Miriam: A No Words Nativity (Repost)

Here's a repost of my Christmas mix from 2009. One of these years I'd like to create a new mix for the season rather than reposting this one over and over. Until then, this one still seems to get the job done.

"Miriam" (מרים) is Hebrew for "Mary."

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1) The Harvesters • "Virgin Mary" • 1961
2) Shirley Collins • "The Cherry Tree Carol" • 1959
3) Alan Mills • "The Angel Gabriel" • 1957
4) Rakhel Hadass • "Sa'enu" • 1993
5) Pete Seeger • "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" • 1989
6) Rio en Medio & Israel Cilio • "Mary" • 2009
7) "Household" Regina • "Jingle Bells" • 1950
8) John Jacob Niles • "Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head" • 1957
9) The Young Tradition w/ Shirley & Dolly Collins • "The Coventry Carol" • 1955
10) John Fahey • "Good King Wenceslas" • 1975
11) Bert Jansch • "In the Bleak Midwinter" • 1974
12) Roger Sprung • "The Little Drummer Boy" • 1965
13) The Seeger Sisters • "Mary Had a Baby" • 1957
14) The Choir of the Bella Vista Children's Home • "El Niño Querido" • 1967
15) Leadbelly • "Chicken Crowing for Midnight (Christmas Song)" • 1944
16) John Fahey • "Christ's Saints of God Fantasy" • 1975
17) Swiss "Coffin" Box by Mermod • "Auld Lang Syne" • 1950

Halloween Mix Reposts

I've gotten several requests for a third No Words Halloween mix this month. Sadly I haven't had the time to make a new one. Please enjoy these mixes from recent years. Click the arrow on the right of the widgets to download the MP3s.

Terse Tales and Uneasy Utterings: A No Words Halloween • 2010


Death Mask: Another No Words Halloween • 2011

Death Mask: Another No Words Halloween

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UPDATE (16/5/13): Re-Up (ZIP)

This has a similar format to last year's Halloween playlist: poetry, sound effects, bizarro classical, vocal exercises, and a folksong for good measure.

00:00: Marita Günther • "Lend Me Your Ears: Phonotation of Words" ~WITH~ David Talcott • "Loop No. 3"
01:13: Heinrich Heine read by Claire Luce • "Why Are All the Roses So Pale?" ~WITH~ University of Toronto Electronic Music Studio • "Summer Idyl"
02:29: Kenneth Patchen • "The Wolf of Winter" ~WITH~ Jim Nollman w/ wolf • "Silent Night"
03:15: Vernon Scannell • "Dead Dog" ~WITH~ Nadi Qamar • "Finger Dance #2"
04:29: Peggy Seeger • "Lammikin" • Child Ballad #93 ~WITH~ sounds issuing from the Oklawaha River east of Orange Spring recorded by Charles M. Bogert
09:00: Norman Rosten • "The Spider" ~WITH~ Tod Dockstader • "Piece #7"
09:51: St. John of the Cross read by Khigh Dhiegh • "Dark Night" ~WITH~ barking treefrog, pine woods treefrog, and cricket frogs recorded by Charles M. Bogert
12:04: Heinrich Heine read by Claire Luce • "Death Brings the End" ~WITH~ Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky under Alfred Wolfsohn • a theme from "Chanson Trieste" ~WITH~ thunderstorm recorded by Dr. Peter Paul Kellogg
13:24: Frédéric Chopin performed by Clara Rockmore • "Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor"
17:15: an excerpt from "The High Cost of Dying!" from A Double Barrel Blast

Bert Jansch • "In the Bleak Midwinter (Live in Glasgow)" • 1974

Stream in Spotify / Procure An Acoustic Hour with Bert Jansch





I contemplated compiling a new Christmas-themed playlist this year, but I simply do not have the time, so here is a repost of last year's.

Miriam: A No Words Nativity

Download (ZIP)

1) The Harvesters • "Virgin Mary" • 1961
2) Shirley Collins • "The Cherry Tree Carol" • 1959
3) Alan Mills • "The Angel Gabriel" • 1957
4) Rakhel Hadass • "Sa'enu" • 1993
5) Pete Seeger • "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" • 1989
6) Rio en Medio & Israel Cilio • "Mary" • 2009
7) "Household" Regina • "Jingle Bells" • 1950
8) John Jacob Niles • "Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head" • 1957
9) The Young Tradition w/ Shirley & Dolly Collins • "The Coventry Carol" • 1955
10) John Fahey • "Good King Wenceslas" • 1975
11) Bert Jansch • "In the Bleak Midwinter" • 1974
12) Roger Sprung • "The Little Drummer Boy" • 1965
13) The Seeger Sisters • "Mary Had a Baby" • 1957
14) The Choir of the Bella Vista Children's Home • "El Niño Querido" • 1967
15) Leadbelly • "Chicken Crowing for Midnight (Christmas Song)" • 1944
16) John Fahey • "Christ's Saints of God Fantasy" • 1975
17) Swiss "Coffin" Box by Mermod • "Auld Lang Syne" • 1950

Terse Tales and Uneasy Utterings: A No Words Halloween

Download / Request Immediate Removal

UPDATE (16/5/13): Re-Up (ZIP)

Here's something altogether different for Halloween: poetry, prose, and medical essays.



00:00: John Ciardi • "In the Witch-Hunting Season" ~WITH~ Percy Grainger performed by Lydia Kavina • "Free Music, No. 2"
01:32: Edgar Allen Poe read by David Kurlan • excerpt from "The Pit and the Pendulum" ~WITH~ Malcom Goldstein • "Summer"
04:54: Sterling Brown • "Slim in Hell" ~WITH~ snapping shrimp and toadfish sounds, three meters deep
07:58: Bernard Barshay read by Henry Hamilton • "The Case of the Dream Murder" ~WITH~ Malcom
Goldstein • "Spring"
17:05: Rupert Brooke read by Richard Waring • "The Dead: I" ~WITH~ Vaclav Nelhybel • "Cosmic Fright"
18:21: esophageal voice from Speech After the Removal of the Larynx
22:08: Dr. H. E. Ulrich read by George E. Caraker • "Explanation of Various Body Cancer" ~WITH~ snapping shrimp and toadfish sounds, three meters deep
25:24: Robert Francis • "Burial" ~WITH~ Hillel and Aviva • "Twilight"

Miriam: A No Words Nativity

Happy Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Neopagan Yule, my noble few. "Miriam" (מרים) is Hebrew for "Mary," the Blessed Virgin.

Download (ZIP)

UPDATE (16/5/13): Re-Up (ZIP)

1) The Harvesters • "Virgin Mary" • 1961
2) Shirley Collins • "The Cherry Tree Carol" • 1959
3) Alan Mills • "The Angel Gabriel" • 1957
4) Rakhel Hadass • "Sa'enu" • 1993
5) Pete Seeger • "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" • 1989
6) Rio en Medio & Israel Cilio • "Mary" • 2009
7) "Household" Regina • "Jingle Bells" • 1950
8) John Jacob Niles • "Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head" • 1957
9) The Young Tradition w/ Shirley & Dolly Collins • "The Coventry Carol" • 1955
10) John Fahey • "Good King Wenceslas" • 1975
11) Bert Jansch • "In the Bleak Midwinter" • 1974
12) Roger Sprung • "The Little Drummer Boy" • 1965
13) The Seeger Sisters • "Mary Had a Baby" • 1957
14) The Choir of the Bella Vista Children's Home • "El Niño Querido" • 1967
15) Leadbelly • "Chicken Crowing for Midnight (Christmas Song)" • 1944
16) John Fahey • "Christ's Saints of God Fantasy" • 1975
17) Swiss "Coffin" Box by Mermod • "Auld Lang Syne" • 1950

Hear my No Words mix from earlier this year: A Revelry of Piety & Custom in Song, and check back in a few weeks for a "Best Folk of 2009" list and mix.