"My Dear Acquaintance (A Happy New Year)," Regina Spektor (Sire)

Found this 2007 recording on iTunes, a live performance of an original song for the New Year, a gentle piano ballad originally done by Peggy Lee. I wasn't able to find out much more about it, but I am curious about the artillery sounds in the background at one point. Was free from iTunes the week of Dec. 24.

It's Christmas, Of Course, Darlene Love (Shout! Factory)

If Darlene never did anything but sing on Phil Spector's A Christmas Gift To You she'd still be Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame material. Though she's popped up occasionally over the years doing everything from duetting with Ronnie Spector for A Very Special Christmas to acting in the "Lethal Weapon" movies, from singing the "Saturday Night Live" comedy short "Christmastime For the Jews" to performing a Christmas song with the E Street Band, she's been way overdue for a sequel to the Spector album. Well folks, this 2007 set is it. All props to producers Shawn Amos and Kevin Killen for showcasing her historic voice against a strong and eclectic selection of contemporary Christmas tunes. You could pick any record producer out of the phone book who would take one look at Darlene and drop a bunch of strictly R'nB covers on her along with gospelized versions of classic carols -- and face it folks, we'd probably be grateful for that. But Amos and Killen give us a more imaginative selection. Obvious soul covers like "Please Come Home for Christmas" and "What Christmas Means to Me" join with less obvious ones like the Staple Singers' "Who Took the Merry Out of Christmas?" and James Brown's "Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto" to play against Christmas tunes from the rock world like Tom Petty's "Christmas All Over Again," the Band's "Christmas Must Be Tonight," Billy Squier's "Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You" and John and Yoko's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." Darlene, of course, has the talent to pull this off. She takes XTC's "Thanks For Christmas" to church, adds some soul to NRBQ's "Christmas Wish" and remakes the Pretenders' stately "2,000 Miles" with just a hint of jazz. The whole thing wraps up with an original ballad, "Night of Peace."

Christmas With the Smithereens, The Smithereens (Koch)

The boys from Jersey have had their "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," based on the Cadillacs' arrangement, in my personal Christmas hit parade going back nearly two decades now, so word of a full CD of their version of Christmas for 2007 was greeted warmly around these parts. For the most part, it's exactly what I was expecting. Three originals join nine covers to create a full CD of rockin' Christmas goodness, though "Rudolph" isn't here, nor is their "Blue Christmas" from a 1994 EP. But "Waking Up on Christmas Morning" from that disc is here, likely re-recorded but maintaining that characteristic Smithereens sound. (Jim Babjak also played this tune on his side project Buzzed Meg's Christmas EP.) "Christmas Time All Over the World" does the same, and "Christmas (I Remember)" is a nice 60s-ish look back to that decade, including the year the singer unwrapped copies of Shut Down Vol. II and Rubber Soul under the tree. The makers of those two albums are represented among the covers with a faithful take on the Beach Boys' "Merry Christmas Baby" and an extended meditation on the Beatles' "Christmas Time Is Here Again." A bit of jazzy drumming accompanies a reading of "Twas the Night Before Christmas," and the boys take on the Who's "Christmas" from Tommy. They also take the tempo down a smidge for the Ramones' "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight)" and take a bluesier approach to Elvis' "Santa Bring My Baby Back to Me," but rock it out for "Run Run Rudolph," "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree" and "Auld Lang Syne." A once and future classic.

Marshmallow World and Other Holiday Favorites, Raul Malo (New Door/Universal)

Malo always sounded to me like a throwback to the Roy Orbison era on his non-holiday work, so this 2007 CD took me aback with its relentless lounge vibe. I realize that for a lot of readers this is a feature, not a bug, but considering Malo normally plays to the Americana/alternative audience, hearing him yell out "let's swing it now" during "Jingle Bells" is a bit disconcerting. Apparently this is a direction he took with his recent album After Hours and he's clearly found a groove he's not ready to relinquish. For all that, he sings so well and with such personality you really want to try and overlook the Vinnie's Boom-Boom Room atmosphere he lays down here. Song selection is in keeping with the musical style, from the title song through the Great American (Christmas) Songbook, the exceptions being "Blue Christmas," the big-orchestra blues of "Santa Claus Is Back in Town" and a fairly faithful to the original version of "Feliz Navidad." Amazon buyers get a live version of "Blue Christmas" in addition to the studio version, mainly distinguished by his Elvis-ing up the vocal live. This CD might just help break him bigger, but I personally wish he'd taken a more Orbison-like approach to this album.

Snow Angels, Over the Rhine (Red Eye)

This CD is actually the Cincinnati band's second Christmas album; they made one called The Darkest Night of the Year a decade ago. Just found out about that one, though, so we'll stick to this 2007 CD for now. Going back to 1990 as a typical four-piece band, the current incarnation is married couple Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist plus a changing cast of supporting players playing alternative folk-pop. This album is all about the songwriting, mostly Detweiler with help from Bergquist, relying only upon "One Olive Jingle," a jazzed up "Jingle Bells," and "Little Town," a revised melody and reimagined lyrics based upon "O Little Town of Bethlehem," from the canon. Holiday melancholy is the name of the game here, as the title song tells of a spouse lost to an unnamed war at Christmas, "All I Ever Get For Christmas Is Blue" and "New Redemption Day" being self-explanatory, "Little Town" a meditation on the strife in the historic cradle of Christmas, "Here It Is" offering the singer's love to someone who may not deserve it, and more like this. More hopeful thoughts are nestled into "Snowed In With You" and "We're Gonna Pull Through." The vibe is not too dissimilar to Low's Christmas album, though without that group's primitive approach; these guys stress musicianship and show more obvious influences from folk and jazz. Nothing uptempo here, but that's to be expected since this disc is all about its message of the holiday and its effects on people.

Oh Santa!, various artists (Yep Roc)

This rootsy independent label rolled up a bunch of Christmas-oriented tunes from its artist roster for 2007. The subtitle is "New and used holiday classics from Yep Roc Records," and indeed some of these items have slipped out elsewhere, like The Apples in Stereo's "Holiday Mood," Marah's "New York is a Christmas Kind of Town," "Holiday Twist" by Los Straitjackets and Rev. Horton Heat's "Santa on the Roof." Indeed, when you pull this disc up in iTunes it gives the album title as Redeye Christmas, suggesting either a pilot title or a previous release. Anyway, if that number of doubles doesn't dissuade you, there are rewards here. Th' Legendary Shack-Shakers cross Tom Waits with Dick Dale in their unique "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," The Moaners rail against a commercial Christmas in "Something Funny in Santa's Lap," and though the American Princes' "This Business of Christmas" threatens to cover the same territory, it's more about Christmas spirit. Jason Ringenberg with Kristi Rose take things into the country with "Lovely Christmas," Chatham County Line brings us the title song, Cities bemoans that it's "So Cold This Christmas," and Minus 5 pours us a helping of "Your Christmas Whiskey." If we're dealing with Yep Roc, I'd sure like to hear takes on the holiday from John Doe, Robyn Hitchcock and Nick Lowe, but all told this is worth having.

3 Ships, Jon Anderson (Opio Media)

I get a fair number of requests to list this 1985 album by the singer for Yes, and while it clearly belongs here, it's been out of print for years and I've never been enough of a Yes fan to pay auction prices for a copy. Well, it's been reissued, in Europe anyway, as a 22nd anniversary edition, which means it's probably been remastered and it definitely includes five bonus tracks, which are interspersed through the running order rather than grouped at the end. As to the actual music, well, it's not unexpected if you're familiar with the work of Yes, though it's arranged more for orchestra than for small combo. Anderson writes the bulk of the material, though a fair number of classic carols are part of the set list, including the title song and the Mozart version of "Ave Maria." Much of Anderson's music, in fact, takes its cue from the antique carols, and there's very little rock going on here. One might consider this a forerunner of Mannheim Steamroller and Trans-Siberian Orchestra, though with far less bombast than those two. Though it's Jon's show, he's assisted by sometime Yes-men Trevor Rabin and Vangelis, the latter of whom contributed a full song and a co-write, and, for you trivia buffs, Elliot Easton of the Cars performs on electric and acoustic guitars. As for other Yes-oriented Christmas music, mustn't forget "Fox On the Run," not part of this album.

6 Christmas Tales, The Brigadier (The Brigadier)

The Brigadier is Welsh singer-songwriter Matt Williams, who wrote, performed and produced this six-song EP for 2007. It's fairly mellow but lo-fi pop-rock straight across all six cuts, with a fair number of holiday touches. Most songs are mid-tempo except for the disc-ender "Yule Lullaby," which is a more solemn instrumental. Nice work, and I'm sure you'll want to check out his non-holiday disc while you're looking him up. I tracked this to Not Lame, but CD Baby and iTunes have it too.

The Spirit of Giving, The New Pornographers (Matador)

These critical faves from Vancouver slipped out this holiday EP on iTunes this week for 2007, and it's an interesting collection. "Joseph, Who Understood" and the title song are originals, the latter from their latest CD Challengers. As for the third tune, a medley of "Arms of Mary" and "Looking At a Baby," the former is by Iain Sutherland of 70s British folk-rockers The Sutherland Brothers and Quiver via fellow Canadian band Chilliwack, the latter originated with The Collectors, according to the Matador Records blog. Dense and interesting; with such a sensibility, the Pornos would be capable of a really good full holiday CD at some point, if they're interested.

Peace at Last, Hem (Waveland)

Last year, Sally Ellyson joined with Mike Mills for a cover of "Jesus Christ," and now for 2007 her band put together a three-song EP with the original title ballad featuring holiday sentiments, a cover of "Somewhere" from "West Side Story," non-holiday of course, and a slow version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." The latter also turned up on this year's Starbucks compilation, but as so much of that disc is available elsewhere, you can get this instead of that if you need some holiday Hem. More on the mellow side, but it should be welcomed by the band's fans.

"Things We Don't Need Anymore," Jenny Owen Youngs (Nettwerk)

This is a snappy little rocker from somebody I hadn't heard of before this, with a story of a relationship going south in time for Christmas. "Here's to wishes that'll never come true," indeed. It's on iTunes. A bit of holiday anti-cheer for those who need to cry in their eggnog. A great mix disc change-up, though one should be warned before tracking down this Jersey girl's non-holiday work, which sometimes carries a Parental Advisory warning.

"It's Christmas Time," Suzie McNeil (Maple Music)

Toronto's own Suzie McNeil is probably best known for being a finalist on "Rockstar," the reality show that auditioned singers for a reconstituted INXS. This 2007 single, downloadable from Maple, is your standard rock-chick radio anthem with all the holiday touches. No reason this couldn't catch on bigger with the right airplay, by the way.

"The Gift That Keeps Giving," Super Furry Animals (Rough Trade)

I haven't really followed this group over the years, but this pop confection might just get me to reconsider. It has a slight flavor of 70s R'nB as performed by a bunch of white guys, overlaid with just a touch of 60s psychedelia. It's not overtly a Christmas song, but it could slide right in alongside your holiday favorites. It's a free download from their site.

"Christmas," Sofia Talvik (Makaki)

A freebie single for download in three separate mixes from this young Swedish chanteuse, the song is a deeply melancholy story of a woman found dead in the snow. The downbeat sentiments are belied by the bright major-key melody, setting up a nice tension between words and music. A "naked" version dispenses with the rhythm section and a radio edit shaves a minute and a half off its length. Of course, Christmas really is the darkest time of year in Scandinavia....

Merry Christmas EP, Remington Super 60 (self-issued)

If dark takes on the holiday from Scandinavian bands have you thinking there's a regional epidemic of seasonal affective disorder up there, these Norwegian folks should help dispel that notion with this fairly sunny look at the holiday, free to download from their website and complete with cover art. "Here Comes Christmas" gives us the joy of the holiday, "Motorcars" has the singers wondering what Santa will bring, "Wintertime" is a cute synth-pop instrumental and "Christmas Song For Melanie" is a swaying harmonium-led ballad, though "Melanie" gets truncated to "Mel," opening up the possibilities of covers by singers of both genders. A nice gift to the listeners at Christmas time.

"Christmas Ride," Fight (self-issued)

Originally from 1994, this is former Judas Priest singer Rob Halford's one-off holiday single, and the sound will take you JP fans right back to their heyday. Rob's had an interesting ride since he left the band, but by making this available again he's serving notice that some things never change.

"What a Christmas," Henry Gross (self-issued)

The 70s popmeister continues to work in his chosen realm of music, though not with the spotlight he once had. Nevertheless, this freely downloadable acoustic-pop rock holiday anthem will take you right back to Henry's salad days -- or help you make a few fresh holiday memories. This could lay down right next to some of your favorite latter-day power pop.

"Zombies Eating My Brains," Daddy Bone (self-issued)

This indie singer-songwriter secreted this wacky little number away at the end of his self-titled album on CDBaby.com. It's a ukelele-driven Christmas number about how he just wants zombies eating his brains for Christmas. A nice little holiday non sequitur for your mix discs, Daddy helps us out by letting us download it for free off his website.

"All I Want For Christmas," Joss Stone (Virgin)

The young blue-eyed soulstress comes out with this ballad, no relation to the Mariah Carey song, in time for 2007's Christmas season. It's not bad, having a bit, but not a lot, of the retro-soul sound that made her famous. Originally only stream-able from her MySpace page, it's on iTunes now too.

Holiday Hell Yeah!, Go Jimmy Go (Moon Room)

Here's what happens when a band from Honolulu decides to get down for the holiday, or so they would have us believe. Strangely, nobody here is named Jimmy, but the vibe is definitely party music all the way, kicking off with the standard uptempo version of "Merry Christmas Baby" and swinging into the original reggae tune "Holiday Movie Marathon." Needless to say, they take a whack at "Mele Kalikimaka," giving it a more traditional sounding reading complete with slack-key guitar solo, and they break out the ukeleles for the title song, a somewhat more mellow number than the title would suggest, but still light-hearted and fun. "12 Days of Christmas Local Style" starts out with a bit of Bob and Doug MacKenzie-style banter before replacing all the traditional gifts with stuff like a mynah bird in a papaya tree. Worth having for the change of pace, worth noting for those of you who are planning a 98-degree Christmas and don't want to have to use the boy band's record as part of it. Parrotheads might just get a kick out of this too.

Bubblegum Christmas, 1910 Fruitgum Co. (Collectibles)

Bubblegum rock was considered a scourge back in the day when its practitioners ruled the Top 40 charts. That estimate has mellowed a bit with time, as some of those songs aren't all that bad in retrospect (and in small doses, I hasten to add). This isn't some overlooked minor classic from that era, however; it's a recent recording featuring two original members of the band, just out for 2007. It's mostly rock-era classics with a few originals thrown in, including the title song, which is kind of a wan carbon copy of the original band's style. That's pretty much the story of this whole disc -- it's OK from an oldies circuit standpoint, but it lacks the freshness of the original. That's understandable -- imagine what it would sound like if a 60-year-old Justin Timberlake got 'N Sync back together and went out on tour. The bubblegum bands were the boy bands of the late 60s and early 70s, and 30-year-older versions of those musicians just aren't going to sound the same. For evidence, check the non-holiday live version of the Fruitgum hit "Simon Says," and contrast to the original (if you're old enough to remember it, anyway).

"Don't Shoot Me Santa," The Killers (Island Def Jam)

It's the second year in a row this Las Vegas-based band came up with a Christmas single, this time based on the proposition that failure to be a good boy could cost you a lot more than the loss of that Nintendo Wii. Reminiscent of that song from the Chris Stamey album, "The Only Law Santa Claus Understood." Proceeds from this single/download benefit Project (RED), the charity that fights AIDS in Africa. It's already out on iTunes and a physical copy is slated to hit the streets soon.

The Flesh Eating Rollerskate Holiday Joyride, Psychostick (Rock Ridge)

Those of you whose life paths carry you a little too close to the retail sector might well be sick of Christmas already. (Props to Nordstrom for promising to hold the Christmas touches until Thanksgiving week.) If that's you, these guys might well be your holiday soundtrack, assuming metal/punk crunch is your favored genre. "Holiday Hate" brings the bitch list with its "Consumers gotta BUY" chorus, its declaration that Santa doesn't exist and its complaint that Christmas goodies make us fat. Despite the fact that Santa doesn't exist, he turns out to be a "Jollly Old Sadist" who doesn't come through on the wish lists unless you really wanted a shirt box full of socks. "Jingle Bell Metal" is pretty much as advertised, "Silent Night" is nothing of the kind, though it's only 25 seconds long, "Red Snow" is Rudolph's snuff-horror fantasy, causing Johnny Marks to roll over in his grave no doubt, and how else to cap off the festivities than with "Happy F- New Year."

Santa's Playlist, Sister Hazel (Rock Ridge)

The popular Gainesville, Fla. band stepped up this year to the Christmas bar with this solid collection, heavy on familiar tunes rendered in their roots-rock style. The classic "Merry Christmas Baby" gets the E Street Band arrangement, "Little Drummer Boy" is done in a blues shuffle, "White Christmas" gets the white-boy reggae treatment, but later Joni Mitchell's "River" becomes a medley reprising "White Christmas." A Hanukkah alert for "The Dreidel Song," which becomes a hoedown here, and the original "Christmas Time Again" swings into hip-hop territory. Other originals are "It's a New Year (Just Get Along)," which could be Rodney King's theme song, and "There's Something in the Air (At Christmas)," which resorts to the kids' chorus before swinging into a bit of Salvation Army tuba. We're wondering if the band has visited Mistletunes, as their rocked-up version of Stevie Wonder's "One Little Christmas Tree" responds to our review of the original. Rounding things out are solid, if conventional, readings of "Run Rudolph Run" and "Please Come Home For Christmas." A really nice job here, enough to make non-fans seek them out when the holidays are behind us.

Let It Snow Baby, Let it Reindeer, Relient K (Capitol)

Updated entry: These guys are Christian rockers, and this album came out originally in 2003, minus seven new cuts, on Gotee as Deck the Halls, Bruise Your Hand. As with a lot of today's Christian acts, you can't really tell from a cursory listen; only on the original ballad "I Celebrate the Day" do you get any explicit Savior talk. Much of this CD is thrashed-out carols like "Angels We Have Heard on High," "Deck the Halls," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas," "Hallelujah Chorus" and "Nuttin' For Christmas," very cleanly performed. Their pop sensibilities give us energetic covers of "12 Days of Christmas" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," along with a lounge-like "Sleigh Ride." Other originals include "Santa Claus is Thumbing to Town," more frenetic tempos conveying the story of Santa's workshop burning down, and mellower items like "In Like a Lion (Always Winter)," "Boxing Day," a medley of "Silent Night/Away in a Manger" and the original "I Hate Christmas Parties," a downtempo relationship lament. They wrap up by doing a Four Freshmen version of "Auld Lang Syne," and on the new album there's a hidden cut with a bit of goofing around. The original was lots of energy, lots of fun; the extended version more of the same.

Lost Winter's Dream, Lisa Mychols (Rev-Ola/Cherry Red)

I first heard Lisa thanks to Dan Pavelech's pair of Hi-Fi Christmas Party CDs, which each feature a tune from this album. What we have here is a comparative rarity in rock 'n roll Christmas world: a single artist's conception of an original Christmas album with all original tunes. Actually, "Jack Frost" is a cover, but it's such an obscure one that it doesn't hurt the premise. It's a song from a Russian film, "Morozko (Father Frost)," supposedly based on a Russian fairy tale that mashes up various bits of "Cinderella" and the parable of talents from the Bible. "Mystery Science Theatre 3000" fans probably recall the episode in which this film was parodied. But let's not lose sight of Lisa's achievement here, first recorded in 1990 and released in its current form in 2002. With the help of Wondermints Darian Sahanaja and Nick Walusko, she knocks out a power pop masterpiece that has been criminally overlooked even for being a Christmas album by an American artist that's only available as an import. Bangles and GoGos comparisons are a bit too facile; she's clearly learned from the same original sources as those bands without turning this into a spot-the-influences party. You'll certainly hear 60s girl groups and garage rock, Phil Spector, Beach Boys, ELO/Wizzard, 80s power pop and even a bit of Rimsky-Korsakov with balalaikas ("Jack Frost" again) through the 12 songs of this CD. You'll also hear some melancholy in the songwriting, but that just adds more depth to her performance -- I'll let you track down her website for the inspirations behind this album. We've mentioned the title song and "Listen to the Bells Ring" elsewhere on the site, so I'll skip to the funky "Closer to Jerusalem," which could be the soundtrack to a "happening" in a 60s hippy movie; the poppy "We Will Look Away," a bubblegum anthem with just a hint of Partridge Family; "Bernie's 3rd Christmas," a garage-pop workout; the ballad "Christmas Came Too Soon," drenched in a variety of acoustic and electric guitar sounds; and the cello-led climax "Pure and Simple." This is very nearly the Pet Sounds of Christmas albums.

Seasonal Favorites Vol. 2, various artists (Double Crown)

The surf and garage rock authorities at DC are back for a second go-round in the Christmas realm in 2007. The 20 cuts on here are heavy on the surf guitar and the instrumentals, but they manage to mix things up pretty nicely for those inclined to listen all the way through. Pollo Del Mar kicks things off with their "Carol of the Bells," a fairly stately rendition two-thirds of the way through before the drums start double-timing things. "Drums For Christmas" by the Pete Curry Orchestra is as advertised, heavy on the jungle drums, and The Pyronauts bring a bit of "Pipeline" to "O Come All Ye Faithful." Give musicologist The Incredible Mr. Smith props for surfing up the German carol "Leise Rieselt Der Schnee," Surfin' Santa with the Meshugga Beach Party covers the Ventures' version of "Sleigh Ride," and The Dusty Warren Complex's "Little Drummer Boy" goes all Sandy Nelson drum-wise, with a hint of "Wipe Out." Mustn't give short shrift to the vocals on this disc, though, with the winner being The Barbary Coasters' "I Want a Monkey For Christmas," its fanciful lyrics set to Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven." The Icicles are right in there with their 60s girl-group take on "Snowman," Speedball Jr. knows "Rudolph's Secret," and The Daytonas want to keep "Christmas Time For Fun."

"Christmas in Fallujah," Cass Dillon (Impulsive)

Yes, we did review a song with this title not too long ago -- of all the Christmas titles to attract duplicate songs, eh? Dillon does his own singing and songwriting, but this classic rock-sounding tune from 2007 is apparently the first rock song written by Billy Joel in nearly a decade. No mistake -- the Joel connection is touted in the Gracenote info of the downloaded song, as well as the blurb on iTunes. The lyrics are inspired by letters home from Iraq soldiers, though they're woven into a first-person narrative that treads some of the same ground as Jefferson Pepper's tune. Proceeds benefit Homes For Our Troops.

"All That I Want," The Weepies (Nettwerk)

Yes, I know this was the soundtrack to a JCPenney commercial. All I can say to that is that, well, ad weasels like good music too, and this catchy little bit of acoustic-pop ear candy definitely deserves more than 30 seconds of your time. (You hear more of it clicking on the preview in iTunes than you do in the commercial, including some of the male harmony vocals.) The husband-wife team originally rolled this out on their 2003 album Happiness, but it also turned up on the download-only Nettwerk compilation A Winter's Night, a collection I ignored because nearly all the other songs on it were from Nettwerk's other compilations. I gotta learn not to skim these things.

Santastic III in 3-D, various artists (djBC)

The label is also the artist in this case, who compiled, and in some cases masterminded some of, this collection of mashups and parodies for 2007. This is the third year and the third collection in this vein, but I'm just catching up now. "You Shook Me All Noel" by djBC starts out with some "Peanuts" clips but segues quickly into a killer mashup of AC/DC and Sarah MacLachlan. He also takes on the classical "Four Seasons" in three parts, featuring Lauren Hill, Wyclef Jean and Jay Z's mom at various times. "Elvis' Christmas Turkey" by Go Home Productions lays the King over a reggae backing for "White Christmas," and Elvis returns with Atom for "Santa's Pre-Boarding Announcement," which features a litany of goodies layered in over Elvis' "Here Comes Santa Claus." Divide and Kreate's "Velvet Santa" combines Michael Jackson with some heavy Lou Reed riffing on "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." "Brave Bells of Scotland" by Martinn gives us some latter-day Chipmunks action with Frank Sinatra, a Celtic rock band and bagpipe tunes all doubletimed over "Jingle Bells." Andy Williams meets the Yellow Magic Orchestra in Apollo Zero's "Do You Hear Rainbows I Hear," Mojochronic's pair of "Yuletide Zeppelin" cuts turn up here, and A Plus D Christmases up the "SNL" classic bit as "Xmas Dick in a Box." Two Hanukkah Alerts are included here too, with Voicedude stealing the Three Weissmans' "Jingle Bells," Adam Sandler's "Hanukkah Song," the "Dreidel Song," Allan Sherman and South Park to make "Dreidel All the Way," and DJ Flack gives us "Hanukkah-In-Dub," a cut-and-paste of various appropriate original sources over a Matisyahu performance. "Safety Bells" by DJ Earlybird mashes Smokey Robinson with Men Without Hats, David Hasselhoff is fodder for "Alala Falala Hasselhoff" by DJ Freddy King of Pants, "Last Christmas Twist" by Fettdog puts some hard-rock crunch on top of the Wham tune, and Voicedude returns to "Imagine Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" with John Lennon on top of the familiar carol. Projects like this have a tendency towards excess, but I think a lot of folks not familiar with the mashup world could listen to this all the way through and enjoy it. While you're at the site downloading this, click on the Give link and remember a fine charity in exchange for the music.

A Very Standard Christmas, various artists (Standard Recording Company)

Indie label Standard sicced its roster on Christmas for 2006, plus a few folks who aren't on the label, and this compilation is the result. Liner notes say they were still mixing this in November 2006, which makes me think this might be the first full holiday season this has been available. BIGBIGcar gets things rolling with a falsetto reading of "All I Want For Christmas," the Mariah Carey one, followed by Everything, Now!'s medley of "Jesus Christ" with Sun Ra's "Nuclear War," for you space jazz freaks out there. Those of you who attended college during the recessions of the 1970s might get a nostalgic glow from Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band as it renders "Plasma For Christmas," as in "I'll be giving plasma for Christmas this year." Red Queen Hypothesis recalls a "Crockpot Barbecue" and Elephant Micah reprises "Jesus Christ," a more ethereal synth 'n strumming rendition here. Arrah and the Ferns go all pedantic with "Merry Christmas, Not Xmas," and Harley Poe brings the horror aspect to "It's Christmas Time Again," with this deathless couplet: "The big red man called Santa Claus/Will chop you up with knives and saws." And Dean Plays Hardball's "Little Retail Boy" starts out as "Drummer Boy" but pushes the point a little farther. This is a nice collection for those of you who like their alt-rock on the down-low, budget-wise.

Ghosts of Christmas Past: Chantons Noel, various artists (LTM)

This compilation originally hit the streets in the vinyl era, 1981 to be precise, and has been reissued a couple of times with different lineups of songs. It was originally put together by Les Disques du Crepuscule, a Belgian independent label whose name, near as I can tell, means "records in the dark." The label's roster featured post-punk and "new wave" artists like Paul Haig, Wim Mertens and Tuxedomoon, who are represented here along with artists from such labels as Factory and Postcard. This 2007 reissue gathers up all the different songs that have been part of the album over the years, along with the various bits of cover art in which they were housed. Some more unkind folks might consider this a representative sample of early to mid-80s mope rock, but I say this stuff is well thought out even at its most obscure. The Swinging Buildings do their best Depeche Mode on "Praying For a Cheaper Christmas," Paul Haig's "Christiana" is a relationship song involving an appropriately named woman, while his "Scottish Christmas" is a more upbeat instrumental, and Aztec Camera goes all Django Reinhart on "Hot Club of Christmas," a swingy acoustic guitar medley of carols. Durutti Column contributes a pair of ethereal instrumentals, "One Christmas For Your Thoughts" and "Snowflakes." The French Impressionists try their hand at an American funk arrangement of "Santa Baby," and Hillcrest Club take an XTC approach to the instrumental "Breakfast at Christmas." Hawaiian Christmases are considered twice here, with Magazzini Criminali's "Honolulu 25 Dicembre 1990," though I'm at a loss to make the connection through the quasi-free jazz and Italian whispering, and Antena's "Noelle a Hawaii," which gets a bit of spaghetti Western guitar going against ocean sounds before shifting into synth-pop. This is a fairly eclectic grouping with not a lot of obvious holiday connections, possibly off-putting to some and right up others' alleys. Gotta say this stuff holds up pretty well for being a quarter-century old, too.

Fuzz For the Holidays, Davie Allan and the Arrows (Wicked Cool)
Fuzz For the Holidays II, Davie Allan and the Arrows (Spinout)

This instrumental rock band came up in the 1960s with hits like "Apache '65" and "Blue's Theme," and they've managed to keep the flame burning from those days to this one. Coming after such guitar combos as the Ventures, the Arrows cranked their old-school amps to 11 to get that classic "fuzz" sound that is featured in the titles of both these Christmas albums. But not to worry, vintage keyboards are a big part of the sound, too, which gives them the opportunity to sweeten things with clavioline, glock and bells as well as the iconic Vox Continental organ. The first of these two albums is from 2004 and was produced by Silvio Dante himself, Little Steven Van Zandt, while the second, from 2007, was produced by Allan. The earlier disc is all classic carols, with a brief "Ho Ho Seven" by Little Steven prequeling "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," while the second throws in three originals written or co-written by Allan. Two of those, "A Winter Song" and "Santa on the Run," are vocals featuring Allan at the mike. The sound is actually a little too well-produced on both discs, losing a bit of the garage ethos the band had back in the day, but they retain their unique sound throughout both these discs.

Discomfort and Joy, Jingle Punx (Jingle Punx)

They're back, this punk-hard rock group with the holiday fetish. As they have for a decade now, they've released yet another CD of Christmas goodies. This time around, they've given us only six fresh studio recordings, but they make up for it with nearly 30 live recordings of tunes they've done in the past. They sound more hard rock than punk on the studio cuts, with overtones of the garage sound, especially on "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." They cover Ringo Starr's "Come On Christmas, Christmas Come On" and lend a suitable thrash to "Christmastime Is Here," the "Peanuts" gang's song. "O Come All Ye Faithful" harkens back to their older, punkier sound, and they keep a bit of the Latin flavor in "Feliz Navidad" before going double-time on the chorus. Finally, they cover Weird Al Yankovic's "Christmas at Ground Zero," which must make the old parodist proud. Then they transition into the live show with a parody reading of "A Visit From St. Nicholas," followed by performances of such oldies but goodies as "Mrs. Santa Claus," "Snoopy's Christmas," "Please Daddy Don't Get Drunk This Christmas," and the usual array of classic carols done Jingle Punx style. If you haven't been following the band, this disc is just about all you need.

Merry X-mas Dammit From the Double Down Saloon, various artists (Wood Shampoo)

The saloon is a real place, or should I say places, with locations in Las Vegas and Manhattan, and this is a collection of bands that play either or both saloons doing both records. The bands featured here are a mix of hard rockers and bar bands (in the best sense of the term), and the disc obviously is meant as a branding exercise for the saloon. Murphy's Law kicks things off with a horn-laden cover of Bob Seger's "Sock It To Me Santa," the Lonesome Spurs get a bit country on "Jingle Bells, the Dirty Panties thrash out "Santa Baby," the Las Vegas All-Stars do an "X-Mess Medley" of familiar carols, The Peccadilloes hammer out "Nuttin' For Christmas" and The Real Shames cover The Sonics' "Santa Claus." Some items released elsewhere appear here too, like Richard Cheese's "Christmas In Las Vegas" and Evil Beaver's "Blue Christmas." And for those looking for something a bit more transgressive, the Double Down obliges with The Vermin and the Ramones-ish thrash of "Santa Was a Cross Dressing Nazi," The Clydesdale redneck things up with "Imo Shoot Me a Reindeer," Suite 666 says "Santa Blow Me," and 1/2 Ast sings of a "Gay Christmas."

From All of Us Too: Merry Christmas, various artists (www.fromallofus.se)

Our friends from Gävle, Sweden, who brought us From All of Us last year, are back with another effort from local musicians to benefit homeless services in 2007. This year they've got a MySpace page, too, from whence this can be ordered. This is a fairly eclectic sampling of rock styles, from the piano ballad "This Sacred Night by Stefan Bjorling to the "American Idol"-friendly "Where R U? Come Christmas" by Emile, an r'nb handclapper. In between are the electro-pop ballad "Christmas Fire" by The Deertracks, Geemo's power pop jangler "Christmas Day," Bob & the Pop's quasi-music hall "Christmas Carol," La Corriente's breathy lament "Christmas in Denial," Chican's profane folk-pop "Scum and Loitering," Derry Quay's semi-Celtic "Deviest Molly," The Ballrom Bettys' punky "Homemade X-Mas Cards," and topping it all off is the epic progressive rock story of "And Terry Takes the Christmas Route" by Beardfish, which no doubt has Jack Black green with envy. Another great job by the guys from Gävle.

"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," Maroon 5 (OctoScope)

This funky five saw fit to celebrate the 2007 season with this rock Christmas classic, taking a spare, balladic approach emphasizing voice and piano rather than choirs of guitars and voices. Some will find this falls short, others might welcome the chance to reflect upon the lyrics. From iTunes and probably other downloadable locations. Update: Martin Johns informs us this originally turned up on a Best Buy "Sweet Tracks" comp in 2005, as did the Lifehouse version of "Silent Night."

"Christmas is Awesome," Reuben (Hideous)

Well, yeah! Reuben is a British punk/hard rock outfit and this single was fresh for 2007, plus the YouTube video seemed to be making pretty good dent in the zeitgeist this year. Unfortunately, some sort of paperwork hangup got this song pitched from consideration for the U.K. charts, no doubt a heartbreaker for a British band if you've seen "Love Actually." Lots of thrash, featuring the message "we're off work today, hang the mistletoe, a child is born, sorry about all that nailed to the cross business, let's party and oh yeah, Christmas is awesome." Can't argue with that, now can we? If the video isn't enough, the song is on iTunes, and probably other online stores.

"Season's Greetings," Robbers on High Street (New Line)

A sprightly original single from this pop-rock band from Poughkeepsie, which I found on iTunes but is also floating around free of charge. It turns out to be a cover of one of those tunes memorialized on the American Song Poem Project, and is all the more effective for having been performed professionally with a straight face.

"Santa Got Soul"/"This Christmas," Better Off Dead (self-issued)

Two rocked-up bar band anthems for the holiday, both originals, both free at their website -- but in payment, they'd like you to check out A King Family Christmas, the benefit CD for New Orleans musicians displaced by Hurricane Katrina, which is reviewed here and is well worth your time.

"Little Red Radio," Pas/Cal (Le Grand Magistery)

From a 2007 EP, this straight-ahead organ-led rocker will really liven up your mix discs. The singer wants a Cadillac, among other things, which puts him right in the tradition of early rock 'n roll Christmases. And since Cadillacs are actually pretty good cars nowadays (and he didn't specifically ask for an Escalade, so that's how we know it's not a rap record), it's a timely reference.

"Christmas Ghost," Manic Street Preachers (self-issued)

A free download from their website, this is a thrashingly good rocker with just the right amount of Christmas bells and a Slade-like shouted chorus. It's about letting the holiday fuel your imagination, rather than the material things.

"Sweet Baby Jesus," Joe Algieri (self-issued)

Joe's a member of Jack & the Beanstalks, a Perth, Australia band, and he likes to let a Christmas song fly every year. This year's is the above-titled number, which does not play off "Sweet Baby James" but does cross love-song sentiments in a midtempo ballad with a yearning to see the baby Jesus. Nice work, and while you're on his MySpace page you can hear some of his other Xmas tunes like "Cindy Brady" and "I Saw Santa With a Gun."

"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "Let's Make Christmas Merry," Brother Cane (self-issued)

Matthew Edwardson tipped me to this pair of tunes, a solid acoustic rock arrangement of the traditional carol paired with a blues-rocker with plenty of slide guitar and single-entendres. Good work, and freely downloadable from former Bro Damon Johnson's website.

"Christmas Everyday"/"Please Come Home For Christmas," Tommy Castro (self-issued)

Free downloads from the blues-rock guitarist's website, featuring Marcia Ball singing "Everyday" and Calvin Owens doing the honors on the Charles Brown classic. No surprises, but solid blues performances free of charge.

"Silent Night," Lifehouse (Geffen)

The "Hanging By a Moment" boys rolled this single out on iTunes for 2007, the classic carol rendered as a country waltz. Nice job, not too reverent and not too unrecognizable. Update: Martin Johns informs us this originally turned up on a Best Buy "Sweet Tracks" comp in 2005, as did the Maroon 5 "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)."

Mod Guitar Christmas, Stratocruiser (Waterstone)

The guitar maker is pushing this guitar-named power pop band with a four-song EP for 2007, featuring their "Last Christmas Girl" we reviewed last year as well as the title song, with its references to jingle-jangle meshing nicely with the jangling guitar sounds; "Holidaze," with its "what I need" chorus rejecting all material goods in favor of love; and a cover of the Osmonds' (yes) "Crazy Horses," which isn't a holiday tune near as I can tell, but their performance of it does have a slight sniff of Tenacious D about it. A nice little treat that's only available through Waterstone unless you live in the North Carolina area, near as I can tell. So far, I haven't found a retail link to it. Update: Yes, Stratocruiser is actually an airplane; I was thinking of it as a pun on the famous Fender Stratocaster guitar, though the folks at Waterstone might prefer you think of their own fine line of guitars first.

"The Christmas Sound," The Swimmers (self-issued)

This Philadelphia band gets more of a Sixties sound than a Christmas sound out of this catchy little number, but if this is what they sound like all the time, they probably deserve to break out of their home town, dancing all the way to this rockin' holiday tune's go-go beat. Downloaded it from WXPN-FM's website.

"She's a Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas," Patent Pending (We Put Out)

And she'll be spreading her Christmas cheer again this year. Yes, it's a single entendre, and it's a pun that's getting pretty old, but you gotta giggle about her stalking the mall Santa all liquored up, especially at the double time tempo these guys put it to. Good fun, downloaded this one from Amazon, haven't seen any hardcopy version.

Joe Gibbs Reggae Christmas, Joe Gibbs Family of Artists (VP Records)

I first encountered this record back about 1983 in a Jamaican bodega in Toronto's Kensington Market. (Wikipedia has this as a 1979 original release.) I managed to get a couple of cuts from it onto my holiday mix tapes before the sucker warped like a Lay's potato chip. It took until 2007 for it to be reissued in the digital realm, on CD and as a downloadable album. It remains as good as I remembered it, heavier-sounding than the vintage reggae Christmas albums from Trojan that are endlessly reissued. The centerpiece of the album is a pair of 11-minute carol medleys, which might be a bit much for disc mixers but they no doubt go whizzing by when you're passing the dutchie on the left-hand side for the whole time. Beres Hammond is featured on "Winter Wonderland" and Horace Andy is credited on "O Little Town of Bethlehem." They also work out on the "12 Days of Christmas," get a little clavinet action going on "We Three Kings" and go a bit uptempo on what appears to be the album's only original, "Let X-mas Catch You In a Good Mood." This might sound a little sedate to those used to today's hip-hop flavored varieties of reggae and reggaeton, but it never hurts to get back to the roots.

Merry Merseybeat Christmas, Frank Lee Sprague (Wichita Falls Records)

I would assume there's a lot of love for the original British Invasion among the folks who visit here, some gleaned from original experience and some from determined fandom among the younger visitors. So I'd expect Sprague would have a strong constituency here for an album such as this one, released in 2006. He hits a fair variety of Merseyside readymades in these 11 songs -- you'll hear bits of the arrangement from "And I Love Her" in "My Love Will Grow," for example, and a taste of the original bands' love for period R'nB in "Christmas Time." Frank, however, sounds most to these ears like Gerry and the Pacemakers, which is not a bad thing but it contributes to the whole album sounding a bit samey-samey throughout. Several of the later tunes on the album tend more toward Christian rock done Mersey style, for what that's worth to you as a listener. There's a 12th song, "For the Wings of a Dove," which is his lyrics over a Felix Mendelssohn melody accompanied only by organ, followed by three hidden tunes, two of which are the same song, one as a solo guitar demo and the other a Merseybeat version, none of which have much to do with Christmas. A bit of a mixed bag overall, but there are plenty of good mix disc opportunities on here.

Smashed For the Holidays, Jacqui Naylor (Rubystar)

Don't worry, Jacqui's not ankles-up in the eggnog; the "smashed" in the title refers to her musical trademark of smashing together jazz and rock by setting rock songs to jazz arrangements and vice versa. Actually, she doesn't do quite so much of this on her first holiday album, just out for 2007, which is a shame, given what she came up with. "Silver Bells" is sung over "Every Breath You Take," "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" is set to the arrangement of "Sweet Home Alabama," "We Three Kings" is layered over Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" and, the killer cut from this album, "Santa Baby" meets Zep's "D'yer Maker." Unfortunately, the rest of the disc wavers among adult contemporary and jazz, as in her "relaxed" versions of The Kinks' "Father Christmas" and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." She brings four originals to the table, "Thank You Baby," the ballads "Celebrate Early and Often" and "Winter" and the syncopated "Christmas Ain't What It Used to Be." Good talent, but next time around keep the "smash-ups" coming.

"Perfect Christmas," Sisqo (Dragon Music)

The R'nB crooner of "Thong Song" let this slip out for Christmas 2006, a by-the-book modern holiday tune in the current style, complete with spoken intro and full of romantic allusions to the holiday. It's nice work; I wonder if he's testing the waters for a full CD. Apparently he let people download this free from his MySpace page, but it wasn't there at the time I posted this. I found it on iTunes.

Have Yourself a Very KT Christmas, KT Tunstall (EMI/NBC Universal)

This 2007 EP will probably be more easily recognized as The KT Tunstall Holiday Collection, as that's what it says on the piece of cardboard Target glued over the front, but the title I used is on the real cover and comes up when I play the disc in iTunes. This is part of an NBC/Target "Sounds of the Season" promotion, so it's only available at the store in question. The "Suddenly I See" belter doesn't get real creative with song selection, picking four contemporary tunes and two classics, and her versions of "2000 Miles" and "Fairytale of New York" are basically cover-band workouts. But she gets points for a sprightly rhythmic workout on "Sleigh Ride," with KT on toy piano, a rocked-up "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," a stylish version of "Mele Kalikimaka" and a melancholy take on "Lonely This Christmas," originally made by 70s British pop band Mud. Definitely worth the $7.

The Elliott Yamin Holiday Collection, Elliot Yamin (Pulse/NBC Universal)

Also part of the Target/NBC holiday push, this marks a brief truce between me and former "American Idol" performers. This $7 CD has eight songs, including three originals, none by Yamin, and the performances are quite good in a blue-eyed soul vein. Yamin's an excellent singer, though he's way too influenced by Stevie Wonder -- gotta find an original voice, son. That said, strong outings are a shuffling "Jingle Bells" not too dissimilar to Lisa Loeb's arrangement, a faithful "This Christmas," a slow-jams take on the Mel Torme "Christmas Song," and the uptempo original "A Very Merry Xmas." The other songs are good enough to carry a listener through to the end.

A Santa Cause Volume 2, various artists (Immortal)

Like the previous volume, this collection is being sold as a benefit for pediatric AIDS. This time around, there are a bumper crop of performers resulting in 26 cuts, good value for money. Dave Mellillo kicks things off with a rocked-out version of Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas," followed quickly by "January," a New Year's cruncher by Tyler Read. (Usually you save the New Year's cuts for the end.) Sugarcult gives the Ramones treatment to "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," It Dies Today gives the thrash treatment to "Feliz Navidad," and homage-style arrangements are featured on Action Action's "Father Christmas," "Wonderful Christmastime" by June, and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" by Hot Rod Circuit. Among the original tunes is Spitalfield's "It's Cold Out There" and "Not Giving In" by Rediscover, a couple of Beth Orton-ized acoustic ballads; "Stay" by Down To Earth Approach features the singer apologizing to a Christmas tree for cutting it down; "Gary the Green-Nosed Reindeer" by MC Lars is an acoustic hip-hop romp in which Gary, Rudolph's half-brother, makes his holiday bones when he saves Xmas from Osama bin Laden; and quite a bit more, actually. This is sold mainly as a download from the label only, but there are some CDs floating around in which Vols. 1 and 2 are packaged together. Either way, a good deal for alternative rock holiday music.

The Last Noel, The Automatics (Dork)

This is an original British punk-era band that has essentially persisted to the present day under the auspices of original lead singer and songwriter David Philip, though it's been an L.A.-based band since about 1987. After trickling a couple of holiday cuts out over the years, Philip decided to sit down and write an entire ceedee's worth of holiday tunes, and this 2007 album is the result. The whole shebang started out with "Peace on Earth," a midtempo rocker featuring former Sex Pistol Steve Jones on guitar. This has been around for a while but I’m just finally hearing it, and it's definitely a holiday single. There's really not much of the punk sneer about this album -- it's simply a hard-rocking ode to the holiday season. I don't know if Philip has any second thoughts about having two different songs titled "Ring Out Your Christmas Bells" and "Let the Bells Ring Out For Christmas," but then I'm probably the only one who will notice. "Come On Santa, Hand it Over" is a nice uptempo rocker, echoing "Father Christmas" in that there's a stickup involving Santa in the chorus. There's also two versions of the previously released rocker "Merry Christmas." Note to iTunes purchasers: half the song titles were mixed up when I downloaded the full album.

"All I Want For Christmas Is You," Teddy Geiger (Sony BMG)

A nice 2006 alt-folkish cover of the Mariah Carey song from this young singer-songwriter and actor who's big with the teen girl set. Don't let that status put you off; this is quite listenable and a cool counterpart to the original in the same way that Aztec Camera's folk-pop ballad version of "Jump" was to Van Halen's bombastic original. It's part of an EP, Snow Blankets the Night, that has several originals including "I Found an Angel," another Christmas tune.

Switched On Christmas, Venus Hum (Mono Fi)

From 2001, I don't know how I managed to let this slightly crazed EP slip by me up till now. This is old school electro-pop from a Memphis-based band (really!) reaching all the way back to Kraftwerk days, with a stopover at Depeche Mode's house. "Let It Snow" renders its vocals via vocorder for that nice disembodied alien effect, "Suzy Snowflake" gets a strong female vocal, "Silent Night" adds a bit of sequencer backing over a funky bass synth bed, while "Silver Bells" and the Mel Torme-composed "The Christmas Song" brings in some real percussion and guitar for ballad arrangements with backbeats. A brief instrumental original, "St. Mary's Lake," rounds out the set.

Christmas at the Arcade, LF (I Records)

Keeping strictly to the requirements of the Truth in Packaging Act, this 2006 EP is composed of Christmas carols mashed together from original coin-op arcade sound effects. You haven't lived until you've heard "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" backed by the sound effects from "Donkey Kong." Many's the Christmas party that will come to a stop as revelers try to identify which games all the different bleeps and bloops come from. There's a bit of real percussion and synth used to tie the sounds together into something recognizable, of course. "Carol of the Bells" appears to be based on the old room-escape game "Berzerk," a blast of "Galaga" kicks off "Let It Snow," and, well, let me not spoil it any further, except to note there are versions of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" and "Jingle Bells vs. Here Comes Santa Claus" on here too. Only on iTunes, as far as I know.

"Xmas," Jesse Malin (Artemis)

A downtempo lyric set against cello and angelic backing vocals, Jesse laments the girl he lost as the snow comes down. A very evocative number from the 2006 album The Fine Art of Self-Destruction.

"The Holidays are Here (And We're Still At War)," Brett Dennen (Dualtone)

A folky little protest shuffle, the dark side of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," coming up short of naming names and places but making its meaning clear nevertheless. Testaments rhyme with investments, towns that drown, corporations that cut employees as factories move overseas, prayers for victims, families and enemies -- Dennen gets them all into this 2006 single. I think back to those folks who laughed at John Lennon back in 1971 and wondered who'd give a damn about his little Christmas song after the Vietnam war was over. Will Dennen's song fade away with the Bush administration and its most un-excellent adventures? You'll never catch me making that prediction.

Winter Snow and Icicles, The Nines (self-issued)

This five-song EP from 2006 is a wildly limited edition, only 500 copies available from this Toronto pop-rock group. "It's Christmas" has the group doing the Beach Boys' best impression of the Four Freshmen a capella before bringing in the instruments, "Snowbound" is a piano and strings ballad, "Christmas" is a vocal counterpoint backed by acoustic guitar, "Goodnight My Love" gets that post-15 Big Ones Beach Boys influence with electric piano and backing vocals set off with just a touch of jingle bells, and "Winter Song" sets up a military shuffle with acoustic guitars to tell its story. The folks at Not Lame predict a fair amount of eBay action among those who get shut out of this limited issue, and it's easy to see why. A live version of "Goodnight My Love" recorded with the Toronto Symphony is available via download to those lucky enough to get this.

"Christmas Makes Me HOT!", 13 Stories (self-issued)

This guys 'n chicks power-pop ensemble from Atlanta dropped this back in 2006, I believe, and it's a great uptempo tune about a girl falling in love with a Christmas elf she met in a chat room. Ah, but how does the elf get broadband at the North Pole? Was he tapping in messages via his iPhone? Inquiring minds want to know. Easily downloadable from their MySpace page.

"Little Saint Nick"/"Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)," Jim Boggia (self-issued)

Boggia is a local musician in Philadelphia who has helped some better-known folks out behind the scenes, and he's also got an album or two of his own music to his credit. These were downloaded from his own website, a couple of faithfully-recreated versions of the Beach Boys and Darlene Love/Phil Spector favorites. He's also on record with a slavishly re-created version of "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)."

"I Hate December," Ivy (Seed)

From the 1994 EP Lately, this deep melancholy ballad offers a bit of a curative when the happy side of the holiday gets a little too oppressive. This band features vocalist Dominique Durand plus Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne, who did a fair amount of songwriting for this band just as he does for the Waynes.

"Give the Jew Girl Toys," Sarah Silverman (Interscope)

Not exactly a Hanukkah Alert, the popular comedienne threw together this poppy little foul-mouthed tune about present envy on the part of her people for 2005. There are "clean" versions, though they simply mute the bad words. But there are plenty of laughs here, and if your mix disc audiences can handle a Parental Advisory sticker, I'd say go with it.

"Anorak Christmas," Sally Shapiro (Paper Bag)

From her 2007 album Disco Romance, this is as advertised, an electro-disco holiday romance record by a Swedish pop star. Couldn't pick up the word "anorak" anywhere in the song after a couple of listenings; guess in Sweden it's just assumed everybody wears raincoats all the time. A nice 80s buzz with a wispy vocal of the kind you might almost predict for a Swedish disco queen who isn't a member of Abba.

"Through the Winter"/"21st Century Christmas," Saint Etienne (Foreign Office)

This was a 2006 fan-club single, featuring "Winter," a synth-poppy love ballad, and "21st Century Christmas," a mid-tempo pop rocker that is, according to saintetiennedisco.com, a Cliff Richard cover. The band is on record with other Christmas specialties, going back to 1993's single "I Was Born on Christmas Day," which also included the Billy Fury cover "My Christmas Prayer," and, in 12-inch single guise, adding "Snowplough" and "Peterloo." 1995 brought fan club members Xmas '95, a disc with "A Christmas Gift to You," "Driving Home For Christmas" and "Message in a Bottle." The fans also were privvy to Xmas '98, released in January 1999, featuring "I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You" and "Kofi Annan." Then came fan club EP Xmas 2003, featuring "Come On Christmas," "Snow," and "Marcie Dreams of Deptford." The above website also tipped us to a 2006 gig with a mini-set of Christmas favorites, mostly chosen from the above songs but also including "New Year" by the Sugababes. Finally, lurking on a fan club compilation called Asleep at the Wheels of Steel, is the song "Christmas 1936." Oh, Saint Etienne, you are such Christmas teases, as it sure looks like there's enough in hand for an album already.

"You Know It's Christmas," Hipjoint (Nettwerk)

This 2006 single comes from Hipjoint Productions, the Canadian production/promotion house that works with such folks as Katie Melua, Shiloh, Kelly Rowland, Daniel Powter and others. There's no artist credits for this thing, other than a press release that states the performance is "led by our own Mike James and the Hipjoint staff." A Nettwerk page for Troy Samson gives the song as one of his compositions, and that's pretty much all I can find out. Nevertheless, it's a strong acoustic/electric pop-rocker, with guitar figures reminiscent of "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." Lyrically, it's all about those signposts that tell you it's the holiday season. Available as a paid download from Nettwerk's own store, in unprotected mp3 for you purists out there.

Christmas in the Northwest 10, various artists (Children's Music Fund)

Time for the 2007 edition of this Seattle-based tradition to raise money for children's hospitals in Seattle, Portland and Bend, Ore. This is far more pop-oriented than most of what you see on this site, in various flavors ranging from jazz-flavored through the kids' choir genre, with a fair number of acoustic folk-pop items reaching ever slightly toward country. Some rock-oriented things sneak in like King of Hawaii's surf-guitar "Greensleeves," Marika's "Christmas Came Early" and "I Wanna Be Blake" by WannaBe Idolz, which is a literal paen to being an "American Idol," namechecking not only Blake but Sanjaya. Stacy Errico provides a soulful "Blessed in the Northwest" that essentially serves as this collection's near-title song, though a few others give the Northwest shout-out as well. For the most part, the artists here get credit for doing mainly original tunes, and it's a good cause, but again, it's a far more pop than rock collection.

Christmas Songs, Jars of Clay (Gray Matters/Nettwerk)

These Christian rockers came out about a decade ago with a single of "Little Drummer Boy," which is rerecorded for this new disc in a similar arrangement but with a bit more orchestration. After the instrumental "The Gift of St. Cecilia," they launch this 2007 CD with Paul McCartney's "Wonderful Christmastime," a slightly different arrangement that leaves Sir Paul's slapdash approach behind. The poppy "Love Came Down at Christmas" is built on an Irish folk melody and is eminently singable, "Hibernation Day" is about slacking off with your baby in the wintertime, "Winter Skin" is a musical haiku and "Peace is Here" puts a martial beat to a holiday sentiment. Among the other covers are "Gabriel's Message," very much like Sting's, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" gets a long build into quick strumming over cellos, "O Little Town of Bethlehem" is given a slightly synth-pop arrangement, they add a bit of R'nB to "Christmastime is Here," and set downtempo arrangements to "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" and, no surprise, "In the Bleak Midwinter." Taken in total, it's a fairly mellow listening experience, but there's plenty of highlights for you disc mixers out there.

Alternative Rock Xmas, various artists (Capitol)

This is mainly a trip through the vaults, but it's not bad for all that, even though fans probably have large numbers of the cuts on here. I personally have several copies of the Smithereens' "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," Dandy Warhols' "Little Drummer Boy," Sinead O'Connor's "Silent Night, Jimmy Eat World's "Christmas Card" and "12/23/95," and The Alarm's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." But I definitely didn't have the two Decemberists' cuts here, "Angel Won't You Call Me" and "Please Daddy (Don't Get Drunk This Christmas)," Luscious Jackson's Gap commercial "Let It Snow," or The Specials' instrumental "Holiday Fortnight," which sounds more calypso than ska to these ears. Also on here are Marcy Playground's "Keegan's Christmas," Relient K's "In Like a Lion (Always Winter)," Starflyer 69's "Christmas Time Is Here," The Thrills' downtempo version of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," Dada's "My Baby Fell for Old St. Nick" and Everclear's male-voice take on "Santa Baby." Those without the resources to do mix discs could do worse than to grab this.

My Holiday, Mindy Smith (Vanguard)

Mindy Smith is a singer/songwriter with one foot in Nashville, one foot in folk and one foot in the adult alternative genre. OK, too many feet, but these three genres suggest an artist that's not going to rock out in the Mistletunes-approved way. And that's pretty much the case. All three genres predominate in ballad style throughout the album, though Mindy's original songs do recommend a second listening, some written solo and some with fellow Nashville-ite Chely Wright. Alison Krauss stops by to harmonize on "Away in a Manger" as well. The traditional carols offer few surprises in style, though "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" throws a bit of soft jazz into the mix, as does "It Really Is (A Wonderful Life.)" A bit of rock, of the Christian variety, creeps into the playlist at the end with the sprightly "Come Around."

Monster Ballads Xmas, various artists (Razor & Tie)

Another lunge up out of the primordial ooze from the hard rock segment, though marketing trumps music this go-round, as a fair number of these songs were recycled from 2003's hair-metal semi-classic, We Wish You a Hairy Christmas. Billy Idol's "Christmas Love" from his recent CD is here, and the Twisted Sister Christmas CD also contributes a cut, the version of "I'll Be Home For Christmas" done with Lita Ford. Songs by Danger Danger, Enuff Z'Nuff, L.A. Guns and Faster Pussycat are the repeats from Hairy. There remain nine unique cuts, enough to recommend this to fans of the genre. Jani Lane of Warrant and Tom Keifer of Cinderella offer takes on classics, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "Blue Christmas." Winger's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" starts out a faithful cover but gradually metals things up along the way, Queensryche's "White Christmas" is kind of hammy in the way a Bob Rivers parody might be, and Nelson's "Jingle Bell Rock" takes things uptempo in a fairly refreshing way. Stryper throws down live with their version of "Winter Wonderland," heavy on the bass drums, and Firehouse's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" takes a similar approach. For those who didn't get enough from Hairy, this will take pride of place in their collections.

Christmas Wish (Deluxe Edition), NRBQ (Clang!)

This originally was an eight-cut vinyl EP on Rounder in 1986, in fact, I have a copy of that but never got around to posting an entry on it until now. The liner notes do a pretty good job of tracing the history of NRBQ and Christmas, and this deluxe edition adds a number of cuts from over time, starting with a cut from a different 1978 EP and ranging through to 1995. The band, a critics' favorite that never had a real live hit, essentially broke up in 1994 but its various members keep coming together for projects and anniversary shows. Their original Christmas song, "Christmas Wish," has turned up on a few compilations over the years and was covered in 2007 by Darlene Love. It turns up three times here, in the original version, as a reprise, and in a "TV version" that is an instrumental. Overall, this CD, which started out as a slapdash EP project in the vein of Beach Boys' Party and Christmas Time Again by Chris Stamey and friends, is a little too slapdash, with the vast majority of the 19 songs being under two minutes and a fair number being live bits of goofing around with traditional carols. Terry Adams' "Electric Train" and "Holiday are the only other original tunes, all of which date back to the first issue of the EP. This is probably more for NRBQ fans and completists, though the title song remains an overlooked gem.

I'll Be Home For Christmas, The Isley Brothers (Def Jam)

When older artists from the classic soul era step into the Christmas genre, the results tend to be more easy listening than R'nB, and the Isleys, now featuring just Ronald and Ernie, fall right into that description, even with the production assistance of 80s whizzes Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The originals on here, "I'm In Love" and "What Can I Buy You," are closest to R'nB, the former in a 70s ballad vein and the latter resembling a Jam/Lewis trademark ballad production. The rest is pop with a bit of jazz and soul, and they put together an "Isleys Christmas Medley" of classic carols that is strictly 1970s variety show in execution. If you can download the originals, you'll be ahead of the game.

"The Atheist Christmas Carol," Vienna Teng (Virt)

This being the year of Christopher Hitchens' and Richard Dawkins' meditations on a world without God, it seemed like kismet to have stumbled upon this 2003 song from this former software engineer's album Warm Strangers. Fans of the above authors will be disappointed, however; the confrontational title fronts a perfectly appropriate holiday ballad whose major nod to its title is its failure to use the word "Christmas." But it does round up the mixture of feelings the holiday evokes in a way that expresses empathy without vetting the listener for religious preferences. If that's a thumb in the eye to the hucksters who annually peddle a "War on Christmas," so be it.

"Carol of the Bells," The Bird and the Bee (Blue Note)

This guy and gal duo, a couple of self-professed jazz nerds, nevertheless have made a bit of a name for themselves in the pop realm with their self-titled album and a couple of EPs, including their hit single "F-ing Boyfriend." This classic carol gets a Sixties pop-chanteuse treatment from them. It's a single on iTunes.

"Mistletoe," Colbie Caillat (Universal Republic)

The very model of a modern MySpace phenomenon, Colbie's known for her hit "Bubbly," but this Christmas single is a little less so, a medium tempo ballad expressing mixed but ultimately positive feelings upon the approach of the holiday. There's playback on her MySpace page and a download at iTunes.

The Nutcracker Suite Electronique, Brete (self-issued)

This is pretty much as advertised, a synth-beatbox rendition of Tchaikovsky's holiday classic. The liner notes offer genre tips as well, from electronica to house to progressive rock to ambient. It's good fun and a change of pace for folks who appreciate classical music and want their friends to know they're "with it." For the rest of us, there are surely some mix disc opportunities here, though the whole thing in one sitting may be a bit much. Oh, mustn't forget the bonus tracks, most of which are titled with variations of "Mozart Gone Mad" and are, in fact, familiar melodies by the composer. And the last bonus track is a drum-heavy version of "Sabre Dance," titled here "Dagger Dance." Found this at CDBaby.

A Dreaded Xmas, Those Dreaded Gnats (self-issued)

The Gnats are the nom-de-novelty of Harry Kopy and George Simonovich, who wrote all the tunes on this except the reggae version of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" (hmm, didn't I just write this elsewhere?). This 2005 collection is a decent novelty collection, though to my ears many of the gags are fairly obvious. "Santa Takes Da Rap" is a fairly obvious rap parody full of the jolly elf in the drive-by crossfire with white-guy hip-hop accompaniment, "Merry FXmas" simply adds to a growing list of four-letter holiday greeting songs we've chronicled here (with sanitized version closing the disc), and "Down With Xmas" is the usual anti-shopping lament. "Xmas Everyday For My Kids," however, is a fairly witty observation about overindulged children who treat gifts as an entitlement, "I'm Not Your Santa Claus" might just be the answer record to "Santa Baby," "Who Took the Jingle (Out of My Bells)" is a holiday hangover song, and "Just Say No to Christmas" takes a poke at overly PC reactions to the holiday. This disc definitely has its moments, though it falls a bit short of the best novelty outings.

Jackie Beat Is Coming to Town, Jackie Beat (self-issued)

Jackie Beat is a drag queen who does pop parodies, which makes him/her a good candidate for a holiday disc. This one gets the Parental Advisory sticker, however, as there's a fair amount of gratuitous seven-words-you-can't-say action on here, as the second cut, "Merry F-ing Christmas," tips you. Getting a lot of these lately, but this at least is witty -- it's a takeoff on BTO's "Taking Care of Business." "Do You Believe in This Guy Santa Claus" is a parody of Cher's "Believe," "Here Comes the Reindeer Again" spoofs the Eurythmics' hit, and then we get classic carols like "Silver Bells" reimagined as "Go To Hell," "Sleigh Ride in Leather" is the carol minus the leather, and so on. This is essentially a burlesque act with some cringe-worthy moments, but some of these parodies are spot-on and worth hearing.

Canned Heat Christmas Album, Canned Heat (Fuel)

The legendary boogie band's big Christmas move up until now was the 1968 novelty "The Christmas Song," in which they appear with David Seville's Chipmunks. True story, and that song's on this CD, along with its B-side, "Christmas Blues," in two versions, one of which features Dr. John on piano. Despite the demise of three original members, the band continues on touring and recording, so this album is mainly comprised of performances by the current lineup, plus a third version of "Christmas Blues" featuring John Popper and Eric Clapton. This is a solid blues recording all told, and the later performances are in keeping with the band's original vision. Not too many surprises here, though the version of "Drummer Boy," renamed "Boogie Boy" here, takes the carol down to a slow blues tempo and takes some liberties with the lyrics. Might be worth having just for the Chipmunks if you're a novelty fan, though the rest will satisfy blues lovers.

"Family Christmas," Lizzie West (Warner Bros.)

This impressionistic take on family memories at the holiday over a generation is nicely done, based on a midtempo shuffle accented with strings. It's on an EP called West from 2002, which probably isn't available anymore since Lizzie left her label for the wonderful world of self-published music following her accusations of label censorship for her political views. Stop by her website to get a better feel for this singer-songwriter.

A Very Ping Pong Christmas: Funky Treats From Santa's Bag, Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra (Ubiquity)

I've not come across Shawn Lee before, but he's apparently a prolific bandleader doing this kind of 70s-funky instrumental jamming, and this is the approach applied to a dozen Christmas tunes (well, 10 if you don't count "My Favorite Things" and "What a Wonderful World," which I consider debatable). Highlights include "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" done with the guitar figure from "House of the Rising Sun," "O Little Town of Bethlehem" with the melody played on wah-wah guitar, "Little Drummer Boy" with an electric sitar lead part, and a heavily syncopated "Jingle Bells." It's just mellow enough to use as background music, but these songs can also serve as pace-changers on your mix discs.

A Christmas of Love, Keith Sweat (Rhino)

The self-professed king of the slow jams gets on the Christmas tip for 2007 with this nine-song CD full of, wait for it, slow-jam Christmas songs. Only the evergreen "The Christmas Song" is a traditional carol, the rest are originals, three of which Sweat co-wrote. Not surprisingly, there's not a lot of variability in tempo or approach -- "Party Christmas" and "Once a Year" are just slightly more uptempo than the rest -- but Sweat does a pretty good job of selling this material. "Point of Christmas" is the "reason for the season" track on this CD, and "Under the Tree" is the makeout song. Near as I can tell, the breakout cut is "Be Your Santa Claus," at least if single-track popularity at iTunes is anything to go by.

Ho: A Dan Band Christmas,