Ho ho ho!

The down­side to my lovely tree is the bare base remind­ing me I have no presents to put under it. Every year I spend hours por­ing over web­sites weeks in advance, plan­ning everyone’s presents in metic­u­lous detail before pan­ick­ing about whether I’ll be able to get the pack­ages and decid­ing against online shop­ping at the last moment. How DO people who work full time get pack­ages? My local Royal Mail col­lec­tion centre serves a huge area of Glas­gow that com­prises mainly of flats (so most people struggle to get pack­ages delivered) and yet only opens busi­ness hours dur­ing the week and on Sat­urday morn­ings. I once waited three and a half hours there on a Sat­urday morn­ing only to be told they had to close and I should come back on Monday — not a par­tic­u­larly work­able ser­vice. So, I expect I’ll be spend­ing the two days before Christ­mas in the city centre, fight­ing my way through the least fest­ive bunch of people around — the late Christ­mas shop­pers. I sus­pect a few Fest­ival beers from the Ger­man Christ­mas mar­ket will be required to get through the torture.

I’ve made a couple of Spo­tify Christ­mas playl­ists which should come in handy to drown out the screeching/wailing/shouting/swearing of my fel­low shop­pers. I’ve sep­ar­ated the tunes into two lists — Christ­mas (songs that your Mum would like) and Altern­at­ive Christ­mas (songs your Mum prob­ably wouldn’t like). Track-listings after the jump if you’re interested.

Christ­mas (Spo­tify Link)

John Len­non – Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christ­mas?
The Pogues Fea­tur­ing Kirsty Mac­Coll – Fairytale Of New York
Sarah Bright­man – I Believe In Father Christ­mas
Elton John – Step Into Christ­mas
Wiz­zard – I Wish It Could Be Christ­mas Every­day
Slade – Merry Xmas Every­body
Choir of King’s Col­lege, Cam­bridge – In Dulci Jubilo
The Ready Set – Won­der­ful Christ­mas­time
She & Him – Little Saint Nick
Glee Cast – Christ­mas Wrap­ping (Glee Cast Ver­sion)
Gab­ri­ella Cilmi – Warm This Winter
Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christ­mas Is You
Michael Bublé – Jingle Bells
Kylie Minogue – Santa Baby
Jona Lewie – Stop The Cav­alry
Bing Crosby – White Christ­mas
Nat King Cole – The Christ­mas Song (Merry Christ­mas To You)
Ella Fitzger­ald – Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Cliff Richard – Mistle­toe And Wine
Harry Bela­fonte – Mary’s Boy Child — Mary’s Boy Child
Adam Faith – Lonely Pup (In A Christ­mas Shop) (1960 Ver­sion)
Brenda Lee – Rockin’ Around The Christ­mas Tree — Single Ver­sion
Bobby Helms – Jingle Bell Rock
Kay Starr – (Everybody’s Waitin’ For) The Man With The Bag
John Den­ver – Twelve Days Of Christ­mas
Dean Mar­tin – Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer
West­min­ster Cathed­ral Choir – While Shep­herds Watched
Mahalia Jack­son – Silent Night, Holy Night
Stee­leye Span – Gaud­ete
Stephen Cleo­bury – In the bleak mid-winter
The Gal­way Christ­mas Sing­ers – We Wish You A Merry Christ­mas
Jethro Tull – Ring Out Sol­stice Bells
Stevie Won­der – What Christ­mas Means To Me
Harry Con­nick, Jr. – Frosty The Snow­man
Jack­son 5 – Santa Claus Is Com­ing To Town
Pre­tend­ers – 2000 Miles
East 17 – Stay Another Day
Aled Jones – Walk­ing In The Air
Chris De Burgh – A Space­man Came Trav­el­ling
The Priests – Ding Dong Mer­rily On High
David Essex – A Winter’s Tale
KT Tun­stall – Lonely This Christ­mas
Cliff Richard – Saviour’s Day
Chris Rea – Driv­ing Home For Christ­mas
Frank Sinatra – Winter Won­der­land
Ella Fitzger­ald – Baby It’s Cold Out­side
Wham! – Last Christ­mas — Single Ver­sion
Bing Crosby – Have Your­self A Merry Little Christ­mas
Celtic Woman – O Come All Ye Faith­ful
Norah Jones – Peace
Abba – Happy New Year
Jack­son 5 – Little Drum­mer Boy
Susan Boyle and Amber Stassi – Do You Hear What I Hear?
Elvis Pres­ley – Blue Christ­mas
She & Him – Sleigh Ride
Michael Bublé – I’ll Be Home For Christ­mas
John Wil­li­ams – O Holy Night — Voice
Hot Chocol­ate – Brand New Christ­mas
Ella Fitzger­ald – The First Noël
The Gal­way Christ­mas Sing­ers – Away In A Manger
Nat King Cole – Deck The Hall
Lon­don Phil­har­monic Orches­tra – Troika from Lieu­ten­ant KijÚ
Bar­enaked Ladies – I Saw Three Ships
The Priests – God Rest Ye Merry Gen­tle­men
Lon­don Sym­phony Chorus – Fantasia on Christ­mas Car­ols: This is the truth sent from above
Bugge Wesseltoft – Stille Nacht
West­min­ster Choir – Hark! The Her­ald Angels Sing
Elvis Pres­ley – Santa Claus Is Back In Town
Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sis­ters – Here Comes Santa Claus — Right Down Santa Claus Lane Album Ver­sion
Eddie Fisher – That’s What Christ­mas Means To Me — That’s What Christ­mas Means To Me
Ella Fitzger­ald – Santa Claus Got Stuck In My Chim­ney — Santa Claus Got Stuck In My Chim­ney
The Bever­ley Sis­ters – I Saw Mummy Kiss­ing Santa Claus
Michael Bublé – I’ll Be Home For Christ­mas
Perry Como;with Mitchell Ayres & His Orches­tra & The Font­ane Sis­ters – It’s Begin­ning To Look A Lot Like Christ­mas
Dickie Valentine – Christ­mas Alpha­bet
Josh Groban – What Child Is This?
Glee Cast – The Most Won­der­ful Day of the Year (Glee Cast Ver­sion)
Glee Cast – O Christ­mas Tree (Glee Cast Ver­sion)
The Priests feat. Shane MacGowan – Little Drum­mer Boy/Peace On Earth
New Kids On The Block – I Still Believe In Santa Claus
Han­del – Mes­siah — For Unto Us A Child Is Born
Mary Chapin Car­penter – Bells Are Ringing
The Refresh­ments – What A Merry Christ­mas This Could Be
Roy Orbison – Pretty Paper
Frank Sinatra – The Christ­mas Waltz
The Andrews Sis­ters – Christ­mas Island
John Wil­li­ams – Carol Of The Bells — Voice

Altern­at­ive Christ­mas (Spo­tify Link)

Tom Waits – Christ­mas Card From A Hooker In Min­neapolis
Rufus Wain­wright – Spot­light on Christ­mas
Crash Test Dum­mies – Winter Song
Dave Mat­thews Band – Christ­mas Song
Badly Drawn Boy – Donna And Blitzen
Eels – Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christ­mas
Belle & Sebastian – O Come, O Come Emmanuel
Saint Etienne – My Christ­mas Prayer
Snow Patrol – When I Get Home For Christ­mas
Calex­ico – Gift X-Change
Low – Just Like Christ­mas
Ron Sex­smith – Maybe This Christ­mas
Jimmy Eat World – 12.23.95
The Rave­on­ettes – The Christ­mas Song
Smash Mouth – Christ­mas (Baby Please Come Home)
John Cale – Child’s Christ­mas In Wales
Sufjan Stevens – Put The Lights On The Tree
Frightened Rab­bit – It’s Christ­mas So We’ll Stop
Reuben – Christ­mas Is Awe­some
The Flam­ing Lips – A Change At Christ­mas [Say It Isn’t So]
The Go! Team – The Ice Storm
Julian Cas­ab­lan­cas – I Wish It Was Christ­mas Today
Sally Sha­piro – Anorak Christ­mas — Piano Mix
LCD Sound­sys­tem – Oh You (Christ­mas Blues)
Big Star – Jesus Christ
Foun­tains Of Wayne – I Want An Alien For Christ­mas
The Wed­ding Present – Step Into Christ­mas
The Ramones – Merry Christ­mas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight)
No Doubt – Oi To The World
The Fall – No Xmas For John Quays — Peel Ses­sion 6/12/78
The Ron­ettes – Sleigh Ride
Saint Etienne – I Was Born On Christ­mas Day
James Brown – Go Power At Christ­mas Time
Smokey Robin­son & The Mir­acles – Christ­mas Every­day
Boyracer – Every Day Is Christ­mas With You
Mew – She Came Home for Christ­mas
Half Man Half Bis­cuit – It’s Clichéd To Be Cyn­ical At Christ­mas
Casi­o­tone For The Pain­fully Alone – Cold White Christ­mas
Hefner – The Little Baby Hefner’s Xmas Song For Hol­land
Emmy The Great – Christ­mas In Prison
The BellRays feat. Lisa Kekaula, Tony Fate and Bob Ven­num – Mary Christ­mas
Nos­fer­atu D2 – It’s Christ­mas Time (For God’s Sake)
Eux Autres – Merry Xmas Every­body
Kur­tis Blow – Christ­mas Rap­pin’
Donny Hath­away – This Christ­mas
Lucky Soul – Lonely This Christ­mas
The Kinks – Father Christ­mas
They Might Be Giants – Santa’s Beard
Squeeze – Christ­mas Day
The Beach Boys – Morn­ing Christ­mas
Trem­bling Blue Stars – Christ­mas and Train Trips and Things
Luna – Egg Nog (Remastered)
Hello Saferide – iPod X-mas
The Killers – Don’t Shoot Me Santa
The Dark­ness – Christ­mas Time
The Poly­phonic Spree – Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
Au Revoir Simone – Christ­mas Time Is Here
Kate Havnevik – Winter Won­der­land
Slow Club – Christ­mas TV
Of Mon­tréal – Christ­mas Isn’t Safe For Anim­als
Cyndi Lauper – A Christ­mas Duel
Marah – New York Is A Christ­mas Kind Of Town
blink-182 – I Won’t Be Home For Christ­mas
The Who – Christ­mas — Remixed Album Ver­sion
Third Eye Blind – One Of Those Christ­mas Days
KIDS All­starz – Merry Xmas Every­body
RJD2 – Christ­mas Eve Mont­age
Kid 606 – Xmas Funk
Daz Dillinger – Christ­mas In The Hood
Glas­ve­gas – A Snow­flake Fell (And It Felt Like A Kiss)
Radar Broth­ers – This Xmas Eve
The Van­dals – My First Christ­mas (As A Woman)
Deer­hoof – Xmas Tree
Mog­wai – Christ­mas Steps
Rev­er­end Hor­ton Heat – Santa On The Roof
Harry and the Pot­ters – Wiz­ard Chess
Ben Kweller – Rock Of Ages — Full Mix Album Ver­sion
Matt Hard­ing – Purple Snow­flakes
Hot Club De Paris – Will You Still Be In Love With Me Next Year?
The Hand­some Fam­ily – So Much Wine
Everclear – Hat­ing You For Christ­mas
Sparks – Thank God It’s Not Christ­mas
The Ven­tures – We Wish You A Merry Christ­mas
The Walk­men – No Christ­mas While I’m Talk­ing
Buff Med­ways – Merry Christ­mas Fritz
Cam­era Obscura – The Bliz­zard
The Lady­bug Tran­sistor Fam­ily And Friends – Christ­mas Extra­vag­anza
Junior Varsity – Don’t Believe In Christ­mas
Bruce Spring­steen & The E Street Band – Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town — Single Ver­sion
Wild Billy Child­ish And The Musi­cians Of The Brit­ish Empire – Christ­mas 1979
Deer­hoof – Xmas Tree
Far – Do They Know It’s Christ­mas
Paul Kelly – How To Make Gravy
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – In This Home On Ice
Pearl Jam – Let Me Sleep (It’s Christ­mas Time)
Fiona Apple – Frosty The Snow­man
Galaxie 500 – Listen, The Snow Is Fall­ing
Saosin – Mook­ies Last Christ­mas (Acous­tic)
Los Strait­jack­ets – A Marsh­mal­low World
Over The Rhine – Good­bye Charles
The Late Greats – Sleigh Ride (From the Film ‘New Years Eve’)
Aerospace – Decem­ber Slow
Par­en­thet­ical Girls – Fest­ive Friends (Forever)
Some­thing Cor­por­ate – For­get Decem­ber
The Reindeer Sec­tion – You Are My Joy
Mazzy Star – Flowers In Decem­ber
The Trekky Yuletide Orches­tra – All I Want For Christ­mas Is You
the bird and the bee – Carol Of The Bells
Mojave 3 – Break­ing The Ice
Dwarves – Drink­ing Up Christ­mas
Glo-Worm – Hol­i­day
Post­code – I’ll Be Shoegaz­ing For Christ­mas
A Change of Pace – Christ­mas On The Coast
Rem­ing­ton Super 60 – Here Comes Christ­mas
The Format – Holly Jolly Christ­mas
The Dandy War­hols – Every Day Should Be A Hol­i­day
Everything But The Girl – 25^th Decem­ber
1990s – Jingle Bells
Envel­opes – Pink Christ­mas
Sufjan Stevens – Sis­ter Winter
The Killers – A Great Big Sled
Bert Jan­sch – In The Bleak Mid Winter
Je Suis France – Baby, Please Don’t Get Stoned — It’s Xmas
Six­pence None The Richer – Christ­mas For Two
Simon & Gar­funkel – 7 O’Clock News/Silent Night