The 12 Plays of Alternative-Indie Christmas Songs

Introduction. In 2007 the Indie Rock Cafe published 12 pretty amazing playlists - The 12 Plays Of Christmas, they punned - including MP3 links for listening and downloading. The lists ranged from what might pass for obscure to the 20-somethings that comprised their audience (for instance, the Kinks' "Father Christmas") to a handful of post-modern classics (e.g. Pearl Jam's "Let Me Sleep" and the Raveonettes' "Christmas Song") to a seemingly endless supply of genuinely obscure bands. And, there's lots of Belle & Sebastian, five versions of "Last Christmas," six versions of "Silent Night," and way too much Sufjan Stevens - but don't get me started.

The playlists also include more than a few cheeky selections that have little or nothing to do with Christmas, such as Love & Rockets' "Holiday On The Moon," Mojave Three's "Breaking The Ice," and a random song by the Reindeer Section. There are some genuine anomolies that just don't qualify as indie rock, like Vince Guaraldi, the Beatles, and Stevie Wonder. A few tracks are just thrown in for laughs, like a song from Animaniacs and the theme from Santa Claus Conquers The Martians. And, there are a few headscratchers and genuine lapses in taste like Shakin' Stevens, 3 Doors Down, and Gary Glitter. Oh, to be young again...

Still, the 12 playlists - eclectic, mercurial, and sometimes ramshackle - added up to a dizzying cornucopia of digital delights sure to thrill the kiddies and stump collectors like me. Then, in 2009, the Indie Rock Cafe threw four more playlists onto the pile, pushing the total to well over 200 songs. Eventually, however, the playlists fell into disrepair and the website appears moribund.

Never fear, though - that's why there are people like me to preserve these golden moments of musical obsession and compulsion for history! The lack of context bugged me, so I added dates. And, I removed a few duplicates and corrected some obvious mistakes, including several misidentified artists. Otherwise, these are the original Indie Rock Cafe MP3 files, and the playlists are in their original order, with brief introductions by their staff writers.