Zaft 037   Various Artists   Season of Snow and Ice

Tracklisting:

Disc 1: Snow

1. ctephin - Carol ov the Bells
2. Black Saturn - Make a Joyful Noise
3. Karl Bösmann - Phonomorphozz
4. chalkwhitehands - Water Like a Stone
5. djs - Oh Holy Night
6. Conure - Ralphie Goes AWOL
7. DQN-kun - All Alone for Christmas (Cold Mix)
8. Humidex Meat Theatre - I Saw Three Warships (There Won't be Snow in Afghanistan this Christmas)
9. Learn, Artist! - Joy to the World
10. Simulacra-The Warm Glow of the Coldest and Darkest Day
11. Suspicion Breeds Confidence - The Underestimated Complexity of Christmas Goose Disembowelment
12. Goose - Jólsöngur

Disc 2: Ice

1. Bardoseneticcube - Toyzmass
2. Megatone - Eden 2007
3. C/A/T - Christmas Evil (Gets an Upgrade)
4. Flutwacht vs. Praying for Oblivion - Beobachtend
5. God Flight - Oh Holy Night
6. Yeti - The Season
7. Hrönir - Thousands Amplified Sunshines in December
8. humanextermination project - Robot Factory Christmas
9. mami - Just Get Through the Night
10. Kenji Siratori - Snow Dive
11. Tote Stadt - Cold Mourning
12. Gorgonized Dorks - I Only Get Underwear and Socks for Christmas
13. Stolen Light - Some Toys Don’t Get to be Christmas Presents
14. Tonal Y Nagual - The End
15. Orange - Christmas in Dixie (Featuring John's Neighbor)
16. Dead Man's Hill - Endless Wintertime

This year's compilation brought a bounty of goodness. But still no .V.L.A.D. the Impaling Machine. I really wonder what happened to him. A bit more mellow than I thought it would be, but a lot of fun. For me, some of the standout tracks this year were ctephin's rendition of "Carol ov the Bells," which is a piece of stunning elegance and wonderful drone, and Kenji Siratori's spastic "Snow Dive." I have no idea what he's saying but he certainly says it with feeling. No matter how out of place it seemed on the compilation, I really enjoyed Dead Man's Hill's "Endless Wintertime." Kind of reminded me of Mortiis and bombastic as hell. The best title I have seen in a long time comes from Gorgonized Dorks: "I Only Get Underwear and Socks for Christmas." I think we can all relate. The song "Christmas in Dixie" by Orange is a destruction of my friend John's neighbor destroying the song all on his own. I just provided the last nail in the coffin. As always, it was nice to have familiar artists like Suspicion Breeds Confidence, C/A/T, and Conure aboard along with plenty of newcomers. Hard to believe that this is eight years in a row. Lucky for all of us, it's still a lot of fun.