It’s everywhere this time of year – blaring from store speakers, ringing out from church doors, running through your head, to your delight or frustration (or both). I adore Christmas music – traditional carols and (some) newer songs, so here’s a list of my faves:
1. Wintersong, Sarah McLachlan. I pulled this one out as soon as the grey days hit at the beginning of November. Such a pure, ethereal voice – and her renditions of old carols (In the Bleak Midwinter, What Child is This, O Little Town of Bethlehem) and a few new songs (Wintersong, Song for a Winter’s Night) are gorgeous.
2. A Charlie Brown Christmas, Vince Guaraldi. This is my favorite Christmas movie – I always laugh at Snoopy’s antics, and well up when Linus quotes Luke 2 and then says simply, “That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.” The jazzy, piano-filled soundtrack is pure holiday delight.
3. Blue Christmas, Elvis Presley. A longtime family favorite – we’re all fans of The King, and my dad famously makes up his own lyrics to the title track, including “Let the red raindrops fall on a green Christmas tree.” It’s hilarious and comforting all at once – and I do love Elvis’ deep voice singing hymns.
4. James Taylor at Christmas – my dad loves JT, so I bought him this album a few years ago, then bought it for myself. And oh, we love the mellow versions of our favorite tunes, along with the only version of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” I can stand.
5. Noel, Josh Groban. I love Josh’s rich voice in any language, and he sings in English, French and Latin on this album. (And he sings one of my faves, “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear.”)
6. Merry Christmas Strait to You, George Strait. I’ve loved this one since I was a kid – George was and is a fave at our house. I particularly love “There’s a New Kid in Town” and “For Christ’s Sake, It’s Christmas.”
7. Christmas Songs, Jars of Clay. One of my favorite Christian bands with their unique take on Christmas music – quiet, reflective and yet fun. I really love “Peace is Here” and “Love Came Down at Christmas.”
8. Crystal Carols, Dean Shostak. I bought this one on a high school trip to Williamsburg, Virginia – this guy plays the glass armonica (no “h”), a colonial variation on playing the rims of water glasses. (Invented by Ben Franklin!) Anyway, it creates a haunting, lovely sound, and he plays lovely traditional carols.
9. Joy, Avalon. I loved Avalon as a teenager, and I still pull out their Christmas album every year. Some of the songs sound like they’ve had a little too much cocoa, but mostly they’re merry and bright.
10. Let It Be Christmas, Alan Jackson. I’m a Texas girl and so will always love country music – and I love Alan’s rich voice and especially the title track.
11. The Gift, Jim Brickman. Lovely piano music for candlelit evenings.
12. Christmas Crooners, Christmas Swing and Big Band Christmas – various artists. Valerie gave me this 3-CD set in college, and they’re so fun. All the greats – Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Guy Lombardo, Benny Goodman and more. Often goofy, but definitely holiday party music.
13. Miracles: The Holiday Album, Kenny G. Yes, I’ve heard every criticism in the book about Kenny G’s music – all the sax players I knew in high school band scoffed at him. But when it comes to Christmas, I don’t care. I want to hear his smooth saxophone playing those carols, just as it has every year almost since I can remember.
14. I’ll Be Home for Christmas, various artists. This one is worth it for Ella singing “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” Bing singing “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” and Andy Williams assuring us that it is the most wonderful time of the year.
It’s your turn – what are you listening to this Christmas season?
Actually, this post came around just perfectly for me because I just started listening to my Christmas playlist last night. It includes Noel, by Josh Groban, which I am glad to find you love as well. The others include:
Christmas Offerings, by Third Day – They continue to be my favorite band overall, though I haven’t listened to this album a whole lot since I bought it. I really enjoyed singing along to it, though.
Acoustic Christmas, by Brent Rowan and Regi Stone – I have another one of Brent Rowan’s acoustic guitar albums, which is one of my favorite things to listen to while writing, especially if I feel like evoking a particularly Southern mood in the piece. The Christmas album is one of my favorite ones to pull out for Christmas party background music. It was a real hit at our 9@9/Christmas party in Oxford in 2008.
I don’t have any other full albums, but some of the artists of the random songs I’ve gotten off of iTunes are The Pogues, Avalon (I, too, love Joy, but most of the songs are a bit too much for me, so I stuck with my favorites, Light A Candle and We Are The Reason), Casting Crowns, Clay Aiken, and Capital Lights.
You’ve picked my two fave songs from the Joy album as well. And I’ll have to check out that acoustic album!
Dude, I well up THINKING about Linus reciting Luke 2 and sayign “that’s what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown.” Great list, I’ll be adding to my Pandora Christmas list.
You’re going to laugh… but Amy Grant and Bryan Duncan are STILL my number one Christmas tunesians.
I also love me some Trans-Siberian Orchestra… melodramatic? Maybe, but then so am I at Christmas. 🙂
Oh, Amy Grant is classic. And hey, Mariah’s Christmas album makes me smile, because my sister belts out “All I Want for Christmas Is You” like a true diva. A little melodrama doesn’t go amiss this time of year.
Oh it is good to be making blog rounds today- I’ve missed you! My all time favorite Christmas song is Ave Maria from the Very Special Christmas 3 cd, it is sung by Chris Cornell and Eleven- I especially love running to it! xoxo
Whew! I am so behind on blog reading! But I had to comment on this post immediately because I really like Celine Dion’s holiday album from a few years ago. Her duet of “The Prayer” with Andrea Bocelli is just phenomenal.
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