The Smithereens and ChristmasUnderground.com

<p>With Christmas approaching, it's time when I have more good conversations than I have weeks until December 25. Today, I have two conversations that I really enjoyed, one with Dennis Diken of rock band The Smithereens, and one with Jim Goodwin, who runs the indie rock Christmas website <a href='https://christmasunderground.com'>ChristmasUnderground.com</a>. The Smithereens' 2007 Christmas album Christmas with The Smithereens was released on vinyl this holiday season, and Goodwin has been busy posting new and new-to-you indie Christmas tracks that he found on Bandcamp.</p> <p>During the episode, I mentioned this year's Christmas music mix, which you can get by writing <a href='mailto:alex@myspiltmilk.com'>alex@myspiltmilk.com</a>. For those who would rather stream music, I have posted a four-hour holiday playlist on both <a href='https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1WIOftLw5HVH1cFKbpCAsL?si=eZwGNmX9RGyehVR6cybMNw&fbclid=IwAR07C--Ov8Lh1Uv-YqNwVpaT6RQtp4ztrpLFgaFsPuXXDvw-n1KPC3HHAqM&nd=1'>Spotify</a> and <a href='https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/a-12-songs-of-christmas-christmas-2022-shuffle-me/pl.u-WabZZm3Fy23ZLL'>Apple Music</a>. Not only will you not hurt my feelings if you shuffle it; you'll make the experience better. I didn't sequence the songs because at that length, I can't feel like there's a right or wrong sequence to the songs. Besides, I shuffle it when I listen to it, and it helps keep it fresh for me.</p>