Director's Cuts Music Picks for the Holidays

For those who just can't get enough of this holiday chestnut, this collection offers three fun renditions: a classic recording with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, a plucky version from the Modern Mandolin Quartet, a cartoonesque Spike Jones retelling from 1945, and an eight-hand, 40-finger version from a 1941 recording of the First Piano Quartet.

Another holiday classic has been reissued this year: the Grammy-winning recording from 1966 by The Robert Shaw Chorale & Orchestra.

Chris Root, perhaps better known in this country for his work with the retro Brazilianesque group Mosquitos (who, incidentally, have a new CD of their own this year), has been working with this group of his own for quite a while, but only now has the music been released in this country. "Big As the Sky" by A.M. Sixty also has a youthful and sunny sound, a kind of American tropicalia.

If you can bear the tracks of SpongeBob himself singing, the soundtrack to the SquarePants movie does have some fun cuts that all ages might enjoy, including songs from The Shins, Wilco, The Flaming Lips and Avril Lavigne.

From Senegal, Daara J leader Faada Freddy delivers an extraordinarily virtuosic rap called "tasso" — a rhythmic poetry tradition that goes back generations. The CD Boomerang evokes something like a South Bronx-Dakar musical axis.

Recorded in Bamako, Mali's Issa Bagayogo creates ethereal grooves with a highly produced sound on the cd "Tassoumakan." He's known in his native land as "Techno Issa."

Washington, D.C. lawyer Rob Litowitz honors his mother Selma with this collection of music to raise funds for Parkinson's Disease research. With the help of David Crosby, Rob contacted artists and secured music rights to an extraordinary 2-CD compilation that includes tracks from Bonnie Raitt, Alejandro Escovedo, Dar Williams, Dave Alvin and others.

Joni Mitchell curated this collection of her own politically-oriented songs, remastered with pristine sound. The songs include "The Magdalene Laundries," "Lakota," "Cool Water" and others.

This DVD chronicles Joni Mitchell's 1983 concert tour, featuring high-energy performances of "Raised on Robbery," "Wild Things Run Fast," and "Solid Love," as well as a powerfully stark solo rendition of "Woodstock."