Episode 319: lofi eggnog beats to study to

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Eggnog Watch 2022 is well under way, and we’re taking on another mission – to find some eggnog tunes to groove to while you scan those shelves. “Six Cups of Eggnog” by Larry Costa certainly sounds classic and celebratory, but may be more concerned with what’s in the nog than the superlative drink itself. Thankfully, a visionary emerges to set us on the right path: “Time Travel Eggnog” by Eggnog Queen holds many important lessons for us, our listeners, and our list.

The ranking music in this episode is – yup! – “Time Travel Eggnog” by Eggnog Queen.

Episode 318: It’s Fall.

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Ian and Jam are back, baby, and IT’S FALL. So pull your scarves out of your closets, spice your pumpkins, and get ready to celebrate the High Holy Days. In honor of Rosh Hashana, we listen to “New Year” by Regina Spektor and “Intangible Things (A Hanukkah Song)” by Haley K. Turner. 

This week’s ranking music is “That Time” by Regina Spektor.

Episode 317: Fake Shark, Real Feelings

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We’re about to take a few weeks off, but before we do that, let’s cover some listener requests! While not themed, per se, they both deal with the hustle and bustle of the winter holiday season. “Winona Ryder Hates Christmas” by Fake Shark Real Zombie is a song that takes its inexplicably silly premise seriously, while “At Last, I’m Ready For Christmas” by Stan Rogers deftly injects some sincerity into a silly-sounding scenario.

The ranking music in this episode is “Dear Abby” by John Prine.

Thank you to Scott and Knut for these requests!

Episode 316: Elephants Are Forever

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Ian and Jam are back on their bullshit, celebrating a holiday you’ve never heard of with – what else? – Christmas music! It’s World Elephant Day, so join us as we merely skim the surface of the world of elephant-related Christmas music with “I Want an Elephant for Christmas” performed by the Peter Pan Caroleers and “I’d Like to Have an Elephant for Christmas” by Hank Thompson.

Our ranking music this episode is “I’d Like to Have an Elephant for Christmas” as performed by Goofy. You know, Goofy?

Episode 315: Birthday Vibes

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IT’S BIRTHDAY BOY’S CHOOOOIICCCE

Ian’s birthday is this week, and so he’s choosing the songs! And he’s going for top 100 candidate kinda shit with the (mostly) touching lyrics of “Grateful for Christmas” by Hayes Carll and the (totally) smooth sounds of “I Dream of Christmas” by Norah Jones.

This episode’s ranking music is “Purple Snowflakes” by Marvin Gaye.

Episode 314: Hanukkah in July

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Here we are, more than half way through 2022… and we haven’t managed to add one dang Hanukkah song to the list! Ian and Jam remedy this with some seasonally appropriate warm weather Hanukkah tunes – “Hanukkah Hawaiian” by Regina Smoler and “Hanukkah in Santa Monica” (uh, no, not that one, a different one) by Mike Barnett and Allie Feder Kramer.

Our ranking music in this episode is, indeed, “Hanukkah in Santa Monica” by Tom Lehrer.

Also, one of the hosts is soft-launching a new name. Can you guess which one???

Episode 313: Milestone-esque

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We’re half-way through the year and we’re marking it the old-fashioned way – by discussing two songs of absolutely divergent quality! By request, we listen to the heavenly “Angels Blush” by Basia, and then drag ourselves to hell with “Honorable Congratulations” by the McGuire Sisters.

Our ranking music in this episode is “Coco Jamboo (Christmas Version)” by Mr. President.

Thank you to Jim for these requests!

Episode 312: Rudolph B. Goode

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This week, we’re finally covering our oldest request on record – a song whose original (but non-thematic) pair was discussed on the show way back in February 2019. It’s “Run Rudolph Run” as performed by Lemmy, Billy Gibbons, and Dave Grohl for the We Wish You a Metal Xmas and a Headbanging New Year compilation album. And what better way to welcome “Run Rudolph Run” to the list than to also cover the original by Chuck Berry?

Our ranking music in this episode is “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry.

Thanks again to Thomas for the request!

Episode 311: Santa is the Color of Your Energy

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I mean, what else were we going to do for this episode? 311 didn’t leave us a LOT of options, so we had to go with “Mele Kalikimaka” performed by Nick Hexum. Then, for reasons, we listened to The Offspring’s cover of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”.

This episode’s ranking music is “Amber” by 311! Of course!

Episode 310: Christmas Wrapping Sandwich

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Inspired by the upcoming World Goth Day, we find a dark jewel in “Things Fall Apart” by Cristina. And then we kinda wander away from World Goth Day, with Ian instead leading RJ down a seemingly circuitous but actually quite straightforward route to arrive at “Christmas Time in the Motor City” by Was (Not Was).

This week’s ranking music is “Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses!