Now, that's the best tastin' ornament I've ever hoid.

This year's new ornament: a Christmas pickle. Because why not? I'd first heard the story of the tradition on this episode of the Christmas Stocking Podcast​. Basically, the first child that finds the pickle on the tree gets an extra present. However, at present I don't have any kids to find my pickle. Um, maybe I should rephrase that...

My favorite (Christmas music) things of 2014

Here it is the last official day of Christmas and I just realized that I haven't posted my Christmas Album of the Year for 2014. Honestly, it wasn't all that great of a year for new holiday music, but there were a few standouts. The best would have to be...

Chris Farren - Like a Gift From God or Whatever I began listening to the Feliz Navipod podcast a couple of months ago and Farren was a guest on one episode. I had never heard of him before and he gave a good enough interview. Tacked on at the end was the title track of his new Christmas album and I was sold. That afternoon I gave Bandcamp my $5 and those twelve songs were mine.

These days you rarely find a Christmas album containing only original songs, let alone one where the hit to miss ratio is high. This is one of those albums. I'd go into depth about how it runs the gamut of seasonal emotions, but Farren has given a track by track commentary that you can read here. Just like I did with Emmy the Great and Tim Wheeler's stellar effort several years ago, I have a feeling that I'll be returning to this one for my annual Christmas mix over the next few years.

Nick D' & The Believers - "Christmas in the City" The easy pick for my Christmas Single Only Release of the Year is this song by a band from my previous hometown of Columbus, OH. It's just a big, tinsel-laden ball of fun.

I wouldn't be surprised if it shows up in a commercial sometime down the road.

Samson Trinh & The Upper East Side Big Band - The Christmas Project Earlier I posted about seeing these local folks live and my feelings for them haven't diminished since that time.

The whole album is well worth a purchase, but their take on "All I Want For Christmas Is You" is something very special that I keep going back to.

Matty Ride - "Holiday P.D.A. (Underneath the Mistletoe)" He ain't talking about personal digital assistants.

I found this jaunty little paean to Yuletide make out sessions when doing one of my periodic new music sweeps online. It was too late to be included on my mix, but the song will definitely appear on A Very Micah Christmas 2015. The overall EP is just okay, but this track I had on repeat for a couple of days straight. (At the time of this posting it is a free download from Noisetrade.)

Jon Windle - "A Wonderful Christmas Time" I haven't seen the low budget UK indie movie (yet!), but I absolutely love the title track.

I like it so much that I can even forgive the presence of children singing along with the chorus. (Kidz Bop is the product of Satan, forged deep within the bowels of Hell, FYI.)

Tony Thaxton - A Very Merry Navipod To You, Your Friends and Family and Everybody Else! Lastly is this EP of mostly original, mostly funny songs from the podcast mentioned earlier. (Now re-recorded with live drums and guest vocalists!) You can't go wrong with this stuff.

I donated to the Kickstarter that funded this EP and am greatly anticipating the mug I should be getting any day now.

Podfort and joycasts II

More Christmas podcasts are rolling in! This morning I awoke to find these three in my iTunes:

• Feliz Navipod - Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon guest. Also host and one time RVA resident Tony Thaxton previews a song off of his new EP A Very Merry Feliz Navipod To You, Your Friends and Family and Everyone Else! I got it a little early because I gave to the Kickstarter that funded it. Give the EP a listen. You'll like it.
• This Week with Larry Miller's "The Retelling of 'Does He Drink Coffee?'" - If I have one podcast that I consider to be audio comfort food, it's this one by legendary comedian Larry Miller. Every year he tells this story about one time he bought presents for his extended family. Strange as it may seem, my holiday isn't complete until I hear it. Miller recites A Visit From St. Nicholas (a.k.a. Twas the Night Before Christmas) in the Poetry Corner. This is a double dose of Christmas classics, I tells ya!
• U Talkin' U2 to Me?'s U2 Holiday Special - My favorite *anything* this year is this podcast. It's brought me hours of joy. I love it like its my child. As for this episode, I haven't listened to it yet - I want to really savor it - but the description says they touch on U2's Christmas songs. Probably just in passing, though, since that's about U2.

Hopefully that won't be it, but if so I'm a happy camper.

Podfort and joycasts

One of the many things I look forward to this season is the multitude of Christmas episodes of my favorite podcasts. Music, comedy, history, interviews... they've got your earholes covered this season. Some notable ones have been trickling in over the past week or two:

• The Dana Gould Hour Holiday Special - Gould's show is one of my favorite podcasts, as it picks up the "expertly produced/extremely funny" reigns of the much missed Pod F. Tompkast. This episode runs a whopping three hours long and delves into the true story behind Tim Burton's Christmas release Big Eyes, superhero creator origins, dog dentistry, and other topics.
• The Sound Opinions Holiday Spectacular 2014 - Andy Cirzan - the hardest of the hardcore Christmas music enthusiasts - returns to unveil his annual mix full of long forgotten gems. The theme for this go round is '60s and '70s pop. (Until January 1st his compilation can be downloaded here.)
• Comedy Bang Bang's 2014 Holiday Spectacular - Hot Saucerman and Underworld maestro Len Wiseman (Paul F. Tompkins) wrangle a rotating round of guests that include Bjork (Matt  Besser), Orson Welles (James Adomian), and Ho Ho the Naughty Elf (Lauren Lapkus), among others. Music is provided in studio by Aimee Mann and Ted Leo's project The Both.
• Doug Loves Movies' 12 Guests of Christmas - Doug hosts his annual extra-long version of the Leonard Maltin Game. Laughs are had. Tears are shed. Someone wins. This episode was followed by the first annual 8 Crazy Guests of Hanukkah, where some oddball characters - "Mark Wahlberg", "Jesse Ventura", etc. - try their hands at the game. Funny stuff.

And of course there are some Christmas-specific shows that are mainstays of my feed:

• Feliz Navipod - A recent episode introduced me to my Christmas Album of the Year and for that I am grateful. Details about that soon!
• The Christmas Stocking - When looking for fun facts and history about the season, look no further than this show. And it's bite sized, for those afraid of lengthy time commitments. Score!

As podcasting gains more and more legitimacy among the general populace, I'm confident that each year the above will become as greatly anticipated as the Heat Miser or Yukon Cornelius. But not Charlie Brown. No one dethrones the king, baby.

BONUS!!!  Here's a revisiting of three Mike and Tom Eat Snacks (my go to food podcast) segments where the guys talk about candy canes, chocolate babka, and fruitcake.

¡Feliz Navipod!

What's this? A year-round podcast about Christmas? With great guests? And catchy and funny original tunes? Subscribed!

(Bonus points for Feliz Navipod's host Tony Thaxton having lived in Richmond.)

The 2013 Sound Opinions Holiday Spectacular

Of all the podcasts that I listen to, this is one of the episodes that I look forward to the most every year. Enjoy!