Jeremy

But it’s about harm mitigation. Of course the quoted post is 100% correct.

And also, at least it’s not Paramount.

Watching Anthology, it’s a jolt seeing how young the Beatles look in the 1995 footage. Ringo was the elder statesman, by a few years, at 55.

But culturally, they may as well have been Abraham Lincoln.

The exultant chord progression that kicks in near the end is lifted btw from The Clash’s “Safe European Home,” where it serves a similar role in the song.

Even as a moody teen I could appreciate what the view might look like years later. As in:

“I was lonely then
The whole world had it in for me
How cool I must have been
All metal comb and misery”

Bragg is the wryest of them all.

YouTube video by dprkspacemarine Billy Bragg - Lovers' Town

If you’re a Billy Bragg fan you may know the early song “Lovers Town Revisited.”

But do you know “Lovers Town”? It doesn’t seem to be on any official release. I fell in love w/this strange but crazy-catchy song from a bootleg CD of Peel Sessions stuff I got at Newbury Comics at The Garage (IYKYK)

So it’s family movie night and we’re near the end of Fantastic 4 and one of the characters appears to die and I’m all ready to be soothing and comforting like a good parent and that’s when the seven year old shouts “I GUESS NOW THEY’RE THE FANTASTIC THREE!”

All these lead guitar lines in Divided Sky sound so good on acoustic!

As clutch as the Beacon Jams 2020 were to me at the time, I had mixed feelings about a nostalgic/anniversary thing for a pandemic event.

But Trey’s remarks from the stage are really adding necessary context and I hereby remove my objection!

I’m catching up with last night’s Beacon Jams and the Stash is like a proof of concept for this musical idea (Trey + horns + strings + more vocalists). Sounds great!

So too does MOMA.

Trey’s guitar solo in Monsters sounds Gilmour-like.

Buried Alive and Timber at their peak are Phish’s best set openers.

Introduce yourself w/5 concerts you’ve seen (ie brag about your discerning eclecticism!)

Morphine @ the Avalon in Boston, 6/1/94

Club d’Elf @ Lizard Lounge 6/1/02

Atoms For Peace at (Le) Poisson Rouge 3/15/13

Phish at the Worcester Centrum 11/29/97

Yo-Yo Ma w/BSO @Tanglewood 8/10/25

Submission received! We feel good about this one 🎄🎁🎹 #christmasplaylist #christmas #holidaymusic

And if you're still using Spotify, that existing link is fully updated for 2025, but I'm not tryna drive traffic there w/this post so will skip the link.

Enjoy! And please share "A non-ironic, not (very) cheesy Christmas" widely, if you're inclined!

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"A non-ironic, not (very) cheesy Christmas" on YouTube proper:

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"A non-ironic, not (very) cheesy Christmas" on Amazon Music:

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With much joy I present the updated 2025 edition of “A non-ironic, not (very) cheesy Christmas,” a revisionist holiday playlist full of bangers that I’ve been curating and expanding annually for about 13 years. An alternate title could be “A no-cringe Christmas.” For much of its history, this was a playlist you could comfortably enjoy in one sitting/standing/dancing, with gatherings and parties always the ideal setting. But it keeps growing, as new recordings are released and I discover older ones I’d missed. Over the years I’ve gradually built out little corners of the playlist that originated as quick stopoffs at one genre or another. It’s now almost a series of sub-playlists within the greater one, with 1 to 3 song transitions between sections — all framed by opening and closing stretches that freely mix styles. I continue to sweat out every additional song, every sequence. New songs only make it these days if they’re playlist-worthy and they fill a need in the flow, as it’s come to be. Even with those strict conditions, this year I somehow ended up adding 1 hour and 45 minutes of music, which stuns me. I just kept coming across stuff that needed to be included, much of it released in recent years. In 2015 the playlist was 1 hour and 23 minutes. In 2019, 2 hours and 15 minutes. 2023: 4 hours and 3 minutes. “Non-ironic” is now a 7 hour and 14 minute playlist that is not merely a pile of good songs to shuffle (which would be fine), but an epic musical story whose every page has been considered and reconsidered through hours of listening and testing. So whereas I used to say that you really gotta start with the first song and let it play, lately I’ve given my endorsement to do that or to scan the list and start at the beginning of a section that particularly appeals. But it remains my dear wish that, wherever you start it, you let it play in sequence and go along on the ride.

All you have to do is hit play once, but FYI this is how it breaks down. (Transition songs between sections aren’t represented.) “A non-ironic, not (very) cheesy Christmas” 2025 1. Introductory Survey (28 min) (“Aint No Chimneys in the Projects” by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings through “Here Comes Santa Claus” by Ramsey Lewis Trio) 2. Slinky R&B & Other Beats (52 min) (“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” by Robert Glasper through “Santa Claus Goes Straight To The Ghetto” by Snoop Dogg) 3. Girl Groups and Progeny (40 min) (“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) [Live]” by Darlene Love through “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday” by Kylie Minogue) 4. Acoustic Christmas (63 min) (“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” by Sam Bush through “The Christians and the Pagans” by Dar Williams 5. Rock N’Roll N’ Relatives (63 min) (“”Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses through “Merry Christmas Baby” by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band) 6. Funky, Soulful Christmas (74 min) (“Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” by Jackson 5 through “Christmas Will Really Be Christmas” by Lou Rawls) 7. Jazz Bands Big and Little (59 min) (“Deck the Halls” by Teo Macero and His Orchestra through “O Tannenbaum” by Vince Guaraldi Trio) 8. Anthems & Encores (35 min) (“White Christmas” by Otis Redding through “Little Drummer Boy/Silent Night/Auld Lang Syne” by Jimi Hendrix)

Notes on 2025 changes I am thrilled by the bounty of really good holiday recordings that have been released in the past two years. “Non-ironic” now has five songs from 2024 and eight from 2025. That’s not by design, but I’m happy it’s how it worked out. It’s great that artists are still doing interesting work in holiday music, and I know most folks aren’t exactly keeping up on that. Excitingly to me, I added an original song by Jennifer Hudson from 2024 as the fourth one of the whole playlist (the opening five songs had been locked in for many years) and a remarkable “Silent Night (Noche de Paz)” by Lucía released on Halloween of this year is now the penultimate (!) song of the entire playlist. Wild debut! In less intensely high-profile slots, we welcome Willie Nelson, Lady Gaga, Coco Jones, She & Him, Michael McDonald, Trick Daddy, C.J. Chenier and others to the playlist. Shea Diamond stormed onto the scene, debuting here with two original (I believe) songs and so becoming just the fifth or so artist to repeat on the playlist (it depends in some cases on how you count). But I needed those songs! P.S. Finally, a context for Dylan One exciting-to-me detail … Bob Dylan’s version of “Must Be Santa” been on “Non-ironic” pretty much forever, but never had a spot that really made specific sense. For several years it’s been paired with Matisyahu’s “Happy Hanukkah” as a non sequitur, collar-grabbing pallet cleanser before the funk & soul section. Now “Must Be Santa” is in the acoustic sequence, completing a trio of songs that have accordion in them. I think it lands much better now, in a context that makes sense. When I worked that out, it was a fist-pumping moment.

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm delighted to drop links to the 2025 iteration of "A non-ironic, not (very) cheesy Christmas" — which I submit as the greatest such playlist ever assembled, but you do you!

Apple Music definitive; other platforms threaded tho miss a song or 2 music.apple.com/us/playlist/...

Remember the days of Thanksgiving Eves with live musicals on NBC and/or random Lady Gaga specials?

We used to be a proper country.

Danny you are the king of the Weird Yet Systemically Important story!

I think this misreads war as a tragic recurring accident, rather than simply a tactic used by powerful people to gain further advantage.

Doesn’t make it not stupid though, of course!

You could cue up that one Succession episode.

I’ve never even heard of that one!

Taking a moment to appreciate that maybe the most politically engaged musician of the last 45 years, Billy Bragg, made one of the great breakup albums, “Workers Playtime.” And still capped it w/his anthem of political & cultural movements struggling to evolve, “Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards.”

I want to read this, and will, but I know I’ll experience a layer of melancholy related to learning about the things I missed at the time.

Today is for listening to Phish 11/26/97, tomorrow is for listening to Phish 11/27/98 and Friday is for leftovers plus the 11/28/97 Ghost.

Annual reminder that “Black Friday” is a marketing term, not an *actual holiday* or a term that you need to be using if what you really mean is “Friday.”

Thanks for the signal boost, Charlie!

Thanks, Drew! This one was a pleasure to work on and I’m glad folks are finding it impactful.

@stlpublicradio.bsky.social

Thanks for the signal boost! This is a special one. (IIDSSM)

Thanks for the good word!

Two rock heirs will pay tribute to their dads in an evening of Allman Brothers tunes at the Factory Devon Allman and Duane Betts lead the Allman Betts Family Revival, a touring tribute to their famous dads. The Revival plays the Factory in Chesterfield on Nov. 29.

I’m happy to share my deep dive for @stlpublicradio.bsky.social on Devon Allman, Duane Betts & their tribute to their dads’ music from the Allman Brothers Band. A story of a 2nd generation & 2nd chances.

www.stlpr.org/arts/2025-11...