♫ I ♥ Christmas tunes

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I ♥ CHRISTMAS TUNES

I love Christmas songs! So festive! I know that there are radio stations that play Christmas music 24/7 during December, but I don’t find that helpful because I have favourites that they don’t play. 

Here is a list of my favourite Christmas tunes. Enjoy!

TAMIKO’S CHRISTMAS PLAYLIST

Ashanti | Hey Santa | LISTEN

Babyface | Winter Wonderland | LISTEN

Bishop Allen | You’ll Never Find Your Christmas | LISTEN

Blackalicious | Toy Jackpot | LISTEN

Boyz II Men | Let It Snow | LISTEN

Brian McKnight | Home for the Holidays | LISTEN

Christina Aguilera | Christmas Time | LISTEN

Christina Aguilera | The Christmas Song (remix) | LISTEN

Destiny’s Child | Eight Days of Christmas | LISTEN

Dido | Christmas Day | LISTEN

Ella Fitzgerald | Santa Claus is Coming Home | LISTEN

Ella Fitzgerald | Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas | LISTEN

Ella Fitzgerald | What Are You Doing on New Year’s Eve? | LISTEN

Ella Fitzgerald | Sleigh Bells | LISTEN

Ella Fitzgerald | Frosty the Snowman  | LISTEN

En Vogue | Silent Night | LISTEN

Guster | Tiny Christmas Tree | LISTEN

Harry Connick Jr. | Let It Snow | LISTEN

Indie.Arie & Stevie Wonder | The Christmas Song | LISTEN

Jason Mraz | Winter Wonderland  | LISTEN

Joe | This Christmas | LISTEN

KT Tunstall | Sleigh Bells | LISTEN

Lenka | All My Bells Are Ringing  | LISTEN

Little Jackie | Mrs. Claus Ain’t Got Nothing On Me | LISTEN

Mariah Carey | Christmas (Baby Come Home) | LISTEN

Mariah Carey | All I Want For Christmas | LISTEN

Matt Dusk | Christmas is Finally Here | LISTEN

Matt Dusk | Marshmallow World  | LISTEN

Matt Dusk | Cool Yule | LISTEN

Meghan Smith | It Snowed | LISTEN

Meiko | Maybe Next Year (Xmas Song) | LISTEN

Glee | Wonderful Christmas | LISTEN

Peabo Bryson | It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year | LISTEN

SheDaisy | Jingle Bells | LISTEN

SheDaisy | Deck the Halls | LISTEN

Take 6 | You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch | LISTEN

The Temptations | Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer | LISTEN

TLC | Sleigh Ride | LISTEN

Tony Bennett | Winter Wonderland  | LISTEN

Tony Bennett | I’ll Be Home For Christmas | LISTEN

Train | Shake Up Christmas | LISTEN

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♫ Daniel Kim | pop danthology 2014

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DAN KIM | POP DANTHOLOGY 2014

I’m not much of a pop song aficionado, but I have my share of guilty pleasure pop songs as my favourite earwigs. This year…well, this year I can’t really say I liked that many songs but I really haven’t been paying attention. Good thing, this DJ compiled snippets of all the good ones and made an awesome mashup. 

Oh yes, he’s also from the same hometown as me. Random, yes. 

*Listen HERE*

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♫ Trans Siberian Orchestra | carol of the bells

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MERRY MERRY

I kinda love this cheesy Euro-version of a Christmas song. It’s orchestral…no voices, and marvelous. It’s not twee. It’s not precious. It’s pure tackiness and it’s brilliant!

*Listen HERE*

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♫ DJ Kentaro & DJ Krush | kikkake

(via: everydaylouie)

SMORES’MALLOWS

So I went to my friend’s annual Xmas party and brought over some homemade (what I’ve dubbed as) smores’mallows — because easy and, well, kids.

(credit: teacher-chef)

JOLLY 

We all chit-chatted…nibbled on the appies…wine. Oh yes, wine.

Then chit-chatted with a charming fellow from England. (No, it wasn’t like that. Please.) He was on his way to the interior mountains to become a licensed avalanche-prevention rescuer. Or something like that.

So I was fascinated because he grew up in a hamlet. A hamlet! He said it’s smaller than a village. He grew up in a hamlet that only had four families (!!) living there from when he was “0 to 17.” After 17, he moved to a village. This cracked me up for some reason. Now he lives in Canada, which sounds so boring compared to living in a hamlet in the midlands (cue proper British accent when you say it).  

JAPANESE DJs 

Oh yes, we bonded over DJs. He also DJs on the side, aside from his rescuer career. (I, however, do not DJ — please no). We particularly bonded over Japanese DJs…because they.are.the.sh*t.

I’m partial to DJ Krush (refresher HERE), mostly because I prefer beats over techno, house, or d’n’b. 

He’s partial to DJ Kentaro, who’s one of the newer young ‘uns. 

We’re into the DJ Kentaro & DJ Krush collab for the wicked song, “Kikkake” (which means “trigger” in Japanese). Sick.ass.beats. So good. (Although some might think it’s just ‘noise’). 

*Listen HERE*

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♫ René Marie | i want to be evil

(credit: giphy)

René Marie | I WANT TO BE EVIL

*Listen HERE*

I am seen as a “good girl.” Of course, I’m a grown up woman but I’m still seen as a “good girl.” I’m not the hot girl, the sexy girl, the smart girl, the shy girl, the bitchy girl, the athletic girl, the outdoorsy girl, the granola-girl, not even the cute girl. I’m the “good girl.” Funny that, because nothing could be further from the truth. I just look like a “good girl” — but I’m not.

GOODY-GOOD, NOT VIRTUOUS GOOD

I’m not even the “nice girl.” I’m not entirely sure I’m nice. Being ‘nice’ isn’t really a virtue anyways. I think anyone can be ‘nice’ — you’re nice because you need something, you’re nice so that people think you’re decent. Or you’re nice because you need a favour and this is the ‘in’ you need. 

What’s more virtuous than being ‘nice’? What is exceptionally genuine? It’s being kind and good. This is crazy rare. So when I’m saying I’m seen as a “good girl,” I don’t mean the good version of ‘good’ (generous, patient, selfless, etc). No. I mean the ‘goody-goody’ version of ‘good girl.’ All I have to say to that is…

Nope.

INTUITION TINGLES 

I’m very selective about who I’m nice to, let alone who I’m kind to. I don’t have time and I don’t need to be nice to everyone. Don’t get me wrong, I am friendly and I can be nice most of the time. But when I’m not, it’s mostly because I’m quite intuitive (although that’s not a great excuse, I get it). So, when I sense someone does not have good juju then my back gets up, the hairs on my arms rise up, and I get tingly bad energy vibes from the person. This leads me to be all standoffish, cold, and not nice. 

When this happens, oh, all of a sudden I’m seen as a bitch. *shrug* No longer a ‘good girl.’ It also comes out of nowhere for some people, the perception of me shifts like a snap of the fingers because they underestimated me. They assumed that because I look like such a ‘good girl’ that I must also be one, too. A ‘goody-goody.’ A pushover. Polite. Meek. Non-threatening. 

The f**k? I know, right?

Refresher here, I may seem like a ‘good girl’ on first glance, and a lady at that, but I am not a pushover. People at work can attest to that. So yes, I can bite. I can sting. I can cut. And, oh how, I have. In spades. Sometimes I’ve not been proud of it, but sometimes I’ve high-fived out of sheer satisfaction.  

I WANT TO BE EVIL

But deep inside, yes, I’m a ‘good girl.’ *Sigh* There, I admit it.

I also admit that there are many a times that I wish I could be evil. Okay, maybe not ‘evil’ but definitely ‘bad.’ Oh yes, baaaaaad. The quintessential bad girl. I wish I could stomp all over in heels, break more rules, and scandalize. Yeeeessssss.

And that’s why I love this cover by American jazz singer René Marie (the original is by Eartha Kitt).

*Listen HERE*

See the lyrics under the cut.

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♫ Meltdown | Stromae (feat. Lorde, Haim, Q-Tip, Pusha T) & TGIF

(credit:weheartit)

TGIF | HAPPY WEEKEND! 

Can you kick it? Yes, you can. Why? It’s Friday! Today’s drive home requires feel-good music to kick off the weekend. Head-bobbing to the beats. Yeeeeesss. 

The TGIF playlist for the drive home is below, and you can tell I’m feeling clubmix beats and hip hop, and some random things in there too (RIP Whitney). 

Includes the best.track.ever right now — “Meltdown” where you’ll hear Stromae’s signature style (the piano! — samples a lot of “Merci“), Lorde’s smoky vocals, Haim’s haunting voices and, helloooo, a rap rift from Q-Tip. Shut up. So, so good. It’s from the Hunger Games: Mockingjay soundtrack, FYI. 

♫ Meltdown | Stromae, Lorde, Q-Tip, Haim, Pusha T 

♫ Can I Kick It?  | Tribe Called Quest

♫ Another Summer  | 213 (Snoop, Warren G, Nate Dogg, Kanye)

♫ Far L’Amore (clubmix)| Bob Sinclair & Raffaella Ca

♫ Rakuen Baby | Rip Slyme (Japanese – trust me, you won’t even notice)

♫ The Light  |  Common

♫ One of those Days | Whitney Houston

♫ La Belle et Le Bad Boy | MC Solaar

♫ Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik  | Outkast

♫ So Fresh, So Clean  | Outkast

♫ Lady  |  Modjo

♫ I Want It All | Warren G

Happy weekend everyone!

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♫ Tinashe | 2 On

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TINASHE | 2 ON

This song’s from the summer, but I still listen to it because it’s straight.up.dope. I am too old to know what “2 On” means. *Shrug* Apparently, it means “get turned up” enough to go out on the town with renewed energy for an all-nighter. 

I barely last past 1:00 am. Barely. 

*Listen HERE*

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