A GREAT FRIEND, KRISTIAN, HAS IMPECCABLE TASTE IN MUSIC. He created this playlist to share with his pals, but I didn't want it to go unheard by the thousands dozens who follow here. And so I give you The Guest Playlist, something I've been meaning to do for a long time. More music that's perfect for your cocktail parties this holiday season or for a solo stomp through some melancholy streets this winter. 

Here's what Kristian has to say about his mix:

I'll never let the magic go... 
I'll float away into your afterglow. 

Winter is the season of nostalgia, so it's probably no coincidence that many of these songs are concerned with the past. Hanging on to it. Learning from it. Sounding like it. Letting it go.

"Wings" by Haerts was the impetus for this mix and the inspiration for its title. Try not to float away into a haze of faded summers, lost loves, regrets and reckless hope.

 I hope your 2012 has been and continues to be magical. Don't let it go. Enjoy.

ILLUSTRATION BY PAUL DOTEY.

PLAYLIST

Float Away Into Your Afterglow

  1. Walk on By -  El Perro del Mar

  2. Paradise - Wild Nothing

  3. Wings - HAERTS

  4. Cold Feet - Lost Lander

  5. True Grit - Joywave

  6. Form - Poliça

  7. Northern Lights - Kate Boy

  8. Don't Let Me Down - Solange

  9. Runaway - Mr. Little Jeans

10. Promises (Plastic Plates Remix) - The Presets

11. September - St. Lucia

12. Good Times - Bright Light Bright Light

13. Mainline (feat. Syron) - Tensnake

14. Run Run Run - Dragonette

15. Curtain Music - Rough Fields

16. I Was a Boy - El Perro del Mar

Download.

ILLUSTRATION BY PAUL DOTEY. He captured my very own 'Paradise', our condo in Florida. (SEE PICTURES HERE.) We're about to spend the month of January there, resetting our brains to Perpetual Vacation Mode, and also planning all the details of our racearoundtheworld. It looks like we're starting with New Zealand, so if you have any suggestions please leave me a message!

Soon there will be more than music posts here, too. But with my life consumed by packing and cocktailing, it's all I seem to be doing. 

'Tis the season for getting together, whether it be weeks-in-the-making or an impromptu nosh on a scarce weeknight. With so little time to see everyone, it's important you're always prepared.

Stock up on the essentials: wine (red, white and sparkling), vodka, gin, whisky and a slew of mixes.  Make sure your ice cube trays are full, have some at-the-ready cheese and a box of crackers on-hand. 

And have your playlist ready.

PLAYLIST

Songs for Open Doors

  1. Paradise - Wild Nothing

  2. All Eyes on Your - St. Lucia

  3. Locked in Closets - Solange

  4. Not the Same - Tanlines

  5. These Chains - Hot Chip

  6. She Always Gets What She Wants - Florrie

  7. Only the Horses - Scissor Sisters

  8. Wonderful Life - Estelle

  9. All the Time - Diamond Rings

10. Lost in my Bedroom - Sky Ferreira

11. Stay - Rihanna

12. Freedom - Paloma Faith

13. Answers Come in Dreams - Hercules and Love Affair

14. Figure 8 - Ellie Goulding

15. Call of the Wild - Florrie

16. New Year - Beach House

17. Music to Walk Home By - Tame Impala

Download.

RELATED
Songs for Winter Cocktailing (December 11, 2010)

THANKS SO MUCH for your kind feedback about our travel plans. Now that it's out in the open, it feels so much realer. I can hardly believe it's December; the countdown is on.

As such, our apartment is beginning to fill up with boxes and bins in preparation. We're slowly divesting ourselves of things, selling some on Craigslist, gifting others to friends, packing a pile into storage, and all at a strange time of year.

December is a month rife with consumption, both of calories and tangible goods. It's the time of year when brown paper packages and tokens are given at an alarming rate. Anyone with (or in close proximity to) children knows that the next few weeks mean two things: new plastic shit and a whole ton of boxes to break down.

So I thought the Unfettered Gift Guide would be suitable. A list of consumables you might consider giving, rather than bulking up the life of a loved one with stuff. While clothing and trinkets and candlesticks  are lovely, consider gifts that disappear in no time or those that are purely utilitarian.

1 BOOZE Perhaps it's my particular clique, but I've never seen disappointment in the eyes of a friend on the receiving end of a bottle of hootch. Skip wine and give something they might not normally buy themselves: a bottle of liqueur or something to flesh out their liquor cabinet. GO CANADIAN Victoria (1) is a beautiful premium gin out of British Columbia. Small batch, artisanal blah blah blah, but objectively terrific. On par with Hendrick's or any other premium spirit.  

2 CHEESE Be sure to save things like this for friends who give a couple F's about cheese. A $50 wedge of Beemster® (2) thrust into unknowing hands will fall flat, but offered to a cheese whore like me and who knows how I'll show my gratitude. ADVANCED Put together a whole kit; include cheese, great crackers, some neat olives, a bag of taralli, some dried fruit. But remember Rule 13 and be clear that your gift is for their enjoyment later.

3 MEDIA  Hook a friend up with a handful of your Top 5 iPhone Apps. Or get them hooked on one-and-a-half seasons of Homeland. Give that Kindle-lover in your life your favourite books. Maybe a great host gift would be some fresh, new music, like Solange's new EP. Best of the year, for certain (3). All of this can be done through iTunes and doesn't clutter up their fireplace mantle. LIKE A ROCKEFELLER Buy an iPod Shuffle and pack it full of music. A mixed tape for a new generation.

4 PAPER GOODS Share some local artwork like these cards (4) from Toronto's Deadweight. They double as useful and mean your recipient can pay your gift forward by sending a note to a third party. Be sure to include a book of stamps (The Regiments are particularly neat, available now) so they have no excuse but to sit right down and send a letter. LIKE A ROCKEFELLER Include a great pen.

5 KITCHEN TOOLS 1000 years ago, a Nomad would've appreciated a sharp blade or a wheel on his way through town. Share your favourite implement of the present, whether it be a budget-busting Le Creuset (5) or a super-useful measuring cup. When you give a kitchen tool you're not only providing on an object they'll use often, you're giving them a little piece of your tradition, your process. Every time they pull out that awesome wooden spoon they'll think of you. And isn't that nice? ADVANCED Create a kit based around a cherished family recipe; everything someone might need to make your Great Grandma's gingersnaps. Right down to the right molasses. But remember to keep it functional and avoid the cumbersome (yet decorative) basket. Plant everything in a great mixing bowl and skip the cellophane.

6 CLOTHES Like sharp tools, keep this category purely business. Gloves (6) or new scarf, maybe sunglasses (7). LIKE A ROCKEFELLER Those winter boots they can't justify buying or the awesome watch (8) they've been eyeing all year.

7 THE EXPERIENTIAL GIFT These are perfect for kids, if you can get past their disappointment on Christmas morning. Trust me, while they might not understand the coupon for a trip to the zoo, they'll remember you next July when it happens. LIKE A ROCKEFELLER Step it up a major notch and promise your Mom a weekend in New York or take friends to a ski lodge in the doldrums of February.



Coming soon, a new holiday playlist. Check out last year's mix, which still holds up, and one from 2010, too!

EAT, GAY, LOVE: Travel 2013

The Announcement (November 28, 2012)