Christmas Music Sucks, Here's Some Christmas Music (Patreon)

I'm on record saying that "If Christmas music were good, they'd play it year round." 

I think the reason why so many of us hate Christmas music is because it's extremely formulaic to make, a solid repertoire already exists, and it's guaranteed to make money. 

So the music industry just cranks out a bunch of cheap Christmas music every year and they play it to death everywhere you go.

However. I've changed my tune a little (get it?) 

I have strong associations and emotional connections to certain kinds of music, certain sounds, certain vibes, and yes, certain Christmas songs around this time of year. 

There's a certain "beauty in the melancholia" type of vibe. A fire in a cozy little shack while it's freezing cold outside. 

So here's a playlist to celebrate Christmas the Scum Choir way. 

Familiar songs, but also songs I discover throughout the year. Sometimes I hear a song that has nothing to do with Christmas really but I think "This would be a great song for Christmas time."

The first half is a lot of chill, melancholic, ambient music and jazz songs about winter and emulating the falling snow. Soft Choral music. Stuff like that. A lot of just weird stuff. 

There's a solid chunk of overtly Christmas music in the middle of the playlist. There's some psych rock, metal, punk, soul, and rap Christmas songs. I tried to stray away from the ones where it's just an artist doing their version of the standards. Although there are some of those that I can't resist. Guilty pleasures I guess. 

I bought my girlfriend like five Pat Benatar records like 10 years ago. I asked the cashier for a bag so no one would see them. Without looking at me he said, "never be ashamed of what you're into." I think about that record store cashier whenever I'm enjoying a guilty pleasure.

Some of the playlist is idiosyncratic to my tastes personal nostalgia and whatever. I put the black metal bands Emperor and Dimmu Borgir on this playlist, for example, not to be ironic or anti Christmas or whatever, but because I genuinely associate these songs with Christmas time. 

The last song on the playlist "Burnt Offerings" by the thrash metal band Testament always makes me think of the Christmas 2005. I had that album on cassette tape and listened to it probably every night for the month of December that year. It makes me think of Christmas as much as O' Come All Ye Faithful. 

Anyways. Enjoy.

Happy December 5th. 

It's my mom and my Grandma's birthday.

My grandma went in to labor with my mom while her and my grandpa were on a date for her birthday at Steak and Stein in Pico Rivera. 

So every year we go to that restaurant for their birthday. It's a classy joint. They have paintings of naked women on the wall, it's really dark, and the waiters put the butter on your baked potato for you.

I'm going to get a rib eye. 

Have fun, 

Goodnight Sweeties