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Gregg's Guide to New Music

Episode 296 The 12 Songs of Christmas w/ Radio Ronin

·1 hr 31 min·5 clips
Gregg and the Radio Ronin crew kick off their annual 12 Songs of Christmas episode, but the Charlie Brown tree is missing.
Gregg opens the Christmas episode with the Radio Ronin crew—Spencer, Chandler, and Josh—noting the missing Charlie Brown tree. He explains his months-long process of curating 12 songs from a larger playlist. The first song is Brian Setzer Orchestra's 'Here Comes Santa Claus,' leading to a discussion of Setzer's guitar technique and Eddie Van Halen calling him the best guitarist. Next, J.D. McPherson's 'Every Single Christmas' prompts Josh to compare it to Disneyland music. The conversation shifts to supporting artists, with Chandler revealing he's made only $13 from Spotify streams and Gregg advocating for buying merch. The group debates hated Christmas songs: Spencer defends Paul McCartney's 'Wonderful Christmas Time' and its $275,000 annual royalties, while Josh and Chandler prefer Wham!'s 'Last Christmas.' Gregg plays Slow Gherkin's cover of 'Christmas Wrapping,' then trolls Josh with a punk version of 'Christmas Shoes' by FM Static. Subsequent songs include ska punk tracks from Bite Me Bambi, Taj Motel Trio, Backyard Superheroes, and Mad Caddies. Chandler nerds out about Capitol Records' echo chambers when discussing the Dollyrots' 'I Saw Mommy Biting Santa Claus.' Metalcore band August Burns Red's instrumental 'Carol of the Bells' confuses Josh with its double bass drums. Goldfinger's 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town' leads to talk of their live streams. Gregg ends with Haley Reinhart's 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' and promotes his Patreon, noting that funds support the featured artists.

As heard by us

A loose holiday roundtable with Radio Ronin banter, a punk prank, and Haley Reinhart's softer closing turn.

Holiday music gets treated like a friendly contact sport as Greg's Guide to New Music turns its Christmas episode, 12 Songs of Christmas, into a loose group ritual.

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Why you'd press play

Press play when you want Christmas cheer with Greg, the Radio Ronin crew, and a punk-version ambush.

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