If it’s Christmas at You Ain’t No Picasso, that means it’s Mixmas! These twelve days give me a chance to turn You Ain’t No Picasso over to the musicians I cover and allow them to showcase some of their favorite songs through a themed mix.

YOUTUBE: We Are Scientists – After Hours

Amid a sea of good years, 2008 must’ve stood out as an exceedingly good one for We Are Scientists. Their album debuted at #11 in the UK, their songs were used in commercials all over the place and they got to tour all around the world. But more importantly We Are Scientists — most especially Keith — are still the kooky, great guys that they were before signing on to this wild ride. So without any more from me, I give you a mix by the only person to contribute to every Mixmas to date.

Five Songs Released This Year That Use The Word “Heart” In Their Chorus Without Being Even Remotely Cheesy, Which, Frankly, Baffles The Hell Out Of Me, Given Then Fact That Any Time I Include That Word In A Lyric, I Automatically Have To Puke And Throw My Notebook In The River.

(Incidentally, these songs also happen to be from my Top 5 records of the year, so if my theme seems arbitrary or stilted or just plain weak, please know that I had an agenda, and specifically crafted the theme to crowbar these bands into a single rubric. Sorry.)

MP3: Ladyhawke – Paris Is Burning
Am I a sucker for automatically liking pretty much anything reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac, Cyndi Lauper, or Hall and Oates? Maybe, yeah – maybe I am a sucker. Fortunately for me, Ladyhawke obviates that issue entirely by writing amazing songs with some of the biggest hooks I’ve heard in years, and also, um, sounding like Fleetwood Mac, Cyndi Lauper, and Hall and Oates. This record was pretty much written for me, I think.

Mystery Jets – Hand Me Down
A live version of this song was included in my Mixmas thing last year, and at the time, I was smugly predicting that this would be the jam of 2008. Little did I know that this wouldn’t even turn out to be a *single* from the yet-to-be-released album, Twenty One, which turned out to be my #1 record of the year, easy, and which established the Mystery Jets as bona-fide mainstream radio hit-makers (in England, at least) . Look at me now. I look like a total jerk with my stupid prognostications that miss the point entirely.

MP3: The Whigs – Right Hand On My Heart
Holy crap, did I sleep on this one. When the Whigs hopped on halfway through our autumn tour with Kings of Leon, I had never even *heard* of them, and so when they quickly proceeded to blast my mind with their (somehow simultaneously blindingly tight and thrillingly loose) set of damnably catchy tunes, I started blathering like a fan-boy about them to everybody I ran into. Turns out, though, that everyone else already knew and loved them, and looked at me like some idiot who had just emerged from a bomb shelter asking when the next episode of Diff’rent Strokes was due to air.

Nicest guys ever, by the way.

MP3: Cut Off Your Hands – Heartbreak
I don’t know if this record is out in the States yet – all I know is that doing two tours with these guys prior to the completion of their album meant that I had to go without copies of these songs for way, way too long, and when the record came out the week that we were in Australia (these guys are from New Zealand), it proved so popular that I had to go to four record shops before I found one that wasn’t sold out. I actually should thank them for that, too – my knowledge of obscure music stores in random Sydney neighborhoods was vastly broadened by my craven search for their sweet gem of a record. Amazing, amazing live show on these guys, too.

MP3: Glasvegas – It’s My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry
I was anticipating being totally underwhelmed by these guys, mainly due to the fever with which the British press was slobbering over them prior to their ever having released even a note of music – critics were berserk with a level of anticipation that they usually reserve for the latest Alex Turner gold-nugget or Pete Doherty turd-nugget. Turns out, though, they were right. Totally, totally right. Amazing lyrics, tremendous vibe, and the effortless embodiment of a sort of earnestness that often comes off as a total marketing-based put-on in other bands. For a minute there, it looked like they were going to beat Metallica to the #1 spot on the British charts, which you just know would have made Lars Ulrich go totally berserker crazy. Oh, well.

You Ain’t No Picasso Mixmas 2008
Ivana XL | Henry Clay People | These United States | Cotton Jones | The Bicycles | Pas/Cal | Parenthetical Girls | BOAT | The Boy Least Likely To | Peelander-Z | Bishop Allen