Step Back Into Christmas with Me

This really is the most wonderful time of the year. In fact, every year I can't wait to get past Halloween because that means one thing: It's time to start work on the year's edition of A Very Marty Xmas. 2010 will actually be the 10th anniversary edition of my annual mix. That's right, I've been making holiday mixes for 10 years (that is, if you don't count 2008, which I skipped), and many folks have told me my mixes have become an essential part of their holiday. That's pretty amusing — and impressive — considering I'm Jewish and all.

Anyway ... I'm now waist-deep in the compilation of this year's mix. I've been scouring the Interwebs and iTunes, and it's amazing to me that even after all this time, there's still plenty of good stuff to be found. I think this year's mix is going to be another winner — it had better be, given how good last year's mix was.

You're probably gonna hear Train's new song, something off Mariah Carey's new Christmas album, another cut from Straight No Chaser, and others. I spent a good chunk of the past weekend listening through a few new albums to see what I could pick out. The Puppini Sisters earned a spot, as did Pink Martini, and so did the cast of Glee, albeit it just barely. Yes, the Glee Christmas album isn't all I'd hoped it'd be. It's an overly serious and not very fun collection. The best track, "Last Christmas," was already on last year's mix.

But I've found some other good stuff, like a track by a singer named Lenka and a cover of "Fairytale of New York" by a guy named Bob Schneider. I may throw in Neil Diamond's version of Adam Sandler's "Chanukkah Song," and pair it with a Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert duet called "Can I Interest You In Hannukah?" Right now, Gretchen Wilson's "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" is on the list, but it's early in the process. Who knows if she's got staying power. Maybe I'll bring back a song by Harry Connick Jr. after a few years' absence. Maybe this will be the year that Dido's "Christmas Day" makes it onto the mix after many years of near misses. And maybe I still haven't even found that instant classic I've never heard before. Even after 10 years, I'm blown away by the amount of music I have to choose from.

Point is, it's the most wonderful time of the year right now because I'm immersing myself in these awesome, fun tunes and I'm enjoying the process of narrowing down the list to only the best songs I can find. The goal is to have the mix locked down or near-final by the time Thanksgiving rolls around so I can crank out the mixes and get 'em into people's hands by mid December. Tough decisions will be made between now and then, but in the end, it'll all be worth it.

Got any recommendations or songs you hope will make the cut this year? Let me know.

Previously:
A Very Marty Xmas 2009
The Best of A Very Marty Xmas
A Very Marty Xmas 2007
A Very Marty Xmas 2006
A Very Marty Xmas 2005