Martins was right about the diversity of good renditions, too. I can never pick a favorite because there are so many good versions — crisp quick ones, slower contemplative ones, versions with choirs and brass ensembles and orchestras and electric guitars and pianos and, of course, bells. There are at least eight…

Yes yes yes to Boston Pops. They sound like Christmas should sound, big and warm and shiny.

IMO, Springsteen's "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" is a decent song, it just grates because it's completely inescapable in December. I think it shows up on classic rock stations and adult contemporary stations, not to mention all the goddamn time in grocery stores and malls and so on.

You should add some Tom Lehrer to the mix. Come for the bouncy music about Cold War-style nuclear annihilation, stay for the earworms and outrageous slant rhymes!

Ooh, this is really good. Thanks.

Really? I think he's several steps above most geek musicians because he's a superior songwriter. His melodies are effortlessly memorable, and his lyrics are usually thoughtful and clever in a way that rises above mere novelty (i.e. "hey, this guy's singing a song about robots!"). Plus, he has a very nice voice, which…

I've never heard of Dessa before, but this is a really, really good song.

Their vocal styles are pretty different. Josh Groban sounds like a combination of a Broadway singer and an operatic lyric tenor. Michael Buble is more of a crooner.

B101 in Philadelphia is pretty heinous.

Ugh. "Jesus Take the Wheel" is almost as bad as "Christmas Shoes"; I never realized it was a Christmas song.

Both of Jonathan Coulton's Christmas songs - "Chiron Beta Prime" and "Christmas Is Interesting"
Tom Lehrer - "A Christmas Carol" (perfect if you're feeling Grinchy or just have had too much shopping)
"Huron Carol"
"Still, Still, Still"
"In Dulci Jubilo" (I prefer the English/Latin macaronic version to the English "Good…

God, yeah. Stop playing Mawkish Christmas Song About an Angel and a Baby #25, turn on the fucking lasers, and play some Beethoven with electric guitars.

@avclub-fc79ab52a86965408d9a2cfd13fcef69:disqus Ha, I can see how it would grate after a while. I played it as a duet with my brother for a piano recital one year, and then sang it in choir in high school. I've barely heard it since then.

I have the Pops' "A Christmas Festival" album, and it's fantastic. They just sound like Christmas, somehow.

How about O Magnum Mysterium? I love Victoria's setting especially.

I actually went to one of their concerts and almost left because the slow numbers made me so bored. When I'm listening to their music I just skip those and barely even think about it.

O Holy Night is in a major key. But I agree that eerie minor-key Christmas carols are wonderful — Huron Carol, What Child Is This, Coventry Carol, all of those.