![]() ![]() Who knew the pop landscape was missing “Believe” with bells? This just-released banger from the ageless one-named diva marries a Mariah “All I Want for Christmas Is You” feel with an impossibly catchy hook that will have you joining along to implore Santa, “Come on, hurry down the chimney/With a kiss for me.” It was popularized in the 1960s by Joan Baez and has been covered a ton since, but with an arrangement of quiet sparsity and spellbinding cadence, Todd’s haunting reimagining seems to transcend all the versions that came before. An apocryphal retelling of the Nativity, this song actually dates back to 1500. The daughter of a Japanese American judge and an Irish American sculptor, Todd, a Silver Lake native, has made a name for herself as a piercing indie-folk singer. It opens with “I’m feeling pretty great/Got latkes on my plate.” It only gets better from there. ![]() It’s as if you’ve stumbled into a basement party with the most fun people you’ve ever met, and they hand you a drink and insist you join in the gaiety.Ī cheeky New York sextet gives us the gift we didn’t know we needed: a Weird Al Yankovic -style riff on Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off,” with clever lyrics hilariously extolling the eight-night festival of lights. The kind of sassy song that takes you by surprise with its playful funk, jazzy melody and winking lyrics. Sung in Spanish and containing the island’s celebratory “le lo lai” call, the tune’s irresistible charm is in its insistence that everyone join in the fun, with lyrics exclaiming, “Even if you don’t want to/I come to sing to you.” This kicky call to jump into the holiday swing is dedicated to the jíbaros, the mountain laborers and farmers in the countryside of Puerto Rico. It’s the kind of song that makes you raise your hands in the air and shout with gratitude for being alive. Thomas, has been covered by numerous choirs worldwide. Our crackerjack UCLA Magazine team has dug deep into the Yuletide canon to assemble an eclectic mix of 25 amazing seasonal songs - some completely obscure, others offering creative twists on the classics - that will have people at your holiday party asking, “What playlist is this?”īased on a Liberian folk song, this rousing anthem, written by acclaimed African American choral composer Andre J. It’s time to put a new spin on your seasonal playlist. (If I never hear about grandma getting run over by a reindeer ever again, it will be too soon.) But in a sea of literally thousands of holiday melodies, it seems that every radio station plays the same two dozen songs over and over. S ure, everyone loves Andy Williams telling us it’s the most wonderful time of the year (it is) and Nat King Cole extolling those chestnuts roasting on an open fire (even if we never roast any ourselves).
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