Stuck in the Chimney (More Christmas Singles), various artists (Parasol)

More independent rock bands on a small label, although Parasol has a good-sized artist roster and the bands are closer in quality to the big-timers while not shaving off all their small-time quirks. This 2001 album is the label's second collection, see the first one elsewhere on the site. The Soundtrack of Our Lives kicks off the collection with a Nuggets-style "Jingle Hell (Stuck in the Chimney)" while Fonda does "Last Christmas" by Wham, an almost Paul-and-Paula type performance. Toothpaste 2000 celebrates a hard rock "7-Eleven Christmas" and Absinthe Blind does "Silent Night" as an electronic square wave. Another rocker is "Christmas in the Lion's Den" by the George Usher Group, while Doleful Lions slow down Alex Chilton's "Jesus Christ" almost unrecognizably. "December" is a kind of electro-pop ballad from White Town, while Friends of Sound take the same approach uptempo with "Ice and Ribbons." Erik Voeks' "The Cruel Tide" doesn't seem to be a holiday tune, Neilson Hubbard ladles on the angst with "Merry Christmas (Wherever You May Be)" and Joe Algeri concludes weakly with "Computer Xmas," most of which is taken up with the line "How do we turn off the drum machine?"