- Playing
- Professor Mikey's Chill Christmas
- From
- Mike Flanagan
Professor Mikey's mixtapes are more than iTune shuffles and random cut and pastes. The mood, the music, the order, the artists, the theme, all of this comes into play in these intricate but fun sound collages. Forget genres and formats. As Dizzy Gillespie once told Professor Mikey, "There are two kinds of music. Good music and bad music."
This year's holiday mix offers a "Chill Christmas." The music is not completely mellow, in fact it rocks here and there, but the mood is one of calm and serenity at this, the craziest, coldest time of the year. Professor Mikey also explores the evolution of the word chill, how it came about in the time of Thomas Beckett, but then how it evolved so that in the era of Ronald Reagan it had come to mean relaxation.
Sit back, relax, have a hang out attack. Musically, there's a lot of artists who don't make the corporate Christmas shows, people like Department of Eagles, St. Etienne, and Ursula 1000. Tradition isn't completely lost, there's a great non-holiday holiday song from Neil Young, and Neko Case gives a personal read on "Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis" that puts a whole other spin on chill, what happens when a spirit is down on its luck at the happiest time of the year.
Te recipe wouldn't be complete without snippets from other songs, old radio shows, TV transmissions, and even a Bible verse that's been blessed by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. The result is a timeless and different holiday show, guaranteed to warm the heart, cool the brain, and calm the season.
More from Mike Flanagan
Vinyl Destination: Freedom March on Washington August 28, 1963
(58:03)
From: Mike Flanagan
The original vinyl soundtrack from the famed "March on Washington" including Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech in it's entirety, along with other speeches from ...
A Very Hipster Christmas
(58:57)
From: Mike Flanagan
Dear Santa, I am so cool. This year I need the hippest music on the planet. Here's hoping the mainstream doesn't flow all the way to the North Pole!
The All American Red White and Blue Mixtape
(59:15)
From: Mike Flanagan
A box of 4th of July fireworks, complete with surprises and rarities from Johnny Cash, Cat Power, John Prine, Spinal Tap, James Brown, and many more. Patriot acts from ...
Alt 50's Christmas
(58:54)
From: Mike Flanagan
Sure, Christmas in the 1950s was the stomping ground for Rudolph and Frosty. But underneath the marshmallow world of perfect conformity was another take on holiday cheer ...
1961: The 50th Anniversary Mix Tape
(59:51)
From: Mike Flanagan
A chronological montage of 1961 in news and music.
Professor Mikey's New Year's Revolution
(59:58)
From: Mike Flanagan
The perfect New Year's mixtape, complete with rarities, standards, surprises, blatant nostalgia, sincere resolutions, unashamed hope, and serious parties! From the Great ...
Professor Mikey's Island Christmas
(59:03)
From: Mike Flanagan
Really warm Christmas wishes in a mix of surf, reggae, and island tunes.
Related Pieces
Piece Description
Professor Mikey's mixtapes are more than iTune shuffles and random cut and pastes. The mood, the music, the order, the artists, the theme, all of this comes into play in these intricate but fun sound collages. Forget genres and formats. As Dizzy Gillespie once told Professor Mikey, "There are two kinds of music. Good music and bad music."
This year's holiday mix offers a "Chill Christmas." The music is not completely mellow, in fact it rocks here and there, but the mood is one of calm and serenity at this, the craziest, coldest time of the year. Professor Mikey also explores the evolution of the word chill, how it came about in the time of Thomas Beckett, but then how it evolved so that in the era of Ronald Reagan it had come to mean relaxation.
Sit back, relax, have a hang out attack. Musically, there's a lot of artists who don't make the corporate Christmas shows, people like Department of Eagles, St. Etienne, and Ursula 1000. Tradition isn't completely lost, there's a great non-holiday holiday song from Neil Young, and Neko Case gives a personal read on "Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis" that puts a whole other spin on chill, what happens when a spirit is down on its luck at the happiest time of the year.
Te recipe wouldn't be complete without snippets from other songs, old radio shows, TV transmissions, and even a Bible verse that's been blessed by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. The result is a timeless and different holiday show, guaranteed to warm the heart, cool the brain, and calm the season.
Transcript
Yes things are a bit chill for the holiday mix tape this year. Hi, this is Professor Mikey and for the next hour you'll be hearing a holiday offering that's a bit off the beaten track. The music is from a lot of genres, from a collection that spans many years and many formats. And the weather has only a little to do with Professor Mikey's Chill Christmas.
The word “chill,” as it relates to weather, was first used in England sometime before the 12th century. Thomas Beckett himself might have said the word CHILL to describe a sensation of cold accompanied by shivering. Chill, as in to chill out, took another 800 years to properly evolve. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Modern slang, it was first used in the Reagan era, around 1982. As an intransitive verb, used mainly in the United States, the modern definition of CHILL means “to become less tense, relax.”
A little later i...
Read the full transcript
Musical Works
| Title | Artist | Album | Label | Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (Woody Woodpecker Symphony) | The Beach Boys | Smiley Smile. | Capitol | 1967 | 02:17 |
| Relax | Frankie Goes to Hollywood | Welcome to the Pleasuredome. | 101 Distribution | 1984 | 00:20 |
| Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas | Eels | Useless Trinkets. | Geffen | 2008 | 02:51 |
| Sailing By Night (Why?'s Xmas Mix) | Department of Eagles | Johnny Glaze Christmas: Classical Snatches Samples . | Isota Records | 2006 | 02:58 |
| Spiritual Guidance | Titan | XFM: It's a Cool, Cool Christmas. | Jeepster Recordings | 2000 | 03:58 |
| Forget December | Something Corporate | We Won't Be Home for Christmas. | HIP-O | 2010 | 03:11 |
| When I Get Home for Christmas | Snow Patrol | XFM: It's a Cool, Cool Christmas. | Jeepster Recording | 2000 | 04:00 |
| I'd Like You for Christmas | Julie London (Ursula 1000 Remix) | Merry Mixmas: Christmas Classics Remix. | Capitol | 2005 | 03:44 |
| Silent Night | Stanley Jordan | Yule Struttin'. | Blue Note | 1990 | 02:51 |
| My Christmas Prayer | St. Etienne | XFM: It's a Cool, Cool Christmas. | Jeepster Recordings | 2000 | 03:45 |
| That Was the Worst Christmas Ever | Sufjan Stevens | Songs for Christmas. | Asthmatic Kitty | 2006 | 03:18 |
| Here We Are in the Years | Neil Young | Neil Young. | Reprise | 1969 | 04:17 |
| Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis | Neko Case | New Coat of Paint: Songs of Tom Waits. | Manifesto Records | 2000 | 03:41 |
| Fairytale of New York | Pilate | Maybe This Christmas Tree. | Nettwerks Records | 2004 | 04:56 |
| O Come O Come Emmanuel | Belle and Sebastian | Peel Christmas Session 18-12-2002. | ?? | 2006 | 03:27 |
| In the Bleak Midwinter | Lauren Laverne | XFM: It's a Cool, Cool Christmas. | Jeepster Recordings | 2000 | 04:02 |
| Christmas Eve | Teenage Fanclub | XFM: It's a Cool, Cool Christmas. | Jeepster Records | 2000 | 02:01 |
| Holiday Mood | Apples in Stereo | Oh Santa! New and Used Christmas Classics. | Yep Roc | 2007 | 02:25 |
Of 10 purchasers of this piece...
- 9 also bought:
A Cowboy Christmas (54:24) - 7 also bought:
A '40s Radio Christmas (59:05) - 7 also bought:Alt 50's Christmas (58:54)
- 6 also bought:
A Feast for the Ears (01:57:33) - 6 also bought:
Lotte Lieb Dula
Posted on December 27, 2010 at 09:41 PM | Permalink
Wow!!
I love your holiday pieces!! Is there any way to purchase the shows or airchecks? Wow...
ldula@earthlink.net