Flotation Device 2022-12-25 - Santa Dog's a Flotation Device

For Christmas 2022 we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Santa Dog, The Residents' first official recording, which has now become their most ubiquitous discography entry, with multiple revisitations over the years by themselves and others. We survey the recorded history of this holiday pseudo-classic with a panoply of rock, swing, synth, orchestral and even gamelan arrangements. We also sample James MacMillan’s new (and much more pious) Christmas Oratorio, plus we explore the latest (non-holiday) albums by Qasim Naqvi (with Wadada Leo Smith and Andrew Cyrille), Tom Varner, the River People quartet, and Hardanger fiddler Agnese Amico. Our 50 years ago in the avant-garde feature bids farewell to Harry Partch, and contemplates a seasonal rarity from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. And finally we revisit two very different Xmas delicacies by Sun Ra and the late George Crumb. Two hours of creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world, certified free of holiday clichés.