Grimes: Christmas II/The Grinch (2014)

So, apparently it's a tradition now that every Christmas, Grimes and her step-brother record a "Christmas" song to avoid doing the whole family Christmas dinner thing. I put that in inverted commas because their last one of these was….pretty un-Christmassy. I wasn't able to justify putting it on my annual mix CD, because the only thing it really has to do with Christmas is its name.

Luckily for me (a bit of a Grimes fan) they've just released another one via her tumblr - and it's kind of awesome. From what I can tell, Christmas in the Grimes/Worthy household is a bit of a rager. This will be on my 2015 mix for sure. Check it out:

Patti Smith: O Holy Night (2013)

Patti Smith is probably - no, definitely - my favourite artist of all time. So when I heard that she was going to be performing at this year's Vatican Christmas Concert (which, truthfully, I know nothing about) I was pretty excited, anticipating some new Christmas songs from Ms. Smith to add to the collection. (If you haven't heard her covers of 'White Christmas' and 'We Three Kings', you should track those down.)

Well, the concert was yesterday, and I can find zero news about it or videos from it. However, I did come across the following video of Patti performing 'O Holy Night' at last year's concert. I don't know what on earth was with all the press freaking out about Patti Smith performing at this year's concert ("Didn't she sing "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine" all those decades ago? What's she doing singing for the pope?!") if she did the exact same thing last year, but there you go. The press is weird.

Anyway, Patti's version of 'O Holy Night' is absolutely beautiful. So…does the Vatican sell recordings of their concerts or whatever? Is that a thing? Because this is going straight onto next year's mix if I can get my hands on a copy!

Christopher Lee: Darkest Carols, Faithful Sing (2014)

My boyfriend just yelled out from his computer, "APPARENTLY CHRISTOPHER LEE JUST RELEASED A HEAVY METAL CHRISTMAS SONG?"

After a second of mental processing, I yelled back: "AS IN SARUMAN?!"

Yeah. As in Saruman.

Apparently this isn't even his first foray into heavy metal Christmas music; in both 2012 and 2013 he released Christmas EPs, A Heavy Metal Christmas and A Heavy Metal Christmas Too. I mean…this is just my new favourite thing. (Also: why am I only just hearing about his first album now? I am not the esteemed alternative Christmas music expert I thought I was, clearly.)

Now, I just want to be clear: heavy metal isn't really my bag, and this is…not….great music. But that's sort of what makes it the best thing ever?

Anyway….yeah. This is a thing. You can buy the single via iTunes and Amazon, if you're game.

Shannon and the Clams: Ruin Christmas (2010)

My boyfriend and I just put up the tree in our little apartment; of course decorating tunes were required. While I've collected a handful of Christmas records over the last few years, my stash is mostly digital. Truth is, I've never decorated my own place before now, as I'm always at my parents' over Christmas. This year was the first year my records, my record player and I were in the same place for "Decorating Day". My vinyl collection is meagre (you can see the entire pile below) but one addition I acquired earlier in the year was very welcome - Shannon and the Clams Ruin Christmas.

I'm not going to pick a favourite track; they're all amazing. But I'll leave you with this: