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Dec 22, 2023 By Mark Redfern

Jim Goodwin of the Christmas Underground blog returns with 2023’s indie rock Christmas mix, this year titled I’m An Igloo. Every year for over a decade Goodwin puts together an annual mix of indie rock Christmas songs, handing out free burned CDs to friends and also posting it online via Mixcloud and Christmas Underground.

This year’s mix features a couple of recognizable names, such as Local Natives and MJ Lenderman (of Wednesday), but there are mainly more obscure artists, including many we’ve never heard of (and we run an indie rock magazine).

Every mix’s cover art features a parody of a different Belle and Sebastian album, EP, or single cover, all featuring Goodwin in a Santa hat. This year’s cover art (see above) was inspired by the cover of Belle and Sebastian’s 2003 single “I’m a Cuckoo,” the second single from the band’s sixth studio album, Dear Catastrophe Waitress. The single’s title also inspired the title of this year’s mix. Check out the 2023 mix below.

We asked Goodwin to comment on this year’s mix and here’s what he had to say: “As I head into my twentieth year making an alternative Christmas music mix, you would think I would be better at this. However, each year is another roll of the dice, another trip down the rabbit holes of the internet. Thankfully, those holes sometimes pay off, and you discover something fantastic, such as Arlie’s incredible ‘Come As You Arlie (The Christmas Song),’ which is bound to put a smile on your face. Sometimes an email from a band pays off and you discover a profane slice of joy, as I did with Idaho Green’s ‘Christmas Toonite.’ There are some new sounds I’m not known for, such as the Lithuanian disco jam ‘Pakylėtas Gruodis’ by Evgenya Redko, and the Motown sounds of Danish soul band D/Troit and their wonderful ‘Motown Christmas Song.’ There is even a Swiss singer-songwriter, Long Tall Jefferson, whose ‘Christmas Song’ is an Elliott Smith alternate-timeline classic. There truly is a ton to dig into here. I often find that when a band can write an incredible Christmas song, they most certainly can write a great non-Christmas song… so consider this an opportunity to find not only your new favorite Christmas song but your new favorite band. Merry Christmas.”

Goodwin launched Christmas Underground in 2012. “The premise of the blog was not just to talk up bands that I like, because many of the bands I like put out terrible Christmas songs, but to specifically try to find great songs from smaller bands,” Goodwin previously explained to us in regards to 2018’s mix. “I’m not interested in Eric Clapton’s Christmas record…the site is really meant for great, lesser-known bands.”

Goodwin first started making his Christmas mixes when he was working at the Record Exchange in Roanoke, VA and all the employees agreed to trade Christmas mixes. Each of Goodwin’s mixes includes both current Christmas songs and ones from previous years.

Christmas Mix 2023: I’m An Igloo Tracklist:

1. Arlie: Come As You Arlie (The Christmas Song)
2. Local Natives: NYE
3. Idaho Green: Christmas Toonite
4. MJ Lenderman: Rudolph
5. The Fisherman and His Soul: A Christmas Tree Bright As a Lighthouse
6. Jacklen Ro:Wishlist
7. Big Society: December, forever
8. Neil Brogan and Band: Our First Christmas
9. Duz Mancini: Christmas Special
10. Dougie Poole: Cancun Christmas Morning
11. Pascal Babare: Santa’s Seasonal Showdowns
12. Long Tall Jefferson: Christmas Song
13. Chateaubriand: Romance de Noël
14. The Frights: I Want Christmas Everyday
15. Collars: Christmas In The 90s
16. Warm Digits: Good Enough For You This Christmas
17. Glomma Pop: Here Comes The Snø`n
18. Kristian Noel Pedersen: City Streets, Holiday Road
19. Håvard & Dorothea: Ein liten julesang
20. Elephant Stone: Another Year Gone
21. Caleb Nichols: I Fell in Love on Christmas Day
22. Elliot Maginot: Christmas On My Mind
23. Evgenya Redko: Pakyletas Gruodis
24. D/Troit: Motown X-mas Song

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