tamaranth | never never land: a solstice compilation from me, 2023

This year's festive compilation contains:

Cover versions: 3
Seasonal songs: 5
Seen live: 2
RIP: 2

Never Mind the Baubles – Don Powell’s Occasional Flames
Great intro! And yes, 'keep on keeping on' is all I feel able to do lately. But I live in hope.

Choose Your Fighter – Ava Max
From the soundrack of the Barbie movie, which I enjoyed a great deal.

Dos Bros – the BossHoss
Heard this on holiday in Crete and it clicked immediately: the audio equivalent of a holiday romance, I suppose (a bit cheese but great fun).

Bury a Friend – Duran Duran
I hope not to bury any of you. (My garden is not large.) I've attended fewer funerals this year, which is nice.
Duran Duran's 2023 album was a pleasant surprise: I'm stll listening to it.

If I Should Fall from Grace with God – The Pogues
This was one of the first CDs I ever bought. RIP Shane McGowan: I had barely started celebrating the death of Kissinger when I heard of your demise... You did pack a lot of living into your 65 years, though.

Mandinka – Sinead O’Connor
I vividly remember sitting on the top deck of a 159 bus on a rainy winter evening in the late 1980s and listening to The Lion and the Cobra for the first time on my Walkman. 'Jerusalem' was the track that really blew me away, but with hindsight 'Mandinka' is just as good, though mellower.
Sinead was younger than me. And now she always will be.

The Sound of Silence -- Disturbed
This is such a good cover version: shivery and atmospheric.

Glammy Little Christmas – Cleaners from Venus
Fun and festive."But there's glitter on the paving, and your granddad's come out raving, like he used to do in 1973'. Substitute 'old friend' for 'granddad' and '1993' for '1973', and do something with pronouns, and you can imagine this song is about meeeee.

Born this Way / Knock on Wood – Lady Gaga / Amii Stewart
It's getting a lot harder to find decent mashups where I recognise at least one of the songs. ~~I blame the government.~~ This isn't a classic mashup -- I think it came off an album of workout music, ugh -- but it works so well and combines the Amii Stewart riff and Lady Gaga's equally diva anthem.

Strangers – Nickel Creek
One of the few bands I saw live this year: this is a song about how hard it is to readjust to seeing people in person, to being part of an audience, et cetera. I miss my old life. It's so long since I've seen you.

Hen in the Foxhouse – Rhiannon Giddens
Another artist I've seen live in 2023. And will be seeing again in 2024. Giddens is awesome, versatile and talented. I felt energised by her show.

Something Rising – Mista Trick, Harriet Hayes, Gambit Ace
Intriguing blend of swing, drum'n'bass and rap: I think I found this on a blog post about how appalling the Tories are. Which I already knew, actually, but this is a very catchy reminder.

Fool’s Holiday – All Time Low
Another cheerful pop-punk festive ditty,

Bad idea right? – Olivia Rodriguez
First encountered in an OFMD fanvid, and subsequently on the Guardian's 'best pop tracks of the year'. I like the unapologetic punk/rock ambience and the sheer relatability of the lyrics.

Witches – The Laurettes
I've read a lot of novels featuring witches this year. 'Witches' epitomises the more positive stories: we witches never burn. Hoping for a Laurettes album some time soon, and I'd love to see them live.

Stomp – Stone Foxes
Apparently their first single, from 2010. 'Everything I know will soon be gone'. Accurate.

Back Door Santa – BB King
Another festive favourite from the olden days. It's such a cheerful song about adultery, bribery and lewd behaviour.

This Woman’s Work – Kate Bush
As featured in Our Flag Means Death: as also featured in my regular listening, a lot. Will any live gig ever be as good as Kate Bush at Hammersmith?

Never Tear Us Apart – Paloma Faith
Faith's take on the INXS song: her voice is just ... wow.

Burning Down the House – Tom Jones & the Cardigans
From one of my favourite albums of the 90s, Tom Jones' Remix. My fondness for this attracted much mockery, but I stand by my former self: it's a fun and playful album of cover versions with various (Nineties) big-name artists, with excellent production and Jones' voice still strong.

Yuletide Comes – Flora Ware
A calm and uplifting finale. I love the layered vocals of this, and the hopefulness of 'our peaceful hearts'.
I hope the festive season brings you joy, and the year ahead features more peace internally, locally and globally.

You can download a zip file at Dropbox.
You can listen online at Spotify.

Please leave a comment here if you do listen!