It is nearly that time of year again; the Christmas craze is so close, it's almost tangible. You know Christmas-time is officially here when SkyRadio brings back Mariah Carey's classic; that one song in which she claims she does not care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree. As if. I am not Scrooge and this is not a rant about bad Christmas music. This is a seriously objective, critical overview of Christmas/New Years/ Winter related music; mostly the former. In my book, Christmas songs can be divided into three basic categories: the classics, the awesome and the absolutely terrible (a.k.a. guilty pleasures). I deliberately choose to ignore traditional Christmas carols and I don't think I need to explain myself.
The Classics:
The Awesome:
The awesome pretty much consist of covers and original tracks performed by contemporary bands; mostly indie rock. She & Him (Zooey Deschanel's band) released "A Very She & Him Christmas" last year, covering classics like Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, with a more twee/indiepop sound. Slow Club's EP "Christmas, Thanks for Nothing" consists mainly of original tracks such as It's Christmas and You're Boring Me, or Christmas TV. It's pretty obvious that this british indie rock band is not too enthusiastic about Christmas time, but then again there's enough Christmas-cheer music out there (Santa drags it along with his reindeer posse). Sufjan Steven's box-set "Songs for Christmas" is a five volume compilation of original songs and covers; he combines songs like Did I make you cry on christmas day? (Well, you deserved it) and Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance! You can only imagine how great the rest of the album is. The most surprising sound comes out of Arcade Fire's Christmas Album, a holiday EP that made it online against the band's wishes; they recorded at a Christmas party and it sounds like they had a lot of fun in the process.
The Guilty Pleasures:
There's not many albums in this category; I suppose it's more of a single-track-overplayed-on-the-radio sorta thing. This might be a cliche but Last Christmas by Wham! is definitely one of those. It's a genuinely terrible song, but there's simply something about it that gets you singing along. Florence + The Machine covered it on BBC Radio1 and managed to eliminate (almost) every trace of cheesiness, definitely worth a listen. Next comes All I Want for Christmas is You (but you didn't hear that from me). Destiny's Child 8 Days of Christmas always makes me chuckle: "On the eighth day of Christmas my baby gave to me a pair of Chloe shades and a diamond belly ring". Last, but definitely not least, comes Madonna’s rendition of Santa Baby; I'm not sure what's worse, the fake New York accent or the cutesy-pie style, it's very amusing nonetheless.
10 Awesome Christmas Songs you've most likely not heard of:
Don't Shoot me Santa - The Killers
Christmas Wrapping (The Waitresses cover) - Dog is Dead
All I Wonderful Christmas is You - Summer Camp
The Christmas Song - The Raveonettes
I Wish It Was Christmas Today - Julian Casablancas
Got Something For You - Best Coast and Wavves
It's Christmas - Coconut Records
I Am Gonna Be Warm This Winter - Bunnygrunt
Wish List - Neon Trees
Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day - Wye Oak
The Classics:
The first thing that comes to my mind is Ella Fitzgerald, simple as that. Annoying songs like Jingle Bells, or Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer turn into classy, elegant tunes in "Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas". Ella however does not have the monopoly on jazzy Christmas arrangements."A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector" is a compilation of some of the finest covers of tracks like Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, Winter Wonderland and I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus mainly by The Ronettes, The Crystals and Darlene Love. On the other side of the spectrum, we have "Elvis' Christmas Album" which includes super-groovy (excuse the expression) Santa Clause Is Back In Town. My personal favorite 'classic' album is "Christmas with The Beach Boys". Except for a couple of obviously surf rock influenced tracks, like Merry Christmas, Baby (which is wicked), the rest of the album makes a solid Christmas soundtrack; with bells and everything.
The Awesome:
The awesome pretty much consist of covers and original tracks performed by contemporary bands; mostly indie rock. She & Him (Zooey Deschanel's band) released "A Very She & Him Christmas" last year, covering classics like Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, with a more twee/indiepop sound. Slow Club's EP "Christmas, Thanks for Nothing" consists mainly of original tracks such as It's Christmas and You're Boring Me, or Christmas TV. It's pretty obvious that this british indie rock band is not too enthusiastic about Christmas time, but then again there's enough Christmas-cheer music out there (Santa drags it along with his reindeer posse). Sufjan Steven's box-set "Songs for Christmas" is a five volume compilation of original songs and covers; he combines songs like Did I make you cry on christmas day? (Well, you deserved it) and Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance! You can only imagine how great the rest of the album is. The most surprising sound comes out of Arcade Fire's Christmas Album, a holiday EP that made it online against the band's wishes; they recorded at a Christmas party and it sounds like they had a lot of fun in the process.
The Guilty Pleasures:
There's not many albums in this category; I suppose it's more of a single-track-overplayed-on-the-radio sorta thing. This might be a cliche but Last Christmas by Wham! is definitely one of those. It's a genuinely terrible song, but there's simply something about it that gets you singing along. Florence + The Machine covered it on BBC Radio1 and managed to eliminate (almost) every trace of cheesiness, definitely worth a listen. Next comes All I Want for Christmas is You (but you didn't hear that from me). Destiny's Child 8 Days of Christmas always makes me chuckle: "On the eighth day of Christmas my baby gave to me a pair of Chloe shades and a diamond belly ring". Last, but definitely not least, comes Madonna’s rendition of Santa Baby; I'm not sure what's worse, the fake New York accent or the cutesy-pie style, it's very amusing nonetheless.
10 Awesome Christmas Songs you've most likely not heard of:
Don't Shoot me Santa - The Killers
Christmas Wrapping (The Waitresses cover) - Dog is Dead
All I Wonderful Christmas is You - Summer Camp
The Christmas Song - The Raveonettes
I Wish It Was Christmas Today - Julian Casablancas
Got Something For You - Best Coast and Wavves
It's Christmas - Coconut Records
I Am Gonna Be Warm This Winter - Bunnygrunt
Wish List - Neon Trees
Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day - Wye Oak