Green Eggs and Ham: Beats of 2011

Sometimes I get ideas and, even though they don't seem like they will, somehow they work out. Take this week's show: I wanted to make a 2-hour mix compiling some of my favourite tracks to dance to this year and turn it into a radio show. The thing about the show is that it features interruptions: commercial breaks, the weather and my blather. It shouldn't work. It worked. Here's the playlist:




Miracle Fortress - "Tracers"
Karen O, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - "Immigrant Song"
Das Racist - "Girl" 
Toro Y Moi - "New Beat" (Star Slinger remix)
tUnE-yArDs - "Gangsta" (Ad-Rock remix)
Dillon Francis - "Masta Blasta"
The Count & Sinden - "After Dark" (Krystal Klear remix)
Cut Copy - "Blink And You'll Miss A Revolution"
Neon Indian - "Polish Girl"
Tycho - "Hours"
Holy Ghost! - "It's Not Over"
Purity Ring - "Belispeak"
M83 - "Midnight City"
Active Child - "High Priestess"
BRAIDS - "Plath Heart" (Morgan Greenwood remix)
Junior Boys - "Itchy Fingers"
Grimes - "Oblivion"
Daft Punk - "Encom Part 2" (Com Truise remix)
Born Gold - "Lawn Knives"
"Weird" Al Yankovic - "Perform This Way"
      *this week's Slice Of Cheese
Handsome Furs - "Repatriated"
Young Galaxy - "We Have Everything"
Austra - "The Villain"
Four Tet - "Locked"
Radiohead - "Lotus Flower"
Bon Iver - "Calgary"

12 Days: 3 more to grow on.

Holy crap I'm so terrible at blogging.

I'm not going to lie. I had days 10 through 12 ready, coming down the pike. I just plum forgot. All those sugarplums, I suppose, getting to my memory. Here are the rest of your presents.

For the 10th day of Christmas, my true blog gave to me: 10 times the soul of most other tunes. Stevie Wonder knows where it's at.



For the 11th day of Christmas, my true blog gave to me: the best funny Christmas song ever recorded. There have been many who have attempted to wrest the novelty song crown from the head of Al Yankovic, but none have succeeded. You've heard the rest, now hear the best.



For the 12th day of Christmas, my true blog gave to me: Sloan doing a rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas" just so they could include a wicked drum solo. Be patient.




There you have it. Eat. Be merry. Have some good times. Drink...A LOT.
Happy Holidays.

12 Days: Fear - "F*** Christmas"

Check back here every day until the 25th, also known as the widely suffered through Christian omniholiday known as Christmas, for some of my favourite yuletide jams.

Ok, so I skipped a day. See, I realized that my math had me finishing the 12 days on Christmas Eve instead of the Day itself. So sue me.

On the 9th day of Christmas, my true blog gave to me: 8 yelled expletives. Thanks, Fear, for keeping us all honest this time of year.

Green Eggs and Ham: The Not-So-Secular Xmas Special!

The title says it all. 2 hours of sugarplum-laden chestnuts smothered in egg nog and candy canes. Ok, so it was mostly songs about Santa and Jesus. Since I don't actually believe in either of those people, I find other reasons to make it the season to be merry. Fa-la-la-la-la la-la-la-here's the playlist:


Tom Waits - "Christmas Card From Hooker In Minneapolis"
Chocolate Snow - "Let Me Be Your Christmas Toy"
Rheostatics - "Aliens (Christmas 1988)"
Woods - "Christmas Time Is Here"
Wilderness of Manitoba - "Oh Come, Oh Come Emmanuel"
David Myles - "I'll Be Home For Christmas"
Ron Sexsmith - Maybe This Christmas"
Honky Tonk Kid - "Honky Tonk's Blue Christmas" (feat. Apollo Ghosts)
Cold Chillin' Juice Crew - "Cold Chillin' Christmas"
Litterbug - "It's Christmas Time"
Sloan - "12 Days of Christmas"
Fountains of Wayne - "I Want An Alien For Christmas"
Eels - "Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas"
B.A. Johnston - "B.A. Sings A Christmas Song"
Pedro The Lion - "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day"
Mother Mother - "Hit Er Miss Christmas"
Pointed Sticks - "Power Pop Santa"
The Moby Dicks - "Presents"
The Crystals - "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"
Slow Club - "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"
Snoop Doggy Dogg - "Santa Goes Straight To The Ghetto"   
              *this week's Slice of Cheese (but it's all cheese, really)
Kanye West - "Christmas In Harlem"
Kurtis Blow - "Christmas Rappin"
Mike O'Neill - "Frosty The Gold Rush"
Bob Dylan - "Here Comes Santa Claus"
Wintersleep - "Little Drummer Boy"
Jim Bryson - "Silient Night (cutguitar)"
Stephen Colbert & Jon Stewart - "Can I Interest You In Hannukah?"

12 Days: Mavis Staples - "Christmas Vacation"

Check back here every day until the 25th, also known as the widely suffered through Christian omniholiday known as Christmas, for some of my favourite yuletide jams.

On the 8th day of Christmas, my true blog gave to me: 8 Staples belting. Ok, just one. But it's a great song from the funniest Christmas movie currently in existence (not the best, however, since that's Die Hard). Hip-hip-hooray for Christmas vacation!

12 Days: Loretta Lynn - "Country Christmas"

Check back here every day until the 25th, also known as the widely suffered through Christian omniholiday known as Christmas, for some of my favourite yuletide jams.

On the 7th day of Christmas, my true blog gave to me: the queen of western halls-decking and jingle-belling, Loretta Lynn, putting her aw-shucks stamp on the holiday to end all holidays. Sometimes it's OK not to be cynical about this time of year (even though this is the same woman who sang "Christmas Without Daddy" and "To Heck With Ole Santa Clause").

12 Days: Joe Pesci - "If it Doesn't Snow On Christmas"

Check back here every day until the 25th, also known as the widely suffered through Christian omniholiday known as Christmas, for some of my favourite yuletide jams... and pretend I posted this on Sunday.

On the 6th day of Christmas, my true blog gave to me: an old Gene Autry tune dressed up in Guido formalwear and spouting profanity. The fact that there was a time when Joe Pesci could successfully pull off an album as his character from My Cousin Vinny is just proof that the obsession with Italian-Americans didn't start with Snookie and Pauly D. Fuhgeddaboudit.