The Playlist is a brand new column for Pop Break celebrating the songs we love at this very moment, and we think you, our readers, should be putting in your life as well! This column features recommendations from the writers, podcasters and photographers of Pop Break as well as our friends from the world of journalism, entertainment, podcasting and our everyday lives.
Sam Cohen (Pop Break Staff Writer, Host of Slanted & Enchanted Radio on WRSU)
Song: “Alone on Christmas Day”
Artist: Phoenix featuring Bill Murray, Buster Poindexter, Jason Schwartzmann, and Paul Schafer.
Every rock fan wants to experience a very indie Christmas. However, most bands struggle to do it right. Either they give up their sound for a Christmas appeal or they ignore the whole Christmas aesthetic but label it as a Christmas song because they mention Santa in the lyrics. It’s a hard nut to crack.
Thankfully, Bill Murray and Phoenix have saved the day! The pairing of a comedic hero with indie legends, pays off with vivid imagery of a solo Christmas. The inclusion of Jason Schwartzman makes the whole thing feel like a Wes Anderson Christmas film. Editor’s Note: The song appears on the 2015 Netflix Special, A Very Murray Christmas.
Nynoshka Vazquez Suazo (Pop Beak Staff Writer & Writer for The Underground Edit)
Song: “Miseltone”
Artist: Justin Bieber
When the holiday season begins to lurk around the corner from Thanksgiving, Justin Bieber’s album Under the Mistletoe begins to defrost. Every track is a culmination of holiday magic, but the ultimate Christmas track is “Mistletoe.” Word for word, beat by beat, this song holds a special place in my heart, especially during Christmas time.
“It’s the most beautiful time of the year / Lights fill the streets spreading so much cheer / I should be playing in the winter snow / But I’ma be under the mistletoe”
“Mistletoe “is a perfect example of an original holiday track. Mentioning the best parts of the season, with odes to your traditional Christmas songs, with a pop flare. Reminding us that Christmas is more than just gifts and decorations, but about the love shared and the people you choose to spend it with.
With you, Justin Bieber, my holidays are oh so perfect.
Honorable mention that made it so hard for me to choose: Drummer Boy, also by Justin Bieber & Busta Rhymes.
Sarah Bergin (Staff Writer for The Pop Break)
Song: “Christmas Tree Farm”
Artist: Taylor Swift
Everyone hears the popular yet intoxicating tunes of Taylor Swift year-round, and the holiday season is no exception. Her cheery and catchy song, “Christmas Tree Farm,” is a modern Christmas song pulling from the traditional strings and bells that listeners associate with holiday music.
Swift brings together generations of women in my family, which makes this song even more impactful for me. When “Christmas Tree Farm” comes on our holiday playlist, my mom and nieces sing along with me. It holds a special place in my heart, which is why it is my favorite Christmas song.
Just in time for The End of an Era documentary release, Christmas can be even more festive with a cup of hot cocoa, her documentary on the television and “Christmas Tree Farm” on the speakers.
Avani Goswami (TV Editor for The Pop Break)
Song: “Fruitcake”
Artist: Sabrina Carpenter
There are rarely newer holiday releases that feel like classics, but “Fruitcake “by Sabrina Carpenter was an instant favorite when it was released in 2023.
Besides the fun wordplay in “A Nonsense Christmas,” “Santa Doesn’t Know You Like I Do” in particular feels like an evening nap with a warm blanket, decorating the tree or leaving cookies out on the fireplace. Carpenter perfectly captures the fuzzy and melancholic winter spirit, making it a must listen for the holiday season.
Editor’s Note: This song appears in the 2024 Netflix special Sabrina Carpenter: A Nonsense Christmas.
Amanda Rivas (Co-Host, Socially Distanced, Anime x Pop | Podcaster – BCP+):
Song: “Christmas Surprise”
Band: The Brehms
My fellow anime fans may recognize Stephanie Young Brehm as the English Voice Actor for Nico Robin in One Piece, Nana Shimura in My Hero Academia, and Olivier Armstrong in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. What they may not know is that she is part of The Brehms, a singing/songwriting duo with her husband, David Lee Brehm, that has a foundation in Jazz.
They are absolutely fantastic with a fun, retro, uplifting vibe, which is why their 2024 single “Christmas Surprise” is a staple on my Christmas playlist. This song is an original bop with toe-tapping, upbeat, cheeky energy paired with Stephanie’s smooth as silk vocals. It is a refreshing entry into a scene that tends to see many remakes of Christmas classics and showcases why Jazz is such a fun, diverse genre of music. Adding this gem to your Christmas playlist is a must!
Randy Allain (Staff Writer, Co-Host of Podelay! | Co-Host of Media/Lit Podcast)
Song: “The Little Drum Machine Boy”
Artist: Beck
While the title of this 1996 seasonal oddity from alt-rock pioneer Beck suggests it will offer yet another meek indie riff on a classic Christmas carol, “The Little Drum Machine Boy” is actually a kick-ass Hanukkah rap-anthem in disguise.
Sure, Beck plays with the classic drummer boy’s percussive onomatopoeia (rum pum pum pump, in this case), but the heavily electronic, synthed-out words that open the song are actually a Jewish blessing: Baruch Atah Adonei Elohenu Melech Ha Olom. This refrain keeps the track grounded while Beck ventures off into the unknown.
Lyrically, this track is vintage Beck; his nonsense raps ring out over a propulsive, “holiday robot funk” that seduces listeners toward the dance floor. Sure, it may not be the most sentimental holiday song of all time, but Beck is certainly “keepin’ it real, like a spray snow tree” as he embraces his “Hanukkah Pimp” persona:
I get the shit lit like a menorah
This funk’s so illegal, I think I might need a lawyer
Willin’ and able
To bring my funk in the place it needs be
Lifestyles of the slick and sleazy
Spin ’em around, play around, like a dreidel
Nevertheless, it’s touching to know that Beck, whose mother couldn’t afford to throw him a Bar Mitzvah and who dreamed of getting his hands on an actual drum machine while he was punking out with anti-folkers in the late 80s, went on to craft a Hanukkah cult classic while taking the world by storm during his Odelay tour.
For more fun Beck tidbits like this, check out Podelay: A Beck Podcast, right here at The Pop Break!
Kris Ingersoll (Co-Host of Batman by the Numbers & Podelay! | Co-Host of Media/Lit Podcast)
Song: “Father Christmas”
Artists: The Kinks
Nothing says holiday spirit quite like a little working class rebellion, am I right? Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for the season and all the magic that comes with it – more Kris Kringle than Ebenezer Scrooge – but, as shop windows fill with golden, tinkling displays of mechanized, electronic joy, it’s easy to become a bit disillusioned with the commerce of it all.
Nothing captures that fiscal frustration as well as 1977’s “Father Christmas” from The Kinks. This song will lure your holiday heart with the soft tinkling of bells and a festive melody only to blow the speakers out with a subversive burst of distorted punk rock guitar and The Kinks signature sound. With perfectly irreverent lyrics, this working class anthem encourages Father Christmas to meet the real needs of the people and save his fancy toys for the little rich boys.
Editor’s Note: Check out our interview with Chris Jericho about his cover of “Father Christmas” done to raise money for Juvenile Diabetes.
Justin Mancini (Co-host of Podelay!)
Song: “I Believe in Father Christmas”
Artist: Greg Lake
I don’t know about you, but I like my holiday songbook with a pinch of bitterness (along with an ample dose of reality). Greg Lake’s stirring, mournful tune begins innocently enough, with vivid memories of Yuletides past and a deeply resonant-sounding acoustic guitar, and the instrumental interludes (on loan from Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé suite) wouldn’t be out of place in a Hallmark Christmas film.
But even as the music retains its pleasantness, the lyrics (by eminent King Crimson/ELP scribe Peter Sinfield) showcase a raw feeling, a sense of innocence tainted, the pleasures of the season undone by the cruelty of commercialism and the horrors of war and greed. In a time when even our own government seeks to peddle the iconography of this happiest season for its own oppressive ends, Lake and Sinfield urge us to look beyond the tinsel and the lights toward our capacity for peace and goodwill. If we don’t, it will truly be “the Christmas we get we deserve.”
Bill Bodkin (Editor-in-Chief of the Pop Break & Seasonal DJ Father Christmas)
People may not know this, but before COVID, Pop Break used to produce an annual “Locals Christmas Party” at The Grand Arcade at the famed Convention Hall on the Asbury Park Boardwalk in Asbury Park, New Jersey. This free concert was thrown to benefit Asbury Park Police Department’s Toy Drive.
The show was presented in front of a gigantic freshly cut Christmas tree, and it was one hell of a time. The show would feature numerous bands and comedians …and myself as the DJ. Yes, I was known as DJ Father Christmas, and my “DJ set” was just plugging in an AV cable into my MacBook and pushing play on a Spotify playlist.
While we haven’t thrown a show in a long time, I still try to create an eclectic Christmas playlist that includes standards and classics, punk rock, Irish Christmas tunes, pop chestnuts, Bruce Springsteen essentials, and of course Mariah Carey.
Beneath this playlist are two of my current favorite Christmas songs of all-time.
Song: “The Christmas Song”
Artist: Nat King Cole
It’s called “The Christmas Song” for a reason. This seminal seasonal classic from Nat King Cole embodies every beautiful thing about Christmas. The subdued swelling of the orchestral music immediately conjures up every wonderful sense you associate with Christmas. Nat King Cole’s voice is a warm, welcoming, and robust welcome into the season. The song’s lyrics and Cole’s velvet dulcetness (not a word) immediately hit play on the movie projector in your mind. You can see the chestnuts roasting on an open fire, you can hear the yuletide carols sung by a choir, you can smell the turkey being cooked. It’s a song that exemplifies the evergreen nostalgia, purity and warmth of the Christmas season.
Song: “I Don;t Know What Christmas is (But Christmastime is Here)”
Artist: The Old 97s
I am not the biggest fan of modern Christmas songs. If you read Sam Cohen’s entry, I am in lockstep with the young king’s thoughts on Christmas tunes created in the modern era, especially by bands in the rock genre. Well, thankfully The Old 97s and the mad genius James Gunn solved all this.
In the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, the alt country band performs an original Christmas song that is not only genuinely hilarious, but wildly catchy. The premise of the song is that the band are alien refugees living in Nowhere, an outpost protected by the Guardians. They create a Christmas song based on sixth hand knowledge from various Guardians, and the result is a lampoon on some of the absurdities of Christmas songs. It’s sweet, funny, weird, endearing and again, catchy as hell.
