Tag Archives: Christmas CD

Bootleg Humbug 2012

Cover image
A Bootleg Humbug 2012, inspired by Charles Dickens

For the past twelve years my son and I have been compiling Christmas CDs as gifts for our family and friends. What began as a token from a single mom who couldn’t afford proper gifts has become a Christmas tradition of epic proportions. Every year we choose a theme, either a musical genre or a symbol of the holiday and we create artwork and curate a playlist to fit the theme. Past Bootleg themes have included Peace, Nativity, Christmas Specials, Christmas at the Beach, Santa, What I Want for Christmas, and we’ve covered country, punk, jazz, and a personal favorite, Winterfunkyland, in the musical genre categories.

This year, the theme is the Dickens’ novel, A Christmas Carol. We chose songs that captured the mood of the characters and certain scenes and we assembled them in the order of the story. It was a little ambitious, and I’ve been struggling with an injury, an illness, and a number of personal dramas. I wanted to create original illustrations, I wanted to burn CDs and mail them out like I normally do, but neither of these things could happen in time for Christmas. So, I’ve included the original John Leech illustrations and quotes from the story to help lead you through the songs. They’re best listened to in order, with the liner notes as a guide.

1. Christmas is Interesting by Jonathan Coulton
2. Kamikaze Economy Christmas (I Owe) by Jeremy Fisher
3. Here It Is Christmas by Old 97s
4. The Ice and Snow Haunts Me Still by Brown Bird
5. The Saddest Day of the Year by Jill Sobule
6. Christmas is Starting Now by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
7. Holiday Twist by Los Straitjackets
8. Christmas With You by Victoria Vox
9. I Hate Christmas Parties by Relient K
10. Tiny Tree Christmas by Guster
11. It Don’t Have to Change by John Legend
12. Step Into Christmas by The Puppini Sisters
13. Do They Know It’s Christmas? by Richard Cheese
14. Dead, Dead, Dead by The South Park Kids
15. Snow Will Fall Tonight by Peter Bradley Adams
16. Give Me a Second Chance for Christmas by Mike Viola and the Candy Butchers
17. Party Hard by Zach Gill
18. Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You by Billy Squier
19. What Christmas Means to Me by Cee-Lo Green

Or you can download the whole package, including liner notes here. Merry Christmas!

Bootleg Christmas 2009 CD Cover: Bootleg Beach

Every Christmas my son and I assemble a compilation CD for our family and friends. They’re bootleg CDs of songs from my personal collection, thus the name, Bootleg Christmas, and to make things more cohesive we choose a theme every year. In 2009, I was learning to play ukulele, so the theme was Bootleg Beach, Christmas songs from warm climates, beaches, islands, deserts, South America, you get the picture. The illustration is a Josh Agle (Shag) inspired tropical scene where Griffin and I serenade a hula dancing Santa by the light of a campfire and a full, Pacific moon.