I've been knee-deep in Christmas music lately (so I can get my mix in the mail by early December), so I figured that I'd go ahead and start this year's thread. I fought the urge to post this before Halloween, so give me at least some credit.

So go ahead and post any new singles, EPs, or albums when you get wind of them.

Already out:



She & Him - A Very She & Him Christmas (thread here)

I've been digging this one a whole lot. But Zooey could be a fascist anarchist, it still wouldn't change the fact that I love her.



Scott Weiland - The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (thread here)

This is an odd one, but I like what he did with some of the songs. He's in full on crooner mode.



Michael Bublé - Christmas

I found this one to be okay. Nothing great.



Jars of Clay - More Christmas Songs EP

I really enjoyed their last Christmas album. This release looks to be a more secular one.



Justine Bieber - Under the Mistletoe

Submitted without comment.



Clarence Clemons - There's Still Christmas

The Big Man recorded these back in 1981, but they are just now getting released.



Dean Martin - My Kind of Christmas

Yet another Christmas music repackaging (and confusingly, this has the same title as a couple of other volumes of his, but with a slightly different tracklisting), notable this year because "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is a duet with Scarlett Johansson.



Ginuwine - A Ginuwine Christmas

The physical CD is a Target exclusive.


Out Nov. 15:



Glee: The Christmas Album Vol. 2



This Warm December: A Brushfire Holiday Vol. 2

Jack Johnson, G. Love, Zee Avi, Matt Costa, Money Mark, etc.


Out Nov. 21:



Emmy the Great & Tim Wheeler - This Is Christmas

I bought She & Him and Carole King for my wife. Obviously can't wait till the holiday to gift them, though.



The samples for this sounded horrendous:

Too early.

No one should be thinking about Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving.

I'm not listening to anything yet, but I think it's a legit thread since stuff is coming out now and might be priced low during release week

I always start listening to Christmas music on November 1st. Great thread!

Jack Johnson's In The Morning:

http://www.amazon.com/In-The-Morning/dp/B005XT4702/ref=sr_shvl_album_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1320520487&sr=301-2

For the haters:



I actually agree with the sentiment. But I make an annual Christmas mix for family and friends and it needs to get out in the mail by early December, so my listening starts very early.

Back to the music...

You can stream a bunch of new releases in their entirety here: http://music.aol.com/new-releases-fu...ristmas-cds#/1

One of the ones included above is Julie Roberts' Who Needs Mistletoe EP.



I am absolutely loving the title track (so nice AND naughty!), which you can DL for free at NoiseTrade: http://noisetrade.com/julieroberts

Also, this year XO put out another free Christmas mix for download (the previous three are still available there, too): http://www.xopublicity.com/xofortheholidays.html

I'm sticking with my tried and true:

Here's a free country Christmas compilation: https://styleentertainment.timeinc.n...untryplaylist/

1. Randy Travis - O Holy Night
2. Steel Magnolia - It's Christmas Time
3. Phil Vassar - What Child Is This
4. Skaggs Family - Christmas Time's A Coming
5. Joey + Rory - Remember Me
6. Carter's Chord - Up On The House Top
7. Jacob Lyda - Tis the Season To Be Lonesome
8. Mandy Barnett - This Time of Year
9. Attwater - All I Want For Christmas Is You
10. Andy Gibson -The Christmas Song

Emmy the Great and Tim Wheeler (of Ash) just released the first video from their forthcoming Christmas album:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/URCNMEbgd_w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

So far this is my favorite original Christmas song this year. (And I love the video, too.) I'll have to sample the album when it's released next week, but this song is a definite buy for me.

Right now their "(Don't Call Me) Mrs. Christmas" is free at Amazon and liking their Facebook page gets you their "Christmas Day (I Wish I Was Surfing)".

The Bird and the Bee just posted a new holiday song:

<iframe width="400" height="100" style="position: relative; display: block; width: 400px; height: 100px;" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/track=4247938557/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0">Wishes by The Bird And The Bee</iframe>

And Scottish band The Plimptons have three free Christmas songs for download.

My Morning Jacket just released a Christmas iTunes Session: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/itu...on/id484683350



Bryan Adams released "Merry Christmas", his first Christmas single in quite a while: http://www.amazon.com/Merry-Christma...24809&sr=301-1



One of the releases I look forward to every Christmas is djbc's compilation of holiday mash ups. Santastic 6 is out and it's not as good as previous year's editions (which are all still available), but you can't argue with the price.

http://djbc.net/santastic6/

Like last year, Amazon is giving away 25 Christmas songs for free this month: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.htm...rd_i=163856011

Angry Snowmans is the best thing I've heard this season for Christmas music (punk rock songs w/ lyrics changed to Christmas themes):

http://www.myspace.com/angrysnowmans

only Christmas song I need!

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VmSRcOUmLK8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I heard The Waitresses' Christmas Wrapping in a store the other day -- that song always makes me smile.

just like their last 2 cds, a few good songs but mostly crap. i dont think a band has ever fallen from my top 3 fav bands list as fast as they have.

that bird and the bee song linked above is beautiful.

This year's edition of my Christmas mix is done. If anyone here wants to download it, PM me and I'll point you to where you need to go.

I have yet to get this MMJ album. I'm just a casual fan and haven't fully explored their back catalog, but I really dig Evil Urges (but I remember hearing one criticism of it at the time being that it didn't sound like their older stuff).

The Bird and the Bee have yet to let me down with their Christmas releases. (Their regular albums are good, too!)

She & Him is solid but it didn't strike me as special.

The first track I heard on Carole King was I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, and the first thing that came to mind was "phoning it in," but the songs that were less traditional and more "Carole King"-like came off better.

One of the best version of Little Drummer Boy I have heard.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JLPylmr5V0M" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

It wouldn't be Christmas without a depressing Frightened Rabbit song. Here's their new one, "Cheap Gold":

<object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F31321004"></param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param> <embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F31321004" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object> Frightened Rabbit - Cheap Gold by Frightened Rabbit