If it’s December at You Ain’t No Picasso, then it’s time for Mixmas! Every year I like to turn YANP over to some of my favorite bands to showcase some of their favorite songs through a themed mix. They pick a theme, five songs that fit the theme and then share a little about why they picked each one. This year I’m also giving away a YANP shirt, so check below for the hint about tomorrow’s mix.

One of the best gifts I received in 2009 was that Cymbals Eat Guitars got the reception they deserved. Critics dug ‘em, fans obsessed over them and both concerts I saw were well attended by an enthusiastic audience. It was heartwarming to see great music get a great reception (which is not always the case). Now Matt Whipple of Cymbals Eat Guitars has turned in one of the year’s best Mixmas mixes, including a great song by The Waitresses, which I’d never heard before. Take it away, Matt!

“Five Non-Christmas Songs That Work As Christmas Songs, Plus My Mom’s Favorite Christmas Song” by Cymbals Eat Guitars

We have been touring pretty much non-stop since I joined Cymbals Eat Guitars in October. It has been fun and exciting but also pretty exhausting as most touring bands will tell you. Now that we have some time at home with family and friends we are all trying to shake off the funk and get into the holiday spirit. We’re already well into the “cooked in butter & filled with cream cheese” food season, which is nice to come back to from several weeks of 2-star hotels and gas station sandwiches.

MP3: The Pogues – Fairytale in New York
This one is pretty obvious, but at first I had no idea it was a Christmas song. I first heard it in the opening credits to the Basquiat movie and thought it was one of the most beautiful songs I had ever heard. The credits only use the piano & vocals intro. I saw the Pogues play it on St. Patrick’s Day a couple of years ago at Roseland Ballroom in New York and it still brought tears to my eyes outside of it’s seasonal context. It was also a nice break from the mosh-pit, in which I lost both shoes.

Beach Boys – “God Only Knows”

I never really considered this as a Christmas song until I saw Love Actually. It’s in the last scene, where we find out that the prime minister (Hugh Grant) flies commercial and comes out of the same arrivals gate as any other regular airline passenger, a kind of “wtf” detail best left ignored. Have you seen Love Actually? It’s incredibly sappy, but that’s kind of what you crave at this time of year whether you want to admit it or not. When some misguided TV exec decides that It’s a Wonderful Life is too old to continue to show on TV every year, hopefully they replace it with Love Actually.

Notorious B.I.G. – “Juicy” [YT link]
Presents!!!

The Cranberries – “Ode to My Family” [YT link]
I have a very distinct memory of driving at night through a dense snowstorm in Western Massachusetts on a family ski trip when I was in the 3rd or 4th grade listening to this CD, which my parents had recently purchased. I thought about going with “Zombie” but decided this one was more Christmas-y.

MP3: Elliott Smith – Junk Bond Trader
The intro to this song with the piano and harpsichord sounds like all of that Vince Guaraldi Trio music from the Peanuts Christmas special. There is also a big bell on the song. Kind of a stretch, but it’s a good song.

The Waitresses – “Christmas Wrapping” [YT link]
This is my mom’s favorite Christmas song.

Tomorrow’s hint: the next group are an LA band who have put out their debut album in the UK but won’t be releasing it in the US in 2010. They’ve been known to cover the Talking Heads and Simon & Garfunkel, but are worth knowing for the debut record that landed them in my top 10 favorite songs of the year (twice!)