Once again here are the links to my silly playlist: https://www.mixcloud.com/luigihann/xmas-mix-2022-free-spirits/ [https://www.mixcloud.com/luigihann/xmas-mix-2022-free-spirits/] https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4abvJBFQqThIfOGE22C6qv [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4abvJBFQqThIfOGE22C6qv]
Every year I put some thought into collecting recent or relevant songs to make it a bit of a time capsule, then arrange them in an order so they flow smoothly together, then give the list a title to evoke a theme.
This year, I gravitated to a theme based on A Christmas Carol. It took a bit of brainstorming to figure out how to express that theme in a way that still mostly uses songs that would otherwise fit the time capsule aspect. Eventually I settled on the following sub-themes:
The "Christmas Past" segment feature bittersweet or nostalgic songs, each of which is a new performance or cover of a song I've used in a previous year's Xmas Mix. The genres vary but skew towards older or retro styles. Treating the Fourside theme as a Christmas song is an old inside joke, and I really wanted an 8-Bit Big Band song in this year's mix to celebrate their Grammy early this year.
The "Christmas Present" segment features warm and jubilant songs, with a stronger focus on recency and relevancy. Most of them are releases from the past couple of years. The Sonic Runners track is a bit older, but Sonic had such a big year in 2022. And the Bob's Burgers song is in there as a nod to the movie coming out this year. They have a ton to choose from, but "Twinkly Lights" is an inspiring and uplifting favorite.
The "Christmas Future" segment is a bit more ambiguous but features ominous or forward-looking songs, with a lean toward electronic music and other similar genres. Quite sad that Daft Punk never put out a Christmas song, as that's the vibe I was looking for. The Kirby and Evangelion tracks allude to both their recent releases and their post-apocalyptic settings. The inclusion of "Armageddon" is a bit of a stretch, but I count Canon in D as a Christmas song, and the judgmental tone is so perfect for a Christmas Future vision.
Each segment ended up with at least one song that I really wanted to include from the beginning, and at least one surprisingly good fit that I stumbled across while looking for songs after deciding on the theme. The lyrics to this version of "Greensleeves" make it a perfect "Christmas breakup" song to fit the Christmas Past storyline, "This is Life (Merry Christmas)" was just the tone I needed to transition into the Present section, and "A Change at Christmas (Say It Isn't So)" made a miraculously perfect finale to the Future segment.
The list is bookended by tracks that explicitly reference the theme - the only tracks that come directly from A Christmas Carol adaptations are "Marley and Marley" from Muppet Christmas Carol, and "That Christmas Morning Feelin' (Curtain Call)" from "Spirited." And the Past, Present, and Future section intros came from an extensive search for songs that mention those ghosts but aren't from adaptations. It was a fun search, and I'm quite pleased how it all came together.
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