If it’s December, then you know it’s Mixmas time at You Ain’t No Picasso! Each year I get a bunch of my favorite bands to contribute themed mixes and share their thoughts about each of the tracks.

MP3: Said the Whale – Camillo (The Magician)

I heard “Camillo (the Magician)” playing over the speakers in a bar while I was in Halifax — which is a great way to find out about a young Canadian band. They just put out a new EP and I figured this would be a great opportunity to grab them for a Mixmas contribution. Also, whoever I was talking a few months ago about how I like to keep my site PG-rated for the kids is about to have a lot to laugh about…

“Songs with the best use of the word ‘fuck’” by Tyler Bancroft of Said the Whale

We don’t use curse words a lot in our music, which is funny because you couldn’t spend two minutes in our tour van without hearing some pretty awful language. The lack of swearing in our music isn’t a conscious decision, it just seems to work out that way (although there is a song on our new record [Little Mountain, March 2012] with an f-bomb right off the top). I don’t find swearing in music to be offensive, in fact I would say there is almost nothing more satisfying than a well placed “fuck” in a pretty song. Here are my favourites:

MP3: Braids – Glass Deers
“Now I’m at such great heights here/Now look at me my dear/Oh I’m fucked up/Oh I’m fucked up”
Raphaelle Standell-Preston recently replaced Emily Haines as my favourite female swearer. The way she says “fucked up” in this song sounds more like “fucked up-ta-cuck-ta-cuck-ta-guck” which is amazing and so rhythmic. She managed to make it the main hook of the song!

MP3: Hey Rosetta – Yer Spring
“Long we were searching these serpentine streets for the signs of a spark/Fucking around in the dark”
The fact that the “fuck” in this line follows such an eloquent string of alliteration makes it all the more satisfying. Plus the way “Fucking around” rolls off the tongue of vocalist Tim Baker almost makes it sound like a rap lyric.

YT Link: Bon Iver – Holocene
“You fucked it friend/it’s on its head/it struck the street”
I generally have no clue what Justin Vernon is saying in any of his songs, and even when you read the lyrics they hardly make any sense. But this “fuck” is great because it really sticks out. It might be the only word you can actually understand in the song. Its such a beautiful song, and the fact that “fuck” is the first thing to jump out at you is amazing.

MP3: Joel Plaskett – Work out Fine
“The cops showed up/I never thought that they’d catch me/The cops showed up/What the fuck?/They’re trying to turn me into a patsy”
The way Joel says “What the fuck?” is so badass. He barely pronounces the “ck”, and he almost speaks it rather than singing it. He’s the Bruce Springsteen of Canada, if you’ve ever seen him live you already know that.

YT Link: Gord Downie – Vancouver Divorce
“What the hell is this?/You said, “it’s art, just fuckin’ mirror it.”
Gord Downie is no stranger to the word “fuck” – he practically owns the word. There are lots of Tragically Hip songs with really solid, saliva-spitting, cacophonous f-bombs, but this one is particularly awesome because a) it’s on his solo record “Coke Machine Glow” and b) its the first line in the first song on the record that actually has lyrics (the lead off track is an artsy instrumental with some spoken word in the background).

See all the Mixmas 2011 contributions

Panda Bear’s sublime “You Can Count On Me” gets a trippy video in every sense of the word.

If it’s December, then you know it’s Mixmas time at You Ain’t No Picasso! Each year I get a bunch of my favorite bands to contribute themed mixes and share their thoughts about each of the tracks.

MP3: Dirty Feathers – Echo Hands
MP3: Dirty Feathers – Midnight Snakes

I stumbled upon Dirty Feathers earlier this year and totally fell in love. It’s garage rock at its finest. You can snag their album at a pay-what-you-want price at Bandcamp.

“Top 5 Songs to End a Party” by Dirty Feathers

These are songs that you put on the stereo around 5 am when you want everyone to either go to bed or go home. You’re tired and you just want to sleep.

YT Link: Captain Beefheart – Dachau Blues
Probably any song of of Trout Mask Replica would do the trick, and annoy people to the point where they leave, but “Dachau Blues” is particularly jarring and unsettling. The lyrics are grim, and the band is playing like they have cotton balls in their ears. I would love to see someone try and dance to this.

YT Link: Pink Floyd – Us and Them
Growing up I listened to Dark Side of the Moon a lot, and my sophomore year of high school I’m pretty sure I listened to it every night in bed. If I ever stayed awake long enough to make it to this song, it would always knock me out. It’s so peaceful and dreamy. I love the echoed vocals by Dave Gilmour, the beautiful piano by Rick Wright, and the sax solo just tops it off. There’s probably not a better song to make you drift off into dreamland.

YT Link: Townes Van Zandt – Waiting Around To Die
If unsettling freak out jazz or beautiful psychedelic rock don’t work, why not try pure depressing blues country music. You put this song on, and people will just sit down and wonder what they’re doing with their life, and take one last pull of whiskey before they cry themselves to sleep.

YT Link: Gram Parson’s International Submarine Band – Blue Eyes
If depressing country music by Townes Van Zandt doesn’t work, try something more lovely but slightly wistful. This is probably my favorite country song of all time. This song will work for the people that have a significant other that’s probably waiting up for them. “What am I doing here? I need to see my baby.” It will work for anyone that’s in love, or ever has been. You’ll want to run home and tell that special someone you love them.

YT Link: The Rolling Stones – Shine a Light
This is for when the only people left up are your best friends, and you all agree to play one more song before everyone goes to bed. Hugging and cheersing is encouraged. Exile on Main Street is my favorite album of theirs, and it definitely feels like a lot of it was recorded late into the night with the help of uppers and downers. Apparently this song was written about Brian Jones, and it has a sense of loss and regret, but ultimately they’re happy to hold on to the memories they shared. It’s just a nice song that makes you appreciate the friends you have.

My Morning Jacket turned in two new covers at their recent MSG performance. The first is a cover of Gil Scott-Heron’s “The Bottle” and the next is the Bing Crosby classic “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” featuring Band of Horses. Both recordings are via NYC Taper.

MP3: My Morning Jacket – The Bottle (Gil Scott-Heron)
MP3: My Morning Jacket – I’ll Be Home For Christmas (Bing Crosby)

As always, these and many more are available at the MMJ covers archive I’d kept for a few years.

If it’s December, then you know it’s Mixmas time at You Ain’t No Picasso! Each year I get a bunch of my favorite bands to contribute themed mixes and share their thoughts about each of the tracks.

MP3: Fishboy – Aaron the Afterthought Astronaut

I’m super thrilled to have Fishboy contributing another Mixmas submission. Like the standup guy he is, Eric chose to point you toward some of his friends’ music.

“Songs I didn’t hear on tour in 2011 (even though I played with the bands)” by Eric from Fishboy

We got to share the stage with some amazing bands this year, and while compiling this list I realized none of them played any of these songs.

Poison Control Center: Thousand Colors

What a year for this amazing rock band! They played like 800 shows and still had time to release my favorite album of the year: Stranger Ballet. This record contains so many catchy mind melting rock songs but this one by Patrick Tape Flemming is my favorite. Also, he planned his birthday party around our visit to Iowa this year and did an Ozzie Smith flip on concrete after giving us vegan cake!

Kleenex Girl Wonder-Secret Thinking

We finally got to play with one of my favorite bands at Athens Popfest this year…and it was worth the wait! KGW has a lengthy discography of lofi pop tunes and their new record Secret Thinking is both a departure (its a little more polished than usual) and a return to form with incredibly well written, cleverly wordy pop songs. I picked my favorite track off the record witch happens to be the title track. I really dig the tempo change.

YT Link: Lake – Christmas Island
I love everything I’ve ever heard form LAKE but for one reason or another missed out on their 2009 album Let’s Build A Roof. I ended up picking up the album from the band after we played in their basement in Olympia in October, a few weeks later (no cd player in the car) I’m listening to this thing everyday and start focusing in on this song at the end of the record that seems like a real “hidden gem” or “deep cut” if you will. I get so into this song that I start looking for a live version on youtube only to discover about 30 webcam covers by teenagers on acoustic guitars. It turns out it’s the theme song to Adventure Time…a TV show I’m also very late to the game on.

YT Link: Corn Mo – Event Horizon
I played my first show ever at a dive bar in in Dallas when I was 15. Corn Mo knew my older brother and got me the show, I was so freaked out about being under age in a “real bar.” Over the next decade he moved to New York, went on to tour with They Might Be Giants, Ben Folds and write some amazingly funny, touching and badass songs. Last month we got to play with him in New York and it was just as great as ever. Here’s an amazing tribute to Event Horizon.

Switched Off Bach – Inventio 4

This might be breaking the theme. I’m not sure if Switched Off Bach played this song at a cat themed house party we both played in Worchester, MA a month ago. The act consists of my pal Joe dressing as Bach, taping contact mics to his keyboard and playing pieces without turning anything on. Surprisingly captivating to a room full of people dressed as cats.

Check out the other Mixmas 2011 contributions

Portugal. The Man were asked to perform a cover song when they hit French TV station Tarata. I love that they went with the Gnarls Barkley’s new classic “Crazy.” It suits ‘em very well.

Watch Portugal. The Man cover “Crazy”

#30: Fishboy – Classic Creeps

MP3: Fishboy – Aaron the Afterthought Astronaut
I don’t know which I find more impressive: that this album effortlessly weaves witticisms through incredible melody or that the entire album tells a complexly involved story. It’s easy to be dismissive of some pop records, but labels like “simplistic” just don’t stick to this record.

#29: Charlotte Gainsbourg – Stage Whisper

I can’t remember the last time I was this enthralled by a live album. Additionally I find myself constantly being surprised that she sounds this good and this complete during a live show. Add her to my list of bands to see as soon as possible.

#28: Cage the Elephant – Thank You Happy Birthday

I’m as surprised as you are that I loved this record. I wasn’t overly hot on Cage the Elephant’s debut, but this one won me over. At its heart, it’s got the best of the 80s and 90. There’s Nirvana and Pixies all through this beast.

#27: Sleeper Agent – Celabrasion

MP3: Sleeper Agent – Get It Daddy
This record gives me a good hope for the future. For many of you, Sleeper Agent might be known as a one-hit wonder in your group of friends — “Get It Daddy” was a great track, after all — but it’s only slightly better than the rest of the songs on this record. Check out the entire thing and I’m sure you’ll love it.

#26: Cass McCombs – Wit’s End

MP3: Cass McCombs – County Line
Cass McCombs’ Wit’s End makes me wish I did more brooding. At the very least I could be a little more melancholy. This record’s just too serious and contemplative for my life. If the blame lies anywhere for this record not being higher on the list, it lies with me for not bringing more emotional baggage to the table when I began listening to it.

#25: Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde

Some people see the phrase “Dye It Blonde sounds exactly like a T Rex record” as a bad thing. I see it as a good thing, provided that they’re expanding upon their inspiration. Smith Westerns expand upon the Marc Bolan formula and everyone comes out a winner.

Read the rest after the break

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Mister Heavenly improvised this cover of “Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey” from Ram at their recent show in Germany. I’m most impressed that Cera remembered to jump into the “Be a gypsy” bit with no hesitation.