In 1987, our first Christmas music mixtape was titled Christmas 1987. Eventually, the annual mixtapes evolved into CD-Rs and then playlists. This year's Christmas music playlist was made to spec for my lady who requested "about ten hours of Christmas music" is titled SONOS XMAS and features many of the songs from Christmas 1987. Every year, we say we have more than enough Holiday music and (nearly) every year the collection grows. In no particular order, these are our three favorite Christmas albums/EPs from the dozens we added to the HERChives in 2025.
Christmas is about traditions. We've been buying Bear Family Christmas albums since 2016's Big City Christmas. This year's Santa Is Rockin' and Rollin' marks our tenth anniversary buying these wonderful Bear Family compilations. They are always a great listen. If you are a rockabilly fan, Santa Is Rockin' and Rollin' may be right up your alley, Pally.
The guy who hipped me to J.D. McPherson more than ten years back told me he bought two Christmas albums in 2025: OCMS XMAS from Old Crow Medicine Show and Melissa Carper's A Very Carper Christmas. He's got a very specific sound he listens for if you haven't figured it out. While the former is a great album in its own right and certainly worthy of an Honorable Mention, our tinsel-draped and glitter-soaked heart finds the latter an absolutely irresistible collection, much like McPherson's Socks. Carper's originals are tinged with jazz and country sounds and I cannot even begin to describe her voice. Someone referred to her as the Hillbilly Holiday as they think she sounds a lot like Lady Day herself. This album makes me smile the whole way through. Its fresh yet nostalgic. We dropped four tracks from A Very Carper Christmas into the SONOS XMAS playlist.
Speaking of traditions, we've been buying Elizabeth Chan's Holiday releases since 2012. She has released an EP or full length album every year since and while not every song is an ice-cold banger, we enjoy most of them. On 2025's EP Christmas Unhinged, she covers "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" as "Happy Ex-mas (War Is Over)" and George Harrison's non-Holiday "Something", which feels just a little Christmassy when Chan sings it for some reason.
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