All Songs Considered Holiday Music Special 2011
The holiday season at the NPR Music office brings with it two sounds: that of the delightfully offbeat seasonal anthem as well as the cheerful but persistent sound of Bob Boilen shaking his jingle bells. (In case this is your first time at the All Songs holiday party, that's not a euphemism.)
More Holiday Music
This week on All Songs Considered, Bob Boilen sits down with NPR's Jacob Ganz and Barrie Hardymon, trusty jingle bells and LED Christmas tree in tow, to play some holiday music you may not have heard before.
This year's selections include a 15th-century English carol, a 2010 club banger revamped with a Hanukkah theme, a truly bizarre Prince song that finds the Purple One toasting his dead lover with a banana daiquiri on Christmas Eve and a few original Christmas songs from indie favorites like The Walkmen and The Polyphonic Spree. Plus, a special holiday gift from an All Songs listener.
If this whets your appetite for more unconventional holiday music, make sure to check out NPR Music's Jingle Jams: A Holiday Mix For The Rest Of Us, where you can listen to dozens more songs by artists like Calexico, Etta James, Feist and Bob Dylan.
All Songs Holiday Special 2011
Getting Ready For Christmas Day
Paul Simon
- Song: Getting Ready For Christmas Day
- from So Beautiful or So What
Natalie Merchant
- Song: Children Go Where I Send Thee
- from A Very Special Christmas, Vol. 3
Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)
Adam Arcuragi
- Song: Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)
- from Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)
This song is available on Bandcamp.
Prince
- Song: Another Lonely Christmas
- from Hits/The B-Sides
The Boar's Head Carol
The King's Singers
- Song: The Boar's Head Carol
- from A Little Christmas Music
It's Christmas!
The Polyphonic Spree
- Song: It's Christmas!
- from It's Christmas!
This release is available from Good Records Recordings.
The Christmas Party
The Walkmen
- Song: The Christmas Party
- from Little House of Savages EP
All Songs Considered Holiday Music Special 2011
The Leevees
- Song: Kugel
- from Hanukkah Rocks
The Maccabeats
- Song: Candlelight
- from Candlelight
Merle Haggard
- Song: If We Make It Through December
- from A Christmas Present
Spotlight on Christmas
Kate & Anna McGarrigle
- Song: Spotlight on Christmas
- from McGarrigle Christmas Hour
Julian Koster and the Music Tapes
- Song: Zat You, Santa Claus?
- from Tiny Desk Concert