Weird Christmas Albums
It’s easy to hate Christmas music. And sometimes it’s deserved. If you’re like me, you’re probably wearing earplugs to the grocery store by now. However, there is a lot of wonderfully weird Christmas music out there for you to enjoy without sacrificing your tastes. These are collections I truly enjoy and, believe it or not, most are appropriate for people who don’t like weird music.
#5: John Eidsvoog YouTube Channel
John Eidsvoog’s YouTube channel is a wonderful source of odd-time, jazzy arrangements of Christmas music that’ll please both the weird musician and the casual listener. His 7/8 arrangement of Sleigh Ride is a wonderful reframing of the song’s classic craziness. He does Jingle Bells in 5/8 and regularly collaborates with his wife. It’s simple fun and a welcome change to the same songs we hear over and over every year.
#4: Merry Axemas 1 & 2
The two Merry Axemas albums from 1997 and 1998 are fun if you’re into instrumental guitar interpretations of Christmas music. Each song features a different guitarist and arrangement and some of the players are top notch. Check out:
Eric Johnson’s “First Nowell”
Jeff Beck’s “Amazing Grace”
Steve Morse’s “Joy to the World”
#3: Christmas Caravan by Squirrel Nut Zippers
Christmas Caravan by Squirrel Nut Zippers. Though not musically very strange, it is one of the most unique approaches to Christmas I’ve ever heard. The band was always underrated in terms of their production quality, musicianship, and songwriting. Nearly all the songs on this one are originals with a slight mocking tone toward the holiday. The best song on here is “My Evergreen” by Tom Maxwell, but you don’t want to miss their fun arrangement of “Sleigh Ride.”
#2: Jingle All The Way by Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
Jingle All the Way by Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. This album is really amazing. It was released in 2008 with musical features you will not hear on any other Christmas album. First of all, there’s Tuvan throat singing on several tracks, which is super surprising, especially on the album’s opening track, “Jingle Bells.” You definitely want to catch their “Twelve Days of Christmas” arrangement featuring the 12 days in 12 time signatures in 12 different keys in 12 different genres. It’s astounding.
Honorable mention: My own Christmas music
On the Make Weird Music YouTube channel, we have a playlist of Christmas music I’ve made. It’s usually the standard Christmas songs played in odd time signatures and different musical arrangements. There’s a lot of really good stuff on there you should check out. My favorite is O Holy Night, which we did in 5/4 and is supported by chord changes that I still don’t know how I discovered.
#1: X-Mas Death Jazz by Panzerballett
This is the grand daddy of “weird” Christmas albums. Released in 2017, it features the only possible good arrangement of “Last Christmas” as well as a properly death-themed medley called “For Whom the Jingle Bells Toll.” Look for appearances by Mike Keneally, Mattias Eklundh, and Jen Majura on this one. Also check out the mini-documentary I released on the channel back when the album came out. If you only have time or energy for one Christmas album, make it this one.
I know there are going to be people telling me this list didn’t have enough “weird” music. My list is a compromise between novel musicality and music that my family is going to want to hear this time of year. Feel free to leave the truly weirdest Christmas recommendations in the comments, unless you’re going to bring up Bob Dylan’s “Christmas in the Heart,” which will get you banned from the channel.
