EJCC's Musical Advent Calendar

[EJCC]

Y'all, I cannot describe how NOT in the holiday spirit I've been recently. On a scale of Tim Allen at the beginning of The Santa Clause to Tim Allen at the end of The Santa Clause, I'm at Tim Allen in the scene where he's at The North Pole yelling at the elves. Hence my neglect of this thread.

So... let's play some catch-up, shall we?


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Day 11, somewhat of a guilty pleasure. It's a Coldplay cover, but I'm not a fan of the mood or instrumentation of the Coldplay arrangement, although I love love LOVE the lyrics - and Yellowcard, usually not my fave band, channels Jimmy Eat World so well that I can't help but feel nostalgic for when that genre was all over the radio in the early oughts, making preteens feel melancholy nostalgia at an unreasonably young age.




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Day 12 was one I discovered when I was doing research for this playlist. I only knew Squeeze from the song "Cool for Cats" - which I love - and everything about this song, their only Christmas track ever, is delightful. So weird and so great. Everything I love about a certain subset of 80s new wave, condensed and made Christmasy.




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Day 13. I actually hate "Little Drummer Boy" but this lively and danceable arrangement makes me love it(!) - which I never thought I'd say. Apparently, per Anthony Hamilton, it's inspired by Outkast!




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Day 14. Surprisingly straightforward cover of "Linus and Lucy" that, because of the instrumentation and because Bela Fleck and the Flecktones are gods among men, still feels fresh and new and brings a smile to my face.

[EJCC]

Day 15. Confession, I learned about this through Jason Isbell's Twitter. No regrets.




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Day 16. More Leslie Odom Jr, because this song is my favorite in the whole wide world (originally Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson - equally good but a bit of a different vibe). It's where my current user title comes from.




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BONUS TRACK as a reward for your patience: a cappella cover of a deep cut from Kanye West's "808s and Heartbreak".

[EJCC]

Day 17.

Spent most of the day yesterday laid over at SeaTac, keeping myself from blowing my budget at the Sub Pop store, so here’s some melancholy Christmas grunge.

[EJCC]

Ugh. Playing catch-up again.


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Day 18.

I've seen this folk duo live, twice. They distribute books of their lyrics before every show, and tell you what page to turn to if you want to follow along. They are precious, lovely people.




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Day 19.

My ENFP 2w3 friend introduced me to this. Gives me chills every time.




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Day 20.

One of my favorite bands, since I was a teenager. And one of my favorite modern carols - just the right combination of hope and bitterness. Plus some Bach!




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Day 20 BONUS.

Can we have more Christmas rock songs like this please? Most of them suck but this is great - up there with "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)" by The Ramones.

[EJCC]

Catch-up cont'd.


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Day 21.

RENAISSANCE CHRISTMAS MUSIC FOR THE FUCKING WIN.




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Day 22.

Please look up the Anonymous 4 recording of this arrangement, from the album "Wolcum Yule" - it's infinitely better but it's not on YouTube.




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Day 23.

Perhaps my all-time favorite hymn. Good for Christmas, Advent, and all occasions.




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Day 24.

Godmother of rock 'n roll. Disappointed that she didn't record a Christmas song with a guitar solo, but this is still great.




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Day 24 BONUS.

I don't know why this isn't more of a classic, but it should be. Much love to The Band. (Did you know that one of the original band members used to be an Anglican church organist?)