99Xmas Soundtrack Volume II, various artists (Best Buy)

The Atlanta radio station released this compilation in 2001 and it's chock full of good stuff. Familiar names on it include Speech of Arrested Development, who raps "Joy to the World," but there's more of "Carol of the Bells" in it, along with a tiny homage to "Smiling Faces Sometimes." Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls solos live on Joni Mitchell's "River," Shawn Mullins does the countried-up original "Lonely Ole Christmas," Kevn Kinney turns "The Christmas Song" into a folky strum and Collective Soul's "Blue Christmas," heard elsewhere, is also here. Worthy of note is Treephart, whose "Christmas Time is Here" has a ska intro that segues into thrash; Left Front Tire does a faithful cover of Ramones' "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight)"; Lithp has an acoustic rock take on "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" medleyed with an original song written from Santa's point of view. There are electronica bids from Angie Aparo with "Silent Night," Aerial on "Oh Holy Night," ph Balance's "Do You Hear What I Hear" and Drums and Effects, predictably, on "The Little Drummer Boy." Another Man Down's "Dreidel Song" makes an appearance here, Tentilfour covers Run-DMC's "Christmas in Hollis," and Injected takes "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" down to ballad tempo while keeping the Bono impression intact. There were three volumes by this radio station, and all are out of print; no copies of this collection show up on Amazon.