The Wrong Squid: Tis the season to be cranky There are a lot of things that annoy me about the Christmas season. Like the ever creeping backwards time that they start decorating stores (this year Lowe's had their stuff out before Halloween - a new record!) Or the way everyone is supposed to be nice to each other but really is just horrible because of all the holiday pressure (and why can't we just be nice all the time? Just do it for a month and then be a dick the rest of the year?) And I'm still scarred from too many Christmases spent working in retail.
The one thing that drives me the most nuts though is the music. Partly because it's the same songs year in and year out, or people trying to put a new spin on the same old songs, which just seems to never go well (save for the Singing Dogs' Jingle Bells, which forever rules). Or ones that try to "rock it up," like Jingle Bell Rock, or Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree. Those chafe me extra nice. I had a roommate that had almost every Christmas CD known to man, and as a result, I can say I really only like Fairy Tale In New York, and the Ray Charles Christmas record with him driving a sleigh on the cover. But I think that's more about the cover.
So, I decided I would try to do something about it. I asked a bunch of my friends in bands to come up with original holiday/winter songs and send them to me. The result is Cwistmas Twee, 11 indiepop hits (I also hate it when indiepop gets called "twee" as it's usually derogatory, but that's another column). I'm sure if I had to hear these songs in every single store I went into, I'd get real sick of them too, but right now I'm really happy with the way this turned out. So, if you're looking for something new musically this holiday season, maybe give this a shot.
If the commercial nature of this post offends you, please cram it.
