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Alternate Root is a magazine dedicated to Americana, roots and alt-country performers, and for 2009 they issued a holiday compilation with a twist -- it's 25 songs contributed by the magazine's readers. Sort of a multimedia letters section for the magazine, if you will. It's a free download as well. Of course, many of the readers are pro musicians, so this isn't exactly the local high school production of "American Idol" we're dealing with. It's a lot more country than we normally get into at Mistletunes, but since it's free you can pick and choose the tunes as you will. Grub Dog Mitchell's "Rockin' In My Stockin'" is as advertised, a solid rootsy rocker; Carolyn Sills goes 60s girl-group on a tribute to "George Bailey"; Penny Jo Pullus contributes a new version of her "Silent Night, Lonely Night" she did with the Muddpuppies on the Here Comes Another Christmas: Greetings from the Salt City album from around a decade ago; and Lance Norris' "Santa Copped a 'Tude" is a Bob Dylan parody originally heard on the holiday disc by The Stools. Jaime Michaels goes a little more acoustic pop with his "Winter Song" and Steve Fisher puts a bluegrass backing to "Hoovertown," a Depression-era story of sharing strength and woe at Christmastime. Because country is a big part of this, we get cry-in-your-beer tunes like "Jon's Silent Night" by Jon Byrd and "Mommy, Why Was Santa Crying?" by T. Edwin Doss. A little more fun is available from Chief Greenbud's "Let's Get Blazed For the Holidaze," Cody Prevost's "Santa's Got a New Ride" and Candye Kane's "Put the X Back in Xmas," and she discovers "Santa Is a Swinger Now" to a Western swing backing. You'll want to at least sort through this collection, although if you're a regular Alternate Root reader you probably will love this without reservation.

I've been a little slow getting to this, and with good reason -- this is a free download album with 53 songs on it. Count 'em, 53. As a result, in my last few bouts of posting I kept telling myself, "Oh, I'll get to that when I have a little more time to deal." Well, you know how that goes. So I said it's time to get it posted. Suburban Sprawl is an alt-rock-indie label, and not a very big one, though one might assume the exact opposite with 53 artists involved. So I won't bother unpacking all of that and just get to the music, which in overall quality is pretty darn good across the entire collection. Things kick off with "Twas the Night Before Christmas" done to the tune of "Chopsticks" by The Barrettes and continue in fine style with such tunes as Love Axe's original "Baby, I Wish It Was Cold Outside," Panic & Sharon's electro-pop "Christmastime Is Here," ChrisMas' dance-floor-ready "S.A.N.T.A.," Daniel Zott's Claus lament "Look What You Did, You Little Jerk," Buffay's hip-hop takeoff "Merri Chrissmiss 2 My Dik," which requires a Parental Advisory (ya think?), Coach Mahler's "Hanukkah Blues," Bethlehem Girls Choir's unique medley of "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey and "Here Comes Your Man" by The Pixies, and so on through all 53 selections. Suburban Sprawl has done this for multiple years, and they're all at the free download site, so do a little discovering of your own.

I haven't been down with Putumayo's prodigious output of Christmas discs in the past, but they sent this one along and I noticed that most of the playlist has already been reviewed on this site, so I figured it was worth mentioning. Among the cuts from Mistletunes history are Leon Redbone's "Let It Snow," Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's version of "Zat You, Santa Claus," Brave Combo's "Jolly Old St. Nick," Christmas Jug Band's "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus," and Martin Sexton's "Holly Jolly Christmas." Add to that Johnny Bregar and his ukelele on "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," Deana Carter's swingy "Winter Wonderland," Sam Bush taking a "Sleigh Ride" with banjo, Debbie Davis and Matt Perrine bringing back the ukelele and adding accordion to "Mele Kalikimaka," Kate Rusby's "Here We Come A-Wassailing," and Lars Edegran with Big Al Carson doing "Frosty the Snowman" Dixieland style. The emphasis is on American roots music on this collection, with a bias toward making the playlist kid-friendly, and on that score it succeeds. And while it's not exactly balls-out rock 'n roll, it does have that hint of irreverence we're looking for here.

Fresh off their first compilation from last year. the Indiecater label is back with a new collection of alt-indie-rock-pop Christmas tunes from acts on their roster and from elsewhere. Adam and Darcie kick things off with a dreamy "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," Allo Darlin', fresh off Cherryade's compilation, keep a candle burning for ukelele music with this solo strum of what is normally a duet song, "Baby It's Cold Outside," and Betty and the Cavaleros go lounge with "Hey! I'm Your Gift Today." Loxly gives us an unspeakably tragic take on the life of "Mrs. Kris Kringle," in which she shaves his beard in his sleep, unpacks the sleigh and burns the kids' letters. I Hate You Just Kidding pick up the duet baton from Allo Darlin' with their own "It's Fun To Do Bad Things" for Christmas, The Garlands grab a little of that Pet Sounds magic for their original "Christmas Song," and Candyclaws gins up a kind of slapdash wall of sound for their tune "Snowdrift Wish." The band Sweet Jane puts "Silent Night" to a Velvet Underground-like backing, and Standard Fare does a kind of talk-sing on "Tinsel Politics," in which the family battles about where to go and what to do on Christmas are aired out. Not a lot of uptempo stuff on this collection, but at least these folks are being mopey about some thought-provoking topics. Get it from Indiecater's website.

The Damaged Goods label remains a mainstay of the British punk scene, and their artists have had a fairly active Christmas life -- indeed, a number of the label's holiday works have featured on Mistletunes in the past. For those who haven't been following the Damaged saga, this collection, a paid download from the label's site, will bring you up to speed quickly -- and enjoyably. The site has previously reviewed such items as Holly Golightly's "Christmas Tree On Fire," Wild Billy Childish's "Christmas 1979," TV Smith's "Xmas, Bloody Xmas," Goldblade's "City of Christmas Ghosts" featuring Poly Styrene, and Severe's version of "Stop the Cavalry." Add to that the Singing Loins' "Ding Dong Merrily On High," an almost skiffle-like tune that cops from traditional carols; Helen Love's much poppier take on the Ramones' "Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight)"; another Holly Golightly song, the sweet ballad "Little Stars," done with the Greenhornes; Cuckooland's punked-out "Silver Bells"; Monkhouse's thrashy "Guinness and Wine," necessary holiday beverages for many; and Buff Medways wraps things up with "Merry Christmas Fritz." Thee Headcoatees are billed as providing their version of the Sonics' "Santa Claus," but my copy came with a different song by the band that has X-rated lyrics and is not about Christmas. I've tipped the label.

The folks at Warner Bros. dipped into the vaults for a quickie compilation that is, according to their press release, a digital-only offering for 2009. It's wildly eclectic, comprising everything from Michael Buble to Randy Travis, but the 20 songs do include some entries of interest to Mistletunes denizens. The first-ever general market release of R.E.M.'s "Deck the Halls" is here, formerly a fan-club offering; it's kind of slapdash, but the mere fact that it's here to satisfy curious minds is probably enough.  My Chemical Romance's rendition of the Mariah Carey hit "All I Want For Christmas Is You" is on the playlist, billed as the 2005 version. The song appears a second time in the rather conventional pop-rock performance by country singer Whitney Duncan (remind me to do my what's up with country-that-isn't-country rant sometime). Some items on here previously reviewed at Mistletunes include Regina Spektor's "My Dear Acquaintance (A Happy New Year)," Flaming Lips' "A Change At Christmas (Say It Isn't So)," Never Shout Never's "30 Days," Brian Setzer Orchestra's "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch," Reliant K's "Merry Christmas, Here's to Many More" and Jeremy Lister's "Santa Lost His Mojo" from the Ten Out Of Tenn compilation. The Used show up with "Alone This Holiday," a hard rock ballad that you have to download the whole album to get, and Jack's Mannequin offers "The Lights and Buzz," a pensive rocker about Christmas in California. R'nb is represented by Nikki & Rich's "This Time of Year," a gospelly mid-tempo number with secular lyrics, and Meaghan Smith applies her retro-chic approach to "Silver Bells." Finally, we get a Hanukkah Alert from Melée, "(When Is) Hanukkah This Year?," a snarky power-pop number reminiscent of The Leevees. Feel free to download this one a la carte unless you want The Used.

Britain's Cherryade label keeps its Christmas streak alive at five for 2009, presenting acts from its label roster and elsewhere who keep poking and prodding at the various ways to express the sounds and emotions of the holiday through the medium of independent alternative rock 'n roll. School kicks things off with "Let Me Be the Fairy on Your Christmas Tree Tonight," a solid slice of girl-group pop-rock to get you in the spirit. Das Wonderlust takes a chamber-pop approach to "Someone to Pull Crackers With," an art-rocker with just a tiny taste of Sparks and a premise that I'm quite certain is an expression of romance among the Brits. I can just hear Barry White, rest his soul, saying, "Oooh, let's pull some crackers tonight baby...." Persil's "Dear Santa" is a nice bit of electro-pop meeting spaghetti Western guitar in a plea to the jolly elf: "I want you for Christmas...." Shrag plays things for laughs with a takeoff on Jona Lewie, "Stop the Revelry," in which the cavalry is ignored and the holiday fun is aggravating the singers. Mistletoe is a source of holiday intrigue, as The Gresham Flyers describe a "Mistletoe Misadventure" involving multiple lovers to horns, strings and acoustic guitars, while Doris and the Jumpers investigate via synths and drum machines the likely outcome, a "Murder Under the Mistletoe." The 10p Mixs worry about "too much carbon in the atmosphere," but vow not to let that bother their holiday in "Christmas Number One," which is not about Will Riker. 'Allo Darling whips out a ukelele and chimes to sing about a "Space Christmas," one achieved by the singer first seducing a rich man to pay for the sojourn (shades of "Indecent Proposal!"). Humousexual takes a page from Billy Bragg with "Come Take My Hand In Winter," Rebecca Wilmott's "A Christmas Echo" and Everett True's "A Christmas Tale" give a shout-out to the spoken word, and the obligatory New Year's wishes come from Detox Cute and the Beauty Junkies, who mope a bit, boy-girl style, about an "Unhappy New Year." Four tunes on this are repeats from previous discs in the series, but there's still 21 other tunes, all fresh for this year. Clicking on the album cover will take you to iTunes, but if Cherryade is just your flavor, you might want to follow this link to the label's website, where through the magic of international post you can get a special deal that will put hardcopy versions of all five Cherryade Christmas discs under your tree.

Ken Kessler is a friend of the Mistletunes site, having contributed many tips about hot rocking Christmas tunes over the years, and we've also posted some of his questions about obscure recordings over the years. He's taken his Christmas obsession to the Web with an Internet radio station, The Sounds of Christmas, and for 2009 he's moved on to curate his very own Christmas compilation, proceeds from which will benefit the Hollywood Charity Horse Show. Not surprisingly, he named the collection after his radio station, and it's 15 selections from off the beaten path. Among the highlights is the first-ever CD release of the doo-wop a capella "Winter Wonderland" by Huey Lewis and the News, which was originally released to the fan club only back in 1984; a strong rocking version of "Santa Claus Is Back In Town" from Richard Marx; Stephen Bishop's "Rock Little Reindeer"; the Jimmy Buffett-styled "Christmastime on the Beach" by Roy Holliday; Hayseed Dixie's fabulous rock/bluegrass fusion "Misty Wonderland Hop," combining "Winter Wonderland" with the Led Zeppelin classic; Pete Hopkins' modern r'nb take on "(I'll Be) Home For Christmas"; and a cute, if a bit dated, novelty, DJ Ice Z Ice and the Fresh Elf doing an old-school rap in chipmunk voices with "The Night Before Christmas." William Shatner's "Good King Wenceslas" is his usual overly portentious dramatic reading over a musical bed, something that might get old fast if you're not a Denny Crane fan. The remaining songs on this album track much closer to middle of the road, including former Styx-man Dennis DeYoung's "When I Hear a Christmas Song," but as the album's for charity I assume Ken made his picks to attract a wider audience. Nevertheless, there are some good rocking reasons to go with this collection. For a deeper look at this disc, visit Ken's MySpace page.

Free, fresh original Christmas rock 'n roll, anybody? You've come to the right post. Just click the album cover. XO Publicity of Portland, Ore., is back for 2009 with their second such collection of free holiday rock music. Their previous collection was a few years ago, so there are some different faces on this collection, but also a few repeat performers with new tunes. Most of these tunes appear to be originals, though Piney Gir offers "You Make Me Feel So Young," an old Frank Sinatra staple that doesn't have much to do with Christmas. Caravan of Theves does a string-band version of "The Grinch," and Jessie Torrisi's version of "Christmas Don't Be Late" gets a less commercialized rewrite in which she asks us to forego the toys and gifts in favor of someone to hold. Blue Skies For Black Hearts kicks things off with the poppy "Wishin' You a Merry Christmas, in which Hanukkah and Kwanzaa get shout-outs; The Backsliders aver that "Christmas (Doesn't Have To Be So Bad)" in a 70s pop-rock vein; and The Very Foundation offer "All Lit Up (For Christmas)," which starts off sounding like a travel advisory and ends up marveling at the holiday lighting displays. "Snowed In" by Sleepwalk Kid is a rock-boogie shuffle about letting the snow pile up; The Winter Sounds give us "The Anthem Is a Gift," a mid-tempo ballad about being separated for the holidays; Drew Grow gives us a David Lynch-ish meditation on a "Tennessee Christmas," in a slow tempo with portentious slide guitars setting the mood; and "New Year's Eve" by Team Five is a mostly guitar-based instrumental, not particularly festive considering the title. I'd recommend you pay money for this, so grab it while it's free. Vol. 1 is also at this link.

"The most eclectic Christmas album ever!" shouts the cover blurb, and if that's not strictly true, it is fair to say this 2009 collection is a reasonably varied version of a rock 'n roll Christmas. It's two discs' worth (30 tunes) of rockin' Christmas goodies at a pretty cheap price, though it becomes clear that the price is dependent on the fact that few of the familiar rock classic titles on here are by the original artists. Apparently, Iggy Pop's version of "White Christmas" was recorded for this collection, and it's right in keeping with the style he's established for himself in his latter solo years. Some of the other selections that are unique to this release include Doors axeman Robbie Krieger's "Little Drummer Boy," which distinguishes itself with Krieger's Eastern-influenced guitar parts; Dweezil Zappa's version of "Wonderful Christmastime" -- yes, the Macca tune, which he plays straight, adding some fairly tasteful guitar heroics in the middle; and a couple of numbers from Dokken/Lynch Mob guitarist George Lynch, "Wizards In Winter" and a cover of Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Christmas/Sarajevo 12/24." Several surprises surface here, including "Christmas Time Is Here Again" by the Flirtations -- actually the original B-side of their 60s megahit "Nothing But a Heartache"; Spanky and Our Gang's "Sleigh Bells," which sounds like it was recorded in the latter days of their existence; Musical Youth's cover of the Boney M medley "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord"; and the Motels doing Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas is You." James Brown is represented with two numbers, "Clean For Christmas" and "Funky Christmas," as is 70s country singer Donna Fargo (unnecessarily, in my opinion) with "Jingle Bells" and "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." Other notable tracks include John Wetton's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," Bay City Rollers' "Cuz It's Christmas," Leif Garrett covering Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody," tribute band T.Rextasy contributing a second, Marc Bolan-ized version of "White Christmas," Tommy Tutone's retinseled "867-5309 (Christmas version)" and guitar hero Steve Morse covering U2's "New Year's Day." Price-wise it's hard to go wrong, especially at Amazon's download price, and there's enough unique stuff here to make it worthwhile.

This charity compilation from 2006 originated in Omaha, Neb., with acts from that city's music scene. Proceeds from the sale of this CD help support the Siena Francis House which provides food, shelter, and other necessities to homeless people in the Omaha area. Mostly original songs are offered in this independent rock collection. The album opens strongly with "Alone For Christmas" by Anonymous American, a bluesy ballad that puts homelessness in the listener's mind. "Christmas Scar" by Icares is a melodic 70s-sounding rocker with strong ensemble vocals. Kill Bosby's "Whim" is less about Christmas than runaway teens, but it's a strong ballad in that vein. Supervirgin's "I Hope You Get What You Want For Christmas" is a kind of folky chant with a bit of an outsider vibe, while Scott Severin and Band's "Xmas B&E" is more of a bar-band workout featuring slide guitar that's about breaking and entering -- by Santa, of course. Shinyville offers "Santa's Rap (2002)," a synth-heavy talk-sing that highlights Santa's grumpy side, and Vago's "By the Tree" shows a much mellower Santa "rollin' up a great big doob" while Mrs. Santa works the pole. Covers are offered by The Government, who do a serviceable version of "Merry Christmas From the Family," and Richard Schultz and the Miracle Men do a round-the-campfire version of "I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas." These folks apparently plan another disc next year, and aficionados of Midwest bands might want to mark their calendars.

This collection was released in 2007, and it includes some things we've covered here including the Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping," Gary Glitter's "Another Rock 'n Roll Christmas," the Fall's "Protein Christmas" and The Sweptaways with Magnus Carlson's "Cry Cry Christmas." Also on hand is a nicely repurposed Laura Nyro chestnut, "Stoned Soul Christmas" by Binky Griptite, the Autumns' mopey power pop gem "She Whispers the Winter Snow," a slightly electronic background on Luke's "Mele Kalikimaka," a Pro Tools electronica cutup of "Frosty" by Dim Dim, and Caroline's ballad "Winter." A nice collection of goodies, marred only by whether you have too many of these songs already.

This has been lurking in my iTunes master playlist for a while now, so it's way past time we get it out there for the folks. From 2006, this British compilation is your basic alternative rock holiday playlist featuring artists from the roster of Izumi Records. It's pretty enjoyable all the way through. Highlights include the Duels' "Do You See What I See," a fairly straight take with a slightly low-budget vibe; Iain Archer's acoustic folk take on "Little Drummer Boy"; the Late Greats' pop-rock take on "Sleigh Ride"; and Ingo Starr Cruisers' version of Low's "Just Like Christmas," a little more exuberant (but not too much more) than the original. Amusement Parks on Fire call in strings to support their ballad "The Day It Snowed," and David Ford strikes twice, once with his nicely jaundiced shuffle "Have Yourself a Bitter Little Christmas" and again as songwriter on Duke Special's ballad "Of Whoredom and Falconry." Can't quite associate the title to the song, but never fear, it's a holiday tune. Emmy the Great shakes some of the cellblock doldrums out of John Prine's "Christmas in Prison," and El Perro Del Mar go to the Phil Spector well for the sound of their original "Oh! What a Christmas." And a crowd of Izumi stalwarts convene under the excellent parody name The Joseph and Mary Chain to cover "Twelve Days of Christmas." Oh, and proceeds benefit the charity Shelter.

A charity compilation on behalf of children's music education featuring alt-pop-folkies, only this time it's dominated by guys, making this the male counterpart to the Hotel Cafe album. Five of the 11 cuts are originals, and the cover choices exhibit some original thinking, starting with Jack Johnson's "Someday at Christmas," the Stevie Wonder song, going on to Rogue Wave's version of the Who's "Christmas" and Neil Halstead's acoustic take on Fountains of Wayne's "The Man in the Santa Suit." Johnson's version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" from the Nettwerk compilations makes a return appearance here, and Mason Jennings does an acoustic "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town." Matt Costa performs his "All I Want For Christmas," an acoustic singalong song, G. Love brings his Philly funk to "Christmas Baby," ALO does their own "Christmas Time" in a full band arrangement, Money Mark's "Stuck at the Airport" is a season-appropriate tune you could play all year round, and Zee Avi breaks up the testosterone party with her sexy "No Christmas For Me." All told, a nice compilation from some up-and-coming acts.

Download this free Christmas album from 2008 from the British label's website. Nate Campany kicks things off with "Be Home For Christmas," a ballad with light strings and horns asking a lover to return for the holidays. Nightlights get off a folky original in "Christmas Time (I Wish I Was Near You)," a similar sentiment, and Henrik gets a little help from Nashville songwriter Kim Richey on "It's Christmas But Listen!," a bit of nostalgia for the holiday. The Wellingtons rock out with the power pop song "I Guess it's Christmas" and The Bad Machines break out a fake kiddie choir (sounds more like an adult woman multi-tracked) for "Not This Time," a whispered declaration that she won't be home for Christmas. Farrah bangs out a blue-eyed soul number, "Santa Don't Go," and Caroline Lost wraps things up with a drone-y ballad, "Say You're Mine." This is a nice collection, better than some I've paid real money for.

This 2008 collection is tapped to benefit some undefined charity and it's a download-only piece. Many of the songs on here have been out before, like Lifehouse's "Silent Night," Thriving Ivory's "Our December," "Merry Christmas Eve" by Better Than Ezra, "She's a Ho, Ho, Ho Merry Christmas" by Patent Pending and Negative Space's "I'll Be Home," but I haven't seen the other tunes anywhere. Ernie Halter does a nice simple two-voice version of "Angels We Have Heard On High," Safetysuit's "Anywhere But Here" is an original miss-you song in that mid-tempo arena-rock flavor, and Honor By August does a downcast ballad with the deceptive title "Happy Holidays." Needtobreathe does a kind of U2-sincere take on "Go Tell It on the Mountain," Honeyhoney offers "The Naughtiness of Me," a jazzy original featuring a 60s-style chanteuse confessing her failures, Schaefer and Ryan Star offer predictable versions of "Last Christmas" and "River," respectively, and Shinedown filters "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" through a 21st-century rock band prism. Evans Blue does a doomy "O Holy Night," and if you download this from the distributor you get a 16th track, "For Christmas" by 16 Frames, a ballad about being with the one you love most. Good collection if you don't have the majority of the tunes already.

From 2003, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of information still around about this collection other than its status as a group of artists who share a label. It's a bunch of alt-rock-punk performers celebrating the holiday, and five years on it still sounds fresh. Phil Hendricks and The Stiffs (UK) take on Elvis Presley's "If Every Day Was Like Christmas," giving an Elvis-like delivery over an uptempo rock beat. Crawlspace rumble through the Beatles' "Christmastime Is Here Again," Mach Bell & His Elves offer "Come On, Santa," a walk through a Christmas list harkening back to the surf-rock days, and Kenne Highland and his Vatican Sex Kittens ask "Can I Please Crawl Down Your Chimney," complete with unwanted advances at the end. Angel Corpus Christi open things with the gentle "Still Feels Like Christmas," the Automatics' "Merry Christmas" makes another appearance here, as does Pansy Division's "Homo Christmas." Monsterpop is "Coming Home For Christmas" and MX-80 says "(I Spent) Christmas With the Devil," with its deathless line, "Satan says Santa came from the same folks who brought us Coke," which is not that far from the truth. X-Ray Tango give us a surf-rock take on "We Three Kings" and The Walking Ruins wish us a "Happy Hardcore New Year," thrashing to the melody of "Auld Lang Syne." Some tunes don't bear a second listen, but the majority of this is quite listenable. Gulcher Records is almost impossible to find online, but this is on iTunes.

The indie alternative label Kindercore has had three previous Christmas collections on CD. For 2008, they kept their hand in with four downloadable tracks. "Wrap It Up" is by The Sad Cobras and the Magic Twig Family; it's a bit of busking with guitar and chimes about "Christmas in my heart." Grape Soda contributes the Hanukkah portion of the title with two songs, "Rock of Ages" and "All Walls Fall," the former sounding like a quick improvisation and the latter being a bit of electronic pop that sounds like a traditional song for that holiday. The Young Sinclairs wrap things up with a shambling cover of Tom Petty's "It's Christmas All Over Again." Check 'em out while they're still free.

This is Kindercore's third Christmas compilation of alt-punk-rockers taking on the holiday, released in 2007. Kicking things off is a hardcore "Carol of the Manbarks" by Rump Posse, the one that's normally about the bells. Folklore busks on the whimsical "Xmas Ape Goes To the Moon," The Observatory goes to the toy piano for "Xmastime (Is Xmastime)," and Fabulous Bird confirms with "Everybody Knows It's Christmas Time Again," more of a power pop ballad. Ruby Isle takes on "Jack's Obsession" from "The Nightmare Before Christmas," rendering it in a more rocked-out version, and The Buddy System celebrates "Xmas on TV" with some of your favorite specials getting name-checked. And you gotta sympathize with Je Suis France when they plead, "Baby Please Don't Get Stoned (It's Xmas)," especially the lyric, "You can give your gifts to charity / All I want is your clarity." Another great line is in Bunnygrunt's "Got the Blues For Christmas": "Happy birthday Jesus, guess I'll have another beer." There's quite a bit more, so you may want to wade through this yourself.

This 2008 collection is a collection from the artists on Joan Jett's record label, including her own take on "Little Drummer Boy" that was issued back around 1980 and isn't all that easy to find. Girl in a Coma puts a bit of a country shine on "Blue Christmas" and thrashes out on "I'll Be Home For Christmas." The Vacancies rock out on "The Elf Song" and the Kinks' "Father Christmas" while The Cute Lepers take on Billy Squier's "Christmas Is the Time to Say I Love You" and what I think is their own "All I Ever Want (Under the Christmas Tree)." The Dollyrots do a crunchy rock take on "Santa Baby," and rock legend Kenny Laguna turns up with his "Home For Christmas." A full cast rendition of "Silent Night" in a rock waltz time, throwing in some speechifying by Barack Obama along with John McCain's concession, wraps things up, unless Sean Hannity gets wind of this, anyway. If you love rock 'n roll, you'll probably love this.

I haven't made a big effort with holiday movie soundtracks because the vast majority of them consist of either background music or they rely mainly on stuff you've heard a thousand times before, from Bing and Frank right up through the present day. This one isn't necessarily a stop-the-presses release, but it is notable for the attempt the music supervisors made to use more unique tunes like The Raveonettes' "Christmas Song," The Charms' "Frosty the Snowman" in the Phil Spector arrangement, The Ramones' "Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight)," Davie Allan and the Arrows' "Feliz Navidad," The Chesterfield Kings' Chuck Berry-ized "Hey Santa Claus" and Jean Beauvoir's "Merry Christmas to All the World." The Butties do "Joy to the World" in an arrangement they apparently nicked off the Fab Four's CD. UPDATE: Mark Humble of The Butties writes to tell us their song dates back to 2000 and was first released on an EP in 2001, a year before the Fab Four's version. It's also on the compilation Ho Ho Ho Spice. He's willing to mark up the coincidence to great minds thinking alike. Also on this CD, Dan Aykroyd gets a couple of cuts and Joey Ramone reappears with his solo "What a Wonderful World." The producers throw in Brenda Lee and Elvis Presley, along with some background music. Most of this stuff is available elsewhere, but not all of it as far as I know.

A decent soundtrack to the 2002 sequel that has been described as an improvement on the original movie. There aren't any great surprises, starting with the presence of "Lizzie McGuire" star Hilary Duff, a Disney Channel star at the time this movie was made. But her "Santa Claus Lane" actually isn't bad, although kid voices do tend to creep some people out. An impressive outing from SHeDAISY on "Santa's Got a Brand New Bag," but if this is country music then I'm Arlen Specter. Brian Setzer and the Orchestra's "Jingle Bells" makes another appearance here, as does Eddie Money's duet with Ronnie Spector, "Everybody Loves Christmas." Evergreens like Brenda Lee's "I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Claus," Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run" and Louie Armstrong's "Zat You, Santa Claus" are always welcome, along with a classic by Smokey and the Miracles, "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town." That carol is reprised in a straight lounge reading by Steve Tyrell. A comparative rarity is "Blue Holiday" by The Shirelles (I've never heard it before this, anyway), and it's a bluesy belter. Unwritten Law joins Sum 41 for "Unwritten Christmas," a solid contemporary rock ballad with lots of crunch. Not bad, especially for a soundtrack album.

However you may have felt about the 1996 holiday movie featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad (?), the producers made a fairly good stab at providing listenable incidental music, although it skews a bit toward lounge music and away from rock 'n roll. Still, there are some bonafide classics like Chuck Berry's "Run Rudolph Run," Charles Brown's "Merry Christmas Baby," Clarence Carter's "Back Door Santa," Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock," along with pop standards like Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song" and Johnny Mathis' "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year." To round out the show, they brought in the Brian Setzer Orchestra and guest vocalists Darlene Love and Lou Rawls. Lou croons Setzer's own "So They Say It's Christmas," while Darlene rocks "Sleigh Ride" in a different arrangement than on the Phil Spector album and shows an affinity for jazz-pop on Sammy Hagar's "Deep in the Heart of Xmas." Setzer kicks off the album singing "Jingle Bells" and the rest of the album features non-holiday music from the soundtrack's composer, David Newman. It's not a bad album overall, but if you already have the classic tunes here it's up to you whether to buy it for the Setzer Orchestra's performances.

Before Danny Elfman became a soundtrack music maven, he was involved with Oingo Boingo, a new wave outfit that sounded like Devo crossed with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. This 1993 outing, written and produced as the soul of Tim Burton's stop-animation extravaganza, puts a nice twist on the holiday -- and isn't bad as Halloween music, either. Danny and fellow cast members Catherine O'Hara and Paul Reubens (SCTV and Pee Wee, respectively) do a knockout job on "Kidnap the Sandy Claws" and "Oogie Boogie's Song" with Ken Page and Ed Ivory is a bluesy romp. However, soundtracks do suffer from songs that don't travel well away from the movie or play, and this one's no exception. But the two songs above are almost worth the whole album. UPDATE: For 2007, in conjunction with the re-release of the film in IMAX 3D, there's a "Special Edition" of this album with a second disc of bonus cuts featuring versions of the soundtrack's songs from Marilyn Manson, Panic at the Disco, Fiona Apple, Fall Out Boy and She Wants Revenge, plus some of Danny Elfman's demos of those songs.

I've got a bone to pick with the producers of this album. In the first season of the show, Vonda Shepherd did a cool slow version of "Christmas Time is Here" aka "The Chipmunk Song." They recorded additional tunes to fill out this album but they couldn't find room for that? OK, maybe the rights weren't available, too expensive, etc. Having said this, I give this album a conditional OK, in that fans of the show will love it and even Ally-haters should find a few tracks on here to enjoy, especially Macy Gray's "Winter Wonderland." Vonda does credible versions of "This Christmas," "The Man with the Bag," "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve," and "Please Come Home for Christmas," but her torchy "Let It Snow" is just slow. Jane Krakowski does serviceable versions of "Run Run Rudolph" and "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," and Lisa Nicole Carson is good on "Santa Claus Got Stuck in My Chimney." Calista Flockhart takes a risk doing "Santa Baby," as Eartha Kitt casts a long shadow, but she just manages to get away with it. The real revelation here is Robert Downey Jr., who acquits himself well on Joni Mitchell's "River," sounding somewhere between Bruce Springsteen and Bob Seger.

The 2000 live-action movie got mixed reviews, but the soundtrack does all right by me. It contains a large helping of the movie's instrumental score, but there are as many songs on the album as there are on most song-only soundtracks. Needless to say, there are two versions of the Grinch's signature song, a rap version with Busta Rhymes that Jim Carrey tags with "I wanna give a shout out to the west side of Whoville," and later Carrey does a more conventional version. Gems include the Barenaked Ladies with their own "Green Christmas," not the Stan Freberg song; Little Isidore and the Inquisitors with "Christmas of Love"; Ben Folds with "Lonely Christmas Eve"; "Better Do It Right" by Smash Mouth; and "Christmas Is Going to the Dogs" by the Eels. There's also a surprising "Perfect Christmas Night" from Trans-Siberian Orchestra, although it segues into an overture-like tune called just "Grinch" that is more like their usual fare. Tunes by N'Sync and Faith Hill are just there to snag casual shoppers, in my opinion.

Garage rock has a long and fondly remembered pedigree in the rock 'n roll pantheon, going back to the Pacific Northwest bands of the early to mid 60s, continuing through the Nuggets bands in the later part of the decade, only to be revived by younger acolytes to that rough and ready sound in the 1980s and again in the early part of this decade. What we have here is a bunch of music biz veterans, some of whom go back to those halcyon 60s days, who have been brought together to record fresh Christmas songs for 2008 release. Up front, I should warn you that avid garage rock fans won't hear much of the garage ethos on these two discs, they're too cleanly produced. But you'll hear plenty of above average rock 'n roll Christmas music, and that's why we're here, right? Volume 1 kicks off with iconic garagers The Shadows of Knight, assisted by Henry Gross, he of "Shannon" and Sha Na Na, on the original "Rudolph's Off His Rocker," in which the famous reindeer is spurned by Santa in favor of a shiny new airplane. Gross returns later with another original, the adult pop-rocker "What a Christmas." Tommy Frenzy of Tuff Darts offers another original, "Cocktails With Santa," featuring the jolly elf with a snootful. Glen Burtnik, formerly of Styx, takes on the classic "Must Be Santa" with a crunchy arrangement that might well fit on Metal Xmas, and here it should be mentioned that Burtnik is quite the Christmas rock freak. Pat Horgan and Thunder Road do Foghat's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" and the Albert Carey Project offer the old blues tune "Trim Your Tree." John Wicks and the Records -- yeah, the New Wave-era British pop-rockers, but Wicks is the only one left -- offer the original "Star of Bethlehem," something that might fit better on the Moody Blues holiday disc. On Volume 2, the Shadows of Knight return with "Celebrate Chicago (The Christmas Version)," with a taste of cheap organ for the garage fans, Vince Martell of Vanilla Fudge does an original, "Bronx Christmas Blues," which is as advertised, and Badfinger's Joey Molland offers his own "King of Kings," a low-key ballad. Nazz featuring Stewkey (original singer of the band that launched Todd Rundgren) goes Caribbean with "Rasta Santa," Burtnik returns with a live hard-rocking "Winter Wonderland," and Lee Brovitz's ballad "That's Why They Call It EXmas" tells a story of lost love over the holidays. Wooden Hobo goes country with a version of "Please Daddy (Don't Get Drunk For Christmas)" and the Albert Carey Project rocks the house with "Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me)," a tough blues that isn't the Elvis tune. The title of these two discs probably qualifies as false advertising, but classic rock fans will still get their money's worth from either or both.

This is essentially a musician's club featuring 10 Nashville musicians who have banded together to get their alt-pop-rock music heard in a city that specializes in two other kinds of music. They have a couple of compilations out of their non-holiday music, and now they have this one for 2008. Aussie transplant Butterfly Boucher kicks things off with her own "Cinnamon & Chocolate," a ballad of holiday hope; Jeremy Lister's "Santa's Lost His Mojo" has the jolly elf dealing with job burnout; Katie Herzig does a folkie "Silent Night"; "Raise the Tree" is a nice holiday ballad by Trent Dabbs; K.S. Dabbs asks "Why Are Mom and Daddy Fighting on Christmas?"; Erin McCarley renders a downtempo and portentious "Little Drummer Boy"; Andy Davis strums out a nice original, "Christmas Time"; Tyler James borrows the martial beat McCarley wasn't using on her performance for his own "Sentimental Christmas"; Griffin House puts a mildly country spin on "O Holy Night"; and Matthew Perryman Jones does an almost David Lynch treatment on "O Come O Come Emanuel." This is a listenable collection from people we hope we'll hear from again.

This is a series of compilations that is sold at Barnes and Noble stores. The idea is that this is music to relax by, mostly current artists with some of their mellower tunes. This 2008 holiday compilation follows right along with the concept. We've covered the songs by The Bird and the Bee, KT Tunstall, Over the Rhine and Sufjan Stevens before, but there are some tunes here that are billed as exclusives. Ingrid Michaelson adds to her Hotel Cafe holiday offering with the original "Snowfall," Ashton Allen gives us the ballad "Until Christmas," Sono sings the a capella "White Winter Hymnal" and Eastmountainsouth offers a stripped-down lounge band version of "Ave Maria." Also on here are Lou Rawls with a big-band "Merry Christmas Baby," Ray Charles' "Little Drummer Boy," Imogen Heap's ballad "Just For Now," Norah Jones' "Peace" and Celtic Woman's "Panis Angelicus." Capping off this collection is "O Holy Night," the jazz horn choir version performed on "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." The performance was a plot point in the show's Christmas episode, in which musicians from TV show house bands were calling in sick for a week to allow New Orleans musicians displaced by Hurricane Katrina an opportunity to work. If you remember the show, this is a nice souvenir to have.

Another independent label compilation for 2008, this one is for sale at their website. The liner notes take pride in noting that all 17 cuts are original holiday tunes and even optimistically hope there are some future standards on the list. That's up to listeners, of course. Remington Super 60's "Here Comes Christmas" and The Very Most's "This Year, Christmas Came on Nov. 4" have been reviewed here before, the latter on Cherryade's 2008 compilation. Nina Hynes offers the breathy "Twinkle," a kind of 60s chanteuse performance. Bill Baird's "Christmas In Jail" is another in a series of similarly themed songs, this one a little more ethereal than its predecessors. Idaho posits the proposition that "Santa Claus Is Weird," though the artist admits he held onto his Santa belief through the age of 13, so I guess it's all a matter of degree. Normandy offers what I believe is a first of its kind, "Merry Christmas, Blogosphere!" Great opening: "Santa bring to me / credibility." Loxsly discovers that "Santa Got the Spins," which is to say the eggnog was spiked and a fake, drunken Santa ruined Christmas. Jape and David Kitt sing "I Will Cry This Christmas," a synth-pop dirge of loneliness and alienation on the holiday. The Specimen "Wish It Would Snow" so they could get out of going to school, Nonstop Everything sticks it to Idaho, above, with "There Is No Santa, Little Boy," which ironically is a clattery, shambling instrumental, and My Teenage Stride gets a little low-rent Spector ambience on the uptempo "Is It Christmastime Already." A solid indie-rock Christmas collection.