It’s that time of year again: the time of year in which we can listen to “Last Christmas” without headphones and not get chastised by our coworkers.  It also gives us a time to sift through our holiday mixtapes and listen to our favorite bands get all holly jolly Christmas for us. Is there any better way to get into the mood for the Imaginary Holiday Office Party on December 16, 2010 at the Columbia City Theater?

You can listen to a stream of the podcast below or download the MP3 version of the podcast on the imaginary bandcamp page.

If you are the type that likes to listen to podcasts in itunes, download the .m4a file here {it’s one single file with fancy chapter markers!} and then open it in your itunes {big thanks to Jigsaw Records and Indie Pages for hosting the file!}.

Tracklisting:

Eux Autres – “Another Christmas At Home” from the limited edition single
This song makes me want to spend the holidays with Eux Autres, or at least be one of the friends that they sneak out and meet at the bar after Santa arrives. This song appears on limited edition vinyl and cd and it looks like if you head to the Eux Autres bandcamp page you might still be able to procure your own copy (go go go!). Also of note, Eux Autres released a pretty awesome new album in November and we’ll feature our pick from that in next week’s podcast.

Math and Physics Club – “It Must Be Christmas” from Matinee Holiday Soiree
I hope that this second holiday song from the MaPC camp (they recorded “Marshmallow World” a few years back)  is a sign that they are slowly but surely working on a full album of holiday songs for us. At this rate it might not come out until 2020, but I’ll still be first in line at the record store for it. This track is only available on the limited edition Matinee Holiday Soiree EP that features eggnog-flavored tracks from fellow twee-poppers Bubblegum Lemonade, Northern Portrait among others. Hear the whole EP at our Imaginary Crafternoon Listening Party on December 5th at Neptune Coffee!

Allo Darlin’ – “S P A C E Christmas” from the S P A C E Christmas EP
2010 is my year of Allo Darlin, so it should come as no surprise that if they have a holiday song, I’m going to include it on my holiday mix. The band actually has four holiday songs on this EP, so we’re set for years to come. Wait until you hear next year’s A.D. holiday pick!

Darren Hanlon – “Spend Christmas Day with Me” from Christmas Songs 7″
Let this fine and touching holiday song serve as a reminder of Darren Hanlon’s 2010 release I Will Love You At All. It is equally as charming, subtly intricate, and cute as heck.

Sea of Bees – “Feliz Navidad” from digital release
The softest song in the mix rounds out our holiday jingle jangle. This song is available digitally (through the usual bookmarked outlets) with all proceeds going to the Trevor Project.

{Top photo: Behind the scenes at last year’s Imaginary Holiday Party – photo by Jason Tang}