The inevitability of Christmas music

Love it or hate it, if you’re planning on spending any amount of time inside a mall or department store in the next few weeks then you will be hearing Christmas music.  Personally, I love it.  When I was a kid we had “John Denver and the Muppets : a Christmas together” on vinyl and we listened to it every year.  Boney-M was also a perennial favourite, what with funky disco and tinsel going so well together.

The library has tons of Christmas music that it might be worth checking out because at the end of the day you can’t control what Christmas music is inflicted on you in a shop but you can have a say about what’s playing in your own home.  Here are my picks for some Chrissie tunes that won’t make your teeth ache with sugary sweetness.

• Meri Kirihimete – Christmas carols in te reo Māori and with a funky dub feel.
• Too many Santas – what happens when barbershop quartet “The Bobs” goes evil at Christmas time.
• One more drifter in the snow – Indie favourite Aimee Mann plays it low-key with jangly guitar.
• Christmas album – Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass bring a brassy, kitschy, Mexicana feel to Christmas standards.

Those are my current picks.  What Christmas music or song puts you in a festive mood?