Xmas music picks - 22 for '22
22 pieces of cheer for 2022
Usually I adore holiday music, which is kind of bizarre since it’s mostly hitched to Christmas (I’m a lapsed Jew) and most of it is horrible and on endless repeat. That’s why I treasure the times when it’s not soppy or too sentimental. Here’s some entries I found from this year that actually put me (and hopefully you) in the holiday spirit.
To be fair, Alicia Keys Debbie Gibson, Backstreet Boys and Nelson all made respectable holiday records in ‘22 but what you’d really wanna hear is all below.
Swing Time Christmas Originally out in 1995, this amazing reissue culls together wonderful blues and jazz holiday tunes from decades before that, including legends like Jimmy Witherspoon, Lowell Fulson, Joe Turner and Dexter Gordon. An utter joy.
Joss Stone “What Christmas Means to Me” Well-meaning as her Merry Christmas, Love album is, she really hits her stride on this Stevie Wonder chestnut, which definitely deserves a revival.
Rachael & Vilray “Just Me This Year” Torchy, gorgeous lounge jazz. The Lake Street Dive singer is proudly alone during the holidays and sounds just ducky with it.
Chris Isaak Everybody Knows It’s Christmas Rockabilly, rock and roll, country are all here on this roots Xmas. Anyone who can include “Help Me Baby Jesus” and “Dogs Love Christmas Too” isn’t in danger of getting too pious.
Lindsey Stirling Snow Waltz A violinist who’s just peachy with pop, loud beats and Danny Elfman-like drama. She even romps at the end with some metal riffing and some country-ish sawing.
Ray Charles The Spirit of Christmas A reissue of the Genius’ 1985 album, mostly in a big band style and he puts so much heart into it, you won’t care that these holiday songs have been sung 1000’s of times before, mostly without as much soul here. And dig his country version of “The Little Drummer Boy.”
The Orion Experience "Rich Man's Holiday" A defiantly low-rent holiday with a British invasion sound and an adorable sentiment.
Jimmy Fallon, Dolly Parton “Almost Too Early For Christmas” Dolly, not Jimmy, is the star and she should get the top billing obviously. But a nice uplifting pop confection which nods to Rudolph and Mariah. And the cartoon Questlove is adorable.
Jeremy Monteiro A Jazzy Christmas Think piano trio ala Vince Guaraldi on A Charlie Brown Christmas and you’ll get an idea of what’s here. Not as lithe but still so pretty.
Switchfoot this is our Christmas album Somewhere approaching a less chorale version of the Beach Boys, they have a sense of humor, knowing what they’re getting ripped off with a West Coast Xmas and even channel the Ramones on “Scrappy Little Christmas Tree.”
Lizzo “Someday At Christmas” A sweet ‘peace on earth’ plea from one of our finests divas and sounding more than a li’l bit like the Prince of Pop.
Titus Andronicus “Drummer Boy” Such a card, that Patrick Stickles, mashing up the holiday classic with "Piano Man.” Wonder if the Hold Steady is jealous they didn’t think of it first.
Goodnight Sunrise “Single All The Way” This mall punk Toronto duo make a Christmas song that’s really about Hanukkah and heartbreak, and brilliantly rhymes ‘latkes’ and ‘chachkes,’ which happen to be a few of my favorite things.
Alex Exists “Never Christmas Without You” A goth-style power ballad that’s funny, ridiculous and over the top, yet sincere and kind of admirable in a way. They own their shtick, which is saying something.
The Krayolas I Wanna Be Your Santa These San Antonio punk/garage revivalists revive the Ramones for the holiday on the title track and rope in Sir Douglas’ Augie Meyers for some Tex-Mex fun.
Boyracer “Magic To Me” Indie rock meets shoegaze with some soul to it. Shouldn’t work but it does.
VÉRITÉ “i don't want you to come home for christmas” Sweet femme vocals without getting soppy and you can merrily swoon to this modernized, old school pop ballad. Its message is “who needs company during the holidays?” Hey, they’ve got something there.
I Surrender Sleighs Brooklyn label brings you mall punk cheer.
A.Y. Lee Christmas Gold A funky Christmas that funk fans and ‘70’s/’80’s R&B fans would appreciated.
Jesse Malin “XMAS” By now, the Gotham indie scene mainstay knows how to make a beautiful yearning ballad, much better than Bruce can nowadays.
Marissa Prettyy “I Want” She starts with girl group, Mariah and Waitresses references via auto-tune and then this Jersey rapper gets nasty about what she wants for the holidays. NSFW and hilarious.
Jim Jones presents the 12 Days of Xmas This rapper goes 5 better actually and doesn’t break it down only to the gifts he wants but he does break it down in other ways, using holiday samples all over the place, obsessing over jerk chicken, remember the original meaning of the holiday (giving shout outs to Christ), toking up for the season and twerking under the mistletoe. Best concept album and mixtape of the year.
BONUS: Also see Justin Curto’s interesting, insightful “How To Write An Original Christmas Song” (Vulture, November 29, 2022) for some tips from the pros.