Liner notes: We’ve entered the period of the year where Christmas music is officially authorized. That period begins the first full week of December, and ends on what our friends in Canada, the United Kingdom, and other Anglophone nations of the blessedly former British Empire call “Boxing Day” (and what we Americans would call “December 26th,” as part of our ongoing, complex, and expensive extraction from the cultural cesspool of our parent nation). Outside of that range, please don’t play Christmas music in a public setting; what you do between and inside your own ears in the privacy of your home is your business (aurally and otherwise!), but don’t inflict the holiday upon others—unless, of course, you’re spinning A Charlie Brown Christmas, the greatest Xmas record of all time, a certified dinger-rama, and an acceptable public listen regardless of season. I tried to keep the annoying songs to a minimum, but there are a few that I unironically love (the Waitresses, Paul McCartney noodling around on his new synth, “Jingle Bell Rock,” etc.) and won’t apologize for. Please enjoy this tape with your loved ones, responsibly or otherwise (just don’t drink and drive while listening; I mean, don’t drink and drive generally, but especially don’t drink and drive with my shit on the stereo, thank you!).
Mixtape Monday Marginalia: Last week I previewed that this week’s Mixtape Monday would be the start of a weekly countdown to the “best of 2021” tape, starting with 2018 this week. I lied last ẅ̵̢̢̧̧͍͔̝̤͈̰͈̞̘̤́̊̔͐̈͑̆̇̐̈̕ͅe̶͇̼̠̪͓͙͈̗̝̙̎̓̌͝e̴̡̱̳͕̝̭̫̹͝k̷̛͖̹̭̣͓͔̪̀̔̋̀ͅ ; or rather, last w̵̧̧̞͍̖̤͖̥͓̱͙̙͇͊̏͆͑ę̷̲̖͙͈̪̊͆͗͗e̵͔͚̗̘͕͚͑́̓͐̈́͗̓k̴̛̹̦̈̋́͆̌̍͗͛͝ I didn’t know that this w̴̢͔̮̲̮͚̠̬̣͚̬̃͗̌̎́͂e̶̢̻͈̥̺͕͓̫̦̩̣͚̻͌̓͜͜ȩ̵̡̰̲̬͔̭̺͇̳̜͕͇̘̈ͅk̸̢̨̡̮̪͇͔͇̩̓̿͐̀̀̽̊́͑ I’d want to do a Christmas-themed mixtape, given that this w̴̝̭͔̒͐̈è̶͓͚͆ͅē̴̜̺͎̣͖̟̘̞̰̤͌͐͋̈́̿̓̕͠͝k̵̥̥̻̗̘̩̙̻̽ͅ is the first Mixtape Monday of December. At any rate, next ẃ̴̗̹̪͙͙͚̪̯̥͎̲͈̗̺͑̓̓̀͑̊̀͒͜͠ȩ̶͚̞̞̦̼͓͙͇͔̝̻̩̙̬̍̇́͝ę̶͈̫̳͇̤̘͇͓͓̯͈̭̈́̆k̸̥̖̫̰̋̓’s mixtape will be the “best of 2018,” followed by 2019 the following w̸̛̠̽ę̵̨̱̫̔̽͆̆̑̄̒̋̒͗̆̕͘e̷̛̳͕̜͊̾̓̊̑̒͊̂͋͘͝k̶̮̦̔̾, 2020 the w̶̢̧͎̰̠̲̺͙̫͕̟̅̐́̊͗̈̀̋͜ͅͅẽ̷̩̼̥̬̂́è̵͔͔͎̎͗̕ḳ̸͖̻̮͓̰̋̑̐̓͗͂̂̚͝ after that, and then finally 2021 the next w̸̮̒̆̌̂̊͒̀̄͊̾͌͒́̈͝ͅȩ̴̛̱͕̘͔͓̰̻̥̄̽̇̆̉͋̑͌̓̚͝͠ĕ̴̛̘̻̼̬̯̦̠̫̙̑́͌͘͜͜͜k̷̨͖̳͈̱̱͔̩͈̝̞̹̈̍̀̓̚͜͝ (four ẅ̸̫̙̬̖́̅̌ë̵̮̭͕̭͕̱̮̙̰͉͙̜̙̭́̄̈́͛́̾̓ę̵̡̭̙̹̺̻͎͚̩̩͍̖̅̉̀k̶̢͇̞̬̮̟͎̅͌̊ş̴̖̟̝͓̌̄̽̾͆͊͐͆͗̊͠, or a month, from this ŵ̶̡̤̙̜̮̣̋̏e̸̲̹̫͔̱̻̝̭̺̺̬͌͛͗͑͜ȅ̴̗͚̝̜̦̰͍͕̖͉̟̖̀̾̇̐̔̎͊̋͆́̌͌̔̔k̶̨͎̭̰͚͙̰͉̖͚̫͖̈́̈́̈́́͘). The word “w̴̰̬̣̔̾͂ ̴̢̧̖̯̰͓̝͙͔͔̳̘͓̠̀̉̇͛͌̀e̷̛̥̰̣̹͕͓͍͚̘͐̑̿̅̾̿̔́̚͜͠͠ ̴̧̥͎̖̱̹̞͇̯̫̭̰̬̫͋̈̌̀̐̇͛̽̊͌̓̀̊ę̶̢̠̫̫̳͎̖͇̤͓̯̅̀̏̀̉̃͆̑̇̈͐͜͠͝ ̸̧̯̟͉̬͈̮̝̻̯̩̞̟̣̮̃͆̆͑k̵̢͉͕̗̤͎̱͋́͠” is starting to look…ŵ̶̘́̄̒ ̴̺̩̫̻̥̲͍̜̑́̾̅͒̋͒̒͜͝ͅẹ̶̳̱̫̟̥̊̏̈́̑͝ ̵͕̱̟̭͔̠̰̱̖̘̜̼̯̂̈́̄͝ͅi̶͚͍̦̘͍̭̝̟̺̩̫̮̗̒̽͛̈́̾̈́̽̋̕͜͜ ̶̡̡̢̛͔͈̺̘͔͔̤̲̪̈̀͊̏͐̑̋͐͂̽́
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