Every year I make a compilation of Christmas music and oddities. This is no mere drag-and-drop project; heaven forfend! I listen to old radio shows and out-of-print albums for material; I write and record new stuff; I design covers; I edit tracks for time and splice bits of different ones together; I record interviews and edit those, adding music and such; I play with the sequence and massage the crossfades until it’s all as close as I can possibly make it to a professional-quality product.
I wrote an essay about it for the Washington Post.
I’ve been making these since 2006. The 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 editions each individually represent tens upon dozens of hours of my labor, I’m embarrassed to say, but I’m pleased with how they turned out. I wish writing were as much fun as making these compilations is.
SWAGGER, NOT STYLE 