It’s been a couple of years since I’ve dropped any Christmas music on you. Prior to Rdio (RIP) and other music services, it was a little more of a chore to source and share decent tunes. It takes work to put these together but I do enjoy it for a few reasons:
I like decent Christmas music
What they play on the radio is good to get you into the Christmas spirit but after a few days it becomes quite repetitive
It’s fun to share with others
Due to work and life, I haven’t had a great deal of time to go actively searching for new stuff this year. But, ironically, due to the fact that we’ve been working crazy-late hours the last couple of weeks, I have been able to listen to hours of random playlists and been able to toss a few tracks I’ve liked to my own Spotify (RIP Rdio + please hurry up Pandora Premium) playlist.
Some of you who have followed along for years might know that there’s a few tracks I think are imperative to a quality, heavy-rotation Christmas playlist. Some of them aren’t available on music services and only exist on the hard drives of folks like you and I; it’s up to us to carry the torch for the next generations. Heavy burden, I know. Those tracks aren’t on the Spotify version of Creepy Santa below; if you want the extra good stuff, you’ll have to download the ZIP folder and play it the old fashioned way (iTunes).
If nothing else, the download might be worth it for the smiles track 20 can induce; it’s a modern day take on the creepiness that is Baby, It’s Cold Outside.
The US Thanksgiving holiday has passed which means it’s time for an updated Christmas playlist. As per the norm, it extends a little further than the standard Andy Williams and Bing Crosby (though those are classics and good in their own right) which you can find on most local, AM/FM Christmas stations.
If you’ve been around for any of the years past, you might notice that the last track is the same one I’ve closed with on multiple occasions… this is on purpose as I’ve convinced myself that it should probably close every Christmas compilation ever made. I’m not ready to call it the greatest Christmas track ever but I think its as solid of a piece of music you can get to finish an album.
New to this game and want to catch up? Hit the archives for past compilations. My apologies for the creepy Santa pictures, I’m not really sure how it all got started.
Track List
1. Owl City (feat. TobyMac) – Light of Christmas
2. Jeremih – You’re Mine
3. Otis Redding – White Christmas
4. Matt Wertz – Snow Globe
5. Kelly Clarkson – Winter Dreams
6. The Maine – Ho Ho Hopefully
7. Newsboys – All I Want for Christmas Is You
8. Leona Lewis – One More Sleep
9. Cee Lo Green (feat. The Muppets) – All I Need Is Love
10. Jeremy Lister – Santa’s Lost His Mojo
11. Callie Moore – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
12. Catherine Feeny – The Christmas Song
13. Clyde Bawden & Jason Barney (feat. Cody Carnes & Ashley Hess) – Christmas with You
14. Train – Shake Up Christmas
15. KT Tunstall – Sleigh Ride
16. Brigthen – Merry Christmas, Baby
17. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy – It Feels Like Christmas Time
18. The Ready Set – I Don’t Wanna Spend Another Christmas Without You
19. Kelly Clarkson – 4 Carats
20. Clyde Bawden & Jason Barney (feat. Ashley Hess) – Home for Christmas Eve
21. Neon Trees – Wish List
22. A Rocket To The Moon – I Believe In Us (This Holiday)
23. Troy Andrews – O Holy Night
As much as it pained my office mate, I started the process of organizing the 2012 edition of CreepySanta in October. It’s not the be-all, end-all Christmas album but it should be a good mix for you to keep your Christmas party hoppin’ or help soundtrack your tree decorating festivities.
This ain’t the first Christmas music rodeo around these parts either, feel free to hit the archives for past compilations.
Track List
1. fun – Sleigh Ride
2. Meaghan Smith – Silver Bells
3. Never Shout Never – 30 Days
4. Andy Williams – It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year (a shrift remix)
5. The Boy Least Likely To – Happy Christmas Baby
6. Hugh Laurie – Silent Night
7. Colbie Caillat – Christmas in the Sand
8. Fitz & The Tantrums – Santa Stole My Lady
9. Kay Starr – I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (STUHR remix)
10. Vince Guaraldi Trio – Skating
11. Olivia Olson – That Christmas Feeling
12. Pomplamoose – Jingle Bells
13. Gavin DeGraw – The Christmas Song
14. Meiko – Maybe Next Year (X-Mas Song)
15. Black Prairie – (Everybody’s Waitin’ For) The Man With The Bag
16. Grant Dawson – It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
17. Punch Brothers – O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
18. Troy Andrews – O Holy Night
Rdio users: I’ve also made a playlist for you but it only has about 75% of the tracks. You can thank the record industry.
I’m a little late in getting this to you but you’ve still got a couple of weeks to hopefully enjoy it before you’re completely tired of Christmas music. If you’re new to these parts, feel free to digbackthrough the archives and find any/all of the previous tracks I’ve posted. Hopefully the links are still working; if not, feel free to ping me and I can do my best to help you out.
I should probably do some explaining for things like Beiber and Train but I’ll just ask you to hold your judgement until you’ve had a chance to check them out once or twice.
If you had no context around it, you would have to assume that Nick Waterhouse and his band The Tarots are straight out of 1961. A classic R&B sound that is fresh in every way. So good. With only an EP out of 4 songs there’s not nearly enough here for me to be satisfied though. I can’t wait until he’s got 5 albums of things I can just run in the background of every party I never through.
Note to my wife: I apologize in advance for the abuse your ears are about to receive over the next six months.
Scroll down to add a little audio enjoyment to your Friday.
