I admit it. I love Christ­mas music. You’d think that 20 years in retail would have milked all of that out of me, but usu­al­ly around Hal­loween, I get the itch. To get you all in the mood for the Hol­i­days, I’m going to share with you some of my favorites. First up is Jin­gle Bells. Not the every­day ver­sion that your kinder­gar­den­er sings, but this ver­sion is by Cana­di­an band The Bare­naked Ladies. Their Hol­i­day album is filled with humor. You got­ta love a band that makes you smile, right? This starts out slow, but stick with it…you’ll love it.

Anoth­er favorite, I could lis­ten to this one all year. (I’ve been known to pop this CD in mid July) I could­n’t find a video, but you can lis­ten to it here. It starts out qui­et, so if it sounds like it isn’t play­ing, just give it a few seconds.

And then there’s Josh Groban. His entire Christ­mas album Noel is beau­ti­ful, but this par­tic­u­lar song won’t be found on Noël, it’s on his live album. *sigh* Love his voice.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx0C5ZDi1rs

Last but not least, Mannheim Steam­roller, a Christ­mas favorite since 1980 (ish).  I love all of their Christ­mas albums, and it would be very hard to pick a favorite, so I just plucked the first one that I found on YouTube. Enjoy:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Meu_uczBEqM

Now, to dec­o­rate my tree, and plug in all my lights. Enjoy the season!