AWmusic

So starts the chorus for my all-time favourite Christmas song. Normally I don’t like Blink-182, their songs are puerile and sophomoronic (yes, I know it’s not a real word but I think it’s very descriptive of some music out there, don’t you?), however, this one song is a work of pure genius. Even bad bands can have a flash of pure inspiration now and again. That’s why I hesitate to diss any band because invariably they will surprise you. Well, unless you’re the Jonas Brothers, N’Sync, Backstreet Boys, Cheetah Girls or any band that is currently being played on the radio. Ok, I take that back, even radio stations flirt with inspiration now and again hence my surprise at hearing The Airborne Toxic Event on The Edge the other day. Anyway back to my original train of thought which is really about Christmas music.

Right now, if you peruse the blogs, you will have been smothered by best of lists. Invariably, they leave off the one song/band that you love the best and you end up pouting in your hot chocolate muttering nasty things to your marshmallow. I don’t intend to subject myself to that kind of abuse so instead I will abuse you with the other mind-numbing posts everyone seems to feel the need to include, namely Christmas, or if you prefer, Holiday music.

I have a love/hate relationship with most Christmas/Holiday music if only because there is a disconnect between the way Christmas is viewed now and the holiness of the traditional music. That is why I really appreciate bands who go out of their way to either write their own Christmas/Holiday song or redo an already popular tune. So here are my top 15 songs for this year (you didn’t think you would get away without another top whatever list, did you?):

15 – Christmas Tree’s On Fire – Holly Golightly – What happens when you don’t listen to your boyfriend. From the single, “Christmas Tree’s On Fire”
14 – The Twelve Days Of Christmas – The Joseph and Mary Chain – Not to be confused with the Jesus and Mary Chain. From “It’s Not Like Christmas”
13 – Christmas at the Trailer Park – Antsy McClain and the Trailer Park Troubadours – A country tune by one of the funniest guys out there. From the album, “Merry Christmas from the Trailer Park”
12 – Are You Coming Over For Christmas? – Belle And Sebastian – A lounge-y take on the boy/girl Christmas from one of my favourite Scottish bands. From the album, “Down the Chimney Tonight”
11- Mr. Heat Miser – Big Bad Voodoo Daddy – A swing tune from the album, “Everything You Want For Christmas”
10 – Gee Whiz, It’s Christmas – Carla Thomas – A neat song from the 60s by the Queen of Memphis soul. From the album “Soul Christmas”
9 – 3 Wise Men and a Baby – The Cavedogs – Richard Cheese would be proud. From the album “Tuletunes”
8 – Christmas In Vermont – Ed’s Redeeming Qualities – A quirky little song from a band whose quirky charm is belied by a overarching sense of dread. From the album, “It’s All Good News”
7 – Christmas In Prison – Emmy The Great With Lightspeed Champion – A great cover of a John Prine tune. From the compilation album, “It’s Not Like Christmas”
6 – No Xmas for John Quays – The Fall – A very punk Christmas song. From the Fall Box Set 1976-2007
5 – Merry Christmas (I Love You) – Hawksley Workman – No words can describe this dirge effectively. From the album, “Almost a Full Moon”
4 – Ryu, the Red Nosed Ninja – Doctor Octoroc – An electronic version of Rudolph. From the album, “8-bit Jesus”
3 – Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) – Death Cab For Cutie – Ben Gibbard. What else can I say? From “Maybe This Christmas Tree”
2 – Do They Know It’s Christmas – Richard Cheese – Love the guy. Who else could get away with a swinging, lounge version of this song? From “Silent Nightclub” (Thank God it’s them, instead of vous)
1 – I Won’t Be Home For Christmas – Blink-182 – From the single “Won’t Be Home for Christmas/Story of Lonely Guy/Age”
It’s Christmas time again
It’s time to be nice to the people you can’t stand all year
I’m growing tired of all this Christmas cheer
You people scare me
Please stay away from my home
If you don’t wanna get beat down
Just leave the presents and then leave me alone.

Kind of says it all for me.

So if you are a Christmas person then I hope you have a merry one. If, on the other hand, you are like me and wonder what the fuss is about, then let me raise my shot glass to you and join you in a good old-fashioned BAH, HUMBUG!

My top 3:

3 – Death Cab For Cutie – Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)
2 – Richard Cheese – Do They Know It’s Christmas
1 – Blink-182 – I Won’t Be Home For Christmas

You can get these through Amazon or iTunes.

Tags: feature, playlist