Merry Christmas friends and family far and wide. I'm not sure what 2024 will bring, but am glad to be surrounded by those I love. (And good music). My encouragement to you is pay attention to the people who surround you and less to all the noise: all the things you can't control (which is most things).

Listen Now

Track-by-Track

Santa's Beard - They Might Be Giants The title came from watching some performance art piece cataloguing stuff you could buy at Woolworth's—someone yelled "Santa beards!" and it stuck.

Ms. Claus - The Grapes & Friends 2018 indie garage track from a band quietly cranking out Christmas singles for years.

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - The Revillos Scottish punk band recorded this in 1981 under the pseudonym "The Mysteroids" because they thought it'd be uncool for The Revillos to release a Christmas single. This is the 2002 version from when they were touring again.

Comanche (Link Wray's Christmas) - Wild Billy Childish Billy Childish's tribute to Link Wray's surf instrumental classic, off his 2007 album "Christmas 1979" that's full of weird holiday tributes to rock heroes.

Glammy Little Christmas - The Cleaners From Venus Martin Newell recorded everything for this with just a Tascam Pocketstudio and Audacity. The lyrics are about recapturing your youth and heading out for a glam Christmas—pure lo-fi indie nostalgia.

Donde Esta Santa Claus - 張露 Famous Chinese singer 張露 (Chang Loo) covering this bilingual Spanish-English novelty song where a kid asks "Mamacita, where is Santa Claus?" and renames the reindeer Pancho and Pedro.

Santa Miss Those Missiles - Reece Shipley Cold War carol from a Texas swing performer pointing out that if World War III breaks out, Santa's probably not dropping off presents.

Jingle Bells - The Brute Force Steel Band 1955 steel band recording from Antigua, reissued by Smithsonian Folkways in 2004.

Secret Santa - The Flirtations One of the more active all-girl R&B groups of the '60s dropped this doo-wop track in 2020, written by Tony Waddington who also wrote their 1968 Christmas song.

Santa Knows (I've Been Bad) - Kim Gray 2014 garage rock single pressed on limited 7" vinyl—only 300 copies.

Imagine Christmas - Alan Bernhoft Beatlesque Christmas track from 2012.

Christmas Morning - Nikki Sudden, Johnny Fean, Simon Carmody Originally a 1986 7" single that featured future Supernatural star Mark Sheppard. This 2018 remaster came out for Record Store Day as part of a compilation of sessions with Horslips guitarist Johnny Fean.

All I Want for Christmas Is You - The Dollyrots California punk band covering Mariah Carey's 1994 classic—they called it "one of our ALL TIME favorite Christmas songs" and made it sound like a Ramones track.

Holiday Tears - Jenny Don't And The Spurs Pacific Northwest alt-country band's 2017 original off their "A Western Holiday" album.

Jingle Bells - Roger Sprung Roger Sprung (1930-2023) basically invented progressive bluegrass—taking bluegrass banjo technique and applying it to everything from "Puff the Magic Dragon" to "It's A Small World." This is his take on Jingle Bells.

Merry Christmas Baby - Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson Chicago blues singer who played in Muddy Waters' band from 1972 to 1980. Recorded this with The Magic Rockers in 1990.

You Trashed My Christmas - The Primitives The band behind the 1988 hit "Crash" made this "genuine 24 carrat indie pop nugget" about a Christmas breakup in 2013.

Winter Wooskie - Belle and Sebastian B-side from 2000 featuring the last lead vocals from bass player Stuart David before he left the band. Not really a Christmas song, more of a winter-themed story about watching someone through a window in the snow.

Fairy On The Christmas Tree - The Low Anthem Recorded in exactly one hour at Joyful Noise Recordings' 2019 holiday party in Indianapolis.

The Loneliest Christmas Tree - Lisa Miller Lisa Miller recorded this when she was 10 or 11 years old in 1967. Her voice sounds way older than that. The song was written by her mother and aunt.

The Blizzard - Camera Obscura Glasgow indie pop band covering Jim Reeves' 1964 country song about a guy riding home for Christmas on his lame pony. The pony's too slow. He doesn't make it. Camera Obscura turned the country roll into lush girl group heartbreak.

December Skies - Steven Wilson Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson made his first Christmas song in 2023 by feeding ChatGPT instructions like "don't actually mention Christmas" and "make it feel more lonely." Features gorgeous slide guitar from Randy McStine. The video was also made with AI.

Old Toy Trains - Dean & Britta, Sonic Boom Galaxie 500/Luna veterans Dean & Britta teamed up with Spacemen 3's Sonic Boom for this Roger Miller cover. First released as an internet giveaway in 2004, finally got a proper album release in 2024 after working on it in pieces since 2007.

River (It's Coming On Christmas) - Max Richter Max Richter's 2024 cover of Joni Mitchell's 1971 classic from Blue.