I got a late start listening to holiday tunes this year, what with Hamilton taking up all my available ear-space for the last month or so. I set the show tunes aside long enough to dive into all the Christmas music I could handle, once again turning to Spotify for the most accessible selection.
Every year, I’m worried I won’t find enough new-to-me songs to fill a playlist; how many Christmas songs can there actually be? Quite a lot, it turns out, as again this year I had no trouble at all placing song after song. In fact, I placed a song or two, listened through the list and decided to take them off again. Such is the alchemy at play as I fine-tune the all-important track list before going public.
This year’s eclectic line-up features equal parts playful, stirring, quiet and soaring. Classic carols are covered by unexpected artists (Twisted Sister, anyone?) and originals by indie darlings (up-and-comers Johnnyswim) feature, too. I toiled over getting just the right track order and debated over which cut to include from several new albums. In the end, I think I hit on exactly the right recipe to ring in 2015’s holiday season in style – and I hope you agree!
Back in the day, I created actual CDs every year, mailing them to friends and family across the country as an early holiday gift as the season kicked off. The last couple of years, though, all that time and effort has proven antiquated with the ubiquity of streaming services. You can revisit my 2013 playlist here, and the 2014 playlist here. As I’ve finalized this year’s line-up, I’ve played through the others now and then myself. Together, they make quite an anthology of classic and contemporary, folksy and indie. And with the addition of this year’s songs, the combination will easily fill three hours of your day with holiday cheer.
ETA: I had this grand idea to compile the last several years of playlists into one, and I gotta say – it’s pretty great. Listen to my Christmas Supercut here or at the embed below. Cheers!
Jeanne says
I’d love a CD if you have a chance to burn one. Hope you are getting ready to enjoy your weekend with Greg and Amy!