Corporal Blossom did their combination of many different white christmases into one glorious rendition of "White Christmas" which can be found on their Christmas album Mutated Christmas (Amazon) and on the Stay Free Magazine cd compilation Illegal Art. Then we heard Stevie Wonder himself with his classic "What Christmas Means to Me" from A Motown Christmas (Amazon, iTunes) and probably on some other album I don't have. Next we heard Dallas' own Dave Little with his novelty song "Dysfunctional Family Christmas" from his album Another Leggy Super Model. (His website was up until, literally, like a week ago. I don't know how you can get a copy of it now. Maybe he'll pay network solutions and it'll come back up).
Then The Brian Setzer Orchestra covered the Les Brown & his Band of Renown version of "The Nutcracker Suite" from their Boogie Woogie Christmas (Amazon, iTunes). And lastly, topping off the show with a classic that's worth tacking on to the end, The Pogues (with special guest Kirsty MacColl) did "Fairytale of New York" from their album If I Should Fall From Grace with God (Amazon), and their greatest hits record (Amazon) which is good good good.
Low with their song "Just Like Christmas" from their album Christmas (Amazon, Other Music) but you can also get it on the new-this-year Christmas record The OC: Mix 3 Have A Very Merry Chrismukkah (iTunes, Amazon) which I understand has something to do with some TV show I have never seen but I'm sure isn't as good as their Christmas album. Next we heard ex-Smoking Pope Josh Carter's band Duvall with their version of "O Holy Night" from their new Christmas album by the same name (iTunes, Amazon), and I have to tell you, it's better than their non-xmas releases so far. And finally John Denver and The Muppets did my favorite version of one of my favorite Christmas songs "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" from their incredibly affordable A Christmas Together (Amazon) though this song doesn't seem to be on the cheap release, so maybe it's not all that affordable after all (eBay). It was a duet between Rolf and John. For all your Muppet needs, I HIGHLY recommend Danny Horn's ToughPigs.com. [Oh, and because it's just that good, I included a special bonus song from the OC xmas album: The Raveonettes' song "The Christmas Song"]
(SPECIAL ELECTION EPISODE!) First up the always great, always political New York City band Le Tigre with their song "Viz" from their new album This Island (iTunes, Amazon, Other Music). Then Seattle's The Long Winters did "The Commander Thinks Aloud" which can be found on the Future Soundtrack for America (iTunes, Amazon, McSweeney's with Book).
Next was indie artist Ian Rhett did "(Didn't Know I was) UnAmerican" which is a free download, and best when listened to while viewing the accompanying flash movie video (his site). And lastly Brooklyn's brilliant Piñataland do an updated version of "Little Know Ye Who's Comin'" for 2004 (formally John Quincy Adams' 1824 campaign song) which is a free download from their site. If you like The Decemberists (iTunes), you should really check out Piñataland and vice versa. (At the end of the show, there's a bonus Le Tigre song, "New Kicks", also from their new album This Island.)
And as a special bonus in this week's show, since all the songs were short, and it seemed lame to have such a short show, there's a special bonus rarity featured. One half of Brooklyn's Musical Ambassadors of Love, They Might Be Giants, singer / song-writer / accordionist / horn player / keyboardist / etc. John Linnell released a disc called State Songs (iTunes, Amazon) in 1999, and along with it a die-cut green record single for the song "Montana." The b-side was "Louisiana." As far as I know this track is not available anywhere anymore. I feel bad putting things in the show that you can't actually obtain, but if you want it, I'm sure you can find it on eBay or something.