Open Thread: Holiday mixes!

I've read two stories in the past two days about holiday mixes. I just read this one today in tbt* (ok, so I don't really read tbt* that much but it's sorta my job to be in the know, y'know?) . Then there was this one in the Trib from over the weekend that I just didn't get around to reading until yesterday. That one's a 3-disk cycle no less.

There's of course the radio stations that flip to all-Christmas, all-the-time only seconds after most have finished Thanksgiving, but those playlists never quite seem that adventurous, or frankly that interesting. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that music directors in today's globalized radio industry aren't really interested in having taste, just remaining flatlined enough so that the robots don't change the station.

I'm feeling direct today. Anyway, I could (and should) go off on that elsewhere.

I've been making holiday mix cds for several years now. All the way back to high school I used to make people mixed tapes for Christmas (not themed to the holiday or anything, I would have lost massive goth points for that). My latest trend has really been to make two cds - one more traditional or at the very least "grown up" and the other light and silly.

After reading those playlists in the paper, I recognized most of those songs. Among them were some of my perennial inclusions: "Christmas in Hollis" by Run DMC, Louis Armstrong's "'Zat You Santa Claus?" and Dean Martin's "Baby, It's Cold Outside."

How David Bowie and Bing Crosby's duet of "Little Drummer Boy" was left off both of those lists, I'll never know. That's possibly one of the best Christmas recordings of all time. Or what of the majesty that is Eric Cartman singing "O Holy Night?" I'm also very fond of the Barenaked Ladies/Sarah McLaughlin version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and Dar Williams' "The Christians and the Pagans."

But we can all be a critic, right? So, I'm sure there has to be a ton of good holiday music I don't know or have forgotten about. I'd love for you all to share your holiday playlists here in the comments field. Think of it as a virtual tape swap. You leave the track lists, and we can find the music on our own (legally, of course).

I'll throw up a few of mine when I get home ...

-dj