A Very Multitrack Christmas: the Christmas Music Singularity ContinuumDay Three: Subcultural Christmas Songs You probably won’t hear these in the mall—they’re a bit more specific, and not every yuletide reveler identifies with them. But the ones who look like you do. For Multitrack readers, this is probably Sufjan Stevens’ Christmas records. Jeannie’s pick: Belle and Sebastian “Santa Claus, Go Straight to the Ghetto.” This one works on two levels. The original, both in subject and by virtue of having been recorded by James Brown in 1968, is a Christmas song directed at the American civil rights movement. Meanwhile, the Belle and Sebastian cover, from their BBC Radio 1 John Peel Christmas session, speaks for the B&S Christmas covers that seem to make it onto any hipster’s begrudging holiday playlist. —baton pass— Fine, this feels like a cop-out, but I refuse to put any supergroup-esque collaborations on here, and Jeannie beat me to the Sufjan reference. I’m coming to the conclusion that I really just know very little about holiday music. Matthew’s pick: Happy Holidays, You Bastard. For every junior high aged kid who grew up on a steady diet of pop-punk, this song was the dividing line between a boy and a man. Boys had the clean version, with an oddly placed instrumental on Track 4. Men had the full, filthy 42 seconds of cussing and shitting and everything vile about the holidays. The men listened to this song on Christmas to show how much they hated their family. I listened to a twitchy guitar interlude, and wondered what I was missing.

A Very Multitrack Christmas: the Christmas Music Singularity Continuum
Day Three: Subcultural Christmas Songs

You probably won’t hear these in the mall—they’re a bit more specific, and not every yuletide reveler identifies with them. But the ones who look like you do. For Multitrack readers, this is probably Sufjan Stevens’ Christmas records.

Jeannie’s pick: Belle and Sebastian “Santa Claus, Go Straight to the Ghetto.” This one works on two levels. The original, both in subject and by virtue of having been recorded by James Brown in 1968, is a Christmas song directed at the American civil rights movement. Meanwhile, the Belle and Sebastian cover, from their BBC Radio 1 John Peel Christmas session, speaks for the B&S Christmas covers that seem to make it onto any hipster’s begrudging holiday playlist.

—baton pass—

Fine, this feels like a cop-out, but I refuse to put any supergroup-esque collaborations on here, and Jeannie beat me to the Sufjan reference. I’m coming to the conclusion that I really just know very little about holiday music.

Matthew’s pick: Happy Holidays, You Bastard. For every junior high aged kid who grew up on a steady diet of pop-punk, this song was the dividing line between a boy and a man. Boys had the clean version, with an oddly placed instrumental on Track 4. Men had the full, filthy 42 seconds of cussing and shitting and everything vile about the holidays. The men listened to this song on Christmas to show how much they hated their family. I listened to a twitchy guitar interlude, and wondered what I was missing.