Alternatively: YouTube Music Playlist
It’s that time again! Grab a cup of cocoa, relax and enjoy some festive music to keep you warm on a cold winter night. And strap in, chummer. Maybe we’ll even jack into puterspace between the sleighbells and carol sings. Those flashing lights on rackmounted servers are just as festive as those on snow-covered trees.
Cover image is Christmas Tech Tree by siulzz. Liner notes under the cut.
Critical Role – Winter’s Crest Welcome
Hey, Critical Role put out a Christmas album!
I got very into Critical Role in the Mighty Nein era, but have fallen off a bit. Speaking of, I don’t think I finished the latest Vox Machina series. They’re great fun, tho. And I’m a sucker for a Christmas album intro track. Happy Winter’s Crest!
Joseph Vincent – All I Want for Christmas Is You / Mistletoe (Mashup)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18E_TAGefPY
A ukulele mashup of two of the greatest modern Christmas anthems.
I was actually looking for good Mistletoe covers. I don’t think I want any more actual Justin Bieber in the mixtape collection (Drummer Boy (featuring Busta Rhymes) was on 2019 because I think it’s hilarious), but I think Mistletoe, the song, is actually pretty good for an original popular 21st century Christmas song. And here you get some bonus Mariah.
The Bird and the Bee – Hallelujah Chorus
I don’t think I’ve done an Hallelujah Chorus before and this one is quite nice.
Chris Hart – Jin Jin Jinglebell
Chris Hart, an American immigrant to Japan and minor pop star there, has been in my slush pile for years. So long, that he released a second Christmas album in the time it took to finally get him on a mixtape. His Christmas albums (Christmas Hearts 1 and 2. Most of his albums have “Heart” in the title. ‘Cuz his name is Hart. Geddit?) are mostly covers of popular Japanese Christmas songs, with a few standards thrown in. But every time I’ve decided, “hey, I’ll put this Chris Hart track on the mixtape,” it turns out the original (foreshadowing: or some other cover) was better.
I genuinely feel like Chris Hart has the best version of Jin Jin Jinglebell. For one thing, none of the others have a flute solo.
Here’s the song’s original writer and artist, Chisato Moritaka charmingly singing and bopping along to a remix version of the song with additional record scratches:
Charlie Weber – Christmas Specials
One of the things I like about Bandcamp is you can search for artists from specific places. So I was looking for Christmas music from Ontario. Charlie Weber’s from London.
This song just struck me as really fun. I like the line about Christmas movies always being about a guy who hates his life.
Christina Aguilera – Xtina’s Xmas (Interlude)
A month or so ago, Youtube recommended a Weird Al Christmas track from the brand new album Moo Deng Christmas. (First track is I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, of course). Here’s the album cover:
More than that, the recommendation originated from Weird Al’s channel. Bob Dylan’s channel apparently did the same with Must Be Santa, which confused fans, apparently.
I imagine that this is just a weird artifact of how Youtube Music works. Moo Deng Christmas is clearly just some random compilation album. I don’t know who is behind it, and I’m curious because if random people can release Christmas compilation albums on music platforms, I’m tempted to get in on that.
Anyway, this weird little “Interlude” track was on there and I liked it.
Kylie Cantrall – Red Christmas (From “Descendants: The Rise of Red”)
I have to confess I’m not much of a Descendants fan. And this is clearly a character theme from the movie. I like it tho, mostly because it somehow reminds me of the League of Legends POP/STARS track, which I absolutely adore. No Korean rap verse, tho.
Katherine Penfold – Keep Christmas with You
I love the 70s Sesame Street Christmas special. And I had a cassette tape of the audio version of the special as a kid. So these songs are deeply engrained in my Christmas psyche. This is the third time Keep Christmas with You has made a mixtape.
This is just a really classy, jazzy cover, treating it like the standard it ought to be.
The original, in case you’ve missed it somehow:
Max Headroom – Merry Christmas Santa Claus
I feel like Max Headroom isn’t really the cultural icon he deserves to be. And as a vague cyberpunk theme started to emerge for the mixtape, I felt like this was the year his Christmas song should make the mixtape.
Willoxen – JINGLE BELLS IN A CYBER DREAM
I found this trolling around Bandcamp: Willoxen released two entire synthwave Christmas albums this year. I was a little disappointed with the overall quality, but there are some gems in there. In particular, I selected this track especially for the line “spreading joy like a laser beam.” Poetry, that is.
Fall On Your Sword – Night Before Christmas (feat. Alex Gibney)
I explained this to Ellen as “it’s as if ChatGPT tried to re-write Twas a Night Before Christmas.” (It’s not, of course. This came out a decade ago). Still, that feeling made it seem appropriate this year.
Pomplamoose – Deck the Halls
I respect the energy that Pomplamoose generally brought to their Christmas tracks. This is the third time they’ve made the mixtape.
Christmas in Space!
Nami Nakagawa – Dear Santa
I somehow stumbled on the Scarlet Moon Christmas albums, mostly videogame-themed Christmas mashups with some original songs. I liked this one from the most recent album, and it seemed to fit the vibe I was going for this year.
Ryuichi Sakamoto – Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence – Electric Youth Remodel
I’m aware Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence isn’t in any way a Christmas movie. The theme keeps coming up, though, if you’re looking around for Japanese Christmas stuff.
And you know, the soundtrack is great. When this came up in a Japanese Christmas playlist, I had to double-check it wasn’t some weird Joe Hisaishi Christmas track. I don’t think Joe Hisaishi and Ryuchi Sakamoto worked together, but there are some similarities in their style.
I eventually decided that this somehow feels Christmassy, for reasons I can’t fully explain.
Kick The Can Crew – Christmas Eve Rap
I can’t tell you how delighted I was to find this.
Like I said earlier, I’ve been listening to Chris Hart’s Christmas Hearts for years. He had a cover of Tatusro Yamashita’s Christmas Eve on there. It’s a great song (despite the Pachelbel). Chris Hart’s version is okay. The original is largely unavailable on music streaming platforms, but here’s a video where someone used it as the backing soundtrack to AI upscaled recordings of 80s Japan Rail commercials.
But then I stumbled on this version and was like “I… know that song. How do I know that song?” I lolled, friends. Literally out loud.
I was tempted to do the thing where I put the original on this year and then do the rap version in a year or two, like I did for Keisuke Kuwata’s Shiroi Koibitotachi (following up with the Boyz II Men version) a few years ago. But you know what, I love this rap version too much to wait. This is for me.
Renny Mathew – Christmas Song (melle mele mele…)
Something I wasn’t aware of: the province of Kerala in India has a significant Christian population and Christmas is acually a thing there. This isn’t something that I remember reading about in my “Christmas Around the World” books as a kid.
I found this looking for a version of The Christmas Song (you know, chestnuts, fire, etc). Actually I found a bunch of Malayalam Christmas songs. All original. All kind of wonderful. This one thoroughly stuck in my head. And that video is great.
for King & Country – Silent Night (Rewrapped)
As much as I like Silent Night (I think it was my favourite Christmas carol as a kid), it’s kind of a boring song. But that means there’s a lot of stuff you can do with it, if you set your mind to it.
I like this version a lot.
Kaskade & Late Night Alumni – Caroling Caroling
Kaskade, to his credit, has done what few major DJs seem willing to do: put out a Christmas album. Two, now. I don’t know why it’s so uncommon, but man, these mix tapes would have a lot more progressive house remixes of Christmas songs if it wasn’t.
Maybe it’s for the best.
Dominik Hauser – Skating: (Theme From “A Charlie Brown Christmas”) (Cover)
This comes from one of those albums of arrangements of TV themes. It also includes, amongst other things, the theme from The Starlost, that terrible Canadian 70s sci-fi series conceived of, then disowned by Harlan Ellison.
It’s mostly just a competent arrangement of the Vince Guaraldi Skating song, elevated by the inclusion of a flute solo. Flute solo number two!
Bob De Angelis – Huron Carol
Here’s a lovely jazz arrangement of the Huron Carol. I like the Huron Carol, but it is thoroughly a product of colonialism. What’s that line from White Wine in the Sun?
Some of the hymns that they sing have nice chords, but the lyrics are dodgy.
I mean, it’s fine. And anyway, this has a nice swing to it.
Martha Wainwright, Lily Lanken – Rebel Jesus
I like this song a lot. There aren’t that many good versions of it. This is off the The McGarrigle Christmas Hour, which is about as Canadian a Christmas album as you can get, save the Canadian Brass or something.
Regina Spektor – New Year
We get a little melancholy at the end here, don’t we? This song absolutely makes me cry. It’s beautiful and haunting and sad and hopeful. I’m happy I found it.
I think it’s why I do this.
