Jeremy
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jeremydgoodwin.bsky.social
Jeremy
@jeremydgoodwin.bsky.social
180 followers 220 following 95 posts
Arts & Culture Senior Reporter at St. Louis Public Radio. Many clips for Boston Globe, WBUR, Berkshire Eagle & others. I enjoy: Phish, Boston Red Sox, national parks, Shakespeare, BBC Natural History Unit.
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jeremydgoodwin.bsky.social
Even after "release," I adjust "A non-ironic, not (cheesy) Christmas," my now-7hr19min revisionist holiday odyssey. Now I'm done!

Here's a thread w/links on YouTube, Apple Music, Amazon Music & Spotify

And for the diehards, my updated notes are attached!

YouTube:

youtube.com/playlist?lis...
With much joy I present to you the updated 2025 edition of “A non-ironic, not (very) cheesy Christmas,” a revisionist holiday playlist full of bangers that I’ve been curating and expanding annually for about 13 years. An alternate title could be “A no-cringe Christmas.” For much of its history, this was a playlist you could comfortably enjoy in one sitting/standing/dancing, with gatherings and parties always the ideal setting. (I made the first version on the fly for a gathering. It’s had the same first song since then.) But it keeps growing, as new recordings are released and I discover older ones I’d missed. Over the years I’ve gradually built out little corners of the playlist that originated as quick stopoffs at one genre or another. The entire thing is now almost a series of sub-playlists within the greater one, with one to three song transitions between sections — all framed by opening and closing stretches that freely mix styles. I continue to sweat out every additional song, every sequence. New songs only make it these days if they’re playlist-worthy and they fill a need in the flow, as it’s come to be. Even with those strict conditions, this year I somehow ended up adding 1 hour and 45 minutes of music, which stuns me. I just kept coming across stuff that needed to be included, much of it released in recent years... “Non-ironic” is now a 7 hour and 19 minute playlist that is not merely a pile of good songs to shuffle (which would be fine), but an epic musical story whose every page has been considered and reconsidered through hours of listening and testing. So whereas I used to say that you really gotta start with the first song and let it play, lately I’ve given my endorsement to do that or to scan the list and start at the beginning of a section that particularly appeals to you at the moment. But it remains my dear wish that, wherever you start it, you let it play in sequence and go along on the ride. All you have to do is hit play once, but FYI this is how it breaks down. (Transition songs between sections aren’t represented.) “A non-ironic, not (very) cheesy Christmas” 2025 1. Opening Survey (45 min) (“Aint No Chimneys in the Projects” by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings through “Here Comes Santa Claus” by Ramsey Lewis Trio) 2. Slinky R&B & Other Beats (43 min) (“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” by Robert Glasper through “Santa Claus Goes Straight To The Ghetto” by Snoop Dogg) 3. Girl Groups and Other Pop (34 min) (“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) [Live]” by Darlene Love through “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday” by Kylie Minogue) 4. Acoustic Christmas (63 min) (“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” by Sam Bush through “The Christians and the Pagans” by Dar Williams 5. Rock N’Roll N’ Relatives (60 min) (“”Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses through “Merry Christmas Baby” by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band) 6. Funky, Soulful Christmas (74 min) (“Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” by Jackson 5 through “Christmas Will Really Be Christmas” by Lou Rawls) 7. Jazz Bands Big and Little (65 min) (“Deck the Halls” by Herbie Hancock through “O Tannenbaum” by Vince Guaraldi Trio) 8. Anthems & Encores (35 min) (“White Christmas” by Otis Redding through “Silent Night (Noche de Paz)” by Lucía Notes on 2025 changes I am thrilled by the bounty of really good holiday recordings that have been released in the past two years. “Non-ironic” now has five songs from 2024 and eight from 2025. That’s not by design, but I’m happy it’s how it worked out. It’s great that artists are still doing interesting work in holiday music, and I know most folks aren’t exactly keeping up on that. Excitingly to me, I added an original song by Jennifer Hudson from 2024 as the fourth one of the whole playlist (the opening five songs had been locked in for many years) and a remarkable “Silent Night (Noche de Paz)” by Lucía released on Halloween of this year is now the last song of the entire playlist. I had to just give in to the reality that it’s a nice capper after Jimi. Wild debut! In less intensely high-profile slots, we welcome Willie Nelson, Lady Gaga, Coco Jones, She & Him, Michael McDonald, Trick Daddy, C.J. Chenier and others to the playlist. Shea Diamond stormed onto the scene, debuting here with two original (I believe) songs and so becoming just the fifth or so artist to repeat on the playlist (it depends in some cases on how you count). But I needed those songs! P.S. Finally, a context for Dylan One exciting-to-me detail … Bob Dylan’s version of “Must Be Santa” been on “Non-ironic” pretty much forever, but never had a spot that really made specific sense. For several years it’s been paired with Matisyahu’s “Happy Hanukkah” as a non sequitur, collar-grabbing pallet cleanser before the funk & soul section. Now “Must Be Santa” is in the acoustic sequence, completing a trio of songs that have accordion in them. I think it lands much better now, in a context that makes sense. When I worked that out, it was a fist-pumping moment.
December 13, 2025 at 3:52 PM
jeremydgoodwin.bsky.social
And if you're still using Spotify, that existing link is fully updated for 2025, but I'm not tryna drive traffic there w/this post so will skip the link.

Enjoy! And please share "A non-ironic, not (very) cheesy Christmas" widely, if you're inclined!
November 27, 2025 at 3:14 PM
jeremydgoodwin.bsky.social
Happy Thanksgiving! I'm delighted to drop links to the 2025 iteration of "A non-ironic, not (very) cheesy Christmas" — which I submit as the greatest such playlist ever assembled, but you do you!

Apple Music definitive; other platforms threaded tho miss a song or 2 music.apple.com/us/playlist/...
With much joy I present the updated 2025 edition of “A non-ironic, not (very) cheesy Christmas,” a revisionist holiday playlist full of bangers that I’ve been curating and expanding annually for about 13 years. An alternate title could be “A no-cringe Christmas.” For much of its history, this was a playlist you could comfortably enjoy in one sitting/standing/dancing, with gatherings and parties always the ideal setting. But it keeps growing, as new recordings are released and I discover older ones I’d missed. Over the years I’ve gradually built out little corners of the playlist that originated as quick stopoffs at one genre or another. It’s now almost a series of sub-playlists within the greater one, with 1 to 3 song transitions between sections — all framed by opening and closing stretches that freely mix styles. I continue to sweat out every additional song, every sequence. New songs only make it these days if they’re playlist-worthy and they fill a need in the flow, as it’s come to be. Even with those strict conditions, this year I somehow ended up adding 1 hour and 45 minutes of music, which stuns me. I just kept coming across stuff that needed to be included, much of it released in recent years. In 2015 the playlist was 1 hour and 23 minutes. In 2019, 2 hours and 15 minutes. 2023: 4 hours and 3 minutes. “Non-ironic” is now a 7 hour and 14 minute playlist that is not merely a pile of good songs to shuffle (which would be fine), but an epic musical story whose every page has been considered and reconsidered through hours of listening and testing. So whereas I used to say that you really gotta start with the first song and let it play, lately I’ve given my endorsement to do that or to scan the list and start at the beginning of a section that particularly appeals. But it remains my dear wish that, wherever you start it, you let it play in sequence and go along on the ride. All you have to do is hit play once, but FYI this is how it breaks down. (Transition songs between sections aren’t represented.) “A non-ironic, not (very) cheesy Christmas” 2025 1. Introductory Survey (28 min) (“Aint No Chimneys in the Projects” by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings through “Here Comes Santa Claus” by Ramsey Lewis Trio) 2. Slinky R&B & Other Beats (52 min) (“God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” by Robert Glasper through “Santa Claus Goes Straight To The Ghetto” by Snoop Dogg) 3. Girl Groups and Progeny (40 min) (“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) [Live]” by Darlene Love through “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday” by Kylie Minogue) 4. Acoustic Christmas (63 min) (“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” by Sam Bush through “The Christians and the Pagans” by Dar Williams 5. Rock N’Roll N’ Relatives (63 min) (“”Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses through “Merry Christmas Baby” by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band) 6. Funky, Soulful Christmas (74 min) (“Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” by Jackson 5 through “Christmas Will Really Be Christmas” by Lou Rawls) 7. Jazz Bands Big and Little (59 min) (“Deck the Halls” by Teo Macero and His Orchestra through “O Tannenbaum” by Vince Guaraldi Trio) 8. Anthems & Encores (35 min) (“White Christmas” by Otis Redding through “Little Drummer Boy/Silent Night/Auld Lang Syne” by Jimi Hendrix) Notes on 2025 changes I am thrilled by the bounty of really good holiday recordings that have been released in the past two years. “Non-ironic” now has five songs from 2024 and eight from 2025. That’s not by design, but I’m happy it’s how it worked out. It’s great that artists are still doing interesting work in holiday music, and I know most folks aren’t exactly keeping up on that. Excitingly to me, I added an original song by Jennifer Hudson from 2024 as the fourth one of the whole playlist (the opening five songs had been locked in for many years) and a remarkable “Silent Night (Noche de Paz)” by Lucía released on Halloween of this year is now the penultimate (!) song of the entire playlist. Wild debut! In less intensely high-profile slots, we welcome Willie Nelson, Lady Gaga, Coco Jones, She & Him, Michael McDonald, Trick Daddy, C.J. Chenier and others to the playlist. Shea Diamond stormed onto the scene, debuting here with two original (I believe) songs and so becoming just the fifth or so artist to repeat on the playlist (it depends in some cases on how you count). But I needed those songs! P.S. Finally, a context for Dylan One exciting-to-me detail … Bob Dylan’s version of “Must Be Santa” been on “Non-ironic” pretty much forever, but never had a spot that really made specific sense. For several years it’s been paired with Matisyahu’s “Happy Hanukkah” as a non sequitur, collar-grabbing pallet cleanser before the funk & soul section. Now “Must Be Santa” is in the acoustic sequence, completing a trio of songs that have accordion in them. I think it lands much better now, in a context that makes sense. When I worked that out, it was a fist-pumping moment.
November 27, 2025 at 3:14 PM
jeremydgoodwin.bsky.social
There are going to be so many of these at the next few NYE shows.

(P.S.
Would.)
Screenshot of the online listing for a new, gold velour shirt on sale by Phish for $96
November 18, 2025 at 2:32 PM
jeremydgoodwin.bsky.social
The premise is people are buying used books to project the stolen valor that they’ve already read the book before, and that men reading books anywhere in public is a new trend indicating the pervasiveness of … social media-fueled vanity?

This reads like parody— the work of a too-online person.
Screenshot of headline from The Independent: “Hang on, when did reading become so performative (and the latest ick)?
November 10, 2025 at 4:06 PM
jeremydgoodwin.bsky.social
Next up: Well I don’t know if my Dad was familiar with Idris Ackamoor and/or The Pyramids, but I enjoy having the box set of their first albums, and copies of the three fantastic ones they’ve made in recent years, on the shelf.

The old records are a lot more like Percussion and Reeds Gone Wild 🪘🪘🪈
A hand holding front LP cover of The Pyramids’ “King of Kings.” The black and white cover photo shows five musicians, all Black sitting near some leafless vegetation. A hand holding back LP cover of The Pyramids’ “King of Kings.” Cropped photo showing album’s accompanying essay on the back of the LP sleeve. The Pyramids’ “King of Kings.” Cropped photo showing album’s personnel and track listinv on the back of the LP sleeve. The Pyramids’ “King of Kings.”
October 25, 2025 at 8:50 PM
jeremydgoodwin.bsky.social
Saturday listening. When I saw this in a thrift I immediately placed that my Dad had this in his collection when I was a kid.

I was wondering how the sound would be with all 45mins of the Fifth on one side, but it’s quite acceptable! And some notes taboot.

#vinyl #beethoven #middlebrow #thrifting
Photo of a white hand holding the LP cover for Great Performances #6, which is Leonard Bernstein conducting NY phil in Beethoven Symphony No. 5 and Schubert’s 8th. This info is conveyed newspaper headline style, with a black and white photo of Bernstein. Photo of the back cover of Great Performances #6 LP. Liner notes and program listing is complemented with short liner notes and images of Beethoven and Schubert.
October 25, 2025 at 8:04 PM
jeremydgoodwin.bsky.social
Ack! Crossing Rt. 70 in the rain to interview a woman holding a “Jesus Is The Only King” sign at the “No Kings” rally in ruby red St. Peters, I slipped and broke my foot.

But you can hear my quick radio report from the protest on @stlpublicradio.bsky.social today & The Gateway podcast.
Photo of my foot in a medical boot.
October 20, 2025 at 2:43 PM