What's New In 2019? the best and brightest new Christmas releases

Support www.hipchristmas.com! Shop at Amazon, iTunes, and more...

The holidays are just around the corner, so let's get this party started! Every year I compile this list of new Christmas music releases, including reissues, new albums, a handful of singles, and my Top 10. Be aware, this is a curated list of the year's best and/or most notable Christmas music - which is to say, it's hardly an exhaustive list. Most especially, I no longer focus on new music except for "legacy artists" who've been making music for a while - this year, for example, Los Lobos. So, be sure to visit my festive friends like Mistletunes, Christmas Underground, and Christmas A-Go-Go.

What am I missing, fellow Christmas fanatics? Drop me a line... Of course, happy holidays, and follow me over at the Facebook!

Randy Anthony

Hip Christmas Top 10

I don't buy vinyl (sorry, that ship sailed long ago), and I don't listen to new music. So, I won't be hearing otherwise attractive albums by Josh Rouse and Ana Gasteyer or great new collections from Dualtone and Merge Records. And, of course, I pay no heed whatsoever to high profile releases by artists like Robbie Williams and Idina Menzel. Nevertheless, I persisted, and here's my top ten in alphabetical order by artist.

Leroy Anderson / The Complete Christmas Collection

I don't listen to a lot of true easy listening music, but I've always found the lively art of Leroy Anderson to be a cut above the somnolent sounds of most artists associated with the genre. Real Gone Music's Complete Christmas Collection collects Anderson's 1955 mono album Christmas Carols and his 1959 stereo re-recording of it called Christmas Festival, plus mono and stereo versions of his greatest hit, "Sleigh Ride." In the same vein, Real Gone is also releasing Stanley Black's Christmas Holiday For Romance and Eugene Ormandy's Complete Columbia Christmas Albums, plus Great Songs Of Christmas, drawn mostly from the Goodyear compilations of the same name.

Chet Atkins / Complete RCA Victor & Columbia Christmas Recordings

You don't get reissues this perfect very often. Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records have compiled nearly every holiday track that legendary guitarist and producer Chet Atkins every waxed. That includes his great album Christmas With Chet Atkins (1961), his not-so-great album East Tennessee Christmas (1983), and all sorts of rarities - many new to CD - and the remastering is tremendous, as well. Real Gone is also reissuing country crooner Jim Reeves' 12 Songs Of Christmas (1963), which I find rather tame - but they love it in England and South Africa, where Reeves is deeply revered.

Jagger Holly / It's Christmas Somewhere

This album came out of left field - or me, at least. I'd never heard of the group, and they've only been recording since 2016. But, once you dig past their whimsical facade - they are "named" after their lead singer, and the other members are called Lennon Lee Roth and Ringo Moon - you'll find that Jagger Holly is really a pop punk super group, albeit one from Ohio, and the members have been recording in various bands (Johnie, Spastic Hearts, Radds) since 2002. It's Christmas Somewhere, meanwhile, is packed with fast, loud, tuneful, mostly original songs falling somewhere between the Ramones and Teenage Fanclub. The CD was released by Outloud! Records and the digital by Monster Zero, but is widely available elsewhere.

Ramsey Lewis Trio / More Sounds of Christmas

Nearly all Christmas music buffs are familiar with Ramsey Lewis' 1961 album, Sound of Christmas. It's an understated jazz classic, so saying that More Sounds of Christmas (1964) is just more of the same is a complement, not an insult. The thing is, More Sounds of Christmas has only ever been available on CD in Japan - for about 10 minutes, 20 years ago. So, this reissue is long overdue - and sounds fabulous, by the way. In other jazz news, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra is releasing Big Band Holidays II, which includes a previously unreleased 2015 Aretha Franklin performance.

Los Lobos / Llego Navidad

In roughly 40 years, Los Lobos have recorded but two rather inconsequential holiday tracks. Now, they've gone and waxed a whole Christmas album, and the results will be good news or bad news, depending on why you like the band. Personally, I'm most fond of the hard-driving band that recorded "Don't Worry Baby," and the critics love the ambitious band that makes albums like The Neighborhood. But, Los Lobos started out playing traditional Mexican music, and they've returned to that deep well often. And, that's what Llego Navidad is. Nearly all the songs are sung in Spanish, and most are in traditional and/or regional Latin styles. It's the album Los Lobos wanted to make, and they made it well. If I had been born in a different time or place - or to different parents - I'm sure I'd like it more.

Sam Phillips / Cold Dark Nights

After starting her career as a contemporary Christian singer, Sam Phillips made a hard left into post-modern art pop, recording great albums like The Indescribable Wow (2002) and Martinis & Bikinis (1994). She never lost her moral center, though, and over the years she's drifted towards a quieter, more acoustic sound. Those two elements served her well when she recorded Cold Dark Night (2009), a digital EP highlighted by her original song "It Doesn't Feel Like Christmas." This year, she's expanded the album to 10 tracks and "reimagined" several of the old ones, and updated the title to Cold Dark Nights. Among the new songs are a wonderfully understated cover of Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" and a new composition, "A Place For Peace."

various artists / Kool Kat Kristmas Volume 3

Power pop labels have a way of disappearing (RIP Not Lame, Big Deal, and Berserkley). New Jersey-based Kool Kat Musik has quietly endured for many years, and their third holiday compilation is much like the previous two - fine, original jangle by artists not terribly well known outside the skinny tie community. And, like the first two volumes, sales of the album benefit a good cause - in this case, the American Cancer Society. The CD is offered direct from Kool Kat Musik or through Amazon, while the download - including one extra track - is available at Futureman Records. By the way, the cover art is based on an obscure RCA Victor album, Merry Christmas Sing Along by the John McCarthy Chorale (1962), which was only sold through the RCA Record Club.

various artists / Seasonal Favorites Vol. 5

Double Crown Records has been promising a fifth volume of their Seasonal Favorites series since last year and, as I write this, my copy is in the mail. I have no qualms, however, about placing it in my Top 10 before I've even heard it. Based on the previous four volumes of totally sick surf, garage, rockabilly, and, instrumental awesomeness, it's gonna be epic! Seasonal Favorites Vol. 5 is only available on CD direct from Double Crown - no download, streaming, or vinyl.

various artists / Punk Rock Christmas 2

Founded in 1992, Cleopatra Records became the K-Tel or LaserLight of alternative rock, signing lots of bands past their prime and compiling cheaply packaged collections spotlighting subgenres like goth, punk, and industrial rock. Over the years, they expanded their scope (prog, metal, dance) but stayed pretty much in the rock arena - all the while never developing much in the way of quality control. One of Cleopatra's first holiday releases - An All-Star Salute To Christmas - was monumentally awful but, true to form, contained some hidden gems. They've steadily improved over the years, releasing a series of mostly original Christmas compilations spotlighting blues, psychedelic rock, southern rock, psychobilly, riot grrl, hip hop, and punk - all with their flaws, but each delivering some impressive performances. This year's Punk Rock Christmas 2 continues the tradition, with incremental improvements, and features some big names from punk's first wave (Vibrators, Members) and thereafter (Reagan Youth, M.D.C, Down By Law). Cleopatra also gives us A Prog Rock Christmas this year, which is much less to my taste.

various artists / Yulesville! 33 Rockin' Rollin' Christmas Blasters For The Cool Season

Germany's Bear Family Records put out Big City Christmas in 2016 and, apparently, kicked off a tradition. They followed it with Christmas On The Countryside (2017) and Have Yourself A Swingin' Little Christmas (2018). This year we get Yulesville, packed with 33 tracks from the halcyon days of rock 'n' roll. Unlike the previous releases, most of the songs are not mined from other Bear Family releases, and I suspect that the label is playing the "public domain" game - publishing music no longer under copyright without paying royalties. The packaging and annotation is up to Bear Family's usual high standards, but the sound quality is spotty. Further, only a few of the tracks will be new to experienced collectors, though neophytes will find many wonders to behold. Other notable public domain collections this year include Merry Luxmas: It's Christmas In Crampsville, Blink Before Christmas, Let's Make Every Day A Christmas Day, and Twelve Rockin' Days Of Christmas.

The Singles Scene

After a slow start, this is shaping up to be a pretty rich singles season. I'm excited about new tracks by Harry Nilsson, Alice Bag, the Dollyrots, Ronnie Spector, Peter Holsapple, Sofia Talvik, Cheap Trick, Kathleen Edwards, Jeremy & the Harlequins, Josie Cotton, and Satan's Pilgrims, among others. I'm also chuffed about EP's by Letters To Cleo, The Krayolas, The Twang-O-Matics, and Puss 'n' Boots featuring Norah Jones.

Finally, Pearl Jam is releasing tracks from their long list of annual fan club singles as 12 Days of Pearl Jam. This includes several Christmas songs: "Don't Believe in Christmas" (2002), "Someday at Christmas" (2004), and "Santa God" / "Jingle Bells" (2007). It does not include "Let Me Sleep (It's Christmas Time)" (1991), which had previously been released to the general public.

Previous Years. We've been compiling this "what's new?" list for awhile, going back to 2004 (Chris Isaak, Dwight Twilley), 2005 (Diana Krall, Brian Setzer), 2006 (Aimee Mann, Bootsy Collins), 2007 (Smithereens, Darlene Love), 2008 (Weezer, Pretenders), 2009 (Bob Dylan, Los Straitjackets), 2010 (James Brown, Shelby Lynne), 2011 (Killers, Carole King), 2012 (Rod Stewart, Polyphonic Spree), 2013 (Salsoul Orchestra, Nick Lowe), 2014 (Blue Rodeo, Earth Wind & Fire), 2015 (Sharon Jones, Brian Setzer), 2016 (Loretta Lynn, Frankie Valli), 2017 (Gwen Stefani, Beatles), and 2018 (Eric Clapton, Old 97's).

[top of page]