Christmas Mix 2018
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full track listing

This is a mix-CD I burned in 2018, and I'm reviewing it in 2022. I don't feel the need to talk about every song on it, but of course I like them all.

1. "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" by Bing Crosby: This is of course a classic, but the main reason I used it to start this CD is because it played at the beginning of the movie Krampus.

4. "Hey Santa!" by Carnie & Wendy Wilson: This makes me kind of nostalgic for the '90s, partly for this song specifically and partly for the group Wilson Phillips in general.

8. "All the Gifts I Need" by JD McPherson: I put another song by McPherson, "Socks" on my YouTube Christmas playlist. I think I like that one better than this one; it's certainly funnier. But this one's definitely more Christmas-y and happier.

11. "Christmas Must Be Tonight" by the Band: Here in 2022, I have no recollection of the song (from 1977) at all, but I'd be surprised if I didn't learn of its existence from my friend Galen. I'm probably going to forget all about it again, but it's nice while I'm listening to it.

12. "Carol of the Bells" by Emmy Rossum: I've had some version of this song (either by itself or as part of a medley) on all four of my Christmas mix CDs, and this isn't the only version that appears on this CD. But this is definitely one of my favorite renditions. It sounds rather synth-y, which I think fits the song well. (Though to be honest I'm not even sure if there is any synth on the song or if that's just Rossum's voice that sounds that way.)

17. "Jingle Bells" by William Shatner feat. Henry Rollins: This is kind of comedy, I guess. The whole Christmas album that Shatner put out was kind of comedy. I know I wanted to put something from the album on my mix CD, and this is what I chose. Now I can't even remember any of the other songs, so maybe this was a good choice, but it's still something I might not include if I were making the CD now.

20. "Gruss Vom Krampus / Krampus Karol of the Bells" by Brea Olinda High School Singers: This is the last song on the CD, and it played during the closing credits of "Krampus", so you see how I started and ended my CD with music from that movie. Fun, right? This is an appropriately dark take on "Carol of the Bells" with alternate lyrics (starting four minutes into the track). It's similar to "It's Christmas Eve" from A Christmas Horror Story, so if you like this I recommend checking that out, too.