I'm celebrating the arrival of cold & flu season today with a mild, but obnoxious, head cold. For some reason, illness always inspires me to find long-forgotten tracks in my iTunes library. The ethereal track below is off the Autumn 2006 Revolver Sampler. It's like a slow moving freight train, filled with music boxes, heading into a blinding winter storm. (That's the cold medicine talking, just so you know.)

"Your Heart Is So Loud" - Colleen Et Les Boites A Musique

If Jean Shepherd was alive today, he'd be spurning the blogosphere. A bunch of "noise and hoopla," he'd say. "A gaggle of half-wits who think they've got something important to say." I might disagree, but I'd hang on the man's every word.

Throughout the 50s, 60s and 70s, Jean Shepherd broadcast weeknights a 4-hour (and later, 45-minute) show between midnight and 4:30am. He was once dubbed the first "radio novelist," weaving together elaborate stories each night with little-to-no preparation. Shep's nightly improv inspired a generation of comedians and storytellers, including Andy Kauffman and Jerry Seinfeld. It amazes me that so few know him today, and of the ones that do, most know him for his film, A Christmas Story--based on a mishmash of Shep stories, including, Red Ryder Nails the Cleveland Kid.

1. "Red Ryder Nails the Cleveland Kid" - Jean Shepherd, Sheperd's Pie Slice #1 

Growing up, Jean Shepherd's familiar, fireside chat persona would stream from my grandparents' bedside radio in the middle of the night, trickling down the hallway like a lonely beacon cutting through the quiet of that large Victorian house. My grandmother, who had listened to Shep for decades, was accustomed to keeping her radio on all night. Of the many summer nights I spent in Long Island, I can only recall the reruns of Cheers, the smell of mothballs, and the rebroadcasts of ole Shep on the AM radio.

Later, in college, I would rediscover Shep's broadcasts on an NPR special by Harry Shearer. As I listened to clips from Shep's stories of army code school and Christmas in Indiana, I realized that it was the same voice I had heard decades before, in that tiny bedroom in Long Island. It was then that I began collecting mp3s of the radio legend, finding most works on the Shep Net Juke Archives.

2. "Scout Balloon" - Jean Shepherd, 1973, EPRN

Jean was a master of storytelling, and I hope you'll enjoy his broadcasts as much as I do. He was one of the most celebrated radio personalities of his day, and while many of his anecdotes and commentary have not aged well (especially when he discusses travelling to "foreign lands"), it remains that Shep's good-natured, fiercely independent character is timelessly American.

Preheat oven to 350° F. Cream together tahini, eggs, vanilla, date sugar, and juice. In another bowl, mix together the spices, flours, soda, and powder.

One part simple joy.

"Lovin' In My Baby's Eyes" - Taj Mahal

Two parts complicated melancholy.

"The Morning Song" - Sylvia Plath 

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet blend well, and pour into a greased and floured 8 x 8-inch pan. Sprinkle sesame seeds evenly over the top of cake and bake about 1 hour or until done. Serve with Peach Sauce or a fruit sauce of your choice.

I discovered Atmosphere in the fall of 2001. (Everything we experienced in the months following 9/11 were loud and potent. The intensity of those autumn leaves bordered on violence.)

I was riding back to campus in my friend Ariana's beat-up, old Saab. We cruised down Rt. 7 from Williamstown to Bennington on a Sunday afternoon, talking about love and relationships. When the conversation broke, Ariana jammed a mix tape into the tape deck. The following songs came thumping and tumbling out of the speakers. (Both are off Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EPs)

"Between the Lines" - Atmosphere
"Woman with the Tattooed Hands" - Atmosphere

I was instantly hooked, and still listen to these tracks today, six years later. Each time I listen, I'm instantly transported back to that surreal time. The music is appropriate--lacing my memories of that season with Slug's artful lyrics of anxiety, frustration and anger.

"Get Fly" - Atmosphere (album info)

The short of it: Atmosphere sprung from the underground hip hop scene in Minneapolis in the 1990s. Slug and producer ANT have been churning out music for well over a decade. For an introduction to the group, I recommend Seven's Travels, which is often regarded as Atmosphere's strongest, most consistent album to date.

Atmosphere's Myspace page.

Atmosphere on Wikipedia 

Bonus Track: "Sound is Vibration" off Atmosphere's 1998 album Overcast 

I'm a little distracted. Pissed off, actually. The remedy? To blast some music, shake my fists in the mirror, and try to tune out the noise. (And tune out the strange smell coming from my kitchen.)

When I was 15 and listening to Weezer's debut record, I often thought of the song "Holiday" as a seasonal track. Silly, I know, but even today, when I hear the lyrics "Let's go away for a while," I ultimately think of sleigh bells and glowing plastic trees. Ah, yes, the holidays.

So, while it is not technically a Christmas tune, I present to you "Holiday." 

 "Holiday" - Weezer

 Unrelated: Uncanny similarities between Weezer and the Beach Boys. Oooh, spooky!

 Weezer is a spoonful of the best-tasting cough medicine. Please buy your dose today.

Nothing to say on this altogether grey Wednesday. I hope you're at home with your sweetheart, or in a warmly-lit cafe making eyes at the handsome gentlemen across room. Lamb's wool sweaters. Apple cider. Mulled wine (yes, please!). T'is the season for togetherness, because the days are depressing and the nights are cold. Find your loved ones and hang on tight.

"Autumn Leaves" is quite possibly my favorite song ever. There's nothing more to say about it. It's my all time, forever and ever, best song in the universe song. It's Autumn Leaves. And there's a reason it's been covered by every recording artist ever signed to Verve. My favorite version of my favorite song is by Miles Davis, which I present to you now. Enjoy.

I walked to Georgetown for an appointment today. Along the way I observed the following:

1. Many couples walking arm-in-arm
2. Lots of folks window-shopping
3. Christmas-themed window displays
4. People bundled up in hats and scarves

The whole scene had me feeling very seasonal. And so, as a tribute to my Saturday afternoon in Georgetown, I'm kicking off the holiday season early this year with a few tracks off my ALL TIME FAVORITE holiday album - A Charlie Brown Christmas by the Vince Guaraldi Trio.

This is the mightiest of all Christmas albums. It's versatile, unintrusive, and forever classy. Do you know how hard it is to find a lasting Christmas record that refuses to stray into that overdone, tacky territory of Bing Crosby and Johnny Mathis? Now, don't get me wrong. I love me some Johnny Mathis, but there reaches a point each year when you'd rather impale yourself with a Rudolph lawn ornament that spend another second listening to "Winter Wonderland."

"Christmas Time is Here (Instrumental)" - Vince Guaraldi Trio

"Christmas Time is Here (Vocal)" - Vince Guaraldi Trio

"Skating" - Vince Guaraldi Trio 

I always allow this album to be my one exception to the "not before Thanksgiving" rule on playing (and posting) Christmas music.  If you don't own, get to it.

 Buy the tracks.