Hip Christmas

Welcome To Hip Christmas! I think you'll enjoy my dysfunctionally vast web archive dedicated to holiday music that rocks, rolls, swings, and twangs. If you do, please support me by shopping at Amazon, Apple Music, and Sheet Music Plus! Regardless, the best of the season to you - no matter what month it is! [about me]

What Was New In 2024? Last year's new Christmas albums included lots of vinyl reissues, big names like Jennifer Hudson and Little Big Town, indie darlings like Dean & Britta and Phantom Planet, a full-length Tower Of Power album, a new collection from the Carpenters, and yet another Bear Family compilation. I've completed my annual obsessive, quixotic attempt to keep up with it all, including my Top 10 Albums and Top 25 Singles. [gimme gimme]

The Christmas Jukebox. My online Christmas music player is bulging with over 900 hip tunes - and counting! You can listen to the music I write about - the coolest, weirdest, and loudest holiday songs ever, all while enjoying my inimitable prose - or not! [press play]

My Face, Your Book. There's a lot of holiday hilarity going on over at Facebook, in case you can't get enough on my website - or vice versa. Check out the Hip Christmas page, and follow me for maximum holiday fun all year long. No Russian trolls, please. I also post cool cover art on Instagram and Pinterest. [follow me]

Top 20 Christmas Albums. Actually, 40 - I started unwrapping presents and just couldn't stop! Anyway, who said Christmas music has to be boring? Not me! These sterling platters will put you in the Christmas spirit faster than you can say, "Go Cat Go!" [read more]

12 Worst/Best Songs of Christmas. I enjoyed this list from now-defunct Spinner Magazine (a division of also-defunct AOL Music) so much that I preserved it after the rag went belly up. I am proud to say I own all 12 best songs of Christmas - and all but one of the worst! [read more]

The Saddest Time Of The Year. Yuletunes (1991) is a power pop collection that often sounds more like an indolent Big Star ballad than a raucous Raspberries rocker. Most songs dwell on the melancholy aspects of the holiday season, even when the music feels joyous and jangly. Artists include the Shoes, Matthew Sweet, and Material Issue. [read more]

The Usual Rubbish. Not too surprisingly, the Beatles never recorded any formal Christmas music. But, they had a ball every year recording a Christmas message for their fan club. Collecting those little things is not an easy, inexpensive - or even legal - task, but it's worth the effort. Merry Krimble! [read more]

Sorry, Mariah Carey. To me, Brenda Lee will always be the Queen of Christmas music. "Little Miss Dynamite" is also one of the most successful female singers in history, and she recorded many Christmas sides including two albums and numerous singles. Only one became a preeminent hit, but at least one more is a bona fide classic. [learn more]

Clown Time. The music of Huey "Piano" Smith & The Clowns is synonymous with New Orleans because they played on hundreds of classic records produced in the city during the '50s and '60s. Their 1962 Christmas album is equally classic, embodying everything we love about the Big Night and the Big Easy, all set to a joyous, irrepressible rhythm. [read more]

Man, later, like, dig? The subtitle "A Collection Of Rockin' Stocking Stuffers" doesn't quite do Rhino's Cool Yule justice. Almost bereft of hits, it compiles strange, wonderful, and rare sides from the halcyon days of rock 'n' roll - obscure slices of discomfort and joy that make Christmas music so fascinating and record collecting so much fun. [read more]

Jews For Jesus. A surprising number of popular Jewish entertainers have recorded Christmas albums and songs. From Irving Berlin to Beck, we've got the shmutz on this strange phenomena. Plus, Jews we wish would record a Christmas record - and Jews we hope do not! [read more]

Too Much Of A Good Thing. Adding up to four compact discs and nearly 100 songs, Ho Ho Ho Spice (2002) and Holiday Heart (2005) gave us a lot of music at a bargain price while serving a good cause - supporting hospice care. But, a lot of that music wasn't very good, and I've spent a lot of time finding the jewels amidst the dross. [read more]

And It's Sexy, Too. While Motown's mighty Temptations were arguably the label's toughest, funkiest act, their 1970 Christmas album brought out their softer side. That said, tracks like their brilliant "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" were built on an irresistible groove - I think it's the best version of the song ever recorded! [read more]

Shoplifting You Something For Christmas. Portland-based Tim/Kerr Records released It's Finally Christmas back when a whole album of alternative holiday rock was a rare thing and a reason to celebrate. There are, indeed, some great songs here. But, too often they are obscured by pointless dissonance and hipper-than-thou diffidence. [read more]

Far Out Christmas Blues. Just before the CD era, Savoy Jazz released an album called Mr. Santa's Boogie, an odd, often fabulous mix of obscure blues and jive - but just a little bit of jazz. It got reissued and rejiggered twice again, but it always remained an eclectic and essential part of my Christmas collection. [read more]

I Can't Help Myself. The Four Tops were the biggest Motown act to never record a Christmas album - until 1995 when they briefly returned to the label to cut Christmas Here With You. It's a solid album, but it doesn't have that magic Motown sound that made songs leap out of tiny transistor radios and into our hearts. [read more]

The Genius of Christmas. Over the years, I've seen artists as stalwart and revered as Johnny Cash and Jackie Wilson turn in weak, deeply disappointing Christmas albums. Ray Charles' 1986 album The Spirit of Christmas turned out to be the opposite. I went in with low expectations and was proved wrong - and how! [read more]

Christmas Time's A-Coming. When I first dove into hip Christmas music, Emmylou Harris' 1979 album Light Of The Stable was newly minted. Decades later, it has aged very well, indeed. Much like the rest of Emmylou's forward-thinking country music, the album is joyful, mournful, traditional, and visionary - without contradiction. [read more]

A Christmas Gift For You. Every year, I offer free MP3's from my voluminous collection - all unavailable easily or legitimately in the music marketplace. In 2024, I revisited the legendary, exceedingly rare Flagpole Christmas albums, filling in some gaping holes and sprucing up the sound quality. [listen or download]