DJLinus

The holiday releases have been trickling in over the last few weeks, so even though it's not Thanksgiving yet (I know, I know) I thought I'd go ahead and get a jump on this thread. As always, feel free to post any new Christmas albums, EPs, and singles that you come across.

Some handy Christmas music links I check daily this time of year:

Mistletunes (general Xmas music)
Christmas Underground (indie Xmas music)
Santas Working Overtime (general Xmas music)
NoiseTrade (an invaluable resource for free, legal music by mostly indie artists; lots of Xmas releases this time of year)

And just for fun, here's the trailer for Jingle Bell Rock, a feature length documentary about Christmas music collectors and creators:

<iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/78113050" width="500" height="281" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>

Notable new releases:

Nick Lowe - Quality Street



Lowe's album is great - he's just improved with age, IMO - and this is my favorite new Christmas release so far.

Kelly Clarkson - Wrapped in Red



I'm really digging her Phil Spectoresque "Underneath the Tree."

Bad Religion - Christmas Songs



This one came out of left field for me. I would've never expected them to make a Christmas album, let alone one with a bunch of carols on it. But it's for charity!

Mary J. Blige - A Mary Christmas



Jewel - Let It Snow



Kool & The Gang - Kool for the Holidays



Various Artists - The Best Man Holiday soundtrack



Johnny Mathis - Sending You a Little Christmas



This is a duets album featuring the likes of Billy Joel, Gloria Estefan, Vince Gill, Susan Boyle, etc.

Various Artists - Punk Goes Christmas



This compilation features New Found Glory, Yellowcard, All Time Low, and others.

The Robertsons - Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas



Simpsons Duck Dynasty Christmas Boogie!

Susan Boyle - Home For Christmas



Notable reissues and such:

Bright Eyes - A Christmas Album



This 2002 album was originally only available directly through Saddle Creek records, but now has finally gotten a widespread release.

Various Artists - Essential A Very Special Christmas



A sort of "best of" compilation that also includes some older classics that never appeared on the compilation. Also, Target has an exclusive reissue of the original 1987 compilation that also includes a DVD featuring an hourlong documentary on the AVSC series.

Various Artists - Mad Men Christmas



Because you know you want this Target exclusive for the remix of "Zou Bisou Bisou."

DaveWadding

Straight No Chaser - Under the Influence: Holiday Edition



8 new Christmas songs from the amazing a capella group, featuring duets with Otis Redding, Cee-Lo, and Paul McCartney (on exactly the song you're thinking of.)

DJLinus

This year's edition of Santastic - a collection of mashups - was just released. I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but I always look forward to this compilation.

Get it here: http://christmash.com/

AaronHernandez

This was released a few days ago. Hopefully this finds an audience.





The Apple Sisters -Make It Snow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS389qkBVWg

Trevor

Great thread, I collect Christmas CDs, probably have over 100 by now.

Amazon has their 25 free mp3s of Christmas as always.

GuessWho

http://www.amazon.com/Snow-Globe-Erasure/dp/B00EV1ARX4

Why So Blu?

I always enjoyed Lit's rendition of Father Christmas:

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MLBFan24

I really like the Kelly Clarkson album. Can't stop listening to Run Run Rudolph.

Dr_Evil

I'm enjoying it a lot too. She has a lot of catchy original songs on there. Underneath the Tree, Wrapped in Red and Every Christmas could all be easily used in a Christmas movie, or regularly played on the Christmas radio stations. They definitely are a bit formulaic, but are done quite well within that structure.

Trevor

Amazon Local has a free $3 coupon toward select Christmas MP3 albums. link

DJLinus

Thanks for the heads-up! I used it on that compilation of 99 Christmas songs, which I've been eyeing for years. The classical side of Christmas music is one area where I'm lacking.

Trevor

Apple has a free holiday album with 8 tracks of what looks like recent releases (Clarkson, Bilge, etc) accessible apparently only from the iPhone version of the Apple Store app.

invisiblegt

Alright, I need some help...

I recently heard a version of, I believe, Jingle Bells that I'd never heard before. It was a female vocalist, and the tempo was quite fast. At one point, she's singing "jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle" and then she just stops, for a full second or two, before proceeding with "all the way."

I cannot recall any more than that, but I do know that it is not the Barbara Streisand version.

"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle... All the way."

Mike86

I really enjoy A Very She & Him Christmas. She & Him is really a great little band if you ask me, really regret not seeing them last year when they toured.

Ky-Fi

A little self-promotion here---this is a new compilation that I contributed a song for. Some of us are Christian artists, some not--the only criteria was that the songs be respectful towards the holiday. The songs are mostly covers of traditional carols, done in a gothic/darkwave/dark ambient vibe.

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Trevor

I see now that the $3 applies as a general mp3 credit. I wish I had realized that before picking one of their limited selections. Oh well, I needed a bit more country in my Christmas collection.
Shows up blank for me, got a different link or more info?

- owner of ~ a thousand Christian albums

reverie

When I saw the thread, this was what I came in here immediately for! This is a great, great album; probably on of the best Christmas albums ever because it's not mostly rehashes of the same old, same old. Everyone who listens to Christmas music needs to own this!

Ky-Fi

Oh, sorry. Here's the promo vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGq4jUxUuVU

I think it's going to be released on Bandcamp for download in the next week. If you're interested, I can PM you with a link when it's up.

feenst

They don't have a new album, but I haven't seen the Yule Logs mentioned here before.

Click on the "Music" link at the top of the page to stream from any of their albums. (I recommend starting with "You Ruined Christmas.")

DJLinus

I've been swept up in holiday activities for the past few weeks and haven't been checking Noisetrade, Bandcamp, etc. for good, free stuff. So that's what I'm going to tackle today. If I come across anything exceptional, I'll post it here.

In the meantime, if anyone wants my Christmas mix this year (as well as the "reissue" of my first one, from 1999), just PM me and I'll point you to where you can get it.

Why So Blu?

Ah, and here's Lit on Jay Leno doing Father Christmas:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/DV1hNljxyuE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

covenant

My Christmas season is complete. While shopping at World Market they played Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses. I used to hate the song (back in 2005 I commented on it in a hated Christmas song thread) but now it's become a Christmas staple.