Fa, la,la,la,laaa

It seems to always sneak up on you. We all know the sound of Christmas when we hear “Silver Bells” harrassing you in the grocery store as you pick out your Thanksgiving Day turkey! The tree, shopping for presents, and spending time with your family all feels like the holidays, but the music resonating from the gas stations and your car radio sets the mood. Most of the time, I listen to a song to reflect my current mood and it’s the holidays so what the heck, lets "Jingle All the Way" into the New Year.

I bought a tree last night and it was the first in two years. The smell of that Fraser Pine was all the Christmas songs, hot chocolate and wrapping paper infused into the scent of this tree. I smelled Christmas, and since we know the classic songs sung by Perry Como and NatKing Cole (Grocery store Christmas tunes), I found some Christmas Ballads with as fresh of a sound as the tree.

We don’t have to let the oldies (but goodies) define the sound of Christmas. I got really excited when I found The Knife’s – “ChristmasReindeer”.  I started listening to The Knife a few years ago when I heard this electro-pop brother and sister from Sweden. They have a dark, ambient sound that is exaggerated from their accents.

The next frost bitten indie artist who decided to inspire the needy is Passion Pit with the song, “All These Trees”.  They have a really great song (unrelated to Christmas) titled, “Sleepyhead” that I have on my shuffle list. This American indie rock band incorporates synthesized beats for their electro-dance style music. The five members were schooled in rock while they all attended college for music allowing them to create greatness with a learned structure.

The band, LCD Soundsystem    produced the song “Christmas Blue”. The band broke up but not before they created this electronic Christmas song for the world to get jolly.

Whether you are having a holiday gathering or picking up friends and family from the airport, give their ears a break from the tired, old Yuletide Carols and throw in a new tune.

Happy Holidays!