I’ve been making what I call a Christmas mix — that is, not holiday songs but a mix made at the holidays — since 1997; first they were tapes, then for a few years cds, and finally, in the digital age, the last five years have been downloadable zip files, and this year is no exception. These are songs — frequently but not necessarily released in 2010 — that meant something to me this year, for various reasons, and they are for you. The whole shebang is available as a zip file [here] (110MB, .zip).

Happy holidays, happy 2010, happy these are great songs — whatever floats your boat. This is from me to you. 2010 ended up being not half bad.

If you creep about lurking and you only comment on one post all year, this would be a good one. I’m just sayin’. ♥ (Don’t download this, Mama, I’ll burn it for you.)

1. [the Drive-By Truckers — “(It’s Gonna Be) I Told You So”] now one day it’s gonna be “i told you so”/i’m all full up from the shit i was fed
2. [the Gaslight Anthem — “The Diamond Street Church Choir”] and who who who does it better than we do
3. [Two Cow Garage — “My Great Gatsby”] this is not an alibi, baby, this is who i am
4. [Tim Barry — “Thing of the Past”] i’ve been lit up before and i’ve bounced right back/made mistakes and i’ve learned to laugh/tonight i’m getting drunk and simply living
5. [Frank Turner — “Photosynthesis”] i won’t sit down, i won’t shut up/most of all, yeah, i won’t grow up
6. [Glossary — “No Guarantee”] i laughed and said “i won’t stop now but there’s no guarantee.”
7. [Frightened Rabbit — “Living In Colour”] i, i am weathered by the winter of mixed drinks
8. [Superchunk — “Learned To Surf”] i can’t hold my breath anymore/i stopped swimming and learned to surf
9. [Eels — “Hey Man (Now You’re Really Living)”] do you know what it’s like to care too much/’bout someone that you’re never going to get to touch?
10. [Dr. Dog — “Later”] but i can’t sit around and wait/can’t sit around and wait for you
11. [The National — “Bloodbuzz Ohio”] i never thought about home when i thought about love
12. [Ha Ha Tonka — “Close Every Valve To Your Bleeding Heart”] thick skinned, hard headed/you’re better off closing every valve to your bleeding heart
13. [Bright Eyes — “Southern State”] so now you are giving advice as if you had the right to use a word like love
14. [Ryan Bingham — “The Weary Kind”] pick up your crazy heart and give it one more try
15. [The Old Ceremony — “Wither On The Vine”] and i don’t want to wither on the vine
16. [Vic Chestnutt — “Flirted With You All My Life”] but i found out with time that/really, i was not ready
17. [Good Old War — “That’s Some Dream”] i know everyone would want me to say/that i’m not afraid to be alone/i’m gonna live, i’m alright/i’m gonna die, it’s alright, i’m okay
18. [Josh Ritter — “Lantern”] if there’s a book of jubilations/we’ll have to write it for ourselves