What's New In 2023? Hip Christmas Music (www.hipchristmas.com)

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Another Christmas is upon us, and I have an excuse-in-advance for being less engaged this holiday season - both on the website and over at Facebook. I lost my Dad in late September, after losing my Mother last year, and I am eyeballs deep in helping settle their affairs. It's just "life stuff," I know, and I count myself lucky to have had two great parents for many, many years. All the same, it'll be my first Christmas without them both - and I know a lot of you understand how tough that can be.

Anyway, this is also an extra good reason to encourage you to visit my festive friends. Independent of my personal life, I have long resigned from following new music except for "legacy artists" that I have a personal interest in - this year, mainly reissues like the Salsoul Orchestra (sorry, Cher). Folks like Mistletunes, Christmas Underground, and Christmas A Go Go still have their fingers on the pulse - so be sure to support them!

As I write this, the physical new releases - vinyl and CD - are already nestled snug in their racks. Par for the course in recent years, we've seen a lot of colorful vinyl reissues and dubious deluxe editions, but, there's lotsa cool stuff. And, in the digital realm, we'll see many more throughout the season - right up to the big day. This page, however, is a curated list of the year's best and/or most notable Christmas music - which is to say, hardly exhaustive - including reissues and compilations, new albums, and singles and tracks, plus my personal top 10 albums and top 25 singles.

What am I missing, fellow Christmas fanatics? Drop me a line... Of course, happy holidays, stay safe, and follow me over at The Facebook!

Randy Anthony

Top 10 Albums

The titular holiday is upon us, so this is my final draft of this year's best 10 Christmas albums. As has been the case in recent years, I was torn. There have been way too many good-to-classic albums being reissued, especially on vinyl. For instance, fine platters by Blue Rodeo, Booker T. & The MG's, The Grip Weeds, Nick Lowe, Bob Dylan, Fred Schneider, and The Smithereens. But, I am less than excited about most of the new-ish music. High-profile albums by Brandy, Jessie James Decker, Johnny Mathis, Seth MacFarlane, and The Tenors? Yawn. But, you know, eye of the beholder and all that - so here they are, in alphabetical order by artist.

Bunnygrunt / Seasoned Freaklings: Thirty Years Of Holiday Hits By The Grand Elves Of Midwest Twee Core
St. Louis twee core band Bunnygrunt is led by Matt Harnish and Karen Tyler, who are also culpable for the indie empire of The Bert Dax Cavalcade Of Stars. Thirty Years Of Holiday Hits was "recorded many places by many people over many years," and it compiles the contents of two singles from 1996 and 2022, respectively, plus several sides from assorted compilations, including some of the (count 'em) nine volumes of the A Very Bert Dax Christmas series. My favorite cut: "Merry Christmas, I Do Want To Fight Tonight," Bunnygrunt's winking rewind of the Ramones' most famous holiday song. If you like your alternative rock lo-fi, loud, simple, and snide, this is the album for you. I should also mention that similar albums have been released by Philadelphia rockers Punchline, midwestern pop punks Vista Blue, UK indie poppers Don't Call Me Ishmael, and Radiant Radish Records.

Cher / Christmas
I've picked Cher's first-ever holiday album for a variety of reasons. In no small way, it's because it is, in fact, her first-ever holiday album. Simply put, it's about time! She's approaching 80 years old, and she's been recording for more than 60! But, Cher has only ever recorded one holiday track that I'm aware of, and that was on an (ahem) Rosie O'Donnell album! Now, I'm not the biggest fan. I mostly love her early work, especially her trio of trashy 70's hits: "Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves," "Dark Lady," and "Half Breed." Christmas is not that. Rather, it's patterned more after high-tech hits like "Believe" - auto-tuned vocals included. Mostly, I think Cher earns a nod because she clearly did not phone it in as most artists of her vintage would have. She looks great, sounds great, and seems very engaged in the process. Plus, there are a lot of original songs on the album (meaning, not the same old standards), even if she didn't actually write any of them herself. So, classic? No way - though I think we'll be hearing the lead single, "DJ Play A Christmas Song," for years to come. But, Christmas is worth your time and, more importantly, it's a worthy capstone on a long and distinguished career. (Alternate covers are being sold on Amazon and her website, and a bunch of colored vinyl variations are being sold all over the place.)

Vince Guaraldi / A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
The soundtrack for the 1973 TV special "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" isn't technically a reissue, because it's never been issued before - at least not in its entirety. This year, it finally gets its due, and in all formats - CD, LP, and digital. It completes the holiday trilogy that started in 1965 with the much-more-famous 1965 Christmas special, which has been reissued to death, and continued with the 1966 Halloween special, It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, which was finally reissued last year. The remastered album features the Vince Guaraldi Quintet, not Trio, and it includes much more music than was actually employed in the original half-hour show. Also available on green vinyl for Record Store Day and "cranberry" red vinyl from Target.

Michelle Malone / Christmas With Michelle Malone & The Hot Toddies
You may not have heard of her, but Michelle Malone is something of a legend in the American Southeast, where she's been crankin' out soulful rock music for close to 40 years and counting. She also has a history of Christmas music dating back almost as far. Her recent music with a small combo, the Hot Toddies, leans much further into jazz and lounge music than anything else she's done. Her latest, Christmas With Michelle Malone & The Hot Toddies, consists of 10 holiday standards and was first released as part of a 2022 Kickstarter campaign. It is now available exclusively through her website on CD and red vinyl. She's also compiled Toddie Time from two previously released EP's, available through most online retailers.

Manakooras / Christmas With The Manakooras (EP)
There's not a lot of Christmas exotica music from back in its heyday, and there's even less being recorded today. Thankfully, labels like Hi-Tide Recordings are working on that, and this year's Christmas With The Manakooras is a big step forward. Hailing from the deep jungle of Charlotte, North Carolina, the band treats us to four instrumental "surfxotica" tracks - two covers, two originals. Available on 7-inch vinyl from the label or on digital from Amazon and most everywhere. This year, Hi-Tide also has releases by Charlie & The Tropicales and, through their NuTone imprint, Jesse Wagner with the Western Standard Time Ska Orchestra.

Joel Paterson / The More The Merrier
And, speaking of NuTone, that label brings us picker extraordinaire Joel Paterson's sophomore holiday album, The More The Merrier, perhaps the most anticipated album among the Christmas cognoscenti this year. As with 2018's Hi-Fi Christmas Guitar, Paterson conjures classic guitar sounds - think Chet Atkins, Les Paul, and Wes Montgomery - to create something altogether new and modern. With 13 covers and one original song, "Christmas Guitar Boogie," The More The Merrier strikes a lovely, top-tapping balance between traditional and contemporary, with a nice hipster patina on top.

Salsoul Orchestra / Christmas Jollies I & II: The Extra Jolly Edition
Disco got a lot of crap for its alleged musical and intellectual vacuity and, indeed, there was actually a (great) disco song called "Mindless Boogie." Well, the Salsoul Orchestra - founded by former MFSB member Vincent Montana, Jr. - made music for people who thought most disco wasn't mindless enough. It was all beat and dazzle, and their eponymous label's actual motto was "Dance your ass off!" That said, Salsoul's Christmas music was a little less mindless and, ergo, a little less exciting than normal. All the same, I am altogether pumped that SoulMusic and Second Disc have compiled Christmas Jollies I & II: The Extra Jolly Edition on three compact discs encompassing two complete albums and a host of bonus tracks.

various artists / Have Yourself a Merry Indie Christmas Volume III
I did my best to support this project last year when they released the first two volumes, both of them heapin' helpings of great independent holiday music from artists like Swansea Sound, the Pearlfishers, Suzzy Roche, Crocodiles, Helen Love, Shinyribs, Boo Hewerdine, and Eddi Reader. I mean, over 100 tracks supporting Crisis, a UK charity working to end homelessness - what's not to like? That makes the slightly-more-modest third-and-final volume an easy call, as well, with 35 tracks including songs by the Sunturns, Vista Blue, and the Hannah Barberas, a new recording by Lisa Mychols, and the Futureheads' classic "Christmas Was Better In The 80's." I hasten to mention, as well, that several other fine indie volumes have been released that benefit good causes including Resound Presents: A Very Homie Holiday, a Texas project helping people experiencing homelessness, and Mark Malibu Presents: Surfin' Kitty Xmas 4, which supports Pinetree Stables in Grand Bahamas.

various artists / 1950's Christmas Classics Volume 1, Volume 2, and Volume 3
As of this moment, I have yet to digest these three large volumes of mostly pre-rock tracks from Sony Music, the Japanese conglomerate that owns the masters of Columbia, RCA, and dozens of other historically important American labels. On the one hand, this is a very significant effort, given that many of these songs - most originally issued as 78's and 45's - have never been reissued outside the shadowy realm of the European public domain. On the other hand, it's more than a little disappointing that Sony chose to issue them only for streaming and download. Regardless, beggars can't be choosers, and Sony appears to have begun a massive overhaul of this rare and esoteric part of their catalog. Kudos for that! There are way too many to mention, but they've also restored complete albums by Chet Atkins, Jimmy Boyd, Esquivel, Lester Lanin, Gisele MacKenzie, Mitch Miller, and many others, including some deep catalog from more recent decades (see list below).

various artists / Stax Christmas
I have mixed emotions about this year's Stax Christmas compilation, which collects tracks from the later years of the storied, Memphis-based soul label. I love the music - no, really - but at just 12 tracks, it's a missed opportunity to compile the label's complete holiday catalog. By my count, Stax owns just 18 seasonal tracks - not counting those controlled by the Warner conglomerate, which is, well, a long story. Anyway, those would have fit just fine on a CD or digital album, if not an LP. Not this year, I guess. Nevertheless, great stuff - Staple Singers, Booker T. & The MG's, Isaac Hayes, a previously unreleased track by Carla Thomas, and a longer, alternate mix of the alternate take of Otis Redding's "Merry Christmas Baby" first released on Christmas In Soulsville (2007). If you love soul music, or you love Christmas music - and especially if you love both - this is must-hear stuff

Top 25 Singles & Tracks

As Christmas bears down on us, new holiday singles arrive like a meteor shower of music. So, even as I complete this list, I know more will arrive. Nevertheless, here they are - my favorites for 2023 in alphabetical order by artist.

Reissues & Compilations

New Albums

Singles & Tracks

Previous Years. We've been compiling this "what's new?" list for awhile, going back to 2003 (Gary Hoey, Jackson 5), 2004 (Chris Isaak, Dwight Twilley), 2005 (Diana Krall, Brian Setzer), 2006 (Aimee Mann, Bootsy Collins), 2007 (Smithereens, Darlene Love), 2008 (Weezer, Pretenders), 2009 (Bob Dylan, Los Straitjackets), 2010 (James Brown, Shelby Lynne), 2011 (Killers, Carole King), 2012 (Rod Stewart, Polyphonic Spree), 2013 (Salsoul Orchestra, Nick Lowe), 2014 (Blue Rodeo, Earth Wind & Fire), 2015 (Sharon Jones, Brian Setzer), 2016 (Loretta Lynn, Frankie Valli), 2017 (Gwen Stefani, Beatles), 2018 (Eric Clapton, Old 97's), 2019 (Los Lobos, Ramsey Lewis), and 2020 (Goo Goo Dolls, Buck Owens), 2021 (Amanda Shires, Lucinda Williams), and 2022 (Kat Edmonson, Andy Partridge).

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