Tired of the same old holiday music? I've got you covered!🎄🎅🎁☃️❄️🎉

Seasons Greetings from FeedbackDef. Here are five playlists I made for both lovers and haters of Christmas music alike.

(This is a re-post from December, 2024.)

For many of us, holiday music is inescapable at this time of year. And since the Christmas season in the States now starts the day after Halloween, we now get a full extra month of unrelenting overkill. I write this fresh from standing in the return line at Walmart at the holiday-shopping peak, so my senses are especially shell-shocked at the moment.

I love Christmas music, mind you. It’s just the overkill that gets to me. Then again, I say this as someone who considered presenting you with a playlist made up entirely of different versions of “I Saw Three Ships,” a traditional carol I can listen to on endless repeat. Instead of torturing you, however, I made five playlists, each with a great deal of variety within a particular style or sound.

In some cases, I picked music that wasn’t explicitly holiday-themed. I also included artists who made holiday music that struck me as way too heavy-handed, so I picked tunes from them that fit the vibe much better. The point here was to see if I could stir-up some holiday spirit while avoiding the same-old same old. Enjoy!

You can also listen to all five playlists in one continuous 4-hour chunk.

There are literally thousands of these playlists and complete-album streams out there. On balance, I think the sheer volume of holiday music is good thing. I’m not sure, though, why musicians continue to record new Christmas songs. I’m not even sure why I would make new playlists myself.

Amidst all the music at our fingertips, it would seem like a daunting exercise in futility to be heard above the din. But it’s also admirable to see artists continuing to try and put their own spin on a musical tradition that’s been done to death. I’ve found a bunch who, I think, are offering something fresh.

Seasons Greetings from FeedbackDef!

<3 SRK