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Left of the Dial #41 - Elliot Potter Holiday Special

j. carl brown
/
KRCU

It's that crazy time of year when we put our Christmas lights up around the alphabet and then receive what music we’re to listen to as we acknowledge the glacial return of the sun. Christmas 2016 was properly lit and thus saved by a surprise mixtape from Chance the Rapper. It’s called Merry Christmas Lil’ Mama and the near cancellation of Christmas of 2017 was saved once again by an expanded version of said mixtape.

WAVVES brought some holiday blear with their languid cover of a Charlie Brown classic. 

Speaking of Charlie Brown Christmas, how about them Foo Fighters on SNL?

Sound Opinions has done it again, a new mix of rare, obscure, and weird holiday music, available as a free download through the end of the year. Yay! 

Finally, for 2017, check out these crazy kids and their "Winter PUNderland." Yule be glad you did. 

Left of the Dial airs Friday nights from 9-11 and Saturdays from noon-2 on KRCU. 

Happy Holidays, Pete! 

New music of 2016 includes an EP from Saintseneca titled The MallwalkerProceeds from sales of it go toward Water for People.

In the late '90s I saw Tool at an outdoor festival, and Melvins were on the bill as well. King Buzzo of the Melvins joined Tool for a song and I knew then, for certain, the shaman-like figure with hair cascading from well above his head like Sideshow Bob would one day record an iconic Christmas carol. That day has arrived, and it's with a song that frightened the band as children, no less.

The Public Radio program Sound Opinions is back with another holiday special, and they truly do it like no one else. They have once again made their holiday mix available as a download

Finally, for 2016, RIP, Sharon Jones. Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!

Drawing from the vast archives of our music library, and in the spirit of holiday specials from The Elliot Potter Show, we're poised to bring you two hours of music that's strange, inexplicable, unsettling, and mostly just plain fun. 

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We've uncovered some new tracks in 2014, including an album called An Americana Christmasthat features contemporary rootsy musicians such as Valerie June and Nikki Lane alongside classic holiday cuts from singers like Emmy Lou Harris and Johnny Cash. Plus the garage rockers DumDum Girls go synthpop for a heartbreaking track called "On Christmas." 

For those of you who came here looking for the podcast containing the strange sound collage it's called  ROAM and you can download it here, or check out the episode we sampled below.

It's been a bit of a tradition around here to feature music from 1980's improbable Christmas In The Stars: Star Wars Christmas Album. It so happens that this year Andrea Warner of the Canadian Broadcasting Commission interviewed Anthony Daniels (who voiced C-3PO in the films, and on the album), producer Tony Bongiovi, and composer Maury Yeston. They all claimed that in the 34 years since the album was released, Warner is the first person who reached out to them to talk about it. It's a fascinating look at a truly bizarre piece of Star Wars history, and you can read it here.  

Finally, my favorite holiday track this year is not a new one, but it's certainly new to me, despite being around since 1983. Psychic TV recorded a song called "White Nights" that uses transcripts from infamous cult leader Jim Jones' so called "death tapes." Jones supposedly used Santa Claus' ever present watchfulness as an allegory to instill a sense of paranoia in his followers. The version we're playing comes from The Golden Filter, and it issublime and haunting.

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