Merry Christmas, y’all!

Those of you that celebrate, of course. To the others a lovely day spent in whatever way you want to…

Me, I’ll be heading over to M&F’s with my mom for brunch and then a nice day spent together. Making some new traditions this year – it’d have been weird to try and cling to our old family ways. But I’m sure Papi will be there in spirit!

Anyways, I have a little something for all of you: my annual mix!

Cover image and playlist
Click for full-size. The cover is a photo I took in the Hard forest in autumn, overlaid with a Rilke quote (see below).

A Year of Change
Wenn etwas von uns fortgenommen wird,
womit wir tief und wunderbar zusammenhängen,
so ist viel von uns selbst mit fortgenommen.

Gott aber will, dass wir uns wieder finden,
reicher um alles Verlorene und
vermehrt um jenen unendlichen Schmerz.

– Rainer Maria Rilke

When something has been taken from us
with which we were deeply and wonderfully connected,
we lose much of ourselves.

God however wants us to find ourselves again,
richer for all that we lost and
increased by this infinite pain.

Evamaria’s 2012 mix
For my dad, who I miss every day,
for my mom, who’s the strongest woman I know,
and for Michi & Fränzi, whose wedding was a light in the dark.

1) Wolf Song – Patrick Wolf
2) Heartbeat Slowing Down – The All-American Rejects
3) Nobody Should Die Alone – Bastian Baker [As ridiculous as it might sound (some call Bastian Baker “the Swiss Justin Bieber”), but some of his lyrics make me think he might also have had to come to terms with a loss.]
4) Army – BOY [I’ve already mentioned in the past how much I love this song, which introduced me to – an ode to friendship.]
5) All the Rowboats – Regina Spektor
6) Independently Mine – Little Jackie
7) Can’t Steal Your Heart Away – Empires
8) Ghost – Ingrid Michaelson
9) I Won’t Give Up – Jason Mraz
10) Every Time (Love Song) – Armand Amar (abridged) [This is not a new song, but I felt I had to include it, because this was Michi & Fränzi’s first dance. It’s been shortened by me, so in this way it’s “new”.]
11) That Man – Caro Emerald [My adoration for all things 20s/30s has continued to grow this year (hi, Phryne Fisher! *g*), and Caro Emerald has all the flair of that era.]
12) We’re Far Enough From Heaven Now We Can Freak Out – Deep Cotton
13) Rabbit Heart – Florence & The Machine
14) Images – Beecake
15) Put One Back – Mornin’ Old Sport
16) I Am The One Who Will Remember Everything – Dar Williams
17) Compromising Me – William Beckett
18) All Alone – Fun.
19) Let It Rock (feat. Lil Wayne) – Kevin Rudolf [This is my inofficial Loki / Avengers hymn. I mean, check out this fanvid!]
20) Yes, We’re Sinking – eaneikciv @ hitREcord [Just look at the gorgeous art for this!]
21) Happiness Is in My Head – eaneikciv @ hitRecord [20 and 21 belong together in my head – both are part of JGL’s creative crowdsourcing website hitREcord.]
22) Move In the Right Direction – Gossip [Almost the only concert this year that I didn’t miss due to illness – and wow, Beth Ditto has POWER!]
23) This Isn’t Everything You Are – Snow Patrol
24) Misty Mountains – Richard Armitage & The Dwarf Cast [Of course I HAD to include this, come on! So much better than the folks-ified version of the end credits.]
Bonus: [I broke my own rules* for this, but I had to. For complicated reasons which boil down to *hobbit!flail* and *dad*.]
25) Pippin’s Song – Billy Boyd
26) Into The West – Annie Lennox

Download: single mp3s on Mediafire | self-hosted .zip (135mb: 26 mp3s, cover art + .m3u)

*As always, the one rule for the creation of my annual mix was that only songs added to my iTunes in 2012 were allowed. I broke this with the bonus tracks, but hey, it’s MY mix, after all. *g*