What's New In 2009?

the best and brightest new Christmas releases

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Another holiday season is upon us, and I still have hundreds of Christmas albums stacked on my desk crying for attention. I suspect I may never catch up. This year's new releases, however, haven't added much to the pile - so far.

I say "so far" because the movement of the music industry from CD to MP3 means that many of the best holiday releases are being released later than ever. Some of last year's best Christmas albums - the Pretenders' Holiday EP, the Raveonettes' Wishing You A Rave Christmas, A Cameo Parkway Holiday Hits, and A Blackheart Christmas - were released only in the digital format and came out during the second half of November. Christmas With Weezer didn't arrive until December 16. In the old days, Christmas albums were announced in June and arrived in stores around September!

Which is to say, the best may be yet to come. As for now, the big news - by a long shot - is that Bob Dylan, the almighty scribe of rock and a card-carrying Jew, has waxed a Christmas album: Christmas In The Heart (look and listen). Hell, apparently, has frozen over, but the results - perhaps predictably - are less than impressive, even a little creepy. No big deal, though, since the proceeds benefit a charity - Feeding America - and any serious fan of either Dylan or Christmas music must buy one. (Loyal readers may recall that Dylan is mentioned as one of the "Jews We Wish Would Release A Christmas Record" on my Christmas list, Jews For Jesus. Be careful what you wish for....)

New Albums

A goodly number of superstars other than Dylan released Christmas records this year - none of whom I care much about (anymore, at least). These include Tori Amos, Neil Diamond, Michael McDonald, REO Speedwagon, and Sting. Releases by Barry Manilow and Aretha Franklin, I should point out, fall into the "almost new" category; each had been previously released under exclusive arrangements with Hallmark and Borders, respectively.

Like most years, 2009 brings a few surprises - albums by artists you'd never have guessed would stoop (ahem) to record a Christmas album. Arguably, Dylan and Amos fall into this category, as do jazz mama Carla Bley, soul daddy Swamp Dogg, and alternative siren A Fine Frenzy (a Target exclusive). And former Judas Priest screamer Rob Halford - whodda thunk? In his defense, this is not the leather-clad rocker's first holiday record; his band Fight recorded a single, "Christmas Ride," in 1994 (which, for a limited time, Halford is offering for free at his website).

My pick for Christmas album of the year, though, will likely be Yuletide Beat by Los Straitjackets, a band that bills themself, rightly enough, as "America's Instrumental Rock & Roll Combo." You can download the whole thing at Amazon right now. To nab one of the very limited edition CD or vinyl copies, you'll need to hurry to the band's website and place your order.

On the "various artists" front (always a crowded battlefield) I recommend Hope For The Holidays: Rockin' Christmas For A Cure which features Weezer, the Beach Boys, and the Cowsills and benefits the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Sadly, I cannot recommend the latest installment of A Very Special Christmas which benefits the Special Olympics. Great cause, lame album.

In the (also crowded) competition for this year's most unintentionally funny Christmas album, I nominate two candidates (plus the Bob Dylan album). First, there's An All-Star Salute To Christmas - a genuinely oddball collection of artists (Iggy Pop, Donna Fargo, Bay City Rollers) compiled by Cleopatra Records (apparently while stoned). Second, I present Hanukkah Gone Metal by the Gods Of Fire - which simply must be heard to be believed (and serves as a handy counterpoint to last year's "Jingle Bells" by Austrian Death Machine). For intentionally funny (and sexy), take a listen to Chevonne's Unwrap Me.

Reissues

This year brings no shortage of reissued Christmas classics - many quite fine, but none that qualify as really big news. The Beach Boys' Christmas Harmonies represents merely another iteration of their thoroughly hashed-over catalog. Much the same can be said for Ray Charles' Christmas Spirit, Nat King Cole's Christmas Song, the Jackson 5's Ultimate Christmas Collection, and Dean Martin's My Kind Of Christmas as well as collections like The Ultimate Motown Christmas and A Christmas Gift For You From Phil Spector.

I love all that stuff dearly. If you do, too, chances are high that you've already purchased this music - maybe more than once. But, it's great that it's back.

Much better - for old punk rawkers like me, at least - is Punk Rawk Christmas, an MP3 compilation of previously rare fan club singles by Christian band MxPx. This loud, tuneful band has released some of the best Christmas music of the last 10 years - but only to their (ahem) faithful fans (read more). Punk Rawk Christmas finally makes these songs - plus a few new ones - easily available to heathens like us. (Late in the season, a limited edition CD with extra tracks went on sale through the band's website, and CD-R became available through Amazon.) In a similar vein, British garage rock label Damaged Goods has compiled A Damaged Christmas Gift For You - also highly recommended.

To fans of relatively normal music, the most widely anticipated reissue is the soundtrack to The Christmas Story, the celebrated 1983 family comedy. Be warned, however, it's just a bunch of incidental movie music - yawn - and not the popular Christmas classics featured in the film. And, technically, it's not a reissue since it was never issued in the first place.... For me, the most welcome return is Christmas On The Range: Cowboy Classics From Capitol Records, a sterling collection of country music out-of-print for many years. Used copies of the CD had been fetching more than $50, but it's now available again - relatively cheap. Unfortunately, the CD version (issued through Green Hill Records) is trimmed to just 15 tracks with new cover art and minimal liner notes; the MP3 version (from Capitol) has the original 20 tracks and cover art but (of course) no booklet whatsoever.

(A couple of consumer notes: First, the Phil Spector reissue is also available on vinyl through Sundazed Records. Second, the long-awaited Blues, Blues Christmas Vol. 2 - two discs of fabulous obscurities - is proving hard-to-find, but I ordered and received a copy directly from the label, UK-based Document Records.)

Even more music is back via MP3 download. Albums by Charles Aznavour, June Christy, The Lettermen, Dean Martin, Al Martino, and Bobby Vee make their digital debut. Even better, a couple of much-beloved trash classics by the Mistletoe Disco Band are available for the first time in any format since their original release during the twilight of disco fever in the 1970's. But, to repeat what I said last year, the trend towards reissuing lost classics as MP3 downloads seems to be sputtering. In my view, the record labels are idly sitting on a gold mine. The time has come to open the vaults!

Singles

Thanks to the profusion of MP3 releases, keeping up with the Christmas singles scene has become virtually impossible. Frankly, it's become too easy to put out music - any dweeb with a computer can do it (and most do). That said, the season has already produced a couple gems and (as discussed above) many more will most assuredly arrive as December 25th approaches.

I Wish It Was Christmas Today by Julian Casablancas
This song by the Strokes frontman originated on the "Saturday Night Live" TV show - visit Stereo Gum to hear Casablancas' cover and watch the original SNL video. So far, the single is available as a 99 cent download on Amazon (where it is labeled "Christmas Treat"), but on iTunes you have to purchase of his entire latest album, Phrazes For The Young (offer later discontinued). A 7-inch vinyl single is due December 21.

For The Love Of Others by Piney Gir
This song - taken from her album The Yearling - is part of a three-track single so far available only as a 7-inch through Damaged Goods or as a download through iTunes. Like Norton Records, another stubbornly retro indie label, Damaged Goods has a tradition of releasing Christmas records - including great efforts by Billy Childish (Thee Headcoats), TV Smith (Adverts), Poly Styrene (X Ray Spex), and Holly Golightly (Thee Headcoatees). The really good news is that the label is releasing a download-only compilation containing nearly all of them! Life gets better....

(I Wanna Go) Surfin' with Santa! by The Hollyberries
This irresistible, effervescent piece of pop is the essentially a pseudonymous release by The Little Girls, an L.A. band featuring singing sisters Caron and Michele Murray along with Kip Brown, who wrote, arranged, and produced the track.

Rockin' Christmas Time by Steve Brown
Who, you ask? Brown was the guitarist for 80's hair metal gods Trixter, and he recorded this song in 2003 with his band 40ft. Ringo. So, this is, technically speaking, a reissue. Anyway, I'm no fan of hair metal, but Brown has shorn his shlong and cranked up the pop, and this song, well, rocks. Dude!

Happy Birthday, Guadalupe! by The Killers
This is the Killers' fourth consecutive Christmas single - all of them supporting (RED), a foundation fighting AIDS in Africa through (believe it or not) consumerism. Download or, for a limited time, purchase a CD through Newbury Comics, one of Amazon's most reliable third-party sellers. BTW, the Killers' earlier singles were "Great Big Sled" (2006), "Don't Shoot Me Santa" (2007), and "Joseph, Better You Than Me" (2008) - all still available for download.

It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas by the Pet Shop Boys
This is a new version of a song the notoriously fey duo originally sent to their fan club in 1997. So far only available on an imported CD single.

Cold Dark Night by Sam Phillips
In case you haven't heard of her, Phillips is a widely respected alternative singer/songwriter and wife of award-winning musician and producer T-Bone Burnett. Her dark, acoustic ditty is part of a Christmas EP that you can only get by forking over $52 for The Long Play, a year-long project that will yield five EP's and an album - all exclusive for subscribers.

It's Always Christmas Time by Al Jourgensen with Mark Thwaite
I've heard fans of Christmas music claim Ministry's "Jesus Built My Hot Rod" as a holiday song. That's a bit of a stretch. But, this single by Ministry front man Jorgensen and British guitarist-for-hire Thwaite is the real thing.

Away In A Manger by Paul Westerberg
Back in February, former Replacements leader Westerberg released a non-LP single - apparently an Amazon exclusive - called "D.G.T." (as in "Damn Good Time"). Selling for a hefty 79 cents, the single included two b-sides - the western nugget "Streets Of Laredo" and "Away In A Manger," both rendered in typically shambolic fashion. What was he thinking? No telling, but it rocks!

It's Christmas Once Again by Ronnie Spector
The sultry Ms. Spector has a bit of a legacy as a singer of holiday songs (read more), and this track is a cover of a sentimental song recorded several times in the 50's and 60's - by Tommy Edwards, Jimmie Rodgers, and Frankie Lymon (who, as chronicled in her biography, once assaulted Spector in a drunken rage). "It's Christmas Once Again" is a bonus track on the brand new reissue of her 2006 album, The Last Of The Rock Stars, but so far it is only available to download at her website - i.e. not Apple Music or Amazon.

Merry Xmas by X
Yes, the legendary Los Angeles-based punk rock band X has released a Christmas (er, Xmas) single. The download-only package consists of two exceedingly predictable selections - "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" and "Jingle Bells" - that nevertheless sound like vintage X. "Santa Claus," in fact, kicks off with the unforgettable riff from the group's disaffected classic "Los Angeles." Great fun, but an original song would have been better.

A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like A Kiss) by Glasvegas
This ambient ditty is the title track to these Scottish hipsters' six-song digital EP (released last year but newly available in America), which also features weird take on "Silent Night" and a tiding of comfort and joy called "Fuck You, It's Over." Just to be certain, the track pays veiled tribute to the Crystals' infamous song "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)" (1962), written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and produced by Phil Spector, who later produced a Christmas album you may have heard of....

Other singles of note - but that I can't honestly recommend - include "Candy Cane Christmas" from former Blowfish Darius 'Hootie' Rucker, "Christmas In Your Arms" by American Idol doughboy Ruben Studdard, "I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas" by redneck diva Gretchen Wilson, "Where My Christmas Lives" by 90's alt-rockers 3 Doors Down, and a pointless remake of the Kinks' "Father Christmas" by earnest singer/songwriter Cary Brothers. Also, the Cast of Glee has recorded a cover of Wham's "Last Christmas" (an Apple Music exclusive) but, frankly, I'm not young enough or gay enough....

I'm on the fence, however, about Dolly Parton's "Comin' Home For Christmas." I love Dolly - who doesn't? - but this song is more reminiscent of treacle like "Me And Little Andy" than fierce odes like "Jolene." Finally, Grandpa Elliott's rendition of "Please Come Home For Christmas" adds little to the Charles Brown chestnut, but your purchase of it supports Playing For Change, a multimedia movement to bring peace to the world through music.

Curiously, Capitol Records has released two (count 'em) vintage Christmas singles as MP3 downloads - "Christmas Blues" b/w "The Chipmunk Song" by Canned Heat and "Snoopy's Christmas" b/w "It Kind Looks Like Christmas" by the Royal Guardsmen. Capitol has been more proactive than the other major labels when reissuing their catalog on MP3 - but just two? They have literally thousands in the can! (Late in the season, they made Stan Freberg's brilliant "Green Christmas" available for download. But, it's only one of five Christmas tracks included on the DRG compact disc The Capitol Singles Collection.)

More promisingly, Rhino Records has begun issuing "digital 45's" - including some semi-rare tracks and their original (and even more rare) b-sides. Finding the holiday titles may prove tough among the 500-plus singles they've released thus far (try searching for keywords like Christmas and Santa) but I found cool things by artists as varied as Dwight Yoakam, Brook Benton, Allan Sherman, Firefall, and Hank Crawford.

My Christmas List.

Anyway, the list below is a look at the new albums that I think will be of interest to people who love holiday music that rocks, rolls, swings, or twangs - meaning that it is neither a list of my recommendations nor a comprehensive list of new releases. Hope you find it useful. What have I missed? Drop me a line...

Randy Anthony

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