Joyful Joyful #3: Fa La La La La

In our house, Christmas music can be heard playing the day after Thanksgiving. We eagerly await the first play. Music is a huge part of my life and Christmas music, whether it is old classics or new originals, really brings the season to life for me.

The past few years, our most played Christmas album is by Sufjan Stevens , one of our favorite artists. It is actually a collection of 5 short albums- he records one each year and released these as a set. I could listen to them over and over. Quirky, creative and entertaining. I highly suggest checking it out. Click here to listen to it on iTunes. If you can, I would suggesting buying the actual collection, rather than buying it digitally, because it comes with a great booklet, a funny poster and stickers.

The second Christmas that gets a lot of play around here is The O.C. Mix: Have a Very Merry Christmukkah. It is super random because I did not even watch the show, but just happened upon it a few years ago. I love the unique songs. I skip "Christmas is Going to the Dogs", but other than that, it is a really cool album. I especially love "Rock of Ages" and "Christmas".

One of my new finds this year is The Hotel Cafe presents Winter Songs. I love it! One of my favorite singers, Sara Bareilles , who just got nominated for 2 Grammys! and who I also happened to go to college with, sings the opening song with Ingrid Michaelson and it is all good news from there. The Hotel Cafe is a small venue up in LA that we used to go to during our time at UCLA. The album has some more well known ladies, such as Fiona Apple, Colbie Caillat and KT Tunstall, mixed in with some great newer artists. Some beautiful stuff. Even better: some proceeds from the album will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Along side those are classics such as A Charlie Brown Christmas, which my husband and I danced to last night once we had decorated our tree :)

Here is a list of some of my other Christmas favorites (in no particular order):
1. Coldplay: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas"
2. Ben Harper: "Silent Night"
3. Death Cab for Cutie: "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"
4. Norah Jones: "Peace"
5. Sarah McLachlan: "The River" (Rachel Yamagata's version is also beautiful)
6. Harry Connick Jr.: "I Come with Love"
7. Ella Fitzgerald: "What are you Doing New Years Eve"
8. Mariah Carey: "All I Want for Christmas is You" (gotta love it, right?)
9. Sarah McLachlan: "The First Noel/Mary Mary"
10. The Darkness: "Christmastime (Don't let the Bells End)"
11. Kristin Chenoweth: "The Christmas Waltz"
12. Mick Jagger & Joss Stone "Lonely This Christmas"
13. Louis Armstrong: "Christmas in New Orleans"
14. Sarah McLachlan: "Song for a Winters Night"
15. Billie Holiday: "I've Got my Love to Keep me Warm"
16. Band Aid 20: "Do They Know its Christmastime at All?" (Bono, Chris Martin, Dido, Joss Stone, The Darkness, Keane and others)
17. Remy Zero: "Someday at Christmas time"
18. Tyler Hilton: "Merry Little Christmas"
19. Otis Redding: "Merry Christmas Baby"
20. Paul McCartney: "Wonderful Christmastime"
21. Kingston Trio: "Last Month of the Year"
22. David Toney (my hubby) & I: "Feed Trough" (You can listen to it here . #11. #11-#14 were from our Christmas single album last year. We record one every year to send out with our Christmas cards!)


What are your favorite Christmas songs/albums/artists? I'd love to hear!