I make Christmas mixes for my friends and family every year. Because cards are boring, and music isn't. So here it is; Happy Mix-Mas, every one.

The Christmas Mixacle 2010

The Christmas Mixacle 2009

The Christmas Mixacle 2008

The Christmas Mixacle 2007

All files are a .zip file at the links. Read on for tracklistings.

Christmas Mixacle 2010 

1. Detroit Junior / Christmas Day
2. The Genuine Fakes / All I Want For Christmas
3. Sugarcult / Santa Clause Is Coming To Town
4. The Brian Setzer Orchestra / Run, Run Rudolph
5. Joey Ramone / Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)
6. Jim James / Christmas, Don’t Be Late (live, no chipmunks)
7. Reverend Horton Heat / Jingle Bells (instrumental)
8. The Blind Boys of Alabama / Last Month of the Year
9. Lou Rawls / Good Time Christmas
10. Chuck Berry / Merry Christmas, Baby
11. Banu Gibson And New Orleans Hot Jazz / I’ll Be Home For Christmas (I will!)
12. Christabel and The Jons / I’d Like You For Christmas
13. Thad Cockrel & Roman Candle / Christmas Time Is Here
14. John Lennon & Yoko Ono / Happy Xmas (War is Over) ..(In memory)
15. INTERMISSION: Built To Spill covers “Linus & Lucy” at a live gig
16. MxPx / Christmas Party (to those going to the Xmas party on Sycamore Road)
17. Bayside / Gloria In Excelsis Deo
18. Best Coast & Wavves / Got Something For You
19. Metro Jets / Jingle Jangle Christmas
20. Herbie Hancock & Corinne Bailey Rae / River
21. Coldplay / Christmas Lights
22. Vince Guaraldi Trio / O Tannenbaum
23. The Fray / Oh Come Oh Emmanuel
24. Dustin Kensrue / O Holy Night
25. Alex Chilton / The Christmas Song

Christmas Mixacle 2009

1. Oasis - Merry Christmas Everybody (since this is sung by Noel Gallagher, I've been referring to this as the FIRST NOEL.)
2. Butch Walker & Taryn Manning - Christmas All Over Again
3. Julian Casablancas - I Wish It Was Christmas Today (rad cover of the 2nd best SNL holiday song ever)
4. Gary Glitter - Another Rock N' Roll Christmas
5. Solomon Burke - Presents on Christmas
6. Middle Distance Runner - Xmas Party
7. Fall Out Boy - What's This?! (Nightmare Before Christmas! yes!)
8. Aretha Franklin - Joy To The World (dude, no one can do this song like momma Aretha. crap)
9. Bobby Lloyd & The Skeletons - Do You Hear What I Hear / You Really Got Me (brilliant mash up of a holiday classic, and The Kinks)
10. Stevie Wonder - What Christmas Means To Me
11. Charles Brown - Christmas Blues (the bluesman, not the Peanut)
12. The Sonics - Santa Clause (I'm gonna dedicate this one to Allie. For no reason other than it's bad ass).
13. The Killers - ¡Happy Birthday Guadalupe! (the line "put your feet up baby, it's Christmas time" wins)
14. Valencia - Pennsylvania Holiday (best song alert! this is, by far, my favorite song this year. put it on here for my family.)
15. Calexico - Gift X-Change (don't know about you, but every time I listen to Calexico I picture him performing by a fireplace. So naturally, he belongs on a Christmas mix.)
16. Dr. John - Silent John (such a warm, giddy version of this song. love it.)
17. Otis Redding - White Christmas (God bless Otis Redding. If you got that special someone, now is the time to slowdance by the fire and/or tree.)
18. MxPx - Auld Lang Syne (gonna send this one out to all my punk rock friends, because it's so fisting good.
19. The Very Most - Away In A Manger (so jubilant.)
20. Glasvegas - A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like A Kiss) (for all you emos out there)
21. Austrian Death Machine - Jingle Bells (Dedicated to Rachael, Stefan, and anyone with the last name Reber)
22. The Carpenters - Home For the Holidays (for my brother, who goes to school in Tennessee and comes back to PA for pumpkin pie. A natural fit.)
23. The meaning of Christmas, according to Linus
24. Shawn Colvin - Christmastime Is Here (speaking of Charlie Brown, we'll just lead in that awesome song)
25. Sam Cooke - Christmas Means Love (apparently I forgot this was on the mixacle in 2007. but it's good enough to make an encore, so i'll live).
26. Hem - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (indeed.)

Christmas Mixacle 2008

1. Daniel Johnson - Christmas Music (one of my favs)
2. My Morning Jacket - Santa Clause Is Back In Town
3. Billy Idol - Yellin At The Christmas Tree
4. Keith Richard - Run Rudolph Run (you won't hear a better version of this song)
5. billy squire - christmas is a time to say I love you
6. dr john - merry christmas baby
7. the hives vs. cyndi lauper - a christmas duel (i am still ridiculously in love with this song)
8. the spiraling - do you hear what i hear (cause I hear The Who's 'baba oriley') (two words- epic)
9. dustin kensrue - fairytale of new york (this Pogues song is not just one of my favorite xmas songs, it's one of my favorite all time songs, period)
10. lightning hopkins - santa
11. dandy warhols - little drummer boy
12. raveonettes - baby please come home
13. mae - carol of the bells
14. staple singers - who took the merry out of christmas
15. low - just like christmas
16. the honorary title - city on christmas
17. morphine - sexy christmas baby mine (dig that brass!)
18. belle & sebastian - christmastime is here (the more i think about it, a belle & sebastian album is like a indie teenage version of Peanuts.)
19. ernie halter - the first noel
20. temptations - silent night
21. my morning jacket - o holy night (the 'gotta take my shoes off' bit is why i love jim james)
22. dexter gordon - the christmas song (now THAT'S christmas)

 Christmas Mixacle 2007

1. Kevin Devine - Splitting Up Christmas (to all my friends, to all my family!)
2. The Kinks - Father Christmas
3. Beach Boys - Little Saint Nick
4. bonnie raitt & charles brown - merry christmas, baby ('feeling mighty fine, got good music on my radio)
5. sex pistols - punk rock christmas (still have trouble understanding why sex pistols have a xmas song, but whatever, it's good.)
6. long winters - sometimes you have to work on christmas (i waited tables on xmas eve when the year i made this mix)
7. jimmy eat world - last xmas (the classic!)
8. coldplay - 2000 miles (pretenders cover. so good)
9. elliott smith - angel in the snow (was pining for this girl who was super into mr. smith that year)
10. ron sexsmith - i still attest that this is one of the warmest, prettiest xmas songs ever written.
11. damien rice - happy christmas (war is over) (this xmas tune is probably one of the most covered, but this is the only one besides the original worth your tinsel)
12. white stripes - candy cane children
13. ben folds - lonely xmas eve
14. the killers - don't shoot me santa (i love their xmas songs, and this one is the best)
15. jimmy eat world - 12.23.95 (heart)
16. over the rhine - all i ever get for christmas is blue
17. as tall as lions - it's only christmas
18. ben folds - bizarre christmas incident
19. sam cooke - christmas means love
20. feist - lo, how a rose e're blooming (mmm, such a beautiful song)
21. vince guaraldi - christmas time is here (with vocals)
22. as tall as lions - o holy night (and they nailed it.)
23. coldplay - have yourself a merry little christmas (you really can't do better than this version of this song on christmas eve)
24. alexi murdoch - silent night