Happy Christmas in July, y'all!
We don't usually celebrate Christmas in July at Stubby's, other than enjoying the offerings of our Festive Friends who do, but I thought this was a good opportunity for us to make it up to you (a little) for our absence this past December. (Just so you know, you can enjoy confirmed Christmas in July festivities over at Christmas TV History, Rob Martinez' "Christmas In July" radio special will air on July 11 (9 to 11 pm--Eastern Daylight Time--on WBOI), and the 200 Days of Christmas are already under way and counting down. And, as you know or should know, Ernie (Not Bert) is usually the star of this off-seasonal season. You can also check the Santas Working Overtime Twitter feed to catch other items of interest.)
As you may or may not know or remember, I spent December 2017 in the hospital (and was quite ill for most of the year preceding). I did precious little searching for or listening to Christmas music. Even had I not been in the hospital, I doubt I could have put together our annual holiday mix, then. And, frankly, I'm old and tired and figured I was through with Christmas music anyway. And that lasted until mid-April. Listening to one of my old favorites, I quickly spiraled into a Christmas fever and spent about two and a half days searching out holiday freebies online non-stop.
I'll tell you that it isn't quite the same as searching for Christmas music throughout the Christmas season, and that is just one (or two) of the reasons this makeup offering is not up to our usual Stubbys mix standards. But there are still several good tunes, here, that are worth bringing to your attention, in case (like me) you missed them before.
Making "The Lost Tapes", I started out with the thought of putting together some of the best songs shared by our friends at Lie In The Sound, Christmas Underground, etc. But then I decided that you already had a shot at those. So my adjusted rule was that I had to have found the tracks on my own. While that eliminated some of the best shares of 2017, it hopefully allowed for the inclusion of some fresh discoveries. And not all of the best were lost with this methodology. "Christmas Night" by Threelakes & The Flatland Eagles made the rounds, for example, but I first heard it as part of the annual Polaroid collection on the night I was released from the hospital (and only then read about it at Lie In The Sound).
We don't usually celebrate Christmas in July at Stubby's, other than enjoying the offerings of our Festive Friends who do, but I thought this was a good opportunity for us to make it up to you (a little) for our absence this past December. (Just so you know, you can enjoy confirmed Christmas in July festivities over at Christmas TV History, Rob Martinez' "Christmas In July" radio special will air on July 11 (9 to 11 pm--Eastern Daylight Time--on WBOI), and the 200 Days of Christmas are already under way and counting down. And, as you know or should know, Ernie (Not Bert) is usually the star of this off-seasonal season. You can also check the Santas Working Overtime Twitter feed to catch other items of interest.)
As you may or may not know or remember, I spent December 2017 in the hospital (and was quite ill for most of the year preceding). I did precious little searching for or listening to Christmas music. Even had I not been in the hospital, I doubt I could have put together our annual holiday mix, then. And, frankly, I'm old and tired and figured I was through with Christmas music anyway. And that lasted until mid-April. Listening to one of my old favorites, I quickly spiraled into a Christmas fever and spent about two and a half days searching out holiday freebies online non-stop.
I'll tell you that it isn't quite the same as searching for Christmas music throughout the Christmas season, and that is just one (or two) of the reasons this makeup offering is not up to our usual Stubbys mix standards. But there are still several good tunes, here, that are worth bringing to your attention, in case (like me) you missed them before.
Making "The Lost Tapes", I started out with the thought of putting together some of the best songs shared by our friends at Lie In The Sound, Christmas Underground, etc. But then I decided that you already had a shot at those. So my adjusted rule was that I had to have found the tracks on my own. While that eliminated some of the best shares of 2017, it hopefully allowed for the inclusion of some fresh discoveries. And not all of the best were lost with this methodology. "Christmas Night" by Threelakes & The Flatland Eagles made the rounds, for example, but I first heard it as part of the annual Polaroid collection on the night I was released from the hospital (and only then read about it at Lie In The Sound).
You all know how this works, by now. All of the tracks were offered up by the artists for free. Song titles below are linked to the source while artist names are linked to the artist web site (if they have one). Click on any of the artwork in this post [all links removed] to get to the downloadable zip file. The zip file includes artwork (jewel case only, this time) and, being Christmas in July, this one will be available for the full month before "The Lost Tapes" are lost once more and it disappears forever. I wish there was more genre diversity, but there isn't, so take it for what it is.
A few quick notes. The closing number, "Merry Christmas, Melania" is a huge PARENTAL ADVISORY number for copious use of the "F" word. I don't usually truck with bad language on my Stubbys House Christmas mixes, but I thought this was a f#@%ing great song. If strong language bothers you, or if you have small children in your household, I've included an alternate closing track ("Another Year (Santa's Tired)" from "Ho Ho Ho Canada 9") that you can sub out for it (alternate artwork also included). "Merry Christmas, Melania" certainly got a lot of play on the Internets, but I didn't see it in our circle of Festive Friends. Maybe they saw the title and didn't want to get into a whole Trump thing (it really doesn't, IMO), or maybe the language turned them off. But I liked it a lot and my only complaint is that the artist so permanently dated it by saying (several times) "on December 25, 2017" and in the future tense no less. So this would seem my only opportunity to use it retrospectively.
"A Petty Xmas", by our old friend Joe Algeri and The JAC, also didn't seem to get a lot of play last year. I get it. There's nothing remotely Christmas or seasonal about the song, but it is an A+ tribute to Tom Petty (and others), who passed away in 2017, and well worth preservation and repeated play. I might have done better to place it outside the mix as a bonus track, but I didn't want to do that. I wanted it to be a part, not apart, if you catch my drift. It'll never be the same.....
Y'all know I'm not big on Christmas novelty tunes, so I'm at a complete loss to explain why "Killer Robot" tickles me so. All I know is I loved it the first time I heard it and, now, hundreds of plays later, I still do.
My favorite track, here? "Winter Spirits", one of 3 holiday songs released by the group The Winter Spirits. It's the kind of tune that lodges itself in your brain for months...in a good way. Trust me, you'll find yourself unexpectedly singing it in traffic next month. But I'm also mighty fond of Average Steve's "Very Merry Christmas", which has a nice island sound, though it's possible the overall lack of genre diversity otherwise is tipping my scales. Monica Dupont's "Peace In The World" has been sitting on my hard drive forever, waiting for a spot (or a severe Blues deficit, as this mix was otherwise suffering). Make Phantoms find adult depth that you never hear in the children's song "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" while the Fairmount Girls dress up an old Monkees tune in just a bit of holiday garland (funny that no one had done so earlier). Sadly, The Jekylls have disbanded since their 2014 Yuletide offering "First Song About Santa", though the lead vocalist is still performing in the Denver area. "Abominable Snowman" is the dreamiest of Indie Pop. And I don't want to neglect the nuclear blast that is "suck my christmass" by mooptheband. It's the closest thing on this mix to actual Fourth of July fireworks. I mean, how can you go wrong with raucous female-led Christmas garage rock from Russia?
Will there be a 2018 Stubby's House Christmas mix? I honestly don't know. I'm just taking this one day at a time for now. But, for today, there's this. "A Stubby's House Christmas 2017: The Lost Tapes". Go [links removed] to grab it and enjoy your Christmas in July.
A few quick notes. The closing number, "Merry Christmas, Melania" is a huge PARENTAL ADVISORY number for copious use of the "F" word. I don't usually truck with bad language on my Stubbys House Christmas mixes, but I thought this was a f#@%ing great song. If strong language bothers you, or if you have small children in your household, I've included an alternate closing track ("Another Year (Santa's Tired)" from "Ho Ho Ho Canada 9") that you can sub out for it (alternate artwork also included). "Merry Christmas, Melania" certainly got a lot of play on the Internets, but I didn't see it in our circle of Festive Friends. Maybe they saw the title and didn't want to get into a whole Trump thing (it really doesn't, IMO), or maybe the language turned them off. But I liked it a lot and my only complaint is that the artist so permanently dated it by saying (several times) "on December 25, 2017" and in the future tense no less. So this would seem my only opportunity to use it retrospectively.
"A Petty Xmas", by our old friend Joe Algeri and The JAC, also didn't seem to get a lot of play last year. I get it. There's nothing remotely Christmas or seasonal about the song, but it is an A+ tribute to Tom Petty (and others), who passed away in 2017, and well worth preservation and repeated play. I might have done better to place it outside the mix as a bonus track, but I didn't want to do that. I wanted it to be a part, not apart, if you catch my drift. It'll never be the same.....
Y'all know I'm not big on Christmas novelty tunes, so I'm at a complete loss to explain why "Killer Robot" tickles me so. All I know is I loved it the first time I heard it and, now, hundreds of plays later, I still do.
My favorite track, here? "Winter Spirits", one of 3 holiday songs released by the group The Winter Spirits. It's the kind of tune that lodges itself in your brain for months...in a good way. Trust me, you'll find yourself unexpectedly singing it in traffic next month. But I'm also mighty fond of Average Steve's "Very Merry Christmas", which has a nice island sound, though it's possible the overall lack of genre diversity otherwise is tipping my scales. Monica Dupont's "Peace In The World" has been sitting on my hard drive forever, waiting for a spot (or a severe Blues deficit, as this mix was otherwise suffering). Make Phantoms find adult depth that you never hear in the children's song "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" while the Fairmount Girls dress up an old Monkees tune in just a bit of holiday garland (funny that no one had done so earlier). Sadly, The Jekylls have disbanded since their 2014 Yuletide offering "First Song About Santa", though the lead vocalist is still performing in the Denver area. "Abominable Snowman" is the dreamiest of Indie Pop. And I don't want to neglect the nuclear blast that is "suck my christmass" by mooptheband. It's the closest thing on this mix to actual Fourth of July fireworks. I mean, how can you go wrong with raucous female-led Christmas garage rock from Russia?
Will there be a 2018 Stubby's House Christmas mix? I honestly don't know. I'm just taking this one day at a time for now. But, for today, there's this. "A Stubby's House Christmas 2017: The Lost Tapes". Go [links removed] to grab it and enjoy your Christmas in July.
1. LET CHRISTMAS HANG AROUND......POST MONROE (2016)
2. PLEASE STOP BY FOR CHRISTMAS......THE INVISIBLE SUNDIAL (AUSTIN AMBERG) (2017)
3. THEN IT SNOWED......GABRIELLE PAPILLON (2017)
4. WINTER SPIRITS......THE WINTER SPIRITS (2017)
5. I'M GONNA MEET HIM TONIGHT......THE RED NOSED RAMBLERS (2017)
6. KILLER ROBOT FOR CHRISTMAS......DEREK ROSE (2017)
7. CHRISTMAS BLUES......MONTAUK (with EVE KROGMAN) (2017)
8. VERY MERRY XMAS......AVERAGE STEVE (2017)
9. FIRST SONG ABOUT SANTA......THE JEKYLLS (2014)
10. DECKIN DA HALLS......SKEESIX (2017)
11. CHRISTMAS NIGHT......THREELAKES & THE FLATLAND EAGLES (2017)
12. SUCK MY CHRISTMASS......MOOPTHEBAND (2017)
13. MERRY MERRY......FAIRMOUNT GIRLS (2015)
14. WHITE CHRISTMAS DREAMIN'......MATTHEW CRANLEY (2015)
15. THIS TIME OF YEAR......ALL MANKIND (2017)
16. PEACE IN THE WORLD......MONICA DUPONT (2008)
17. JOLLY OLD ST. NICHOLAS......MAKE PHANTOMS (2009)
18. THE SNOW......JAZZYSPOON (2017)
19. ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN.......SUMMER SALT (2017)
20. A PETTY XMAS (Parts 1 & 2)......THE JAC (2017)
21. HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS......CURXES (2012)
22. MERRY CHRISTMAS, MELANIA......STILL A GREAT NIGHT (2017)
2. PLEASE STOP BY FOR CHRISTMAS......THE INVISIBLE SUNDIAL (AUSTIN AMBERG) (2017)
3. THEN IT SNOWED......GABRIELLE PAPILLON (2017)
4. WINTER SPIRITS......THE WINTER SPIRITS (2017)
5. I'M GONNA MEET HIM TONIGHT......THE RED NOSED RAMBLERS (2017)
6. KILLER ROBOT FOR CHRISTMAS......DEREK ROSE (2017)
7. CHRISTMAS BLUES......MONTAUK (with EVE KROGMAN) (2017)
8. VERY MERRY XMAS......AVERAGE STEVE (2017)
9. FIRST SONG ABOUT SANTA......THE JEKYLLS (2014)
10. DECKIN DA HALLS......SKEESIX (2017)
11. CHRISTMAS NIGHT......THREELAKES & THE FLATLAND EAGLES (2017)
12. SUCK MY CHRISTMASS......MOOPTHEBAND (2017)
13. MERRY MERRY......FAIRMOUNT GIRLS (2015)
14. WHITE CHRISTMAS DREAMIN'......MATTHEW CRANLEY (2015)
15. THIS TIME OF YEAR......ALL MANKIND (2017)
16. PEACE IN THE WORLD......MONICA DUPONT (2008)
17. JOLLY OLD ST. NICHOLAS......MAKE PHANTOMS (2009)
18. THE SNOW......JAZZYSPOON (2017)
19. ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN.......SUMMER SALT (2017)
20. A PETTY XMAS (Parts 1 & 2)......THE JAC (2017)
21. HAVE YOURSELF A MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS......CURXES (2012)
22. MERRY CHRISTMAS, MELANIA......STILL A GREAT NIGHT (2017)
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