Episode 378: A Balm on the Bus

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As Groundhog Day approaches, we recognize the cultural association of the holiday with the concept of repetition and take some repeat requester’s requests! The two songs suggested by longtime listener Liam present us with two distinct flavours — though both are very much of the year 2020, and both come to us from Scottish artists. “Humans Are Not Worth Saving” by Michael M is a catchy little pop-punk ditty about immortal zombie Santa having an existential crisis (like you do). On a completely different emotional wavelength, “(I Wish You) Peace In Your Heart” by Blue Rose Code featuring Karine Polwart is a heartfelt gift offering solace in hard times.

The ranking music in this episode is “Maybe This Christmas” by Ron Sexsmith.

Thank you to Liam for these requests! 

Episode 377: Vegeta Rap Vejanuary

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I don’t want to mislead you. We don’t actually have any Dragonball Z related holiday hip-hop songs to cover. Sorry. To be clear: we’re very, very open to theming an annual celebration around them if you find any! For now, all we have is “Grinch” by Jae Wes, followed by “Grinch Rap (Santa Diss)” by Ess.

The ranking music in this episode is, of course, “Grinch 2000” by Jim Carrey and Busta Rhymes.

Episode 376: Danuary

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It’s our first annual, definitely real and permanent, mark-it-on-your-calendar-for-January-2026 feature: Danuary, a celebration of singer-songwriter Dan Wilson! You might know him (and love him) from his band Semisonic (FYI, all of Feeling Strangely Fine slaps, not just “Closing Time”, and you should revisit it), but did you know he’s written lots of songs for other artists? Learn this and more in this inaugural Danuary episode!! To kick off Danuary, we review “Holiday (What Do You Want?)” performed by Mike Doughty and Rosanne Cash (but written by Dan Wilson, of course), followed by “What a Year for a New Year” by (who else???) Dan Wilson.

The ranking music in this episode is “Busting Up a Starbucks” by Mike Doughty.

Episode 375: Proper Proper Crimbo

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Our 2024 milestone episode is here! Aiming to hit the highest of holiday highs, Ian tries to select something dear to Jam’s heart, but may have miscalculated. Looking for the worst of the worst, Jam does a bad music cram-session and comes up with something properly bad but also slightly inscrutable.

The ranking music in this episode is “Together At Christmas” performed by Kermit the Frog and the cast of The Christmas Toy.

Episode 374: Biblically Accurate Krampus

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It’s almost Saint Nicholas Day, which means it’s almost our anniversary, which means it’s almost Krampusnacht! We’re celebrating with two songs about Krampus. More specifically, we’re celebrating with two songs about being a horny little freak for Krampus. Sometimes that’s just how episode themes shake out, you know? First up is the campy parody “Krampus Daddy” by Jinkx Monsoon, followed by the cheerfully kinky “Krampus” by Golden Idols.

The ranking song in this episode is “Holiday Freak Shit” by Mila J.

Episode 373: Mrs. The Snowman

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With just a few short weeks until the winter holidays hit, Jam and Ian forgo Christmas music to instead ponder some questions posed by the most existential of winter symbols: snowpeople. Instead of reminding us of the inevibility of death, these snow-person songs ask us to ponder why we project our own cultural hegemonic order onto three balls of snow with some sticks in them. That’s the theme! Cultural hegemony vis-a-vis snowmen!! First up is “Hanukkah Snowman” by folk-punk artist Phranc, followed by “Snow People” by The Okee Dokee Brothers. Does Jam, for not the first time on the podcast, spend an extraordinary amount of the episode talking about the weird sequel to the Rankin-Bass Frosty the Snowman in which he gets married and also The Bible brings a snowparson to life? Guess, buddy.

The ranking music in this episode is “Winter Wonderland” by Earth, Wind & Fire.

Episode 372: Birthday Boi’s Video Game Pitch Meeting

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It’s time to celebrate what is surely the most important and impactful event happening this week: Jam’s birthday! That means it’s BIRTHDAY BOI’S CHOICE time, and they have chosen two songs from our favourite difficult-to-search British electro-pop charity-Christmas-single-producing duo, Christmas Aguilera! Our discussion of “Santa’s Car” accidentally turns into a bit of a book report comparing and contrasting to other holiday tunes on similar themes, while our talking points re: “Christmas on Mars” quite intentionally turn to Jam’s grand adaptation ideas. Also: we sing a lot in this one!

The ranking music in this episode is also “Christmas on Mars” by Christmas Aguilera. It’s really good ok!!

Episode 371: Psychobilly, Qu’est-ce Que C’est?

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It’s Halloween and we’re taking some EXTRA SPOOKY* requests! Two tracks off of the Psychobilly Christmas compilation album – “Halloween on X-Mas” by The Coffin Caddies and “Silent Night, Deadly Night” by The White Coffin Terror – attempt to inject some frights into the festive, but do they succeed? And isn’t there anyone who can tell Ian what psychobilly is all about??

*Spookiness results may vary. Twang not included.

The intro sting in this episode is “Main Titles (Beetlejuice)” composed by Danny Elfman, and the ranking music is “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” performed by Harry Belafonte.

Thank you to Kevin for these requests!

Episode 370: Jesus Died For Our Crocodiles

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Sometimes, when you do a year-round holiday music review podcast for nine years, you pitch a ridiculous idea and you kinda just gotta trust the process. We’re celebrating the fact that “Oct” sounds a little bit like “croc” with two crocodile-themed song selections! “Merry Christmas Baby (Please Don’t Die)” by Crocodiles and Dum Dum Girls wraps a gloomy sentiment in a cheerful (if somewhat hushed) package, while “The Christmas Crocodile” by The Big Cheese Band seems like a straightforward vehicle to launch a new Santa animal companion, but is actually a clown car full of one surprise after another.

The ranking music in this episode is “Crocodile Rock” by Elton John.

Stay safe this Croctober, y’all.

Episode 369: Taking Care of Nonsense

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Listen, at the time of this recording, Sabrina Carpenter’s album WAS at the top of the charts. She’s still near the top! Top-ish! WE REMAIN RELEVANT

In this episode, we discuss Sabrina Carpenter’s 2022 Christmas track (and soon-to-be basis of a Netflix special, apparently) “A Nonsense Christmas”, followed by the circa-2015 “Christmas the Whole Year Round”. Join us as we celebrate Carpenter’s musical journey, from pop production that projects virginity to the most dick-puns-per-minute song in the podcast’s history!

The ranking music in this episode is, of course, “Nonsense” by Sabrina Carpenter.