I thought christmas was supposed to be more than all of this tremendous noise

November 26, 2010 3:02 PM

Christmas songs from the last ten or fifteen years?

A search on the green turned up a few related posts, but nothing from the last three years so I feel secure in asking this one again.

Everyone knows frosty, white christmas, and jingle bells, but I want to round out my endless christmas mix with more songs like Always In The Season, Great Big Sled, and Sister Winter.

Ideas?

posted by sandswipe to media & arts (39 answers total)

Songs from A Colbert Christmas? I am a particular fan of Another Christmas Song.
posted by purlgurly at 3:08 PM on November 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Bob Dylan's Must be Santa Claus
posted by b33j at 3:12 PM on November 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

I generally hate Christmas music, but I'm partial to Fountains of Wayne's "I Want An Alien for Christmas".
posted by asterix at 3:13 PM on November 26, 2010

The new Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan album, Hawk, has a song called "Time of the Season" that's about the winter holiday season.
posted by matildaben at 3:23 PM on November 26, 2010

Sufjan Stevens' Christmas album set is awesome.

Also, Low's song "just like Christmas" is so great I don't care if it comes from a sampler album accompanying a Very Special Episode of The O. C.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 3:29 PM on November 26, 2010 [2 favorites]

is sooooooo good.Death Cab For Cutie's version of Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
posted by 2oh1 at 3:43 PM on November 26, 2010

What the heck? My comment got flip-flopped!!! Sorry about that :)
posted by 2oh1 at 3:44 PM on November 26, 2010

The Killers - Don't Shoot Me Santa
posted by misteraitch at 3:45 PM on November 26, 2010

Another good one: Matt Pond PA's version of Holiday Road.
posted by 2oh1 at 3:50 PM on November 26, 2010

christmas was a friend of mine, fay lovsky Way older then you requested, but this Yule time Europop gem has enough synths to sound like a ten year old retro record.
posted by ouke at 3:53 PM on November 26, 2010

The Superions (side project of the B-52s' Fred Schneider) just released a fun album called Destination... Christmas!

Fruitcake is the lead single from that.
posted by 1901gunner at 4:09 PM on November 26, 2010

I know you said Christmas, but no Holiday playlist can be complete without The Hanukkah Song.
posted by TooFewShoes at 4:16 PM on November 26, 2010

The Vandals

Oi to the World off that record covered by No Doubt is one of my favorite Christmas songs ever.
posted by yfatah at 4:32 PM on November 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

The only newish one I recall is Thea Gilmore - That'll Be Christmas. A quick glance at your profile also suggests to me that you may not have heard an oldie that is held in particular affection by people of a certain age in the UK, so I'll chuck it in; Half Man, Half Biscuit - All I want for Christmas Is A Dukla Prague Away Kit
posted by Jakey at 4:53 PM on November 26, 2010

City of New Orleans' beautiful brass version of "O Holy Night" from Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
posted by kirkaracha at 5:06 PM on November 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

The Darkness - Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End)
posted by phrygius at 5:09 PM on November 26, 2010

I like Lenka's All My Bells are Ringing.
It was in an Old Navy commercial, but it's a really good song!
posted by donajo at 5:11 PM on November 26, 2010

If you don't mind obscurity, you could sift through the MeFi Music section's songs tagged with Christmas.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 5:38 PM on November 26, 2010

Christmas Party by The Walkmen is the only Xmas song I'll listen to.

It's available for free download, too!
posted by swellingitchingbrain at 5:47 PM on November 26, 2010

In a reasonable world Just Like Christmas, by Low, would be universally known and beloved. Their whole christmas album is terrific.
posted by dirtdirt at 6:51 PM on November 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Barenaked Ladies - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings (ft. Sarah McLachlan)

Actually I really like their entire Barenaked for the Holidays album.
posted by rhapsodie at 7:23 PM on November 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

The Superions (side project of the B-52s' Fred Schneider) just released a fun album called Destination... Christmas!

Fruitcake is the lead single from that.

Fruitcake is available for free right now on amazon.
posted by gatorae at 7:25 PM on November 26, 2010

Giant Sand - Thank You, Dreaded Black Sand, Thank You
Belle & Sebastian - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
The Flaming Lips - Christmas at the Zoo
Eels - Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas
Eels - Christmas Is Going to the Dogs
Nellie McKay - Christmas Dirge
The Canon Logic - Kiss Me on Christmas
First Aid Christmas - Blue Christmas
posted by Kattullus at 7:31 PM on November 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

The always delightful Chris Isaak has a Christmas album with covers and a few originals.

Hey Santa! is a lot of fun and his version of Blue Christmas is pretty cool.
posted by Hop123 at 7:57 PM on November 26, 2010

Oooh! Oooh! Oooh! I got this one:

Together In Our Holiday Sweaters, by My First Earthquake!

Really fun, energetic *and* romantic, all while drenched in holiday nostalgia and just so darn catchy - I can't hear this without smiling.
posted by Ash3000 at 8:16 PM on November 26, 2010

Also, Aimee Mann's Drifter In The Snow album has a combination of classic covers and original christmas songs.

On the "little sad but still beautiful xmas" side of things, there's Frightened Rabbit's It's Christmas So We'll Stop.

Speaking as someone who adores Leon Redbone and kinda generally doesn't get the appeal of Zooey Descanel's musical output, I just love their cover of Baby, It's Cold Outside.
posted by Ash3000 at 8:28 PM on November 26, 2010

Aaron Neville's Soulful Christmas is always on our playlist. But it's not new or modern.
posted by raisingsand at 8:58 PM on November 26, 2010

Seconding Oi To The World! as covered by No Doubt.

I also really love Coldplay's cover of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. They get the mood just right.
posted by cmgonzalez at 9:07 PM on November 26, 2010

Raveonettes - Christmas Song

posted by thirteenkiller at 9:17 PM on November 26, 2010

Don't forget to check out the Christmas and Holiday tags on MeFi Music. Lots of great stuff there.
posted by Miko at 9:20 PM on November 26, 2010

Sarah McLachlan -Wintersong
posted by various at 10:40 PM on November 26, 2010 [1 favorite]

Young and Sexy - Santa Claus Likes Rich Kids Better
posted by yellowbinder at 11:33 PM on November 26, 2010

Shawn Colvin's 1998 album Holiday Songs and Lullabyes isn't exactly poppy 'n' peppy fare, but I love to listen to it on cold, snowy evenings.
posted by Paris Elk at 2:26 AM on November 27, 2010

Loreena McKinnet's A Winter Garden,/a>
posted by Miko at 7:11 AM on November 27, 2010

Fantastic responses. I haven't gotten around to listening to every song here, but so far it sounds good.
posted by sandswipe at 3:12 PM on November 27, 2010

For a humourous take on Christmas I find The Arrogant Worms a lot of fun.
posted by thatdawnperson at 3:58 PM on November 27, 2010

Jonathan Coulton's "Chiron Beta Prime" tickles me greatly. It's always near the top of any Xmas playlist for me.
posted by themissy at 6:40 AM on November 28, 2010

seconding Aimee Mann's christmas album (minus the unspeakable Grinch cover): two good originals from it:

Christmastime
Calling on Mary

also Sally Shapiro - Anorak Christmas
posted by rollick at 10:52 AM on November 28, 2010

> Sufjan Stevens' Christmas album set is awesome.

Also, Low's song "just like Christmas" is so great I don't care if it comes from a sampler album accompanying a Very Special Episode of The O. C

Blasphemy! That's from their Christmas EP, an annual must at chez ifjuly.
posted by ifjuly at 11:54 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]