask). And this is the ONLY place you can get the FSA's "Jingle Bells" free. Still, I highly recommend you buy the full album (Amazon, Amazon MP3, iTunes and CD Baby). It's not just great music, it's a great cause and they're great people. Visit the FSA web site and Facebook page for more information. And you can find the video for "Jingle Bells" here.
As always, the zip file contains all the things you need to burn your own Stubby's House Christmas CD-R, including the artwork. Assuming you have a program on your computer to print CD labels and such, you can just plug in the jpegs and it should work OK. We also gave you an alternate insert this year. If you're using a slim case, you'll want the track list as your insert, I'm guessing. But, if you're using a full-sized jewel case, the track list is on the tray jpeg; so you can still use the track list insert OR you can use this authentic picture of the real-life Mrs. Katz (not her real name). Yes, that's my beautiful baby girl. And, let me tell you, it took hours of arguing to get her to agree to give up her internet anonymity. People always ask about Mrs. Katz, so now you can see who you're asking about. If you determine not to use the picture as an insert, maybe you'll decide to make a nice little wallet photo for yourself and, when friends say "Who is that?" you can say, "Why, that's Mrs. Katz." (Hey, I don't know. It could happen.)
This free gift from Stubbys will only be available through January 7. That's two weeks to get your download on. After that, it disappears forever, so don't dawdle. This year, we have two download sites available. You may know that internet hosts are freaking out these days, so, hopefully, at least one of these will still work by the time you go to download. The artwork in this post is all linked to the one or the other dl sites (except the Santa insert above from last year's set--he's not included--and the FSA pic, which links to a purchase site). So go here or here to get your Stubby Little Christmas on. [Links killed, as promised]
In the track list below, clicking on the artist names should open a new window at their official sites (where available). Clicking on the song titles will not open a new window (hopefully), but will take you to our write up. I said the songs were all free downloads we'd featured this year (aside from the FSA track). I did cheat a little in that I used The Timburtons' "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Claus" which wasn't featured here, but was featured at Lie In The Sound. That link up will take you to their write up. Lie In The Sound gave me a remarkable gift yesterday that, hopefully, we'll be talking about a little bit on the Free page sometime soon, but feel free to check it out now.
This free gift from Stubbys will only be available through January 7. That's two weeks to get your download on. After that, it disappears forever, so don't dawdle. This year, we have two download sites available. You may know that internet hosts are freaking out these days, so, hopefully, at least one of these will still work by the time you go to download. The artwork in this post is all linked to the one or the other dl sites (except the Santa insert above from last year's set--he's not included--and the FSA pic, which links to a purchase site). So go here or here to get your Stubby Little Christmas on. [Links killed, as promised]
In the track list below, clicking on the artist names should open a new window at their official sites (where available). Clicking on the song titles will not open a new window (hopefully), but will take you to our write up. I said the songs were all free downloads we'd featured this year (aside from the FSA track). I did cheat a little in that I used The Timburtons' "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Claus" which wasn't featured here, but was featured at Lie In The Sound. That link up will take you to their write up. Lie In The Sound gave me a remarkable gift yesterday that, hopefully, we'll be talking about a little bit on the Free page sometime soon, but feel free to check it out now.
1. OCNOTES - Mary
2. JACOB ABELLO - Mary Did You Know
3. THE IMMACULATES - New York Is Mine For The Holidays
4. AMANDA X - Nevermind The Bells
5. BETA RADIO - Winter Eclipse
6. CITY RAIN - Goodnight Moon
7. MAX & THE MOON - Blue Christmas
8. WAYFARER - The Holly & The Ivy
9. HECTOR COMANCHO - Squeezin Them Presents
10. TUXEDO BANDIDO - It's Christmas Crime
11. THE TIMBURTONS - Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Claus
12. FAYETTEVILLE SKA ALLIANCE - JINGLE BELLS
(Stubby's House Exclusive!)
13. THE DOLLYROTS - Because I'm Santa
14. THAT BAND FROM HOLLAND & LEFT HANDED ORCHESTRA - 6/4
15. BLUE SKIES FOR BLACK HEARTS - Maybe Next Christmas
16. THE COSBYS - How'm I Gonna Lose You This Christmas
17. mojochronic - What Child Too Close?
18. SOFIA TALVIK - One Last Wish For Christmas
19. CAPTIVES ON THE CAROUSEL - Turn Off The Sun
20. LAURIE CAMERON - Merry Christmas From Scotland
21. JOHNNY RENDER - Have A Very Render Christmas
BONUS TRACK: NEVERENDING MOJITOS - Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy
2. JACOB ABELLO - Mary Did You Know
3. THE IMMACULATES - New York Is Mine For The Holidays
4. AMANDA X - Nevermind The Bells
5. BETA RADIO - Winter Eclipse
6. CITY RAIN - Goodnight Moon
7. MAX & THE MOON - Blue Christmas
8. WAYFARER - The Holly & The Ivy
9. HECTOR COMANCHO - Squeezin Them Presents
10. TUXEDO BANDIDO - It's Christmas Crime
11. THE TIMBURTONS - Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Claus
12. FAYETTEVILLE SKA ALLIANCE - JINGLE BELLS
(Stubby's House Exclusive!)
13. THE DOLLYROTS - Because I'm Santa
14. THAT BAND FROM HOLLAND & LEFT HANDED ORCHESTRA - 6/4
15. BLUE SKIES FOR BLACK HEARTS - Maybe Next Christmas
16. THE COSBYS - How'm I Gonna Lose You This Christmas
17. mojochronic - What Child Too Close?
18. SOFIA TALVIK - One Last Wish For Christmas
19. CAPTIVES ON THE CAROUSEL - Turn Off The Sun
20. LAURIE CAMERON - Merry Christmas From Scotland
21. JOHNNY RENDER - Have A Very Render Christmas
BONUS TRACK: NEVERENDING MOJITOS - Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy
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