Mry. XMas, Y'all

Not Santa Claus by a long shot

Okay, so first off, I owe you all (All? Who reads this anyway?) an apology for my lengthy absence. I moved apartments in mid-November and was immediately beset upon by the dual-headed beast of Bureaucracy and Language Barrier. Thus, I haven't actually had regular internet access for the past six weeks. How did I survive, you ask? Just barely, I'm sure.

At any rate, 'Tis the Season, and so as I regain my sea legs surfing the web, may I offer you this little ditty, a cautionary tale wrapped up in holiday cheer, from my (and others') perennial favourites, The Fall.

No XMas For John Quays - The Fall (Peel Session, broadcast June 12, 1978)

I'll be back later this week with a few selections from my favourite releases of the past year - which, not coincidentally, the Fall's Complete Peel Sessions boxset topped. Granted, such an incredible document of a band's incessant evolution would have been my pick o' the litter any year, but this year it was barely a contest. I'll wait until my End Of Year post before I leap on my soapbox about everything that went wrong this year in music, but for a snapshot of how far from Hip I am these days, compare my personal picks for the year with the Tiny Mix Tapes collective list of Top 25 Albums.

Notice that the two lists share ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in common.

But as I reel from reverse culture shock at my in-laws' in Baltimore this holiday season, let's not forget that it takes different strokes and in the end, it's all just music. I raise a glass of eggnog to ye where ever ye be. Happy Holidays.

(By the way, though my taste is, uh, underrepresented on the TMT collective list, I managed to rant my way thrice onto the Eureka List for underappreciated underground albums that were released this year. Take a gander. Enjoy.)