Personally I'm a fan of Christmas, but I couldn't help but notice that lots of people like to complain about it. They may well be right. It's quite commercialised and it starts too early - these seem to be indisputable facts. All the same, though, it's a cliche to be cynical about the whole thing. There are lots of people who enjoy it a great deal, and if you don't want to join in with it all then spoiling their fun seems mean and petty. Why not listen to this selection of anti-festive songs instead?

1. The Fall - No Xmas For John Quays
2. Cristina - Things Fall Apart
3. The Kinks - Father Christmas
4. John Lennon - Cold Turkey
5. Loudon Wainwright III - Conspiracies
6. The Sonics - Don't Believe In Christmas
7. Sufjan Stevens - That Was The Worst Christmas Ever!
8. Joni Mitchell - River
9. Tom Waits - Christmas Cards From A Hooker In Minneapolis
10. Low - Just Like Christmas
11. The Long Blondes - Christmas Is Cancelled
12. Half Man Half Biscuit - It's Cliched To Be Cynical At Christmas

Bonus tracks (after the gap):

Kunt & The Gang - All I Want For Christmas Is You (To Bring Me Off)
Mr Garrison - Merry Fucking Christmas

This episode of Last Night A DJ Killed My Dog is all about being self-referential and self-conscious.

These are the tracks used:

Cassetteboy - Pilly the Biggs (clip)
Cornelius - Mic Check
Richard Brautigan - The Telephone Door To Richard Brautigan (clip)
Golden Boy with Miss Kittin - 1234
Jurassic 5 - Quality Control Part 2
Art Brut - Formed A Band
Excerpt from "Krautrock - The Rebirth of Germany"
Matching Mole - Signed Curtain
Can - Cutaway (clip)
Ian Dury & The Blockheads - What A Waste
Cassetteboy - tr389 shl82 tr380 (clip)
DJ Shadow - MEDLEY: Right Thing/GDMFSOB (clean instrumental version)
Cassetteboy - tr389 shl82 tr380 (clip)
Mr Oizo - Analog Worms Attack (clip)
Mr Oizo - Smoking Tape
Kraftwerk - clip from 'Concert Classics' live bootleg
Chris Morris / Michael Alexander St. John - Club News 1
Bis - Popstar Kill (clip)
Handsome Boy Modeling School - Rock n' Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This)
Barry White - Advert Recording Out-take (clip)
Gang Starr - Words I Manifest (remix)
Excerpt from 'Let It Be' (1970 film)
Excerpt from 'This Is Spinal Tap' (1984 film)
Pavement - Stereo
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Pena (clip)
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Black Snake Moan II (1972 live)
Pixies - Interlude
Lee 'Scratch' Perry - 25 Years Ago
Cassetteboy - My Dad's Brother Knows Russell Crowe
Shut Up & Dance - Here Comes A Different Type Of Rap Track Not The Usual 4 Bar Loop Crap
Chris Morris / Michael Alexander St. John - Club News 2 (clip)
Adam Buxton - Pirate Interruption (Chocolate Cake Slice) (clip)
Durrty Goodz - Switching Songs Pt.2 (The Good Ol' Days)
Quentin Crisp - Stop The Music For A Minute

This one has been in the planning stages for years, and is being put out there only at the stage of my finally giving up on ever making it what I want it to be. The idea originally was to combine the creepy waltzes of two of these tracks with a general theme of evil fairs. Since then I've waded through a huge amount of embarrasing goth-cabaret nonsense, some of which lingers here still.

Anyway, it's not a bad mix, not exactly. It was pretty good when I listened to it a couple of nights ago, but just annoying when I put it on again this morning. I suppose you have to be in the right sort of mood.

Tracks:

1. Minty - Procession 2. The Stranglers - Waltzinblack 3. Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Mr Soft 4. Pulp - Fairground 5. Broadcast - Phantom 6. The Human League - Circus of Death 7. Circus Contraption - The Odditorium / Carousel 8. Irvin's 89 Key Marenghi Fairground Organ - Help! 9. The Beatles - Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite! 10. Scunner - Lost at the Fair

What should the next mix be about?

Here we are again, after a long, long break while I finished my MA and moved back to China, with another animal-year-themed pod. Gongxifacai!

1. My Bloody Valentine - Tiger In My Tank
2. Empire Of The Sun - Tiger By My Side
3. Paul Anka - Eye Of The Tiger
4. The Bonzo Dog Band - Hunting Tigers Out In 'Indiah'
5. Ananda Shankar - Charging Tiger
6. Red Snapper - Get Some Sleep Tiger
7. Animal Collective - We Tigers
8. Eels - Tiger In My Tank
9. April Stevens - Teach Me Tiger
10. Rufus Thomas - Tiger Man
11. Sufjan Stevens - Year Of The Tiger