Twelve Songs of Christmas

Indie Christmas Music with Amerigo Gazaway, Charlie Darling, and ”Have Yourself a Merry Indie Christmas”

This week's episode features indie Christmas music--indie hip-hop with DJ and producer Amerigo Gazaway, British indie rock with Les Bicyclettes de Belsize's Charlie Darling, and British music journalist Kevin McGrath, who compiled 108 indie Christmas tracks for Have Yourself a Merry Indie Christmas Volume 1 and Volume 2. All of their music is available now on Bandcamp. Right now, Amerigo is also selling a limited edition vinyl pressing of his A Christmas Album paired with a vinyl pressing of the accompanying remix album with vocals. 

During my conversation with Amerigo, we talk about his collaboration with rapper Mega Ran, who appeared on 12 Songs in 2020. While talking about his search for indie Christmas music, McGrath mentioned visiting the Christmas Underground website. Last week, I talked to Christmas Underground's Jim Goodwin on the show.

The Smithereens and ChristmasUnderground.com

With Christmas approaching, it's time when I have more good conversations than I have weeks until December 25. Today, I have two conversations that I really enjoyed, one with Dennis Diken of rock band The Smithereens, and one with Jim Goodwin, who runs the indie rock Christmas website ChristmasUnderground.com. The Smithereens' 2007 Christmas album Christmas with The Smithereens was released on vinyl this holiday season, and Goodwin has been busy posting new and new-to-you indie Christmas tracks that he found on Bandcamp.

During the episode, I mentioned this year's Christmas music mix, which you can get by writing alex@myspiltmilk.com. For those who would rather stream music, I have posted a four-hour holiday playlist on both Spotify and Apple Music. Not only will you not hurt my feelings if you shuffle it; you'll make the experience better. I didn't sequence the songs because at that length, I can't feel like there's a right or wrong sequence to the songs. Besides, I shuffle it when I listen to it, and it helps keep it fresh for me.

Joss Stone

British pop/soul singer Joss Stone released Merry Christmas, Love earlier this year, and it's a bit of a departure for her as she set out to make a "posh" album, something on the surface very different from the music she's known for. 

It's still very much a personal project, down to the influence of her daughter and the son she was pregnant with while recording the album. We talked about the ways that personal choices show up in a project as big and orchestrated as Merry Christmas, Love. 

In this episode, Alex also talks about The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, The Old 97s, and two British indie Christmas compilations, Have Yourself a Merry Indie Christmas Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.

Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips - An Encore Presentation

In 2020, I had a good conversation with Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips about the surprising amount of Christmas music they have, starting with Atlas Eets Christmas, which they recorded and credited to "Imagene Peise." We talked about that album's origins, which make sense when you hear them, as well as the Christmas on Mars project and a host of other holiday one-offs the band has recorded.

I ran this conversation that fall, but since I'm on family vacation this Thanksgiving week, I'm re-running this episode. 

This year's "Twelve Songs of Christmas" Christmas mix is available now. Write me at alex@myspiltmilk.com and I'll send you a folder with the file and a song list. You may know some of the songs from the show, but I think it's a safe bet that most of these songs or versions will be new to you. 

 

Children’s Music at Christmas with Laurie Berkner

Laurie Berkner had one of those days when we got together to talk. A plumber came to work on her bathroom while we did our interview, and his work is the occasional backdrop for our conversation. 

Still, the children's music artist talked at length about the making of her second Christmas album, Another Laurie Berkner Christmas, and the way making music for children affects her art. She's part of a generation that grew up with rock 'n' roll and makes music true enough to its spirit that parents who themselves love music use her music as a first step in that direction for their kids.

In our conversation, we talk about musicality, faith, and the song she'd love to do but won't. It's a lot of fun and shines a little light on the children's music world.  

Low and ”Just Like Christmas”- an Encore Presentation

In 2020, I interviewed Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker of the indie rock band Low, whose 1999 album Christmas is one of the great indie Christmas albums, and a bold one because rock bands didn't record Christmas music at the time--at least not like that. Maybe they'd contribute a track to a label promo compilation, but they wouldn't tie their financial and artistic futures to such an unlikely project. 

Low's music at the time was dubbed "slowcore," and while it wasn't necessarily slow, they did stake out a very individual musical space that was driven by introspection and meditation more than energy. 

When I interviewed Alan and Mimi, they were sitting at a table at home in Duluth, Minnesota, and even though we were on opposite ends of a Zoom call, the coziness of their space and the conversation gave the conversation a vibe I'll remember. 

I'm re-posting this interview because on the weekend, Mimi Parker died of ovarian cancer. People have been sharing photos and memories of Mimi on social media, so I wanted to add our conversation to the demonstrations of love for her, the band and the way they moved through the world. 

”A Charlie Brown Christmas” with Derrick Bang

Vince Guaraldi scholar Derrick Bang wrote the liner notes for the 2022 Super Deluxe edition of the soundtrack for A Charlie Brown Christmas, and this week he talks about the 1965 cartoon, Guaraldi, and the soundtrack album sessions included in the digital and CD packages. 

The digital version is out now and up on streaming platforms, and it includes the original 1965 mix, a new mix, and all of the sessions that have been found so far. The CD version also includes a Blu-Ray disc with the animated special, and it's due out December 2. The two-record vinyl version includes the album's original mix and a record with highlights from the sessions. 

I've talked about Guaraldi and A Charlie Brown Christmas on 12 Songs with Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips, Kristin Chenoweth, George Winston, and The Ornaments, and I wrote about Guaraldi's impact last year for The New Orleans Advocate. 

If you want to read more by Bang, you find his film writing at his Blogspot. 

Bruce Cockburn

Last year, Canadian folk artist Bruce Cockburn belated launched a tour celebrating 50 years in music. When we ran an excerpt from this interview last Christmas season, we started off talking about the tour. Since he's not on tour now, I cut some of that material but did start with a conversation on how someone with 50-plus years in the business relates to the music he wrote decades ago. 

We focused our attention on Christmas, his 1993 album of Christmas music. We talk about its humble origins and the versions that inspired some of his takes. To let you in on the conversation, I also included Sam Phillips' version of "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon's "Christ was Born on Christmas Morn," which Cockburn recorded as "Early on One Christmas Morn."  He also talks about why he chose to sing the Huron Christmas carol "Jesus Ahtonnia" in its native language.

It's a good conversation that fits the album into conversations about faith and life, and what can happen over the course of more than 50 years. 

On November 25, he will have three new releases—the digital album Rarities, which features songs previously on the Rumors of Glory box set along with tracks recorded for tribute albums to Gordon Lightfoot, Pete Seeger, Mississippi Sheiks and Mississippi John Hurt. He will also release vinyl versions of 1997’s The Charity of the Night and 1999’s Breakfast in New Orleans, Dinner in Timbuktu. You pre-order all of them now from his label, True North Records.

Peter Zaremba of The Fleshtones

In 2008, the garage rock legends The Fleshtones released a Christmas album, Stocking Stuffer, and in true Fleshtones fashion, they made Christmas sound like them. Since 1976, they have delivered a brand of garage rock influenced by punk, R&B and soul with more than a hint of glam in their style and sound. 

In this interview from 2021, singer Peter Zaremba talks about the album, its origins, and what was most important to them while working on it. He also talks about where the audiences for '60s-inspired rock 'n' roll are and how those communities come together. He reveals the bands that inspired the way they covered some of the songs, and those bands help explain why nobody sounds quite like The Fleshtones.

José James

One of my favorite Christmas albums of 2021 was Merry Christmas from José James, which featured the jazz vocalist in a classic quartet that included pianist Aaron Parks. 

We talked in 2021 and ran part of the conversation last holiday season, but we covered a lot of ground, some of it COVID-related but a lot of it focused on James and the way he bridges musical genres. We chew on jazz, hip-hop, and some of the subtle challenges involved in making Christmas music. The music's good, but I also love the way he turns conventional narratives and hierarchies on their head. It's tempting to give jazz musical primacy--certainly here in New Orleans--but he talks about how hip-hop set him on his jazz journey.

If you want more Christmas music news, follow 12 Songs on Facebook, and if you miss any episodes, you can find them at your podcast provider or TwelveSongsOfChristmas.com.