HARKpodcast

Of the vast multitude of things one could choose to write a holiday song about, a surprising (i.e. non-zero) number are about women cheating on their significant others with jolly old Saint Nick. We tackle two songs on this theme - one a charming but baffling classic, and the other a somewhat explicit song about Santadultery from the short-lived swing craze of the 1990s. It is... really something....

In this episode, we review and rank the B-Sides to the classic tracks that we explored last week! Will they be hidden gems or dusty duds? Was Bobby Helms actually a parody artist? Are Christmas Librarians a thing? Brenda Lee, will you come on our podcast?

Jingle horse, jingle horse, jingle horse rock. Jingle horse chime in jingle horse time. Join RJ and Ian as they ponder the definition of rock, the powerful voice of young Brenda Lee, and of course, the nature of Jingle Horse.

Ian and RJ get back to their list of requests in this episode and review two idiosyncratic Christmas songs by masters of the keys, "Star of Wonder" by Tori Amos and "December Will Be Magic Again" by Kate Bush. While trying to interpret these haunting seasonal tunes, the conversation turns to vampires, ghosts, sexism in the music industry, and RJ's personal Tori Amos Moment. Thanks so much to Sarah...

Our list of the best and worst holiday music is rapidly expanding, but mostly from the middle. In this episode, we aim high... and low. Two artistic collaborations covering the semi-classic "Little Drummer Boy" provide a roller coaster of quality that bring RJ and Ian to edge of euphoria and despair. Also, Justin Bieber raps about Jesus.

Listen! Hark! Sh'ma! HARK is back, and HARKier than ever! We're celebrating Easter and Passover with two religious holiday songs, "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "Mi Y'malel".

Due to technical difficulties, Ian and RJ are unable to bring you the totally great, insightful, hilarious, avant-garde, award-worthy episode that they recorded this week. Instead, please enjoy this minisode, in which we explain the situation and review a pair of RJ's Christmas socks. We also introduce a very special new intro and outro for minisodes! Thanks for listening, and we'll be back to our...

Mount your noble Christmas steed and join us on this long, winding journey through two bizarre Christmas songs about festive animal companions. We review and rank the unfortunate earworm "Dominic the Donkey" and the inexplicable but eminently enjoyable "Christmas Unicorn". Mentioned in this week's episode: Sufjan Stevens' 100 Christmas Songs Ranked from Best to Worst: http://www.theverge.com/2014/...

It's a very oughties x-mas this week as Ian and RJ cover two listener requests that are new to their ears, yet remarkably recognizable. A love song by Paper Route and a break-up song by Hello Saferide have us reminiscing on the musical trends of the recent past and feeling embarrassed about high school. Thank you to Time Machine for the request! You can follow Time Machine on tumblr at timemachine...

Things get a little dark, a little bright, and more than a little musical theater-y. Ian and RJ get some more Christmas classics into the mix this week with two songs about looking on the bright side during hard times - "We Need A Little Christmas" from the Broadway musical Mame and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" from the film Meet Me In St. Louis.

In this somewhat sentimental episode of HARK, Ian and RJ discuss songs from Christmases past, inspired by a song request from Ian's sister Emma. Find out why Blossom Dearie's honey-voiced rendition of "I Wish You Love" evokes thoughts of Christmas cards for Ian and Emma, and how the at times bewildering soundtrack of a 1994 box office bomb became synonymous with the Christmas season for RJ. Check...

So far all of our holiday music has been mostly about one holiday... but any song that you would basically only hear between November and January are songs we will review throughout the year! Today we add our first Hanukkah songs to the list, "I Have A Little Dreidel" as performed by The Barenaked Ladies and "Dreidel Bird" by The Macaroons. We discovered "Dreidel Bird" through this list, 11 Great,...

Ian and RJ offer their thoughts on two "Christmas" classics that never actually mention Christmas at all. "Baby It's Cold Outside" and "Let It Snow" don't get much play beyond December, but they're both better suited to Valentine's Day! One of these wintery tunes romances us, while the other leaves us feeling cold. The thinkpiece we referenced was Marya Hannun's "'Baby It's Cold Outside' was once...

Here at HARK, we've committed to reviewing and ranking to EVERY holiday song... even the bad ones, especially the bad ones. But as our list hits its first milestone, we've got a lot more good songs than bad. In this episode, we aim to remedy that. This week, the Hanson brothers and Billy Gilman offer up two obscure Christmas duds, "Everybody Knows the Claus" and "I'm Gonna Email Santa". We attempt...

Is the deed to a platinum mine a sound financial investment? And how much cash is actually in a five pound box of money? Could that song about talking sexy to Santa Claus so he'll bring you a yacht actually be a feminist anthem in disguise? We (sort of) answer these questions in this week's episode, in which RJ and Ian review and rank "Santa Baby" by Eartha Kitt and "Five Pound Box of Money" by Pe...

Which Beatle are you, and what does it have to do with Hogwarts? In this episode, RJ and Ian review and rank two popular Christmas tunes by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, with mixed results. If you want to see the Cracked: After Hours video we reference, it can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtsmluPK7Ug. If you want to find out what member of the Beatles you are, take one of the M...

In this second episode of HARK, the holiday music podcast, Ian and RJ talk about socks, ska, Fox News and extraterrestrials. And, of course, we add two new songs to the list! Or is it one song? Two versions of the new wave pop Christmas classic "Christmas Wrapping" get reviewed and ranked, Hanukkah gets its first bit of representation, and RJ rants about hegemony. Check out our tumblr at harkpodca...

It's the inaugural episode of HARK, the holiday music podcast! To get this year-round holiday party started, Ian & RJ review the songs that will hold the top and the bottom positions of the list for quite a while: "The Christmas Song" by Nat King Cole and "The Christmas Shoes" by NewSong. This podcast was inspired in part by War Rocket Ajax's Every Story Ever project - if you like comics, go give...