It’s that time of year again, time for my yearly Christmas music list. A couple of these didn’t quite make last year’s list in order to make room on an already huge list (and some were released just after I posted it; a hazard with trying to get the list out before Christmas). There are also some that aren’t quite strictly geeky, but are good, so I just included them anyway. So settle in, grab some hot chocolate, and check out these (mostly) geeky Christmas songs.
Oceanic Six – “Christmas on the Island”
I may have stopped watching Lost midway through season three, but I can still appreciate the sentiment: “All I want for Christmas is to go home.” Well, at least they have polar bears.
The ThoughtCriminals – “It’s Christmas (Again)” (NSFW)
Picking up where their last Christmas song left off, The ThoughtCriminals add another instant classic to the Christmas canon. Or at least to MY Christmas canon…
Kin to Stars – “Already Christmas”
The bassist from Kirby Krackle’s band gives us another song about Christmas coming too early. He, however, has a rather different perspective from most.
Christopher Lee – “Little Drummer Boy / Silent Night”
Christopher Lee. Heavy metal. Christmas songs. That is all. (Well, actually, just one more thing: he also released another song this year…).
Marc with a C – “Stairway to Rudolph”
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” sung to the tune of “Stairway to Heaven.” Genius!
Various Artists – “Do They Know It’s Christmas”
Several comedians (some of whom are also singers) got together a few years ago to perform this Band Aid Christmas song for Comedy Death Ray (now Comedy Bang Bang). I can’t believe I had never seen this one before!
dot.darkness – “Christmas in Space”
“There is no Christmas in space… And that’s okay…” This is part of dot.darkness’s three song Christmas EP. The other two songs are good, too, so check them out!
Nerds with Guitars – “A Very Star Wars Christmas”
The title pretty well sums up last year’s Nerds with Guitars Christmas song. Also be sure to check out their recent appearance on Geek Hard podcast where they perform two others.
Professor Shyguy – “We Three Kings”
This track is part of Professor Shyguy’s new Merry Chipmas album. It’s Professor Shyguy singing Christmas songs. If you’re not already listening to it right now, why the heck not? Go do it!
Captain Picard sings “Let It Snow!”
James Covenant put this video together from Star Trek: the Next Generation footage. If you somehow haven’t seen it yet, make it so!
Vagabondage – “Zombie Xmas”
I ran across this over on Sepiachord last year. It’s got a gypsy vagabond / steampunk vibe, but with zombies. And Christmas. How can you go wrong with that?
Not Literally Productions – “Carol of the Brains”
Sing it with the zombies, now: “Brains, brains, brains, brains! Soft, squishy brains!”
Kari Maaren – “A Lonely Christmas Out Here”
Yay, more Christmas zombies! Christmas can always use more zombies, I think.
reddit and Joel Hodgson – “A Patrick Swayze Christmas”
So, a group of redditors got a choir together to perform this song from MST3K. And Joel Hodgson gives his seal of (dis)approval. If you haven’t seen Roadhouse, this may not make much sense, but if you have, well, this is much better than the movie. (Credit to the Nerdist website for this one).
Garfunkel and Oates – “Year End Letter”
Thankfully no one in my family sends out those “wonderful” year end letters any more, but I’ve seen a few of them in my lifetime. And, indeed, they are not nearly as interesting as the writers think they are. I ran across this one on NPR, of all places, while listening to Morning Edition.
Hello, the Future! – “That’s What’s Christmas”
Last year I mentioned the song “Jingle Bell Geek Rock,” but shortly after the list went up, I discovered Hello, the Future!’s full performance at last year’s California Browncoats Shiny Happy Holidays concert. There are also a couple of other Christmas songs on the album, but it’s mostly songs about Firefly. Which is, obviously, a good thing.
Fortress of Attitude – “Yippie-ki-yay”
Scott Barkan, of Marian Call fame, and his band have twelve tracks for the twelve days of Christmas (well, one is sort of more a Hanukkah song. Sort of…), ranging from stories to funny songs. And, as you no doubt can guess from the title, this one is about the ultimate Christmas movie, Die Hard.
the great Luke Ski – “Christmas at Hogwarts”
In addition to his Hanukkah song, the great Luke Ski also has several Christmas songs. This one’s a parody of the great Run DMC track, “Christmas in Hollis.”
Twin Peaks’ “Twelve Days of Christmas”
When Tor.com said that this was the creepiest Christmas song out there, they weren’t wrong. It’s pretty weird, but then what would you expect from a Christmas song based on Twin Peaks?
Lemon Demon – “SAD”
Seasonal Affective Disorder isn’t something I have to deal with in Florida, but my dad gets it up in Indiana. Maybe he, like the narrator in this song, should move down here. Be sure to check out the rest of Lemon Demon’s Christmas EP, too.
Actually Huizenga – “Krampus Christmas”
My wife discovered this while researching Krampus for her elementary school students. It’s become her favorite Christmas song, and it’s easy to see why. I especially love the sleigh being pulled by Krampus at the end.
“Weird Al” Yankovic – “The Night Santa Went Crazy”
I’m not sure why I never mentioned this one before, especially since I’ve already included “Christmas at Ground Zero.” No matter, here it is now.
The Doubleclicks – “That’s Family Christmas”
As long as they avoid certain topics, this family’s Christmas will be perfect. Of course, the list of topics includes just about everything actually worth talking about, so maybe not…
Kirby Krackle – “I Believe in Christmas Time”
Continuing their tradition of annual Christmas songs, Kirby Krackle bring us a lovely little song about Christmas and love.
Jonathan Coulton and John Roderick live at Paste
Click to watch embedded videos at Paste magazine
Last year, JoCo and John Roderick released a Christmas album. They also performed a few tracks live at Paste magazine: “2600,” “Christmas in Jail,” and “One Christmas at a Time.” Yeah, I know that I included a track from the album last year, but it’s so good I felt the need to mention it again this year.
