Ever wondered what the whole history of Christmas music would sound like if it were statistically analysed and distilled into a single album?... Well, wonder no longer!
Eigenradio – an internet radio project from the MIT Media Lab which regularly does this analysis on a broad cross-section of stations and extracts “only the most important frequencies, only the beats with the highest entropy” – has applied its esoteric craft to seasonal fare and come up with sixteen statistically optimal holiday standards. In this collection, all the inessential frippery of sleighbells and par-rup-pa-pums has been stripped away; leaving only a dark crystalline heart of ululating tone-scapes, discordant carnival music, and occasional insectoid scuttlings… Play it at the annual family gathering and confirm all their worst fears about you…