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PODCAST

Twelve Songs of Christmas

”The Twelve Songs of Christmas” tries to sort out the place of Christmas music in our culture by talking to the people who make it.

arts performing arts

All Episodes

40:47

Grant-Lee Phillips

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/08/19

Singer Grant-Lee Phillips is the first 12 Songs guest to have worked as a mall Santa. The solo artist who rose to fame in the alternative rock band Grant Lee Buffalo had Christmas songs talks about that experience this week, as well as what he learned about songwriting from Christmas songs. In 2020, Phillips released the Winterglow EP, and he talks about the role the Gilmore Girls television show played in the title track, as well as how he selected the infrequently covered songs he also recorded

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46:13

Big Freedia and Boyfriend

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/08/12

Think of this as a remix. Last year, I interviewed New Orleans bounce artist Big Freedia for an episode about his Christmas music including the EP he released last season, Smokin' Santa Christmas. In early January, I interviewed New Orleans' founder of "rap cabaret" Boyfriend about Amy Grant's A Christmas Album. We also talked about her work with Big Freedia--a part of the conversation I saved because the Amy Grant conversation was a full episode on its own. (Boyfriend has also appeared on the show

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46:59

A Punk Rock Christmas with The Myrrhderers

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/07/01

This week, Jamie Hilsden and I have a meeting of the minds about how punk's meaning and associations have changed over time, and his punk Christmas EPs--The Myrrhderers Slay Christmas and The Myrrhderers Slay Some More--give us the place to start that conversation. Hilsden brings a very interesting perspective to the conversation as a Canadian Christian who grew up in Israel just a few miles from Bethlehem and started working up the demos for these songs while on tour with a band in Poland. We

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38:36

Cheap Trick

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/06/24

Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Cheap Trick weren't sure a Christmas album was a good idea when asked by their label to do one, but 2016's Christmas Christmas worked out, and it's better when bassist Tom Petersson makes clear the thoughts behind some of their versions. They revisited the rock 'n' roll Christmas canon and made those songs rock more. No small feat in some of the cases. We got time to talk because Cheap Trick has a new album, In Another World, which took on unintended meanings since it

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53:42

Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas with Larry Weinstein

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/06/09

In 2017, filmmaker Larry Weinstein shot Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas (available to stream on iTunes) for the Canadian Broadcast Company. The documentary starts in a fictional Chinese restaurant in 1967, and a number of music video-like performances set in that restaurant give structure to an exploration of the Jewish relationship to Christmas. The documentary is built on the fact that many of the Christmas classics were written by Jews--the same writers who wrote many of the great American

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58:07

The Polyphonic Spree

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/06/03

The Dallas-based Polyphonic Spree formed in 2000, and the 22-person band seemed inconceivable. Former Tripping Daisy member Tim DeLaughter pulled together a band that gave him strings, horns, a harp, and host of voices to sing along. At the time, the band's look including choir robes and Dallas' proximity to Waco prompted the British press to speculate on the band's cult-like tendencies. DeLaughter talks about that including the origins of the robes in this week's episode. In 2012, The Polyphonic

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46:43

George Winston

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/05/27

In December, I talked to "folk pianist" George Winston about his then-new Christmas single, "Silent Night," which he released to benefit Feeding America. His version was inspired by electronic artist Joseph Byrd and New Orleans piano player Professor Longhair, and at the time I ran part of our interview. This week, I'm running the interview in its entirety, as he talks at length about his affection for New Orleans' piano players then and now, and another pianist who influenced him--Vince Guaraldi

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53:32

Christmas on Death Row

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/05/19

The 1996 album Christmas on Death Row has always stood out because it seemed so improbable. Death Row Records made its name on indo-fueled g-funk telling gangsta stories from the 'hoods of Los Angeles, and nothing in that sound or subject matter conjures up warm fuzzies. Digital wise guys writing listicles in the 2000s during the holiday season inevitably slagged it as a bad idea or a cynical one. According to John Payne and Danny Boy, the story is far more complex, and they suggest that the album

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59:20

Lindsey Stirling

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/05/13

In 2018, violinist Lindsey Stirling released her Christmas album, Warmer in the Winter, and although she doesn't usually sing on her songs, today she explain why she decided to sing the title track. Today's conversations is largely about versions of songs--the hows and whys of picking one version over another. It's an issue in her case because she has released two versions of "What Child is This?" including one from 2020 with Darius Rucker, and this year she has released an electric and an acoustic

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01:03:03

Christmas mp3 blogs with FaLaLaLaLa.com's King of...

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/05/05

Starting in the mid-2000s, mp3 blogs were a way to share a musical passion and find the community that shares it. I wrote about two such mp3 bloggers who share their love of Louisiana music for 64 Parishes, and this week on the show I talk to Brad Ross-MacLeod, also known online as the King of Jingaling at FaLaLaLaLa.com. He has shared his love of Christmas music since 2004, for much of that time digitizing old Christmas albums that were never released on CD or in digital form. For the most part,

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53:02

The Bird and The Bee

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/04/29

Singer Inara George and producer Greg Kurstin are The Bird and the Bee, whose stylish, semi-electronic pop draws influences including a few that came to be lumped--inaccurately, I'd argue--under the "lounge" umbrella. The results are far snappier than that implies, but Kurstin has access to a battalion of retro keyboard sounds at his disposal that, paired with George's cool voice, make every song sound hip and well-dressed. Last fall, they released Put Up the Lights, their first Christmas album but

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01:16:45

A Chiptune Christmas with Doctor Octoroc

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/04/21

There's a whole body of chiptune music--music created by manipulating the programmable sound generator in videogame consoles. People once observed that if something exists, there's a porn version of it on the Internet, and if music exists, there's likely also a chiptune version of it as well. Levi Buffum, who records under the name Doctor Octoroc, made a chiptune Christmas album in 2008 when he released 8-Bit Jesus. This week, Alex talks to Doctor Octoroc about the hows and whys of chiptune music

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01:02:48

ZE Records' "A Christmas Record" with Michael Zilkha

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/04/14

In 1981, Christmas albums for rock 'n' roll audiences didn't exist, and with the exception of a few snotty punk singles, there was nothing for young people who loved the music that emerged after punk and new wave. ZE Records' A Christmas Record occupied that space alone, though as label founder Michael Zilkha explains, the album was more of a marketing project than a specifically commercial venture. Still, it brought the world The Waitresses' classic "Christmas Wrapping," and included music by such

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37:26

Calexico

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/03/31

In December, I had more good interviews than I had time for, so I ran episodes that featured excerpts from conversations with a number of artists. One such musician was Joey Burns of Calexico. Calexico released Seasonal Shift in time for last Christmas, and last December I ran the part of our conversation about their version of "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" and the political significance that Calexico's music has taken on. This week, I'm returning to that conversation, which again ranges wildly from

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54:38

Peter Orullian

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/03/24

Prog metal is not my musical sweet spot, particularly where Christmas music is concerned. But as the arenas full of people who attend Trans-Siberian Orchestra shows each holiday season testify, it clearly is for many. For that reason, I really enjoy talking to people working in that area. I want to understand it better. Peter Orullian is one such artist. He's an author who moved to Seattle with his band and a dream that didn't quite work out. The band didn't survive relocation, but he continued to

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01:05:10

11 Acorn Lane

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/03/17

In 2010, the two-man act known as 11 Acorn Lane released Happy Holy Days, an album of predominantly Christmas music that nods to two very different but equally legendary talents--Esquivel and Henry Mancini. Thomas Feurer and Neal Pawley discuss their affection for the two and how they created music in their footsteps instrument by instrument, bar by bar, in a Manhattan apartment in the dead of summer. Feurer and Pawley talk about Esquivel and Mancini, how their own technical abilities shaped their

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41:55

An Indie Rock Christmas with Gareth Jones

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/03/11

The British Cherryade Records has been indie in concept and practice for more than 15 years. For much of that time, it has released a yearly Christmas compilation, A Very Cherry Christmas, which is only released in limited quantities and predominantly as physical objects. Cherryade's Bandcamp page features links to their Christmas comps dating back to 2005, but the CDs have long since sold out and only a few tracks from each one are available to stream or download. In 2020, Cherryade released an

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52:24

Jacqui Naylor

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/03/03

Singer Jacqui Naylor cops to the phrase "jazz vocalist," but she has worked to broaden the tags used to identify her and the spheres where her music can live. Since she debuted in the late 1990s, she has leaned into her inner singer/songwriter on occasion, and with "acoustic smashing," she has jumped the jazz fences entirely, pairing songs by R.E.M., AC/DC, Peter Gabriel and other rock acts with famous jazz songs. She smashes David Bowie's "Space Oddity" on her new album, The Long Game, which is out

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41:53

Steve Lukather

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/02/24

Guitarist Steve Lukather is best known for a thousand studio sessions, as a member of Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band, and as the sole founding member remaining in Toto. He has enjoyed the rock 'n' roll life, and even though he's not the wild man he used to be, he remains unfiltered in conversation. That made our conversation on his 2003 Christmas album Santamental and his new album, I Found the Sun Again, a lot of fun and really interesting. The musician in him can make observations others wouldn't,

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27:22

New Orleans' Panorama Jazz Band (an encore presentation)

Twelve Songs of Christmas ·

2021/02/18

COVID-19 forced major changes to Mardi Gras, including no parades, but New Orleanians still found ways to honor to day and spirit of the holiday. Since I take Mardi Gras seriously, my family and I were out on Fat Tuesday to see - and be a part of - a socially distanced Mardi Gras. In honor of the holiday, I've scheduled an encore presentation of the first episode of 12 Songs with Ben Schenk of New Orleans' Panorama Jazz Band. Panorama plays music from the traditional jazz repertoire and folds in

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