A Christmas Yuleblog

(Due to computer problems, this week's schedule has been pushed back one day. Sorry for the mess!) At first glance, this looks like a bootleg copy of Jackie Gleason's "Merry Christmas" LP. However, it is, in fact, a Christmas comp from fellow FaLaLaLaLa-er Dave Wright of Green Brook, New Jersey. DaveW (his FLLLL non de plume) sent this comp to our PO Box along with a festive note that featured a cover scan of a Guy Lombardo Christmas EP - bonus! The note read: "Howdy Captain! Request permission to come aboard! Love your blog + shares, Thank You! My comp is for friends and family - nothing too earth shattering content wise but I hope you'll enjoy! "All the best - Dave (DaveW on FLLLL.com)" I sent Dave a set of questions that I will be asking everyone whose comp will be reviewed here: 1.) When did you begin creating your Christmas compilations? 2005 2.) Explain the process on creating your Christmas comp. It's pretty basic....

For nearly ten years, I have been a faithful fan of the Netscape browser. I've always liked its ease, it's dependability, and it's bulldog mentality of stopping pop-up ads. I have resisted using the built in version of Internet Explorer because it never (and I mean NEVER) stops pop-up ads. Wednesday, Microsoft downloaded several XP updates to my computer. Since then, Netscape has been hanging up something fierce. There's no way around it - Microsoft sabotaged my Netscape browser. Downloading Mozilla's Firefox browser as we speak. When this is sorted, I hope to post today's yuleblog entry. UPDATE - 5 PM EST - I still haven't figured this out and even IE is hanging up! The Geek Squad is coming over. They'll probably push one button and voila! That'll be $90! Sorry everyone (especially DaveW). I will shoot for tomorrow with Dave's review and push everyone back one day this week. Finished typing these six sentences at 5:40 PM - S...

This compilation was one of the first I received last year after I issued my call for Christmas comps. However, it was not created by a guy named Irving! The comp was the creation of Gus Calandrino of Clinton Township, Michigan. This CD came with a handwritten note (perfect penmanship as well) that read: "Hello CaptainOT! "Here is our 2006 Xmas CD. It is a Calandrino family tradition that begun about ten years ago. "The CD is named for our beloved Boston terrier, Irving, whom is featured on all the covers. The two astronauts are our two children Giulia and Dominic. (CAPT'S NOTE: I wonder if any of those astro kids are wearing NASA diapers?) "We hope you enjoy it and will include it in your CD reviews."Merry Christmas from the Calandrino Family: Gus, Kelly, Giulia, Dominic, and Irving." Unfortunately, there was no e-mail address listed on the note. I sent the Calandrino's my standard set of questions that I've asked everyone who se...

We conclude "Mash-up Saturday" with a look at he DJ whose work introduced me to the world of mash-ups and remains one of my favorite mashers. Several years ago, I was searching for a specific bootleg from the Beatles to find an quote from John Lennon. This led me to the website of Mark Vidler's Go Home Productions . I found a MP3 entitled "Beatlegs Bootles" that mashed The Beach Boys, Culture Club, and Michael Jackson into the songs of the Beatles. It totally blew my mind. A quick search of the site led me to the MP3 called "Christmas On The Block" - the merging of Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime" and Jennifer Lopez's "Jenny On The Block" and the very first Christmas mash-up I ever heard. Over the years, Vidler has contributed to DJ BC's two Christmas comps "Santastic: Holiday Boots 4 Your Stocking" and "Santastic II: Clausome". Late last December, Vidler issued this three track com...

Mash-up Saturday marches on! Our next stop takes us to that city by the bay where Adrian and The Mysterious D (aka A & D) have been holding court! Their kingdom is known as Bootie. It is a club where mash-ups are played. It is a party, the largest in the land. It is a website where some of the best mash-ups and their artists can be found. It is also the state of mind in this Christmas compilation that is still available to download at their site. Any Christmas comp that takes the Keith Haring cover of the classic 1987 "A Very Special Christmas" and adds the infamous skull and crossbones is deserving of a look! Here are the set of questions I've asked everyone whose comp has been reviewed here: 1.) When did you begin creating your Christmas compilation? I'd been collecting Christmas song mashups and remixes since 2002, but I never had enough for a full-length CD until just this past year. Yes, this CD was five years in the making! That's how l...

We continue "Mash-up Saturday" with another compilation from DJ BC. While he was compiling his excellent Christmas comp " Santastic II ", DJ BC was working on a different kind of Christmas comp. A classical radio station wanted a different sound for their Christmas and solicited DJ BC's help. The result is a total reworking of some of Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" and Bach's "Jesu Joy Of Man's Desiring" which is still available to download at his site! Watch that traffic rise now BC! For more on this, here are those same questions I've been asking everyone: 1.) When did you begin creating your Christmas compilations? "Re:Composition" Christmas songs were first done a few at a time, over the 2004 and 2005 pre-Christmas season, and then the big push was to complete an hour's worth of material (by Thanksgiving 2006) for WBKK as they wanted to create a show around the music. 2.) Explain the process ...

Welcome to Mash-up Saturday! Today we look at four different Christmas online comps that feature the handy work of DJs and mixers from around the world to create brand new takes on your favorite Christmas music. For those not wise in the ways of the mash-up, this phenomenon may have gotten its start way back in the classical days. Composers used to rework other compositions and used the term "variations on a theme by..." Fast forward to the 1960s. Dickie Goodman was breaking new ground with his break-in records. A gent by the name of John Oswald began experimenting with fusing two pieces of music using tape and scissors. The BBC TV show " I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue " featured a segment entitled "One Song To The Tune Of Another" that featured crude forms of the mash-up. In the 1970s, Frank Zappa began picking out basslines and other samples from music into his own. Club and disco DJs began mastering the art of the mix board. A company named ...

Two weeks on the yuleblog books. Six weeks to go! Am I tired? A little. Am I crazy? You bet! Am I disappointed? My friend Karloff put it this way: "I'm enjoying your comp reviews, but without being able to hear the music, it's like reading a review for a restaurant you'll never be able to visit - it whets your appetite, but you'll never really be able to appreciate it." These ramblings of mine probably don't make a whole lot of sense unless you're listening to the compilation in question. Thanks to my limited computer knowledge, I wouldn't know where to start with streaming media or Adobe Flash. I'll try to work on that for next year. In the meantime, we have another great set of Christmas comps ready for next week. Here's what you'll be reading starting on Monday, February 19th: Monday, February 19 - Irving's Space Age Christmas 2006 Tuesday, February 20 - Dave Wright's Christmas 2006 Wednesday, February 21 - Mike ...

In yesterday's review , we visited the magical country of Sweden with Anna-Lena Lodenius and her Christmas comps. Today, we have two more Christmas comps from Sweden, courtesy of Mr. Dante Fontana and P.E. Fronning at the blog known as Martin Klasch . Both these clever gents are also involved with the very popular blog known as PCL LinkDump who last year had an extremely hard time keeping their Christmas audio links refreshed! Last year after our "Christmas In July" celebration ended here at the yuleblog, I did a deep search into the jungles of the sharity community and found their blog which featured their 2005 Christmas comp entitled " Santalicious ". Their link had expired and after some groveling and pleading, they posted it again for me! Glad they did because it was a spectacular CD full of old chestnuts and new music I had never heard before. Remarkably, this was only the second Christmas comp they had put together! I bookmarked their blog...

When I put the call out for compilations from Christmas home enthusiasts last year, I never imagined the response would be as large as it was. Neither did I imagine that I would receive Christmas comps from as far away as Europe! In September of 2005, my friend Karloff (who has the canny knack of finding extraordinary Christmas sites on the web) at FaLaLaLaLa.com pointed out an amazing new Christmas blog that featured lots of Christmas LP covers in Swedish. The blog in question was indeed full of Christmas covers from Swedish artists. One need look here at the upper right hand corner of the 2004 cover to see a jolly guy dressed like Santa touting meat products! Welcome to the world of Anna-Lena Lodenius , a journalist from Stockholm and a Christmas music lover who created her "Jul Igen - Christmas Again" blog in May of 2005 to feature selections from her Christmas collection. For a time, there were strictly cover scans and descriptions of each. Soon Anna was sharin...