It’s been one hell of a year. Normally, a local radio station in my city will start playing Christmas music nonstop around the middle of November, closer to Thanksgiving. This year, they jumpstarted the holiday cheer earlier, much to my delight. “Sleigh Ride’ is cemented in my brain after years of playing it for nearly every holiday concert in secondary school and I feel a wave of calm wash over me whenever I hear “Christmas Time is Here” played over the grocery store’s PA. While the classics are comforting, I always welcome contributions from different genres, especially from electronic dance music.
Sythnwave and synthpop duo Thought Beings dropped their first album in two years, Neon Beach, in November of this year and followed that up with a Chistmas themed EP, Another Christmas, that includes the holiday cheer inthused tracks, “Another Christmas” and “Silver Bells.” Upbeat female vocal leads make up “Another Christmas,” a track thatcould have easily found itself played as part of an 80s Christmas movie’s rolling. The Christmas EP album art is bright and joyful, with bold pink, blue, and black outlined shapes on a neon green background. It is reminiscent of a Kandisky painting.
Another hard-working, merry soul that has added their contribution to the Christmas music rotation is the notable, New Orleans diva Big Breedia. Big Freedia has stayed busy throughout this first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, releasing the Louder EP earlier this year, hosting live cooking demonstrations, and helping out CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) to raise awareness of COVID-19 prevention measures by putting out the infectious, funny, and informative “Rona.” She found the time to gift the world Big Freedia’s Smokin’ Santa Christmas. This is not Big Freedia’s first time releasing a Christmas album. If you want to check out more of her warm fuzzy, ass-shaking motivating music, look no further than A Very Big Freedia Christmazz.
Another fun tune maker is Toddrick Hall whose “Bells, Bows, Gifts, Trees” makes me want to do a death drop next to my Christmas tree. Todrick Hall is a native Texan so not only is he getting bells jingling, he continues to proudly represent the Lone Star State. The music video is also everything.
Coone made it on my playlist because he made a new version of The Nutcracker that I surprisingly enjoyed. The drunken-sounding Santa vocal and the choir vocalizing wrapped up in hardstyle makes for a different, but energetic way to commemorate the holiday season. Last but not least is “Christmas Time” from Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Armin van Buuren, Brennan Heart, and and Jeremy Oceans. Out of all the tracks on the playlist, this has the most crossover to mainstream radio listener potential.
What are your favorite Christmas tunes? Let us know in the comments and on our social media pages.
I was listening to electronic dance music without even knowing it when I was listening to Jock Jams in the 90s. Fast forward to my senior year in high school and I had discovered Fatboy Slim. I have been listening to edm ever since and love writing about new sounds, good sounds, and the music that makes us move.
