is the Verge’s weekend editor. He has over 18 years of experience, including 10 years as managing editor at Engadget.
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It’s the holiday season, and Christmas music is utterly inescapable. Look, I love Mariah Carey and Wham! As much as the next guy. But at some point, you get really tired of hearing the same handful of Christmas songs over and over again. So here are 10 suggestions to add to your holiday playlist that are hopefully a little less obvious.
Tom Waits - Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis
There’s a long history of downer Christmas songs, from Dolly Parton’s “Hard Candy Christmas” to The Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York.” But there is no holiday song more guaranteed to bring the party down than “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis”. The reveal at the end is the sort of thing that will have everyone putting the gifts back under the tree because they’re too depressed to open anything.
Lindstrøm - Little Drummer Boy
I love the classic Bing Crosby and David Bowie version of this song, but I’ve heard it a bajillion times. Lindstrøm embraces the relentlessness of the marching drum pattern, teasing out the melody into a hypnotic slow burn that gradually builds into a spacey disco freakout. There are various edits of this track, from sub-five-minutes to the 20-minute one embedded above (which is probably the ideal version for your holiday playlist). However, I am partial to the full 42-minute rendition.
Axel Boman - Holiday Extreme
This is the calm comedown counterpoint to the Lindstrøm track above. All gently bouncing meditative synths, sleighbells, and chill vibes. If all you want for Christmas is a zen-like trance state, then queue up this song.
Fucked Up - David Christmas
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