And they’re not actually mix tapes, or CDs for that matter – just mixes, each 49-minutes long, one posted to Randophonic’s Mixcloud for each day of Twelvetide (aka the Twelve Days of Christmas). These 12 Mixtapes of Christmas have got nothing to do with Randophonic’s other 12 Mixtapes of Christmas from two years ago, or even with Christmas (beyond being a gift to you). The Hot August Night version being the version, hot band and small orchestra, and singer and song and audience all coalescing in one grand and miraculous f***ing slam.” (Philip Random) Or more to the point, back to it, because he wasn’t saying anything I hadn’t said myself (or tried to anyway) decades previous, twelve or thirteen, the first time Holly Holy sent me over the rainbow. I’m paraphrasing my friend Steven here from better part of a decade ago, and I agreed with him, even if I needed about five drinks in me to bring myself to it.
#HOLY HOLY NEIL DIAMOND REMIX FULL#
Because it’s not ironic, man, this stuff makes me live, man, let the seed be full with tomorrow, it doesn’t get more hopeful than that, man, and also the part about the lame man not just walking but flying – and then the song f***ing takes you there, beyond gravity.
Diamond is Jewish – what it is, is a gospel-inspired, wild and profound reach for (and grasp of) glory - a beautiful noise indeed.
Some have called it a Christmas song, which is odd, because Mr. Or the best ending to one anyway, the fourth and final side, which kicks off with Holly Holy. “We’ve already heard from Neil Diamond‘s Hot August Night on this list, arguably the greatest live album of all time.