Zeon's 2007 'Xmas Mix

The annual Zeon's Christmas mix has finally seen the day, just in time. An hour and 15 mins of festive tunes. Delivered in 128kbps mp3s. With a thematically minimal cover. Also nicely wrapped in a zipped file for your convenience. So get those fingers working! Although the last thing you should do on Christmas Eve is to spend your precious time sitting at the computer to download some mp3s from a faceless blogger. Hope all is having a wonderful time with family & friends, with plenty of reasons to celebrate. There's something for everyone here, and some gems I've been saving for these special times. It ended up with a longer running time than I initially planned, so not sure if it'd fit a CD-R. I'll still be blogging from now to New Year's Eve (World: get a life!), so tomorrow the first installment of my Year-End lists should be up and ready to go. Anyhow, enjoy!

front cover

back cover

01 Jimmy Eat World - Last Christmas
02 Saint Etienne - 21st Century Christmas
03 Eels - Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas
04 Shonen Knife - Space Christmas
05 The Simpsons - 'Cause Christmas Eve Is Here
06 KT Tunstall - Mele Kalikimaka (Christmas in Hawaii)
07 The Puppini Sisters - Jingle Bells
08 Taylor Swift - Santa Baby
09 Liz Phair - Winter Wonderland
10 Candie Payne - Let It Snow
11 Shawn Lee & The Ping Pong Orchestra - Deck The Halls
12 The Weepies - All That I Want
13 The Carpenters - The Christmas Song
14 Martina McBride - Oh Holy Night
15 Sarah McLachlan - The First Noel/Mary Mary (Acappella)
16 Belle & Sebastian - Christmas Time Is Here
17 Skye - Silent Night
18 The Innocence Mission - Little Town Of Bethlehem
19 Camera Obscura - Little Donkey
20 Maria Taylor - White Christmas
21 Leon Redbone & Zooey Deschanel - Baby It's Cold Outside
22 Coldplay - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
23 Simone White - Christmas Makes Me Blue
24 Mogwai - Christmas Song
25 Sally Shapiro - Anorak Christmas (Piano Mix)


DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE MIX AS A ZIPPED FILE HERE (68 MB)

Covered: Joni Mitchell's 'River'

Joni Mitchell will forever be one of those veteran artists that I have total respect for, yet never spend proper time and effort to delve into her catalogue, for I don't know where to start and when to stop. However, 'River' was undoubtedly a non-traditional masterpiece, a Christmas song that's not actually about Christmas, and more remarkably, a solemn one. Many artists, mostly female, have had their ways with it, and here are a few notable versions. Hope you all are having a wonderful time.


The original

Sarah McLachlan's
Tori Amos's
Travis's
Madeleine Peyroux's

Gwenno Pipette's Solo Demos

Welsh singer Gwenno had a music career before she joined the Pipettes, that I always knew. But what I didn't know was she still keeps on making music on her own. Last October, I found out she uploaded a mini album consisting of new demos on my MySpace, but it was too late as the YouSendIt link already expired. Fortunately, thanks to the devoted fans at The Pipettes message board, I was able to attain not only the new tracks but also the earlier previously-posted demos.
On her own, while not straying too far from The Pipettes melodic trademark, Gwenno's songs seem to lose the '60s pastiche and veer towards a more modern sounding, electronica-tinged indie pop sound. 'U & I', which is by far the best of the bunch, starts with one of the coolest opening lines I've heard lately: 'U & I have been running around like headless chickens...'. The chorus is catchy enough to sneak in my head for quite a few days. Another good song is 'She's Got Me On Her Mind', which totally fits in with the 'Sounds like' description on her MySpace, as in '
Ace Of Base produced by The Postal Service'. As for the batch of older demos, bittersweet ditty 'Picture Of You' is the highlight. Overall, I do enjoy these demos and more than ever do I want an offical album, or at least EP, from her. You know, like a side project. Try these choice cuts, and since it's holiday season, I throw in her cover of Wham's 'Last Christmas' with some dude named Swipe!.


Gwenno - U & I
Gwenno - She's Got Me On Her Mind
Gwenno - Picture Of You
Swipe! & Gwenno - Last Christmas

There's a cover for it too.

While we're at it, here's the new Americanized music video for 'Because It's Not Love (But It's Still A Feeling)'. New remixed track! New hairdos! New dresses! New expensive-looking CGI! Their US label must really have faith in them etc. (love Gwenno's new look, by the way)

And here's another video of The Pipettes singing 'Pull Shapes' live in the NPR studio. It's nice, though a bit weird, to see them in more casual everyday clothes. And there are giggles.

Watch The Pipettes' instructional dance videos if you haven't.
Visit Gwenno's Space.

Do you hear what I hear?

December 1st. Hence, the countdown to Christmas has begun. For normal peoples with lives, that would mean shopping for presents, buying greeting cards, decorating the Chritmas tree and numerous seasonal activites. For music bloggers, that also mean: year-end listmaking season! Hopefully, this year I will learn to stick to my plans and get to publish at least a decent list (unlike those of last year, which still remains unfinished). There are still dozens of records that I'm sure will appear on many bloggers' lists to come, but I still haven't listened to yet. Right now, I really can't think of enough albums to make a good personal top ten. Last year was different, without thinking I could instantly name my favorites, like Lily Allen, The Pipettes, Camera Obscura, Belle & Sebastian, Regina Spektor & Zero 7. 2007 will probably go down in history as the year I listened to the most gigantic amount of music yet, so no it's not an easy for me to narrow it down to just a few. Whatsoever, I've already had the one thing I want in my wishlist. An iPod Classic 160GB to replace my overstuffed iPod 30GB! Everyone was saying 'How the hell are you ever gonna fill all that storage space?', well, I've asked myself that twice already! I'm seriously in need new Christmas albums. Last December, there were gems from Aimee Mann and Sarah McLachlan, and I didn't make it through the whole five discs of Sufjan's boxset. This year, the only highlight I can think of is those NBC EPs of KT Tunstall and Taylor Swift. So maybe this year's Christmas mix (sorry, I'll probably do just one this year) will possibly consist of mostly old songs. Are there any new Christmas albums that deserve a listen? (No Josh Groban, please)

Anyway, it's been a successful year for Greg Kurstin and Inara George, or better known to you as 'The Bird And The Bee', and they closed their year in a classy way: giving away a Christmas song for iTunes Single Of The Week. It's called 'Carol Of The Bells', and if anything, I want a full album of Christmas carols from them next year! You probaly have downloaded it there, so this is for those non-US visitors of mine. (see, I do care!). Spirit of giving etc.

The Bird And The Bee - Carol Of The Bells

Also, I came across this track when browsing my library, and it's become very appropriate.

Club 8 - Love In December



Today is World AIDS Day, so go read something and remind yourself to stay aware and alive...

Zeon's Mixtape Vol. 3: MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It's Christmas Day! Jollywoohoo!

So yes, I finally got it done. Consider that an accomplishment. Here I proudly present: Zeon's Mixtape Vol. 3! I save the best for last, so this collection of songs consist of my favorite, traditional and original, from most of my favorite artists & bands of different types of music, all served for one purpose: making you feel festive & all warm up inside, and appreciating the spirit at this time of the year. You can tell I've put quite much effort into making this, so I hope you will enjoy the mix as much as I do.
So what did you do last night? Hope it all went great. Me, I had a good time, had a little feast with my family, then watched The Night Before Christmas, and finally listened to Sufjan Stevens' 'Songs For Christmas' box set, which was awesome! Today, I planned to listen again to the seasonal cds of Sarah McLachlan, Aimee Mann, Diana Krall, that Ally McBeal cd and more! I can only take them out once a year, you know! The rest of the week, I'll be spending time writing year-end lists and listening to records I should have listened to a long time ago but didn't because of the lack of time etc. I want to make sure I won't miss out on anything good for my list. So it's like work and play merged into one.

Well, I'll babble no more and leave you with the tracklist. Download them fast, there's not much time left. Hope this mixtape will be the essential soundtrack to your holidays! Thanks for those loyal readers who visit the blog throughout the whole year. If I haven't stopped by your blog and said Merry Christmas, it's probably because I'm too busy/lazy...but I wish you all the best. Okay, here we go...

01 Sufjan Stevens - Put The Lights On The Tree
02 The Chipmunks - The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)
03 The Polyphonic Spree - Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
04 Death Cab For Cutie - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
05 Erlend Oye - Last Christmas
06 Fiona Apple - Frosty The Snowman
07 Jack Johnson - Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer
08 Barenaked Ladies - Snowman
09 Ivy - Christmas Time Is Here
10 Feist - Lo, How A Rose E're Blooming
11 Aimee Mann - The Christmas Song
12 Dido - Chrismas Day
13 Kylie Minogue - Santa Baby
14 Diana Krall - Winter Wonderland
15 Ron Sexsmith - Maybe This Christmas
16 The Boy Least Likely To - Little Donkey
17 Travis - River
18 Bright Eyes - Blue Christmas
19 Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan - Silent Night.mp3
20 Sarah McLachlan - Song For A Winter's Night

Save your time and download the whole mixtape in a zipped file.

That's all for now. Comment if you'd like to let me know what you think about the mix...Be on the look out for my getting listy! There will be a New Year-themed mini mix, too.

P.S.: R.I.P. James Brown.

About The UK Christmas No. 1s...

Apparently, I'm suffering an illness only ocurred at this time of the year called 'Christmas Laziness', so remember that lovely mixtape I keep telling you about? It still, uhm, needs some finishing touch. So I say first thing to do tomorrow morning is to upload it for you guys. You will still listen to festive music on December 25th, won't you? You will.

So this is the night before Christmas and I'm wishing you all a happy holiday and a happy new year! Merry merry Christmas! (actually I was gonna say something less cliched but I'm lazy like that)

In the meantime, you might want to head to ANABlog for they have two amazing posts up. One has all the mp3s of the UK Xmas no. 1s ever since the beginning of the chart, and one has all the mp3s of the contenders for this year's Xmas No. 1, so run over there and feel festive!

Update: Leona Lewis has officially become a little richer.

Zeon's All-Star Christmas Mini Mix - Indie Edition

Okay, so this is the last part of my Christmas mini mixes. This time, it's all indie goodness, so if you'd like something a little bit offbeat, left-field for Christmas songs then go for it. Hope you've enjoyed the mixes I put up.
So 4 days til Christmas Day then. It seemed like yesterday that I was looking forward to 2006...
I'll try to upload the final full-length Christmas mixtape tomorrow or so, and then I'll get round to those 2006 best-of lists. So much hard work for my so-called holiday break, and I'm just behind of everything.

In the meantime, check out the festive tracks below...Have a holly jolly Christmas, y'all!

Grandaddy - Alan Parsons In A Winter Wonderland
Pete Yorn - Do They Know It's Christmas
Hem - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
The Format - Holly Jolly Christmas
The Raveonettes - The Christmas Song
Hello Saferide - iPod X Mas

Download the whole mix as a zipped file.

Zeon's All-Star Christmas Mini Mix - Punk Rock Edition

If you happen to be have a 'thing' for punk rock music, then you may want to celebrate your Christmas (if you want to celebrate it at all) in a punchier, grittier way than most people do, with riffs and drums and all.
Well, Zeon got it covered here at his blog. Normally, I wouldn't really get a kick out of listening to these bands, but it's the holiday season, and here they've done quite a good job of rocking up holiday songs, traditional and new. Good enough to make you nod your head and bodyrock to. So if this is your thing, feel free to try them out. If it is not, well, maybe give it a try? Rock on, dudes!

Next and Final edition: An Indie Christmas. And a nice mixtape coming after that.

Fall Out Boy - Yule Shoot Your Eye
My Chemical Romance - All I Want For Christmas Is You
Simple Plan - My Christmas List
The Finals - Last Christmas
Sugarcult - Santa Claus Is Coming To Town


One click and download the whole mix as a zipped file

The Pipettes Christmas Party!

The Pipettes Christmas party, polka-dot style! If you know them, you already know how their versions of Christmas songs sound like, so you're in for a treat. You might as well scroll down and grab them right now!
FYI, 'In The Bleak Mid-winter' was their first ever limited single given out in concerts back in 2004, when Julia was still in and Gwenno hadn't joined the group yet. Rare item, indeed.

The Pipettes - White Christmas
The Pipettes - In The Bleak Mid-winter

Bonus:
Monster Bobby is the guitarist of the The Cassettes, their backing band, he formed the group and wrote most of their songs. He will release his own record next year and his synth-pop rendition of 'Silent Night' is just up for free exclusively on Pitchfork Media. His sound is different to that of The Pipettes, though, but check it out if you'd like to! Keep pulling shapes!

Monster Bobby - Silent Night

Zeon's All-Star Christmas Mini Mix - R&B Edition

Yay, 9 days away from Christmas Day! I should be more fast-paced with my festive posts etc...
So here's the second Christmas mini mix, this time it's all sweet R&B-infused versions of holiday songs for you. Hope you enjoy them all, take this mix with you when out shopping for gifts or whatever ways you can think of. Me, I've got myself a nifty online gift certificate, but I'm not sure whether to spend more on some good-looking T-shirts or some rare cds...

Next mix: Christmas goes punk rock.

Lauryn Hill - Little Drummer Boy
Macy Gray - Winter Wonderland
Destiny's Child - 8 Days Of Christmas
Ashanti - Hey Santa
TLC - Sleigh Ride
Toni Braxton - Christmas In Jamaica (feat. Shaggy)


Or save your time and just download the whole mix in a zipped file at one click...

Zeon's All-Star Christmas Mini Mix: Pop Edition

Hope it's still not too late to make a few festive posts?
Okay, so for this Christmas, there's gonna be various Christmas mini-mixes to warm up your spirits, categorized by genres. The first one to come your way is a pop edition, then soon an R&B one will follow, then an Indie one, and possibly a Punk rock one. Then when the night before Christmas draws near, I'll add the finishing touch by posting a proper mixtape with my favorite songs (of course, just a way of saying, it's not like I'm gonna give you a cassette or anything).
To begin with, here's a collection of old and new holiday songs sung quite nicely by female pop artists. You may notice the absence of a male artist name. It's because I tried hard to find a relevant, decent version of a Christmas song by a decent contemporary male pop artist, but ended up empty-handed. Even considered including Clay Aiken, but then it wouldn't make much difference.
Anyway, enjoy the 6 tracks. Oh, and the honor of the catchiest new Christmas song goes to Aly & AJ, though their song is supposedly soundtracked to *cough* Santa Claus 3...

Aly & AJ - Greatest Time Of Year
Avril Lavigne And Chantal Kreviazuk - O Holy Night
Christina Aguilera - Have Yourself A Very Little Christmas
Kelly Clarkson - My Grown Up Christmas List
Kelly Clarkson - O Holy Night
Vanessa Carlton - Greensleeves

For those too lazy to click, I also uploaded a zipped file of the whole mix.
Zeon's All-Star Christmas Mini Mix: Pop Edition (RAR file)

Christmas Early In November...With Sarah McLachlan

Is it wrong for a 17-year-old to actually enjoy Sarah McLachlan's back catalogue?
I've been questioning that for my music credibility for a while...
Somehow, I manage to proclaim my love for her unashamedly, without labelling her as a 'deeply guilty pleasure'. I'm just creepy that way...

Anyway, her seasonal album 'Wintersong' is a must-buy for this 'Xmas, which is just a month away. Though it gives nothing new, considering it's another Pierre Merchand production, it's a nice collection of ethereal, luminous holiday songs sung by her very lungs. Buy it for your mom, your grandpa, your weird friends or a lesbian relative you know.

Here's the music video for the lead single 'River', which is a stunning cover of the Joni Mitchell classic. I never really care for the orignal and Joni, but Sarah's rendition is just so Sarahesquely beautiful! The video's really lame, but watch if you're keen on seeing how she looks these days (still gorgeous, in my opinion).



And here's the mp3 for sampling purpose. Go on. Get weepy. Look out for the smart inclusion of 'Jingle Bells' on the piano towards the end.
Sarah McLachlan - River

Makes me feel so jolly inside, even though I'm religion-free.

Buy Wintersong