Yule Tunes MMXXIV - Part Two

It's that time of year again, when I compulsively compile mixes of holiday music... 

Adding to the over two dozen mixes from previous years, here are the five more Yuletunes mixes for 2024... With more to come next week...

I get nearly all of my music thru Bandcamp these days, so if you're looking to pick up more songs from an album you like from one of these mixes, check out my collection there (and comment/message if you need help, since I have 3300+ items in my collection...)

hwæt! Xmas XXIV Folk Xmas Vol. 3

The third volume of my folk mix. A more traditional mix of songs both old and new featuring folk, acoustic goth and neo-folk Yule Tunes—suitable for all holiday family gatherings. 

(Folk Xmas Volume 1, Folk Xmas Volume 2)

#	Artist	Track
1	Angeline Morrison and the Rowan Amber Mill	Cold Winter Morning
2	Cath and Phil Tyler	Hither Ye Faithful
3	Nativity Songs	Good King Wenceslas
4	Janice Burns & Jon Doran	Down in yon Forest
5	Séamus Begley & Oisín Mac Diarmada	Jigs: Upon St. Nicholas' Boat / Statia Donnelly
6	Rowan:Morrison	Home
7	The Young Tradition with Shirley and Dolly Collins	The Boar’s Head Carol
8	Conspiratio	Gloucestershire Wassail
9	Unto Ashes	For I am Winter Born
10	Butch Ross	In The Bleak Midwinter
11	Joseph Allred	What Child Is This?
12	Paddy Finnegan’s Green Machine	The First noel
13	The Rowan Amber Mill	The Cutty Wren

hwæt! Xmas XXIV Quiet Xmas Vol. 2

Another volume of Quiet Xmas... A mellow, quiet and slightly melancholy mix of Yule Tunes for a relaxing mood. For a long time I had this mix down as my gentle and beautiful mix for the year, so I'm not 100% certain that it's as quiet as the last mix, but the songs are lovely. 

(Quiet Xmas Volume 1)

#	Artist	Track
1	a bowl of rice & Moon-uh	A Night Full of Wonders
2	John Zorn	Snowfall
3	Naomi & goro	winter song
4	Lunar Vacation	Skating
5	Janice Burns & Jon Doran	Carol of the Beasts
6	Lapompe	Honeysuckle Snow
7	Robes of Snow	Comfort of the Fire
8	Jethro Tull	Pavane
9	J.R. Bohannon	Christmas Time is Here
10	Sound of Ceres	The Holly And The Ivy
11	Shiny Around the Edges	In the Snow
12	Aadm Our Hatley	Glamping on Ice
13	Eban Schletter	Another Winter Night

hwæt! Xmas XXIV Unexpected Xmas Vol 3

A third volume of unusual instrumentation and arrangements to add some spice to your holiday festivities—featuring bagpipes, melodica, hurdy-gurdy, sitar, accordion, throat singing and more... 

(Unexpected Xmas Vol 1, Unexpected Xmas Vol 2)

#	Artist	Track
1	GreenMatthews	The Bagpige Carol
2	Sean Thomson	Jolly Old Saint Nicholas
3	Little Mazarn	Sawlent Night
4	GurdyBird	Horatio’s Carol
5	Misha Grossu	Carol of the Bells
6	Cafe Accordion Orchestra	Volse des Flocons
7	The Snake Charmer	Feliz Navidad Bagpipes
8	Jad Fair	Hurray For Santa Claus
9	Earl the Bard	God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
10	PIQSIQ	Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy
11	Paddy Finnegan’s Green Machine	We Wish You A Merry Christmas
12	Dylan Blackthorn	the Hobo’s Wassail Waltz
13	Ukexotic	Silent Night

hwæt! Xmas XXIV Heavy & Dark Xmas Vol. 3

A third volume of heavy and dark Yule Tunes for your enjoyment whether its a solitary sojourn from the bright lights and forced mirth of mandatory celebrations or a celebration of the long dark nights and doomed souls of Xmas time. Probably not safe for children... unless those kids like bad ass metal.

(Heavy & Dark Xmas Vol 1, Heavy & Dark Xmas Vol 2)

#	Artist	Track
1	Buried in Coal	Christmas Time is Here
2	Bong Coffin	All I Want For Christmas
3	jesu	Christmas
4	Daughters Of Saint Crispin	Last XMAS
5	Santa Sabbath	Santanaut
6	Titanosaur	Deck The Halls
7	Angry Snowmans	Elves Of the North Pole
8	Starer	Carol of the Hells (Instrumental)
9	Undergang	Hjerternes Tid
10	The Annihilators	How Do You Gift Wrap A Throat Punch?
11	Grotesque Misalignment	I saw mummy killing santa clause (a primitive christmas)
12	A Hill to Die On	Stille Nacht
13	CIA Hippie Mind Control	God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

hwæt! Xmas XXIV Irreverent Xmas Vol. 3

A third volume of irreverent and eclectic yule tunes that treats Xmas with a healthy dose of comedic contempt and fun. Another mix that is probably better suited for the adult parties.

(Irreverent Xmas Vol 1, Irreverent Xmas Vol 2)

#	Artist	Track
1	The Dollyrots	Christmas Time With You
2	Null Device	Baby, It’s No Longer Cold Outside (Because of Climate Change)
3	Nicholas Burgess	Sugar Plum
4	MX-80	(I Spent) Christmas With The Devil
5	goneMUNE	No Fun On Christmas (Or Any Day)
6	Make Like Monkeys	Santa Claus is Dead
7	Kay Martin & Her Body Guards	Hang Your Balls On The Christmas Tree
8	Parenthetical Girls	Thank God It’s Not Christmas
9	KatzKab	My Sad Wishlist
10	Thanatos	All The Gifts We Got Wrong (A Christmas Song)
11	Vaein	Santa Baby
12	Kibble	Head Like a Holy Night
13	Buried in Coal	Pretty Big Man

Yule Tunes MMXXIV - Part One

It's that time of year again, when I compulsively compile mixes of holiday music... 

Adding to the over two dozen mixes from previous years, here are the first two Yuletunes mixes for 2024...

I get nearly all of my music thru Bandcamp these days, so if you're looking to pick up more songs from an album you like from one of these mixes, check out my collection there (and comment/message if you need help, since I have 3300+ items in my collection...)

First is a mix of Synth heavy tunes, almost could have been a second Gothmas Mix but a few lighter tunes snuck on and it focused more on the electronic end. Nothing on the mix that's truly not kid friendly, but probably more fun for adults.

#	Artist	Track
1	Ladytron	All Over By Xmas
2	Xander Harris	The Plot to End December
3	Das Mörtal	Last Christmas
4	Biomechanimal	God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
6	Flying Bohemian	Toy to the World
7	Kibble	Warm Fireplace
8	Silent Runners	Baby I’m Cold Inside
8	Miranda Dali	Merry Xmas (War Is Over)
9	Doors In The Labyrinth	To Drive The Cold Winter Away
10	Fomorian	Solstice
11	Hot Dad	A Christmas Shortcut
12	Isolation Ward	Lamina Christus
13	Freezepop	Maybe Next Year on the Mistletoe (Computerizer Version)

Second, a second volume of Swinging Xmas, with a heavy focus on Surf Rock, but along the same lines as the first volume, a party friendly mix of rocking yule tunes. I found the excellent source image I used as the cover in the depths of Wikimedia Commons... 

#	Artist	Track
1	The Swingin’ Pussycats	Rudolph Don’t Surf
2	X-Ray Tango	We Three Kings Of Orient Are
3	The Surfrajettes	All I Want For Christmas Is You
4	Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet	White Diamonds
5	Urban Surf Kings	The Elves Ride Again
6	The Soul Santas	Winter Wonderland
7	Kerry Pastine and the Crime Scene	Holly Jolly Rock & Roll Party
8	Los Bitchos	Tipp Tapp
9	Surf Zombies	Sleigh Ride
10	Mariachi Death Squad	Carol of the Bells
11	Elephant Stone	Christmas Time (Is Here Again)
12	The Wave Chargers	Surfin’ Jingle Bells
13	Underwater Bosses	God Rest Ye Gnarly Gentlemen

hwæt! And when you least think of you…

I had originally thought that I'd put out a mix of songs with exquisite mouth sounds, inspired by Teho Teardo & Blixa Bargeld's incredible "Menschenentsafter" but I need to spend a little more time sifting through my collection to make sure I've truly assembled the best of what I have.

So instead, I built a mix around another of the tracks off of the incredible album Christian & Mauro, "Bisogna Morire" or 'you must die', which is a more cheerful memento mori than the name might suggest. The resulting mix is by turns playful and melancholy, autumnal and heartening, and hopefully a balm for the listener's soul.

#	Artist	Track
1	Teho Teardo & Blixa Bargeld	Bisogna Morire
2	Elysian Fields	This World Is Just a World
3	Unwoman	Falling Leaves
4	Lankum	Cold Old Fire
5	Rogér Fakhr	Rainhill
6	Mick Harvey	Alone with the Stars
7	Philip Glass	Mishima (Bob’s Burgers Arrangement)
8	Allie Goertz	We’re in This Together
9	Chris Connelly	Fini Chagall
10	Anita Lane	Bella Ciao
11	Einstürzende Neubauten	All of No Man’s Land is Ours
12	The Young Gods & The Lausanne Sinfonietta	She Rains (Live)
13	The Legendary Pink Dots	Space Captain (Extended)

I also made the mix as a youtube music playlist, though since all the songs are at the mercy of google making them available, you're really better off listening on Mixcloud where they won't disappear unless the whole mix is taken down...

hwæt! moody mittwoch mixes

It's been a rough week with anger and sadness rolling through in waves, so, as I have done before, I focused on channeling those emotions into musical mixes.

First, hwæt! she’s looking down with sadness... Sometimes when the world seems full of muck and it feels like a great portion of humanity lets you down, you want to listen to some beautifully sad songs, so here are a baker's dozen of tunes for just that...

#	Artist	Track
1	Zola Jesus	Dead & Gone
2	Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood	Ghost Stories
3	The Legendary Pink Dots	Stigmata (Part 4)
4	Chris ConnellyHeartburn
5	Lankum	Go Dig My Grave
6	Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin & Ultan O'Brien	All Our Lonely Ghosts
7	Allfather	A False Peace
8	Foetus	Here Comes the Rain
9	The Mon	The Manure of Our Remains
10	Chelsea Wolfe	Little Grave
11	Panopticon	The Wandering Ghost
12	Scott Walker	The Ballad of Sacco And Vanzetti
13	Green Lung	One for Sorrow

Allfather's excellent, defiant anthem "Take Their Eyes" was the anchor for this mix, that I gathered a dozen more tracks of rage and defiance around.

#	Artist	Track
1	Green Lung	Leaders of the Blind
2	Allfather	Take Their Eyes
3	Svalbard	Defiance
4	Frayle	Burn
5	Verminlord	Everywhere is burning
6	Pig	The Keeper of the Margarita
7	The Legendary Pink Dots	This One-Eyed Man is King
8	Nomadic War Machine	I Hate Every Cop In This Town
9	ZAMILSKA	BLIND
10	Ashenspire	The Law of Asbestos
11	Mass Culture	Bones of this World
12	Transgressive	Extreme Transgression
13	Order of the Wolf	A Plague on Conservative Houses

hwæt! Halloween 2024 Mixes

Unexpectedly deciding to buy a house in August 2023 sure derailed this blog and my little hobby of making thematic musical mixes. But with this pair of Halloween Mixes, I'm hoping to get back on track.

You can find my previous Halloween Mixes here:

hwæt! Halloween 2021 Mixes

hwæt! Halloween 2022 Mixes

First is the Candy Bowl Mix, a mix of slightly eerie, slightly silly songs that should be suitable to have on in the background while you're passing out treats to costumed children.

#	Artist	Track
1	The Surfrajettes	Banshee Bop
2	Henry Hall BBC Dance Orchersta	Here Comes the Bogey Man
3	Binaural Space	Ghostbuster Busters
4	Sean Thomson	Witches Be Trippin’
5	Four Eyes	The Dead Can’t Rest
6	The Vampires of Dartmoor	Dr. Caligari’s Creeps Cabinet
7	Loot the Body	Razor Blades in Apples
8	8-Bit Arcade	Season of the Witch
9	Tall Tall Trees & Kramer	Superstition
10	Uncle Fido	They Visit a Cemetery
11	The Psychic Circle	Lights Out
12	Five Jones Boys	Mr Ghost Goes To Town
13	Hazy Sour Cherry	Hazy Halloween

Second is the Creepy Crawly Dance Party mix, a selection of vaguely sinister and monstrous to outright Halloween themed songs suitable for an adult costume party.

#	Artist	Track
1	ÅRABROT	Skeletons Trip the Light Fantastic
2	Fundustrial	Dance of Doom
3	Pitch Black Manor	Scream Team
4	BARA HARI	House of the Devil
5	Katie Gately	Fawn
6	Liars	There’s Always Room On The Broom
7	Black Market Dub & Wise Owl	Ghouls Dancing
8	Unwoman	Love’s Secret Domain
9	The Glass Beads	Monster
10	Henning Zinoviev & Floating Candles	Jessica Van Helsing
11	Bussy Kween Power Trip	Slap Me In My Panties, Brah
12	Church of the Cosmic Skull	Last Words of a Dying God
13	Leæther Strip	Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)

For those who don't want to use MixCloud, I also compiled two YouTube Music playlists combining these with earlier mixes of similar vibes... One for the probably kid-friendly Candy Bowl tracks and one for the more adult Creepy Crawly Dance Party adult costume vibe...

Of course, because YouTube doesn't have all of the tracks that I do, the MixCloud mixes have all of the tracks and the YouTube playlists have some gaps.