Andy Cirzan Visits the Sound Opinions Holiday Spectacular With His Latest Finds

Andy Cirzan

I've been assembling my offbeat holiday music mixes for 20 years now, which I guess is enough to reclassify my little hobby as something of an obsession. In my own defense, I'm not the only person who's doing this. In fact, there are more than a few folks who've been doing longer than I have, and one of them is Andy Cirzan. He's been collecting rare and unusual holiday tunes for years and, like me, he cranks out a unique compilation of favorites each year to share with family and friends. Because Andy's a VP for the concert promotion firm Jam Productions, his mailing list includes the likes of Robert Plant, Bob Dylan and Katy Perry, which gives his mixes a certain extra sparkle. I've been following him for years and marvel at the stuff he comes up with.

Each December, Andy visits the guys at Sound Opinions for their Holiday Spectacular to share some of the standouts on his latest Christmas collection. Hosted by respected music critics Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot, Sound Opinions started as a weekly PBS radio broadcast and is now a popular podcast. This is Andy's 26th appearance on the Sound Opinions Holiday Spectacular, and he's got some terrific old songs to share:

Andy's theme for this year's collection is blues, country, bluegrass and trucker music. Most of the tunes on this mix are new to me, though I'm pleased to say that I've used one of them before on my 2009 mix, "I Just Can't Wait 'Til Christmas" — "Santa Came Home Drunk Last Night," by Clyde Lasley and the Cadillac Baby Specials (1965).

Hear Andy Cirzan's Conversation with Fellow Christmas Music Enthusiast Chris Klimek

Sound Opinions' Annual Holiday Spectacular Features Andy Cirzan's Song-Poem Collection

Andy Cirzan

It's almost time for one of our favorite holiday traditions — the annual Sound Opinions Holiday Spectacular, featuring offbeat holiday music expert Andy Cirzan. Andy's been making his annual holiday mixes for even a good bit longer than I have; in fact, it was Andy's work that inspired me to attempt my own pale imitations. Each year in December, Andy's the featured guest on the weekly radio show Sound Opinions to unveil his annual mix and talk about unusual holiday music.

As luck would have it, Andy's latest mix and the corresponding Sound Opinions Holiday Spectacular both focus on holiday song-poems, which is also the theme of my latest mix, Christmas Cheer. In fact, the first song featured on the Sound Opinions show is "Snowman," which can also be found on Christmas Cheer. A preview of this year's Spectacular appears below, along with links to hear or download the entire show.

Sound Opinions is a weekly show where people who love music can come together, make discoveries, debate, learn about pop culture, engage, have fun and find new ways to further enrich our lives through music.

Whether you're an expert, or just a casual fan, Sound Opinions is your source for smart and engaging music criticism and conversation. Each week on the show, nationally respected rock critics Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis interview artists, talk about pop culture and music industry news, review new record releases and give trends a historical context. And, because on Sound Opinions, "everyone's a critic," listeners are invited to join in the debate.

Sound Opinions is distributed nationally by PRX. Sound Opinions can be heard on stations across the country and online at SoundOpinions.org.

Listen to the 2023 Sound Opinions Holiday Spectacular, featuring Andy Cirzan

Download This Year's Sound Opinions Holiday Spectacular

Sound Opinions Hosts Andy Cirzan for Its Annual Holiday Spectacular

Andy Cirzan

Each year at this time hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot of the Sound Opinions podcast welcome offbeat holiday music enthusiast Andy Cirzan for the show's annual holiday music spectacular, and this year's terrific show is now available for your listening enjoyment (see link below). Cirzan's main gig is as a concert promoter for Jam Productions, but after hours he searches the thrift shops and used record bins looking for rare and long-forgotten holiday records to feature on his legendary annual Christmas compilations. Yes, Andy's been circulating his holiday mixes far longer than I have, and his mailing list includes some of the biggest names in entertainment. In fact, it was Andy and fellow enthusiast Eddie Gorodetsky who inspired my own foray into holiday mixing nearly 20 years ago.

Sound Opinions is a weekly discussion about pop culture for music lovers that appears online and on various NPR and other radio stations throughout the country. The show is distributed by PRX. and part of the Patreon community. 

The annual holiday spectacular is typically a friendly, laid-back affair and this year's episode doesn't disappoint. Cirzan's mix for 2022  is titled "The Reindeer Sessions: Further Adventures in Holiday Obscura," and he shares six super tracks on the podcast. Andy's mixes are a highly anticipated part of my holiday celebrations. Hope you enjoy them, too!

Hear the 2022 Sound Opinions Holiday Spectacular, featuring Andy Cirzan 

Andy Cirzan Joins Sound Opinions for Its Annual Holiday Spectacular

One of my annual holiday traditions is to piggyback on the longstanding holiday tradition of the fabulous Sound Opinions show and celebrate the holiday tradition of concert promoter Andy Cirzan (a/k/a DJ LoFi), who's been putting together one of the most widely-anticipated holiday compilations for more than 20 years. Sound Opinions is a weekly Chicago-based rock talk show broadcast for years on public radio station WBZE. Hosted by Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot, it is now independently produced. Cirzan is the program's special guest each December for its annual holiday spectacular, featuring a wild mix of offbeat and largely overlooked holiday tunes from a wide variety of genres.

While it seems difficult to believe, I didn't know anything about Andy Cirzan or his incredible holiday compilations until several years after I started making my own. I say that not because mine offer anything close to the levels of quality and originality Andy achieves but rather because we seem to favor some of the same unusual qualities in our holiday music fare. I freely admit that I've cribbed off Andy's mixes rather generously over the years, and I'm grateful to him and so many other enthusiasts for introducing me to some of the terrific material out there.

This year's Sound Opinions Holiday Spectacular is another great one, featuring tracks from Cirzan's latest holiday compilation as well as a number of lesser known holiday hits, a batch of unbelievable vintage Korean psychedelic tunes, and a brief clip from an orchestral holiday piece created in the 1960s by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. You can enjoy the show by way of the link below.

Listen to the 2021 Sound Opinions Holiday Spectacular

Andy Cirzan Offers "Best of" Collection for 2019 and It's Available Now!

As longtime readers of this blog are well aware, one of the best and best known of the many holiday music enthusiasts on the web is a fellow named Andy Cirzan, a concert promoter by trade who spends much of his free time collecting interesting and largely esoteric holiday records from around the world. For the past 30 years, Andy has celebrated the holidays by producing a one-of-a kind holiday music mix for the lucky people on his holiday list, and because he works and pals around with some of the most famous music acts on the planet, his CD routinely gets heard by members of bands ranging from Led Zeppelin to Mumford and Sons. Happily, for the past dozen or so years he's expanded his list considerably by posting each new release online for free downloading for a limited time. This coincides what has now become a traditional appearance each year on the pre-holiday episode of Sound Opinions, the weekly radio show about rock music hosted by Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot heard on Chicago Public Radio and great stations around the country.

This being the 30-year anniversary of Andy's first annual holiday mix, he's making the occasion with a collection featuring his greatest hits of the period. True holiday music fans won't want to miss Andy's latest release or his annual appearance on Southd Opinions.

Listen to the Holiday Extravaganza edition of Sound Opinions featuring Andy Cirzan

Download Andy's Greatest Hits CD "Rudolph Pouts" (Available Only through 12/31/18)

Andy Cirzan's Back with His Latest Mix, "Warblings from the Enchanted Forest"

Andy Cirzan

One of my favorite mileposts on the road to Christmas each year is Christmas music aficionado Andy Cirzan's annual appearance on WBEZ's Sound Opinions radio program and the simultaneous release of his latest holiday compilation. You see, Andy is truly the "Godfather" of most serious holiday music collectors. He's been putting together his annual complations since the 1980s, and he's been doing his annual gig on Sound Opinions for close to 20 years now.

By day, Cirzan's a vice president of Jam Productions, a successful concert promotion business. On his own time, however, he likes nothing better than searching used records stores, garage sales and similar haunts for crazy, offbeat and previously unknown holiday tunes.

“Ninety-nine percent of the stuff on my CD, there’s zero chance anyone can stumble upon it on their own,” Cirzan explains. “I’m the archaeologist digging away and saying, ‘I can’t wait until people hear this.’ ”

Andy's latest mix is called "Warblings from the Enchanted Forest," and it's another winner. I don't know how he does it, but 12 of the 13 tracks on this effort are tracks I've never heard before, which is a real treat. It's a good mix of styles and tempos, with a little something for everyone. Jazz fans will be especially interested in the last couple of track, by Dexter Gordon and the Dexter Gordon Quartet. 

Me? I'm rather partial to the first track on the second side of the album, "The Year Around Christmas," a classic 1970s EP featuring a bunch of hip cats groovin' on how to extend the holiday spirit throughout the year. The challenge, they concluded, was to convince people that "peace and love won't hurt anyone." You dig? I wish I knew about this track when I put together my special "The Now Sound of Christmas" mix a few years ago. You can download "Warblings from the Enchanted Forest" for free from Sound Opinions by clicking below, but act fast! The link comes down as this old year ends on December 31.


Download Cirzan's latest holiday compilation, "Warblings from the Enchanted Forest" Now through 12/31/16 ONLY!

Listen to Andy's Latest Appearance on Sound Opinions

Andy Cirzan's 2015 Christmas Comp Is Here

Andy Cirzan

As longtime readers of this blog can attest, one of the things I look forward to every holiday season is the annual appearance of Andy Cirzan on Sound Opinions, the weekly radio talk show about rock and roll produced by WBEZ Chicago and hosted by by Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot. You see, Andy is one of the patron saints of the genuine holiday music aficionados. He's been making and circulating holiday music mixes for 27 years now – a full dozen years more than me. And it's always a treat to hear what he's selected for his annual "Christmas comp" ("comp" in the vernacular of the holiday music collector, is short for is short for compilation). It's also fun to hear him talk about his choices on Sound Opinions, which we can all do this week thanks to the magic of the internet. Andy's latest Christmas comp is titled Holiday Hangout at Hillbilly Holler, which features an assortment of little-known holiday tunes from the world of country and bluegrass. Be sure to check it out.

Incidentally, Andy is one of the many collectors and performers featured in Jingle Bell Rocks, the amazingly wonderful 2014 film by holiday music collector Mitchell Kezin. It's been described as an

exclusive backstage pass into a fascinating underground world of alternative Christmas music. Starring an eclectic cast of characters – The Flaming Lips, Run DMC, John Waters – plus two dozen amazing & original songs, JINGLE BELL ROCKS! is a cinematic sleight ride into the strange and sublime universe of alternative Christmas music.

For me, it's a touching and spirited look at the beauty and fun to be had from the world of offbeat holiday music. It will certainly resonate with other holiday music enthusiasts, and it might serve as a kind of explanation to friends and family of the obsessive collectors – or at the very least a welcome piece of evidence that there are others out there with this same addiction. Here's a trailer for the film, which is now available on iTunes or through amazon.com: 





Hear the Sound Opinions s Year's Holiday Spectacular for 2015, with Andy Cirzan

Download Andy Cirzan's 2015 Christmas Comp, Holiday Hangout at Hillbilly Holler (available through 1/1/16 only)

Purchase Mitchell Kezin's 2014 Film, "Jingle Bell Rocks"