My Top 10 Christmas Playlist

DISCLAIMER:  My actual Christmas playlist is 70 songs strong, and I love all of them.  This is a distilling of that list - a CD-worth of 10 songs that attempt to capture the entire season musically.  This list doesn't cover every artist or album I like, nor does it even cover all my favorite Christmas songs!  But it's a pretty good start.  Anyway, while we're on the topic of Christmas music, I have a few non-sequitors:

1. Craig Armstrong gets honorable props for his piano orchestrations.  Whether you adored or hated "Love Actually," the theme song from the movie (Glasgow Love Theme) sets the mood for the season.  It's reflective and bittersweet, with sweeping and strings and an undefined ending that leaves you wanting more:  perfect for a new year.
2. Stephen Cleobury and the Choir of King's College Cambridge managed to steal 3 spots on my playlist.  They are all from the King's College Choir - O Come All Ye Faithful album (1984).  If you don't own this album, you should probably spend the $9 at Amazon and buy it.  It's easily my favorite choral Christmas album of all time.
3. Speaking of King's College Cambridge... you may notice that Sir David Willcocks is conspicuously absent from my list.  I'm very positive on Willcocks' arrangements - his descants and harmonizations are stellar.  That having been said, every track on his "Christmas Collection" album I own is pitched down, under-tempo, and just plain loud!  I like my Christmas music loud... but I prefer if the volume increase comes from the stereo, rather than the members of the choir lacking self-restraint amidst the apparently overwhelming celebration of the birth of our dear Lord Jesus (said in a Cockney accent, for reasons I can no longer recall).
4. The Swingle Singers captured two spots on the playlist with tracks from "The Story of Christmas" - which, with only a few exceptions, is a phenomenal collection of intriguing a cappella arrangements of traditional Christmas carols.
5. Last, but certainly not least, Ben Folds has once again written an unusual and inappropriate song (though I believe this is the first I have ever made mention of him).  If you need a quick fix for rude Christmas music, I recommend his "Bizarre Christmas Incident."  It doesn't make my list by a long-shot; but if you listen, you will know.  

Ok!  Here we go (in track order):

1. Guelph Children Singers - "Frobisher Bay" [Bird In The Nest]:  So... I know this isn't strictly a Christmas song per-se.  However, it is about the cold winter, which we fully support up here in the 'Cuse.  (We are one of the cities the climatologists point to when discussing how global warming contributes to increased snow fall.  I don't fully understand that concept either.)  Regardless, this Canadian group has one of the best blends and overall color of any group of its size.  Just listening to this song makes me cold!
2. King's College Cambridge - "Once in Royal David's City" [O Come All Ye Faithful]:  This was my childhood.  I grew up singing this song, have recordings of my choir singing this song, etc.  I never got the opportunity to sing the solo as a boy soprano, but the kid singing on this recording does the song great justice.  And, like all great Christmas carols, this one really throws down at the end avec descent and variations on the organ.
3. Jimmy Eat World - "12.23.95" [Clarity]:  Confused?  You have a right to be.  I'll attempt to explain... Most of the non-choral tracks on this playlist are from the compilation album "Maybe This Christmas," which I received some years back, and only recently re-discovered.  The song is simple and heartfelt - something that Jimmy Eat World frontman Jim Adkins conveys so well.  "Merry Christmas, baby..."
4. The Choir of Christ Church - "Bethlehem Down" [In Time of Softest Snow]:  I'm actually on this recording, though hopefully you wouldn't know without reading the liner notes.  I always loved the harmonies in this song, and how the verses end on open chords.  It is beautiful and moving in its simplicity, with timely pauses and sufficient consonants to convey the meaning of the words.   
5. The Swingle Singers - "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" [The Story of Christmas]:  Returning to more traditional carols, the Swingle Singers have a captivating arrangement of the old English caroling favorite.  And nothing compares to their vocal performance - it's flawless (and that's not just the recording).
6. Dan Wilson - "What A Year For A New Year" [Maybe This Christmas]:  "What a year for a new year, we need it like we needed life I guess.  Last one left us lying in a mess: What a year for a new year."  I couldn't agree more.
7. King's College Cambridge - "In The Bleak Mid-Winter" [O Come All Ye Faithful]:  So I'm obviously not on this recording, but I did sing the opening verse of this song as a solo as a boy.  "Snow had fallen... snow on snow..."  And if you don't know this arrangement/recording, the ending is perfect.
8. The Swingle Singers - "Carol Medley" [The Story of Christmas]:  My fascination with this song stems primarily from the arrangement changing keys every 8 or 16 bars (and if it hasn't changed recently, they tend to make up for it in fewer bars yet)!  They also manage to touch most of the traditional carols, while maintaining a coherent, cohesive arrangement.  The song makes sense when you listen to it front to back!  Likely the best song on this album - though it has steep competition.  Almost should qualify for honorary mention in the Mash Up list...
9. King's College Cambridge - "God Rest You Merry Gentlemen" [O Come All Ye Faithful]:  My father used to always joke that, if we neglected to sufficiently enunciate "God Rest..." it would sound like "God Dressed..."  He is likely right - though King's College Choir's rendition thankfully does not suffer from this issue.  My favorite part of this carol is the wait:  very little actually happens in the first FOUR verses and associated choruses.  Just your standard loud, soft, loud, a cappella kind of progression.  Ok, fine.  Then, after 2:40 the choir switches to unison, the trebles launch into a descant, and the organ positively roars.  It's awesome.  My personal recommendation is to play it once, mid-day, on the largest stereo you can manage to commandeer, and crank the volume to 10.  Your neighbors will forgive you for over-stepping your bounds on the day, but you may not forgive yourself if you don't experience the full-force of the thundering organ.  (Alternatively, you could somehow manage to find a joint that still sings works like this, and just get your fix there.  I recommend Cambridge, England.)
10. U. Illinois No Strings Attached - "O Magnum Mysterium" [BOCA 2003]:  Ignoring that the recording is over-produced, distorts from 1:01 - 1:05 (because it's over-produced), and has excessive, digitally-synthesized bass at the end, No Strings Attached breathes new live and power into Lauridsen's work.  There's something to be said about hearing a band perform live on stage at the Jones Beach Amphitheatre.  But there's majesty and wonder in hearing an up-close and personal a cappella arrangement of that band's song.  The same is true for (English cathedral) choral music.
11. BONUS TRACK:  Washington U. Pikers - "12.5 Days of Christmas" :  I have no idea where I originally got this song.  The recording quality is really questionable, so it's difficult to say precisely.  It's likely a live-recording, though I certainly did not recording it, nor have I ever heard this performed live.  All I will say is, had I heard this for the first time live, I probably would have been on the floor laughing hysterically, all the while too impressed/shocked/bewildered to speak.  It's a pretty formidable arrangement.  "...three French hens and a duck."  Quack.

I have no idea who reads this - though I can envision a shortlist that's probably sufficiently close to the entire list for any and all such purposes.  Merry Christmas and happy holidays from all of us up here in Syracuse (no really, it's just me).  "May your Christmases... be white."