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Holiday Music
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Playlist: A Jazzy, Swingin' Holiday
Now for my favorite kind of holiday music: Jazz and swing! These are the songs that truly make me feel festive and happy. The swingy ones make me want to dance and the jazzy ones are best enjoyed while sipping a holiday cocktail and gazing thoughtfully at a well-decorated tree.
Buzz In: What Holiday Songs Do You Never Tire of Hearing?
Many people complain about the holiday tunes that drive them completely insane this time of year, especially since holiday songs are practically inescapable, no matter what you do. At the drug store, the gas station, restaurants — they're everywhere! So it's truly impressive that there are still some seasonal songs that don't make us want to grab the earmuffs.
Playlist: A Rockin' Fun Holiday
No, not every song on this playlist is "rock," but they all rock in their own ways, and they're all fun. I enjoy some of the new takes on old favorites that have come out over the past few years (Aimee Mann's songs, Sufjan Stevens's holiday CD box set), and of course, there are a few shout-outs to rockin' holiday tunes that aren't too recent ("Christmas in Hollis" and "Run Rudolph Run"). The one sure thing is that these are not your traditional old carols.
Buzz In: What Are Your Holiday Entertainment Traditions?
Every year on Thanksgiving, my dad hauls out his all-time favorite holiday albums: the Time-Life Treasury of Christmas discs, Nat King Cole's album The Christmas Song, and (his most recent favorite) Diana Krall's Christmas Songs. Sure, we're all driven mad by the repetition of these albums by the time Christmas arrives, but it is tradition that they begin their (heavy) rotation on Thanksgiving Day, and we don't mess with that.
Later on we'll all watch our usual holiday movies together (It's a Wonderful Life, The Homecoming, White Christmas), and I have a long-standing tradition with a friend in which we watch The Preacher's Wife (the one with Whitney Houston .
What's Buzzworthy: Favorite Holiday Albums
For this week's Buzzworthy challenge I wondered which holiday albums were your favorites. In case you're looking for new suggestions to spice up your collection (which can become a little old by Christmas Day), check out some of your fellow Buzz readers' favorite holiday albums.
Christmas With the Rat Pack
emalove and Phasekitty both chose this swanky holiday album.
Rewind: This Week's Buzz
- Did you get all my holiday brainteasers this week? Test your knowledge with these trivia questions about A Christmas Story, Miracle on 34th Street" National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Scrooged.
- I also have a quiz about holiday music and another quiz about some of those movies that aren't "holiday movies" but feature the holidays, like Love Actually and Beautiful Girls.
- Speaking of holiday entertainment, what gets you in the spirit the most: holiday music, movies or TV specials?
- I got the incredibly cool opportunity to interview Ellen Page. And she is awesome.
- Striking members of the Writers Guild plan to picket the Golden Globes — in full evening wear.
- Of course, the biggest movie trailer of the week is the super creepy one for The Dark Knight, but I also really dug the one for George Clooney's Leatherheads.
- In Dakota Fanning movie news, Alec Baldwin will be joining her in My Sister's Keeper, and Fanning herself will be at the center of the film adaptation of The Secret Life of Bees.
- After this week's last episode of Gossip Girl for a while, are you on Team Blair, Team Serena, or Team Both?.
What's Buzzworthy? Your Favorite Holiday Albums
We can debate the best and worst songs of this season until we all turn blue (or our fingers fall off for that matter) because everyone has strong opinions about which holiday music is appropriately cheerful and which is gratingly annoying. I try my best to bring in new holiday albums every year so my collection doesn't grow too stale, but I must admit that I have my time-tested favorites!
I love Nat King Cole's Christmas Song so much I suggested it in one of my holiday gift guides.
Music Video: The Killers, "Don't Shoot Me Santa"
I'm not a huge fan of The Killers, but I do find their music ideal for running and working out. I also appreciate that the band is continuing the holiday tradition it started last year, offering us another Christmas-themed single.
Last year, it was a melodramatic but driving anthem called "A Great Big Sled", and this December the band is getting a bit sillier with "Don't Shoot Me, Santa."
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