What's New In 2018?

the best and brightest new Christmas releases

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Welcome! Every year I compile this list of new Christmas music releases, including reissues, new albums, a handful of singles, and my Top 10. And, I add to the list throughout the season since new stuff pops up all the time on the interwebs. That said, I no longer focus much on new music, so be sure to visit my festive friends like Mistletunes, Christmas Underground, Stubby's House of Christmas, and Christmas A-Go-Go.

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

Randy Anthony

Hip Christmas Top 10 Albums

Last year's Christmas crop was unexpectedly strong, with releases by The Beatles, Minus 5, Lisa Mychols, Smokey Robinson, and Cheap Trick, plus stellar collections from Bloodshot, Bear Family, and Rodney On The Rock. This year? Not so much. There are several reasons for this.

First of all, I don't get excited about vinyl reissues, and that's where a lot of the action is these days - see Joel Paterson's Hi-Fi Christmas Guitar, the Soulful Strings' The Magic Of Christmas, Ace's Rhythm & Blues Christmas, A Motown Christmas, and more. Second, I wasn't moved much by Real Gone Music's latest Christmas offerings which, while beautifully compiled as usual, leaned heavily towards easy listening: John Klein, Andre Kostelanetz, Rod McKuen, and the McGuire Sisters.

Nevertheless, here's the ten best in alphabetical order.

Eric Clapton / Happy Xmas
Slowhand's first-ever holiday album is, of course, this year's big news. Unsurprisingly, Happy Xmas is a solid outing, though too laid back for my taste - more the vein of "Wonderful Tonight" or "Tears In Heaven" than "Sunshine of Your Love" or "Layla." While it includes several original songs, Happy Xmas shines brightest when Clapton plays the blues, including covers of Freddy King's "Christmas Tears" and Charles Brown's "Merry Christmas Baby," plus a smokin' take on "White Christmas."

Rodney Crowell / Christmas Everywhere
As with Clapton, Christmas Everywhere is Crowell's first holiday album. Unlike Clapton, these are (best I can tell) Crowell's first holiday recordings of any kind. He earned his bones as a songwriter, and Crowell wrote or co-wrote every track herein, most of which explore the ambivalence, melancholy, and darkness lurking inside the holidays. Musically, it lives up to Crowell's usual high standards, often offsetting the gloomy themes with lovely acoustic breakdowns or infectious roots rockers.

Los Straitjackets / Complete Christmas Songbook
Amazingly, Nashville's axe-wielding masked men have been recording Christmas music for over 20 years (read more) including two full albums, 'Tis The Season (2002), Yuletide Beat (2009). Complete Christmas Songbook has it all in one tidy package - 27 tracks, one low price. Like to rock around the Christmas tree? Here's your ticket.

Mike Love / Reason For The Season
In 2006, the Beach Boys' contentious, egomaniacal lead singer became responsible for one of the worst Christmas songs of all time, "Santa's Going To Kokomo" (you've been warned). That made his excellent 2015 single, "Alone On Christmas Day," quite a surprise. Reason For The Season wisely includes the latter and excludes the former, but otherwise splits the difference. There's a bunch of mush-headed, California-scented carols, but these are offset by several original songs and enthusiastic performances from Love and his guests - including Hanson!

Mavericks / Hey! Merry Christmas!
Like Mike Love's album, Hey! Merry Christmas! includes an excellent, previously released single, "Christmas Time Is (Coming 'Round Again)." The rest of it falls in line with Raul Malo and the Mavericks' quirky world view: alternately odd, melodramatic, kitschy, twangy, swingin', or rockin' - often all at the same time. The giddy title track and lascivious "Santa Wants To Take You For A Ride" are highlights.

JD McPherson / Socks
Back in 2012, Oklahoma roots rocker McPherson unleashed a barn-burner called "Twinkle (Little Christmas Lights)." Socks is the long-awaited, all-original follow-up, and it's about time! Musically, Socks mines the exact same vein as "Twinkle" - that is, an energetic hybrid of jump blues and Sun rockabilly. But, the songs are 100% original, and it's McPherson's sharp writing and wicked sense of humor that really makes the difference. Color me impressed.

Monkees / Christmas Party
Some fans hold the Monkees in as high regard as the Beatles. I wouldn't go that far, but the Prefab Four created some amazing pop back in the day. Flash forward nearly 50 years, and Christmas Party certainly benefits from outside contributors including Rivers Cuomo (Weezer), Andy Partridge (XTC), Peter Buck (R.E.M.), and Scott McCaughey (Minus 5), as well as the production of Adam Schleshinger (Fountains of Wayne). But, the Monkees (one, albeit, posthumously) acquit themselves nicely, making Christmas Party a heartwarming bookend to their long career.

Old 97's / Love The Holiday
While they've never sold a lot of records, Dallas' Old 97's have built a catalog as large and impressive as any performer to emerge from the "No Depression" movement back in the 90's. They've recorded a few holiday tracks over the years, including the existential heartbreaker "Here It Is Christmas Time" in 2007. But, Love The Holiday is their first full-length effort. Even better, it's nearly all original - something of a theme year.

various artists / Have Yourself A Swingin' Little Christmas
This is the third installment in Bear Family Records' campaign to distill the (mostly) already available Christmas gems from their vast catalog of reissues - many of them dauntingly expensive boxed sets. Having said that, it appears that the much vaunted German label is dipping its toes into the public domain. Still, as advertised, Have Yourself A Swingin' Little Christmas collects 27 jazz and R&B chestnuts from 1935 to 1959, and it's a perfect companion for Big City Christmas (2016) and Christmas On The Countryside (2017).

Various Artists / Lost Christmas 4: Holiday Rarities
I always try to spotlight those precious moments when the usually philistine major labels make a genuine effort to restore and/or preserve their catalogs - even if only for download or streaming. This year Sony gave us Urbie Green's vintage jazz album A Cool Yuletide (1954), and Universal resumed their fine Lost Christmas series. Every single track on Lost Christmas 4: Holiday Rarities has been issued on CD somewhere in the world, but nearly all of them qualify, at this late date, as very rare - if not truly "lost." Besides, where else can you find Isaac Hayes, Bill Haley, and Loney Chaney all on the same album?

Hip Christmas Top 10 Singles

As has become the tradition, the singles scene produced a veritable monsoon of new music this year - quite a bit of it catching my attention. My favorites are listed below in alphabetical order, and my runners-up were Dan Wilson (Semisonic), Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs), The Lumineers, and the always classy Tony Bennett (with the lovely-to-look-at Diana Krall).

Less to my taste - but certainly notable - were singles by big names Miley Cyrus, OneRepublic, Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), John Legend, Def Leppard, and Katy Perry.

• Bobbleheads / Groovy Time Of Year
• Phoebe Bridgers with Jackson Brown / Christmas Song
• The Courettes / Christmas (I Can Hardly Wait)
• Glam Skanks / Bring My Baby Back For Christmas
• Amy Helm & The Woods Brothers / Christmas Must Be Tonight
• Norah Jones / Wintertime
• Meiko / Merry Christmas Wherever You Are
• The Minus 5 featuring Ben Gibbard / Christmas in Antarctica
• Prima Donna / Gimme Christmas
• Mike Viola / Here We Go, It's Christmas Time

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