The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

Menu

Navigation

You are here: Home / Forum / Festive Recommendations, Please

Festive Recommendations, Please

by 160 Comments

I do like to have some Christmas music on at this time of year, but not always the standard hits that you hear everywhere, so I’d be very grateful for any suggestions of Christmas albums slightly off the mainstream. My usual ‘go to’ albums include anything by Kate Rusby, Blind Boys of Alabama’s ‘Go Tell it on the Mountain’, Thea Gilmore ‘Strange Communion’ and (obviously) Bob Dylan ‘Christmas in the Heart’. And King’s College Choir is reserved for Christmas morning. What are your favourites/ recommendations?

0

Comments

  4. My fave of recent years (crikey, 2014 was 9 years ago!) is It’s A Wonderful Christmas Carol by the much-missed Fareham-based indie supergroup The Retrospective Soundtrack Players.

    All of their albums were themed around books or films, and their last was a mix of both. A proper album with a beginning, middle and end. Features guest vocals (the Ghosts of Christmas past, present & future) from Frank Turner, Chris T-T and Ben Marwood.

  6. Same answer to this question every year: the four greatest non-mainstream Christmas songs ever recorded….

    When The Thames Froze – Smith & Burrows
    A Pretty Good Christmas – The Disappointment Choir
    A Christmas Duel – The Hives & Cyndi Lauper
    Happy Birthday Guadalupe – The Killers

    This is the one time of year these can be played, and they’re all absolute bangers. So good.

  8. Tracey Thorn’s Tinsel And Lights album from 2012 is a classy effort and gets a lot of play around here in December. Good mini doc about the making of it on youtube as well.

    • Just been listening to the playlist and this is indeed very wonderful, @Dave Ross.

      I wanted to know where it came from. The answer is the Basque Country.

      https://www.sjmp.com/catalog/music/riu-riu-chiu#:~:text='Riu%2C%20riu%2C%20chiu‘,and%20the%20wolf%20as%20Satan.

      “A medieval Spanish carol (here in English) that is tons of fun to sing!

      ‘Riu, riu, chiu’ was a traditional call of the Basque shepherds guarding their flocks. The text (originally in Spanish) is built around strong images of the shepherd as God the Father, lamb that he protects as the Virgin Mary and the wolf as Satan. The original Spanish may be found in the New Oxford Book of Carols (1992).

      Riu riu chiu, Shepherd at the river,
      Guard us from the wolf, your people to deliver.

      Tender is the lamb, the angry wolf no stranger:
      But almighty God protected her from danger.
      Made in such a way that she could know no sinning:
      Spotless was the Virgin from the world’s beginning.

      Now this new-born child is King of all creation:
      Saviour clothed in flesh has come to every nation.
      to redeem us all, yet born a child so lowly:
      Come to earth from heaven, infinite and holy.

      Prophets born of old have told us of his glory:
      Angels in the sky are echoing the story.
      Glory be to God on high, their voices singing:
      Earth resounds their tidings, and with joy is ringing.”

      The I’m a Believer Hitmakers had a great ear for a good song.

  10. The Border Brass – Tijuana Christmas
    Trojan Christmas Box Set
    Kim Wilde – Wild Winter Songbook
    Sarah McLachlan – Wintersong/Wonderland
    Kylie Minogue – Kylie Christmas
    Katie Melua & The Gori Women’s Choir – In Winter
    Various Artists – A Winter’s Night (brilliant compilation).

    • There seems to be several compilations called A Winter’s Night. Who are the artists on yours @Black Type. Alternatively, do you know which record label it was on?
      I’m guessing it was this one.

      There are some interesting Xmas compilations out there, often containing specially recorded songs.

      I liked this one

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maybe_This_Christmas

      Ron Sexsmith’s that gave its name to the compilation is one of my absolute Xmas favourites.
      It’s become a popular standard here in Sweden, but it’s best performed by Ron and his guitar.

        • Thanks @Black Type. Yes there are some gems on that.

          Just found this playlist which combines your album with the one I mentioned and several others:

          310 songs! That should keep me out of mischief.

          My favourite Xmas songs are often these small indie gems rather than the bombastic versions of tunes from the Great American Xmas Songbook.

  11. Barry Rose is your man. His Pro Arte Orchestra is da shiznit.

    Hely Hutchinson’s Carol Symphony plus luminous readings of Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia on Christmas Carols, the Wassail Song and Bethlehem Down. The CD has some children’s tat tagged on the end but you can ignore that.

    Carols From Kings – David Willcocks and the boys throwing down in ’69. The owners of those high and piping angelic voices are prime Afterworder demographic (born late 50s, I expect)

    It ain’t Christmas until these jams is rocked.

  13. One of my favourite bands, The Delines have a Xmas single out, so naturally I’m going to mention that.

    And a few more varied favourites..

    Leonard de Paur Chorus

    The Chevelles

    Hello Saferide

    Sara Isaksson

    Lord Nelson

    Sissel Kyrkjebø og Odd Nordstoga

    Sufjan Stevens

        • I don’t like to agree with that @SteveT character, he seems the argumentative type like the fellow who, shall we say lives in the EU, but agree with him I must the Delines song is magnifique. You KFD have an excellent taste in music just like me 🤣

          • Another convert to the Delines! Well deserved! And all thanks to @DuCo01 who put them on the map for me.

            Here’s one of their finest songs.

            A word of warning though @RayX! If you tell you like my taste in music, the next you think you know. I will be bombarding with some of my favourite playlists.

            Bulgarian Easy Listening 1956-59.

            Hurdy Gurdy Hits from Hawaii

            The Fantastic World of Forro Volume 48.

            Now that’s what I call Norwegian Sea Shanties!

            The Polyphonic Monks of Meteora sing the George Formby songbook

            You’re going to love them all!

  14. The first Sufjan Stevens Christmas box set (second set not so much).

    Kate Bush’s 50 Words for Snow

    Tracey Thorn’s Tinsel and Lights

    The Roche’s We Three Kings

    The title track being:

      • I watched The Snowman (original story) twice on Sunday with an orchestral soundtrack at Brighton Dome (I was projecting it behind the orchestra). I remember being slightly underwhelmed when I saw it on TV years ago but in a theatre with live music, it really came to life, pun intended.
        I didn’t know that it was set in Brighton but you can see The Pavillion, Dome and the Palace Pier during the flying sequence.

  18. It’s a Holiday Soul Party by Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings is my go-to album.

    Favourite single tracks for me tends to be in the humoristic novelty category…and at the other end of the spectrum the very sentimental classics that makes me cry every time! 🙂

  20. I normally loathe Christmas albums, and avoid them with as big a bag of humbugs as I can. But Drive The Cold Winter Away by Horslips is terrif. More seasonal than baby J, which I prefer, anyway. And this years We Know By The Moon is another, by the Furrow Collective.
    Happy Solstice, pagans!!

  21. I think “A Christmas Gift to You” from Phil Spector is the only seasonal album I own. Has the impeccable ‘Christmas (Baby please Come Home)’ from Darlene Love. When I’m feeling more bitter I’ll put on the following (Christmas in Nevada by Willard Grant Conspiracy).

  22. I agree with Pencil on Vince Guaraldi Trio.

    The Beach Boys and Tamla Motown have great Christmas albums. Ella Fitzgerald’s Swinging Christmas is superb.

    Has anyone mentioned The Waitresses yet?

  26. It may be 20 years old by now but there’s some really good stuff on the it’s a cool cool Christmas compilation including “Thank you dreaded black ice” by giant sand and”Alan Parsons in a Winter Wonderland” by Grandaddy.
    Something that rarely gets mentioned is the excellent “Christmas Thanks For Nothing” EP by Slow Club in Rebecca Taylor’s better pre Self Esteem days.

  27. There’s a very good Irish Christmas playlist on Spotify…

    Hark! by the Fab Four also available on Spotify is a popular one in our house. Festive favourites done very convincingly in the style of the Beatles.

    I’d also recommend Mark Lamarr’s Rhythm and Blues Christmas playlist or CD.

    The band Low also have a Christmas album.

  29. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Christmas album is something I play all year round. They play those well-worn songs very simply but expertly. Their version of The Little Drummer Boy is one of my favourite songs of any kind.

  34. J D McPherson – SOCKS! – rocking gems

    The Fleshtones – Stocking Stuffer

    Vince Guraldi as recommended above

    and, Glasgow’s finest surfing instrumental rock and rollers, The Beat Poets

  36. If you fancy something different a new album by Choppersaurus … the offshot band for Jake Shillingford of My Life Story … Moosey may fancy having a listen

  37. If you want a really deep cut, here’s my Christmas song, recorded on impulse a few years ago and known by few. Big in Pennsylvania apparently; a distant relative put it on the town Facebook group who loved it. Strange times.

  38. Your resident Carly Rae Jepsen fan would like to put this in the mixer

    Its’s daft, funny & catchy! What more would you want?

    Also a stormer from Bradfords finest. Also daft, funny & catchy;

  40. I go fairly mainstream for most of my Xmas listening..

    December by the Moody Blues
    Ultimate Christmas by the Beach Boys – the original album plus later unreleased cuts
    A Christmas Gift For You by Phil Spector (obvious, but still brilliant)
    A Christmas Cornucopia by Annie Lennox
    Merry Christmas Baby by Rod Stewart
    Song for Christmas by Emily Smith
    Anything by St Agnes Fountain or the Albion Christmas Band

    Ones to avoid..
    Christmas with the Everly Brothers – this ought to be great…but it isn’t. Typical choices of songs with not a hint of the band’s magic
    The 4 Seasons Greetings- see above.
    Anything Motown – with a few notable exceptions, it just doesn’t generally work. Formulaic Christmas fayre. Purple Snowflakes is great though.

    • Very pleased to see you mentioning the Albion Xmas Band @NigelT.

      I have absolutely nothing against the Great American Xmas Songbook.

      But it’s very refreshing to listen to artists who are looking elsewhere and exploring their own national Xmas Songbook.

      Here in Sweden, bans such as the wonderful Triakel are exploring the Swedish Xmas heritage.

      Here’s a real Swedish Xmas classic.

  43. Probably too old-fashioned for all you hip streaming comrads, but my Xmas mixes are still available:


    including the fabulous »Sausage And Sauerkraut« and Richard Hawley’s »Silent Night«


    featuring Christmas songs from Can, Kraftwerk, Low, and Linda Ronstadt

    …and in case you’re longing for the proper cold winter feeling – try this:

    • Thanks for asking for our festive faves @JustTim. This thread really reflects the enormous variety of music tastes on the website.

      Put them all together and we’re creating an excellent, extremely varied Yuletide Playlist.

      It’s certainly not finished yet

      Keep your suggestions coming and I’ll keep adding them to this playlist

        • Damn right we can, @JustTim!

          I was delighted when Junior posted that wonderful Gravy song.

          We all decide on what Xmas is for us! Songs about skating on frozen rivers and snowball fights mean sod all to the Aussies. and many others.

          Here’s one of my Yuletide faves

          And here’s that Nora Jones again!

          Great video and a very catchy song.

  51. Wha’s ailing us?

    A festive thread and not a single mention of wassailing!

    Here’s Maddy Prior ro put that right.

    More Kate Rusby? My pleasure!

    Mellow Yuletide carols from the Frozen North??
    What a good idea!

    These Three Wise Men of Nordic Jazz have recorded two fine albums of Xmas standards.

    Jul på norska

    Jul på svenska

      • I see that this year, the redoubtable Ted Gioia has compromised a little in his end-of-year lists. His Top 100 Favourite recordings of the year are still behind a paywall, but the next hundred, i.e. the “Honorable Mentions List”, numbers 101-200, are accessible to all. There’s plenty of fascinating stuff to investigate here.

        https://www.honest-broker.com/p/the-best-recordings-of-2023-honorable

        One year, a reader asked Ted how many albums he had heard and digested during the year, in order to select his Top 200.
        Ted’s response? 825 albums! What a guy!

        • I am very impressed @DuCo01 by how broad his tastes are.

          And love his pithy descriptions:

          Genre-Crossing Music for Banjo, Tabla and Bass

          3 Hour Piano Composition (in 75 Movements) Built on Folkish Melodies and Cross-Rhythms

          Dutch Minimalist Masterwork from 1976

          Dreamy Contemporary Organ Music from New Zealand

          Well I never! The wonderful Khruangbin have done a live album with Canadian dream-poppers Men I Trust! That I want to hear!

          I discovered Men I Trust when they did a Tiny Desk at Home for NPR. I am very taken by them.

  54. I still love Marli Siu’s “It’s that Time of Year” from Anna and the Apocalypse. Makes Santa Baby sound innocent:

    And I can’t let HMHB’s “It’s Cliched to be Cynical at Christmas” go unmentioned:

  60. My 2023 festive gig-going is done.
    Last night’s Steely Dan tributers Stanley Dee’s Xmas party at Watford Pump House Theatre’s Colne Room being the last. Minus their trumpeter/acoustic guitarist/featured vocalist Steve Joy, who came down with Covid just days before, they soldiered on without him. A surprise new addition to their repertoire was the never-officially-released “The Second Arrangement”.
    Being the replacement for their annual Xmas gig at The Horns pub, which closed down a couple of months ago (re-opening tonight under the management of the old landlord’s predecessor) it’s customary for them to incorporate oneor two “festive” numbers towards the end of their second set. This year there were three. Firstly they played Jona Lewie’s “Stop The Cavalry” which really missed Steve Joy’s trumpet stylings. Tenor sax and clarinet did not really work too well. Next came a new addition, a rousing rendition of “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day” which got the crowd going. Fantastic. They finished, as they usually do on their Xmas show, with “Fairytale Of New York” featuring bassist Mark MacCormac singing Shane’s lines with his partner Katie singing Kirsty’s lines. All three of those among my pretty short list of acceptable festive songs.

        • Way to go, @fitterstoke! I for one will be very pleased to be introduced to some more choral music.

          You may have noticed that Vox Clamantis, another Estonian choir, was at No 45
          on the @DuCo01 best of the year.

          “45. Vox Clamantis – Music by Henrik Ødegaard
          Three years ago, the Vox Clamantis ensemble actually made No.1 in my chart, with their incredible recordings of Cyrillus Creek material. This year’s effort is pleasant enough, but not in the same league.”

          I’ve just listened to a little but am very impressed.

          Here’s a clip from their Creek album that the Duke rated very highly,

          Anyway, time for a slight change of topic.

          It’s Friday night and time for you to let our hair down. If you still have any that is!

          Here’s Erykah Badu, sporting a quite magnificent Afro, singing about Santa Claus and Annie who won’t be wanting any drawers this Xmas.

          Wonderfully funky. And Santa gets mentioned which makes it a Xmas song in my book.

          I suspect that Professsor @Moosethemooche from the Nordic Woodland University will agree with me on that!

  64. Just three days ago, NPR posted this special David Byrne Yuletide playlist.

    https://www.npr.org/2023/12/20/1220324342/david-byrne-talking-heads-holiday-christmas-playlist?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20231223&utm_term=9164694&utm_campaign=music&utm_id=10734345&orgid=&utm_att1=

    There are several songs that you’ll have heard of or that have been mentioned on this thread. But several new names too! Enjoy!

    And then there’s David’s own Xmas song; The Fat Man’s Coming.

    • It’s scary how well you have sussed me out, Hubert!

      Carol of the Bells! Vivaldi! Hurdy Gurdy!

      I’m rolling on my back, salivating wildly and barking like Pavlov’s Dog.

          • Somehow I’m reminded of that other mysterious Ice Queen; Nico of the Velvet Underground

            That aloof look on her face, her delicate finger-work, her stylish make up and sophisticated wardrobe…. She is that rarest of beings: a Hurdy-Gurdy Hotty!

            @hubert rawlinson, I’m not sure you should be posting this kind of scorchio material on this site.

            How many other bedazzled chaps are there out there watching this again and again and whispering to themselves;

            “MIstress! Mistress! Here’s my collar and lead. Please take me for walkies!!”

Leave a Reply