Last year we threw a holiday party and wanted to avoid the season's musical dead horses. Don't get us wrong: we're suckers for anything Burl Ives or Andy Williams around this time of year, but for a festive get-together of friends we wanted something slightly more unexpected: a mix of both new and old but not too traditional. We spent a loooooong time searching the internet and our music files for the best ear tinsel, weeding out the downer or jarring numbers from each album, to create the perfect 50-song, 2-and-a-half hour holiday party mix (well, perfect for us). So consider this our gift to you. Below are the first 25, click here for the rest. Let us know what we forgot...and what you'd like regift. (FYI: Songs are ordered by album, but you'd just hit "shuffle"):
Alternative Rock Xmas (selections from compilation):
- I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus by The Thrills
- Holiday Fortnight (2002 Digital Remaster) by The Specials
- In Like a Lion (Always Winter) by Relient k
- Let It Snow by Luscious Jackson
- Please Daddy (Don't Get Drunk This Christmas) by The Decemberists
- My Baby Fell for Ol' St. Nick by Dada Ante Portas
Oy to the World - a Klezmer Christmas by The Klezmonauts (selections from album):
- Joy to the World
- Deck the Halls
Yulestride by Butch Thompson (selections from compilation):
- I'll Be Home for Christmas
- Jingle Bells
- White Christmas
This Warm December: Brushfire Holiday's, Vol. 1 (selections from compilation):
- Stuck At the Airport by Money Mark
- No Christmas for Me by Zee Avi
- Christmas Baby by G. Love
- Christmas Time by ALO
Love Actually Soundtrack (selections from compilation):
- White Christmas by Otis Redding
- All I Want for Christmas Is You by Olivia Olsen (a bit cheesy, yes, but a crowd pleaser, and infinitely better than Mariah's version)
Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End) Single by The Darkness
Wishing You a Rave Christmas: Come On Santa by The Raveonettes
Pretenders' Holiday EP: Blue Christmas by Pretenders
Number 1's: Christmas: Cool Yule by Louis Armstrong & The Commanders
A Very Special Christmas: Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by U2 (again, a bit cliche, but an undeniably rocking classic)
A Great Big Sled Single by The Killers
Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas: Good Morning Blues by Ella Fitzgerald
Banjo Christmas: Auld Lang Syne by Pine Street Musicians
READ THE REST OF THIS TOP 50 LIST on our SUNfiltered blog to see if Wham's "Last Christmas" made the cut.
