In the Spirit

Perhaps the best thing about Thanksgiving coming so early this year is that it means the Christmas season is that much longer. And how much fun is it to walk into stores and see so much activity and color, and hear Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" (one of my all-time favorite holiday tunes) or other songs on the radio, and just generally see people in good moods? It happens every year at this time and it's so brief that I enjoy it that much more.

Of course, the other benefit to the longer season is that it gives me more time to work on A Very Marty Xmas 2007, which, believe it or not, is just about finished (yes, already). In hindsight, last year's mix wasn't the most festive-sounding one, so I'm going more old school this year with an emphasis on jolly-ness. I don't want to ruin any surprises about the CD's contents, but I thought I would post briefly about my brand new favorite tune, which ironically (given what I've just written) is the Pogues' "Fairytale of New York." Yes, I know this is not a new song (Todd actually tried to get me into it two years ago), but it's one I've really only discovered in the past couple weeks, thanks largely to KT Tunstall's great cover on her new holiday CD (available exclusively at Target). This is not the happiest of holiday tunes, and the lyrics most definitely aren't the most festive ("Happy Christmas your arse, I pray God it's our last"), but believe me when I say that this is one classic that deserves to be heard. Kirsty MacColl's voice and the Irish melody are just beautiful, and they disguise such a sad song with a whimsical sound. If you're having a hard time getting into the holiday spirit, click here and listen for yourself.