I hate it when people complain about how sick they are of hearing Christmas music playing in all the stores during this time of year. I, for one, love it. Just like egg nog, holiday records are delicious when consumed sparingly and for only a few weeks out of the year. Much like Michael Jackson or old Madonna, the right holiday jam can make people drop their drinks and sprint for the dance floor. I'm not sure the same can be said for all of the following records, but I love them just the same.
Liberace ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas
There's nothing too super flashy about his piano-fied renditions of holiday tunes here, but this is worth owning so you can display the cover art with the rest of your holiday decorations. A floor-length, multi-layered white fur coat? This is how everyone should look on Christmas.
A John Waters Christmas
This collection of John Waters' favorite holiday songs is a treasure for many reasons, but the highlight for me is Little Cindy's "Happy Birthday Jesus (A Child's Prayer)", in which an adorable child with the world's strongest southern accent recounts a birthday poem for Jesus–it's very weird.
The Waitresses Christmas Wrapping EP
For my holiday money, there is no better Christmas-related song than The Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping." Not only is this just a great song–funky early 80's new wave–it also has the great narrative about feeling bummed Christmas only to then meet "the guy you've been chasing all year!" while at the 24-hour market buying yourself a lonely can of cranberry sauce.
Mariah Carey Merry Christmas
As far as I'm concerned, the two best songs Mariah Carey has ever made are "Fantasy" (obviously) and "All I Want for Christmas" from her 1994 holiday album. The rest of Merry Christmas features Mariah doing enthusiastic, belted-out versions of holiday classics, but none have the same sweetness or great karaoke value of "All I Want for Christmas." She's also wearing a sexy santa outfit on the cover, if you're into that sort of thing.
A Very Special Christmas
I was just shocked to learn that there are now seven volumes in this series of holiday beneifit albums, but as far as I can tell the first one is still the best. Highlights include U2's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" and Stevie Nicks's witchy take on "Silent Night." Bless.
Wings Back to the Egg
This is not a Christmas album at all (it's the last album Paul McCartney made with Wings back in 1979), but it does prominently feature two Christmas songs. One is the truly terrible "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reggae" and the other is the truly fantastic "Wonderful Christmastime." (Buy the song on iTunes, skip the rest)
Vince Guaraldi Trio A Charlie Brown Christmas
This record is so perfect and timeless that it almost doesn't even need to be mentioned, but I could not go a single holiday season without listening to it a gazillion times. It's the most perfectly melancholy and somewhat bittersweet holiday record in the world, which is funny, since it's literally the soundtrack to a cartoon.
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