Kids' Songs for Halloween (Updated for 2014!)

I don't particularly care for Halloween.  I don't hate it, it's just not one of those holidays I like.  I'm all for the community aspect of the holiday, particularly in warmer climes like Phoenix, where Halloween in some neighborhoods becomes a movable block party.  But cheap, useless candy? Ugh.  Please just let me watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and move on to November.

But I realize I am in the minority here.  So here's a collection of kindie Halloween songs I'm aware of, some of them released this week, some of them dating back to 2006).  This is an update of my 2009 list with some subsequent songs.

This is a long (and, frankly, somewhat disorganized) list, but I'm pretty sure I'm missing your favorite kindie Halloween song.  Let me know which one it is, and I'll update it here!

Albums

-- Eban Schletter's Witching Hour
-- Wee Hairy Beasties' Creepy Lullabies
-- Sue Schnitzer's Boo, Cackle, Trick or Treat
-- Katherine Dines' Hunk-Ta-Bunk-Ta Spooky!
-- Magic Maestro Music's The Sorcerer's Apprentice
-- Thirteen For Halloween by M. Ryan Taylor.
-- Big Pumpkin - Mr. Billy

Songs

"Skin and Bones" -- countless recordings (Raffi, Sam Hinton, the Hunk-Ta-Bunk-Ta Spooky disk above)
"Dia de los Muertos," Uncle Rock -- off his Plays Well With Others disk
"A Skeleton Bang," Rasputina -- off the Colours Are Brighter
"Harry's Haunted Halloween Circus," from At the Bottom of the Sea by Ralph's World
"The Edison Museum" - They Might Be Giants (No!)
"The Winchester Festival" - Mr. David

"Bonobo Joe and the Voodoo Queen" - The Hipwaders (see here)
"Scare Me Scare You!" - Baze and His Silly Friends
"The Monster Under My Bed" - Mighty Weaklings
"My Brother's a Monster" - Laura Freeman
"Boogieman" - Secret Agent 23 Skidoo
"Boogieman" - Keith Munslow
"The Day After Halloween" - The Sippy Cups

"Halloween Every Night" - Mista Cookie Jar and the Chocolate Chips

"There's a Monster in My House" - Eric Herman

"Boo!" - Trout Fishing in America

"Trick or Treat" - Justin Roberts

"Halloween" - Key Wilde & Mr. Clarke

"Spooky Stuff" - David Tobocman

"Boogie Man" - Heidi Swedberg and the Sukey Jump Band

"Ghosts and Goblins - Mister G

"Rattlin' Rattlin' Bones - Boxtop Jenkins

"Miss Elephant's Gerald" - The Pop Ups

"November First (Jump, Run, Shake)" - Eric Herman

"Dance Like a Monster" - Play Date

"For Halloween This Year" - You and Me and the Rain

"Perfect Pumpkins" - Todd McHatton

"Where Do Monsters Go?" - Ratboy Jr.

"Do You Believe in Monsters?" - Mr. Ray

"Wesley Werewolf" - Skelly and the Punkins

"That's How a Pumpkin Grows" - Brian Vogan

"Spooky Dance" - Rebecca Frezza

"Robot Monkey Head" - John Hadfield (OK, not totally Halloween-themed, but SHOULD BE)

"I'm a Vampire" - Roy Handy and the Moonshot

"Halloween" - Charity and the JAMband

"Spooky Way Home" - The Crayonettes

"Halloween" - Princess Katie & Racer Steve

"I'm Not Afraid" - The Angry Beards

"Missing in the Corn Maze" - vogelJoy

"Halloween Freak Out" - Chuck Cheesman

"Goblins" - DidiPop

"Monsters" - Jazzy Ash

"Robot for Halloween" - The Flannery Brothers

"Halloween Is Finally Here!" - Bears and Lions

"Monster League Baseball" - Eric Herman

"Scream" - Secret Agent 23 Skidoo

"Pumpkinhead" - The Hipwaders

"The Boy Who Cried El Chupacabra" - The Hipwaders

"Halloween Every Night" - Mista Cookie Jar and the Chocolate Chips

"Bah Humbug Halloween" - Poochamungas

"Pumpkin Pied" - Gustafer Yellowgold

"Confusing Costume" - Joanie Leeds and the Nightlights

---

Bill from Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child also published his playlists from his '05, '06, and '08 shows...

Themed songs from 2006 show:

Ralph's World - Harry's Haunted Halloween Circus (At the Bottom of the Sea)
Roger Day - Monster Face (Ready to Fly)
ScribbleMonster & Friends - A Monster Goes Rrraargh! (Chocolate Milk)
Deedle Deedle Dees - Scared By My Own Costume (Live at Flywheel)
Monty Harper - Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet (Great Green Squishy Mean Concert CD)
Elizabeth Street - Really Gross (Different)
Telephone Company - Baby Halloween (The King's Surprse?)
Milkshake - Scared (Happy Songs)
Steve Weeks - 4 Little Girls (Aaron and his Aeroplane)
TMBG - Something Grabbed Ahold of My Hand (Apollo 18)
Mary Kaye - Skeleton Song (Spin Your Web)
Rebecca Frezza - Monster in My Room (Music in My Heart)
TMBG - Fingertips (Apollo 18)
Laurie Berkner - Monster Boogie (Buzz Buzz)
Andy Glockenspiel - Monster in Pink Underwear
Muppets - Wild Thing
They Might Be Giants - Hovering Sombrero '05 (Here Come the ABCs)

2005's list, "where we were much more Halloween-themed throughout":

They Might Be Giants - Hovering Sombrero '05 (Here Come the ABCs) (telling you, that floating hat is scary)
Splash 'n' Boots - Spooky-Doo (Getting Our Feet Wet)
Josh Greenberg & the Mother Goose Jazz Band - Boogie Woogie Ghost (Rhythm and Rhymes)
Trout Fishing in America - The Goops (It's a Puzzle)
Jennie Avila - Gargoyles (For Kids)
Troubador - There's a Werewolf Under My Bed (All About Animals)
Laurie Berkner - Monster Boogie (Buzz Buzz)
Two of a Kind - This Holiday Is Halloween (Friends)
Kevin Kameraad - Pumpkin Belly (Tomato Collection)
Monty Harper - Trick or Treat Smell My Feet (The Great Green Squishy Mean Concert CD)
Babaloo - Gorilla in the Middle of My Bedroom (Bean Bag Bop)
Ben Kweller with Ben Folds and Ben Lee - Wicked Little Town (Wig in a Box)
They Might Be Giants - Something Grabbed A Hold of My Hand (Apollo 18)
Ralph's World - Harry's Haunted Halloween Circus (At the Bottom of the Sea)
Nerf Herder - Buffy the Vampire Slayer Theme
Daddy A Go-Go - Scaredy Cat Cowboy Part 2 (Mojo A Go Go)
Roger Day - Monster Face (Ready To Fly)
ScribbleMonster & His Pals - A Monster Goes Rrraargh! (Best of Friends)
They Might Be Giants - Someone Keeps Moving My Chair (Flood)
Too Much Joy - Pride of Frankenstein (Cereal Killers)
Kevin Kammeraad - Moogie Monster Man (The Tomato Collection)
CandyBand - Monsters (More Candy)
Jack Sheldon - Them Not-So-Dry Bones (Schoolhouse Rock! Science Rock)
They Might Be Giants - Fingertips (Reprise) (Apollo 18)
Monster Mash (Music for Little People)
Telephone Company - Baby Halloween (The King's Surprise?)
Gunnar Madsen - Mayonnaise & Pumpernickel Bread (Ants in My Pants)
They Might Be Giants - Exquisite Dead Guy (Factory Showroom)
Peter Alsop - What If? (Pluggin' Away)
Bill Harley - Monsters in the Bathroom (Play It Again)
Babaloo - Monsters in the Bathroom (Room for Everyone)
Wolf Party (Sun, Sun Shine: Songs for Curious Children)
Belly - Witch (Star)
Daddy A Go-Go - Scaredy Cat Cowboy Part 1 (Mojo A Go Go)
Rockapella - Zombie Jamboree
David Roth - Halloween
Deedle Deedle Dees - Scared of My Own Costume (Let It Dee)
Justin Roberts - Thought It Was A Monster (Yellow Bus)
Milkshake - Scared (Happy Songs)
Steve Weeks - 4 Little Girls (Alphabet Songs Vol. 1)
They Might Be Giants - Skullivan (The Spine Surfs Alone EP)

Spare the Rock 2008

TMBG - It's Spare the Rock
TMBG - Whistling in the Dark
Steve Weeks - 4 Little Girls (Alphabet Songs Vol 1)
Kimya Dawson - Little Monster Babies (Alphabutt)
Deedle Deedle Dees - Scared By My Own Costume (Let It Dee)

Wee Scary Beasties - Pumpkinhead (Creepy Lullabies)
Telephone Company - Baby Halloween (The King's Surprise?)
Roger Day - Monster Face (Ready to Fly)
Ralph's World - Harry's Halloween Circus)
Dr. Strangeblood & the New Zombies - Monster Mash (EP)
Salteens - All My Friends (Yo Gabba Gabba)
Los Straitjackets - Munsters theme
Soccer Team - I'll Never Fear Ghosts Again
Baze & His Silly Friends - Scare Me, Scare You!
Egg - Night Time Party
Jimmies - Soaper the Scaredy-Bot (Make Your Own Someday)
Mike Doughty - Firetruck (Smofe + Smang)

ScribbleMonster - Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child
Justin Roberts - Maybe the Monster (Meltdown!)
Hank Hooper - Human Fly (Playground Fortune Teller)
B-52s - Planet Claire (Anthology)
Lamar Holley - Digestion (Classroom Pop Vol. 1)
Aric Bieganek & Recess Rock - Bright Lights, Big Kitty! (Bright Lights, Big Kitty)
Monty Harper - Trick or Treat Smell My Feet (Great Green Squishy Mean Concert CD)
Louis Armstrong - Jeepers Creepers (Back Through the Years)
Telephone Company - Lumberjack (Panda Brain)

Mates of State - Starman
Mighty Weaklings - Monster Under My Bed
Rechov Sumsum with Ronnie Rock - En Den Dino (Sesame Street Playground)
TMBG - The Guitar
TMBG - Spare the Rock

Gwyneth's Halloween set from 2007:
Lager Rhythms - Zombie Jamboree - Aftermath
Steve Weeks - 4 Little Girls - Alphabet Songs Vol. I
Ralph's World - Harry's Haunted Halloween Circus - At The Bottom Of The Sea
ScribbleMonster & His Pals - A Monster Goes Rrraargh! - Best Of Friends
Karl Williams - Merry Halloween - Big Fish Little Fish
Sue Schnitzer - Black Cats, Spiders, and Bats Blues - Boo, Cackle, Trick or Treat
Wendy Rochman and Sue Schnitzer - Your Bones - Boo, Cackle, Trick or Treat
Laurie Berkner - Monster Boogie - Buzz Buzz
C. Shells - Halloween Ghosts - C. Shells
Dan Zanes & Friends - Moonlit Town - Catch That Train!
GeereMusic - Halloween is Magic Time - Celebrate! Vol 1
Family Circus Kids - The Spider - The Complete Lyric Language
Janet Sirett - Another Halloween Night - Creepy Crawly Slimy Things
Brady Rymer - Full Moon Walk - Every Day Is A Birthday
John McCutcheon - Halloween - Four Seasons-Autumn Songs
Carole Peterson - Black Bat Farm (Oct) - H.U.M
DJ Spook A Lot - Skeleton Dance - Halloween For All
The Hipwaders - Howling At The Moon - The Hipwaders
John Bindel, Nashville Chamber Orchestra And Kid Pan Alley - Scary Things - Kid Pan Alley- Nashville
String Bean Jones (With The Lefty Jones Band) - Good Ghosts Here - Live From The Bathtub
Justin Roberts - Maybe The Monster - Meltdown!
Pam Blanchard & the Sunny-Side Up Band - Halloween Waltz - Music Makes Me Happy
Bruce, Troy, and Margaret - Thirty-Six Witches - Now For My Next Number
Steve Songs - One Halloween Night... - On A Flying Guitar
Monty Harper - Trick or Treat Smell My Feet - The Great Green Squishy Mean Concert CD
Steve Blunt and Friends - Pumpkins, Beware! - Outta School!
Sesame Street - The Monster in the Mirror (Grover) - Sesame Street Platinum All-Time Favorites
Brent & Woofy - On Halloween - Shine Shine Shine
Eric Herman And The Invisible Band - Hide And Go Seek With The Moon - Snow Day
Erin Lee & Marci - The Moonlight Wolfbite Batjuice Jamboree - Snowdance
Mary Kaye - The Skeleton Song - Spin Your Web
Thaddeus Rex - The Moon Is Rising - We Wanna Rock
Wee Sing - The Ghosts Go Flying - Wee Sing For Halloween
Danny Adlerman - Pump the Pumpkin
Imagination Movers - Knocking on Your Door 2

Devon has a lot more suggestions, including this list of songs.

Interview: Tito Uquillas (The Hipwaders)

I tend to think of Tito Uquillas' Bay Area band The Hipwaders as being one of kindie's "old guard" -- not that they've been around as long as Raffi or Trout Fishing in America, let alone Ella Jenkins, but having released their self-titled debut in 2005, their sharper guitar-pop was one of the early examples of the kindie wave that swept over the kids music world in the second half of that decade.

So Uquillas has some history and perspective on kids music in the past decade.  His band's also got a new album coming out, Year-Round Sounds, on September 23.  The new album features a number of songs celebrating seasons and holidays.  In our chat, he and I talk about favorite holidays, the stop-and-start process of recording this new album, and how he views the balance between his day job as a paramedic and the rest of his life.

Zooglobble: What are your favorite holidays?

Tito Uquillas: As a kid, always Halloween, that was always fun.  Dressing up, trick-or-treating, those things.  Now they're fun from a different perspective.  As an adult, it's even more fun when we play, we dress up a bit.  For Halloween shows, I would dress up with a wig and costume beard and felt invincible, it was a great confidence booster.  Now that I've been playing for a while, I'll just dress up with a hat.

Christmas shows are a blast, too.  For Christmas we always dress up as a Victorian band.  Because everybody’s in the spirit.

It’s probably a tie now between Halloween and Christmas.

You did an entire EP of holiday/Christmas songs (A Kindie Christmas) -- what are your favorite holidays to write songs for?  Is it easy to write for a particular holiday?

I’ve been writing songs since I was 15.  I always liked writing jingles.  I remember writing a fake commercial for "The Starving Martyrs," who would starve for whatever your cause was.  The Christmas album included songs I'd written over time, some dating back to the 80s and I realized I had almost a full album.

The problem is it’s not until the actual holiday that I come up with a song.  People will hear it and ask, “Aw man, you have that recorded?”  And I'll say, “no, you have to wait a year.”

We've got a new song that was based on a tangent of a discussion between the bassist and drummer about the animal the chupacabra.  It's a fun song -- it’s a good feeling when your latest song is your band’s favorite song to play.

But, no, it’s [not a particular holiday but] whatever inspires you in the moment.  Writing about something [on demand], that’s hard.  Sometimes I can do it “on spec.”  There’s a song on the new album ("We Can Be Heroes") written as a theme song for an animated series.  The cartoon was going to be shown in Europe.  And then the studio got an attorney and said that it would be better to just be made for Wales.  So the song would have to be sung in Welsh.  That wasn't for me.  So now it's on the album...

Can you talk a bit about recording with Willie Samuels?

I work in a town called Crockett, which is the home of the C&H sugar factory.  A firefighter there went to school with Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day.  I thought Green Day [recordings] always sounded good, so I tracked down the studio where they recorded their stuff.  I once thought you just hired a studio, but it’s not like that, you have to find an engineer.  I found Willie Samuels, but he'd moved to a different studio, a top-notch studio, and I thought there was no way I could afford that.

But that's not how it works.  We set up a budget, and sometimes you get kicked out.  For our album The Golden State, which we also recorded with Samuels, we got kicked out for Lady Gaga.  Samuels recorded spoken word with Danny Glover, with Al Gore.  He recorded 20-piece salsa band.  So we recorded at odd days and times.

I've recorded whole albums at once and didn’t like intensity of recording 14 songs.  So we had 6 songs for a session, which was much more relaxed.

Besides he does what he wants.  He doesn’t like hand percussion, so on one song he mixed it really low.  I know what to expect.

How do you view the interaction between your day job as a paramedic and your life as a kindie musician?

I just celebrated my thirtieth anniversary as a paramedic.

Congratulations!

Thanks, I think.  You know, if there was ever a panel at a kids music conference on being a  “slacker,” that’s me.  I've got to get that balance going between job, and marriage, and music.

I like the stress of my job, which is sick in a way.  As a paramedic we’re used to handling very stressful situations.  When I was 10, my mom got cancer and passed away when I was 12.  And that messed me up a bit as a teenager.  I was quiet and didn’t come out of my shell until 15 or 16.  I wanted to control the situation more than I could before.

I had a band at 15 and that was a relief.  The music thing was much more satisfying.  Much later in the Hipwaders, we’d play at children’s hospitals and parents would be crying out of gratitude.  Wow, thirty years of being a paramedic, nobody ever cries out of gratitude.  The 2 things parts go hand in hand.  The job is very clinical.

The performing part of the band has actually helped me.  Learning to play to the room, looking around making sure everyone is calm, cracking jokes, making sure everyone is put at ease.  It’s almost like a performance too, having to treat a patient.

I imagine a paramedic team is sort of like a band, everyone with their own roles and strengths.

Yeah…  I like going to different people’s houses and cultures.  The last call I was on had this Middle Eastern war rug hanging -- it's a map of Afghanistan with pictures of guns, artillery.  When the Afghans kicked Russians out, they made these rugs -- our military would buy them, so would Afghanis.  The call before that was the tackiest house, looked like something from King Louis XIV; it was owned by an elderly Russian couple.  To me, that’s always fascinating.  Or seeing different religious shrines.  Especially in the Bay Area, which is so diverse -- Cambodians, Phillipines, Middle Eastern.

How do you integrate those two parts of your life?  I was recently having a discussion online with some kids music folks and talking about how major corporations are selling only Dora the Explorer or Kidz Bop album, but also the huge changes in the recorded music industry make it easier than it's ever been to be a part-time creative.

It’s three parts, actually -- family, job, and creative life.  I always have to have a project going -- in between bands in my youth, I might have had a visual arts project.  Now it’s just music.

The Dora and  Kidz Bop stuff -- I don’t even think about that.  That’s a multimedia thing -- TV, merchandise, it all goes together, there’s no way the kindie crowd can get into that.  People ask me, "Can you play Frozen?"  I say no, it’s just not me.  I like Frozen but I really don't like show tunes.  I had a partner doing pediatric care, and he was talking about preschool theme shows I don’t know at all.

The band is happy that we can make albums, play shows, and maybe release an occasional video and not use our own money.  But I’m really cognizant of maintaining the balance between family and playing shows.  We can usually make a day of it as a family.  I don’t want to disrupt that balance.  If I were offered a two week tour on the East Coast, I'd probably say, “Ahhh, I don’t know” unless they paid us a lot of money.

I’m not big on the PR thing now -- we can’t take time from our day jobs and tour the country.  So written press is not that important to us.  Being a regional act is fine for me.  We can get plenty of bookings; there are a half dozen musical acts and we all get gigs.  I'll do it yourself and hope for the best.

You’re not going to get rich, but you’re not going to go broke, either.

Lots of people record, teach music.  I’m not sure I could do it every day or every other day as a job.  What if I had to teach preschool, would I have to write more preschool songs?  That’s not me.  Laurie Berkner is really good at it, but a lot of the other preschool songs I hear are insipid.  I'm fascinated by people who do it as a job.  It's not for me, worrying about [it as] a job.  Hopefullly it’s working out well [for them], that they can retire.

Are their new tracks on the upcoming album you’re proud of?

“Kings and Queens” song was fun to write.  We’ve had Gunnar Madsen sing [Ed: and Charity Kahn also duets with Uquillas on the album], but never an actual musician.  I was listening to a podcast with Mike Myers, who has a reputation for being difficult. His was saying his art has a quirkiness, particular style.

Sometimes musical guests dilutes that.  I was really struggling with the keyboard part on "Kings and Queens", but couldn’t get it out of my brain on the recording.  So Chris Wiser from the Sugar Free Allstars came on board, said, "Oh, you want a funky clavinet... strings on the chords."  My wife said, "You can play that," and I'd say, "Yes, but I can’t get it out of me."

Oh, and the Buck Owens Christmas song ("Have a Very Merry Christmas") -- I couldn't make it just like Buck, then realized, I'll just make it an R&B song.  Also, I realized that there were just 2 bluegrass song covers and those weren't available on CD, so it was "Oh, nobody’s recorded that."

What’s coming up?

We have a new video (hopefully within a couple weeks) for “Just Not Me.”  Visually, I thought it would be a funny cartoon.  I saw Thessaly Lerner’s videos, which were a little Ren & Stimpy-like.  The animator's cartoons are a little more edgy.  He’s doing the animated video for that.  There's an album release show in a couple weeks, and Halloween shows and Christmas shows are already lined up.  We'll record a new song, too.  Got feedback from one woman who said her kids had [Year-Round Sounds] constant repeat.  That was nice to hear.

Weekly Summary (12/23/13 - 1/5/14)

A weekly summary… times two!  After a slow couple weeks -- hey, it was a nice time away -- time to start the new posts!

Oh, and don't forget my review of Luscious Jackson's Baby DJ on NPR.

Blog:  Free Music (and New Video) from Todd McHatton, Christmas Album Reviews 2013, Video: "Sing Hallelu" - Elizabeth Mitchell and You Are My Flower, Video: "Another Good Year" - Lori Henriques, Video: "Turn! Turn! Turn!" - Dan Zanes & Elizabeth Mitchell with You Are My Flower, Best Kids Music of 2013: Top 10 Debuts

Videos:  "The Tallest Hamburger" - Brock Ginther

Listen to Music:  None this week

Free Music:  None this week

Kids Music Reviews:   None this week

iOS Apps:  None this week

Upcoming Releases: Constantly updating...

Podcasts

Kindie Week in Review:   Ep. 45: Lazy (Self-Indulgent) New Year's Clip Show

My Other Other Gig:  None this week

Bake Sale:  None this week

Video: "Another Good Year" - Lori Henriques

There are always Christmas songs, even in years with scant kindie Christmas music.  But kindie new year songs?  Few and far between.

So thank you, Lori Henriques, for the fabulous send off to 2013.  (You can pick up the song on iTunes here.)  And, of course, thanks to Henriques' brother Joel, of Made By Joel, with another simple but effective video.  (Love the hands at the end.)

Lori Henriques - "Another Good Year" [YouTube]

Video: "Sing Hallelu" - Elizabeth Mitchell and You Are My Flower

As part of the promotion for Elizabeth Mitchell and You Are My Flower's wonderful holiday album The Sounding Joy, Smithsonian Folkways has released a number of very well-done videos featuring Mitchell and her many friends singing tracks off the album live in a handful of different New York locales, including "Baby Born Today," "January, February (Last Month of the Year)," and "Cradle Hymn."

My choice for this Christmas Eve night, however, is "Sing Hallelu," which features just Mitchell, her husband Daniel Littleton, and harpist Elizabeth Clark-Jerez.  I like the quiet.  Merry Christmas, everyone.

Elizabeth Mitchell and You Are My Flower - "Sing Hallelu" [YouTube]

Christmas Album Reviews 2013

We are a family that often writes our annual holiday letter long past Christmas.  (This year: not yet written.)  So as long as I can get out these Christmas album reviews before Christmas Eve night, I feel OK with it.  The 12 Days of Christmas, after all, start after Christmas, not before.

Having said all that, this was definitely a low-key year when it came to kindie and kid-friendly Christmas music.  Oh, sure, Todd McHatton added to his Christmas canon, and there were a handful of songs here and there, but compared to prior years, the haul was low.  Even Noisetrade, a reliable source for good holiday music samplers, didn't have anything this year I felt like passing along.  So this'll be a briefer look at just a half-dozen albums (because, hey, Christmas Eve is tonight and you don't have time to read a lot, right?).  They're not necessarily targeted at kids, but like most Christmas songs, they're perfectly appropriate for folks ages 4 through 94.

First up, Elizabeth Mitchell and Friends' Smithsonian Folkways album The Sounding Joy, which to my ears was the one album most likely to join the regular rotation in our household.  In my review of the album, I noted that it didn't really sound like a "kids' album" (as opposed to Mitchell's other work over the past 10-15 years), but at this time of year, that isn't as necessary.  (There's only one what I'd call "kindie" album on this list this year.)  Christians will definitely appreciate this more than non-Christians (no songs about Santa here), but those with a deep interest in folk music will also appreciate it.  Definitely for hushed midwinter nights.

Next up, the only real kindie album on the list, Felix Navidad, from Tara Scheyer & the Mud Puppy Band.  This 2011 album is the third (and most recent) album from the Augusta, Georgia band.  Scheyer has an appealing voice that meshes well with the pop-rock sound.  While there are a few Santa-based tracks (I really like "Santa's Chimney Slide," a band original), the majority of the songs are not -- while it's got a popper sound, because it draws from a number of less well-known songs, there is actually a fair amount in common with the Mitchell disk.

The folks at North Carolina's Merge Records sent me their label's 3 holiday albums, and they are a unique trio.  The first (oldest) of the 3 is 2008's The Singing Saw at Christmastime from Julian Koster.  A singing saw is the poetic term for a saw played with a bow.  The resulting sound is ethereal and, depending on your attitude, magical or annoying.  I can't imagine listening to this 29-minute album straight through as there isn't a lot of variety to the sound of these familiar Christmas songs, secular and not.  But sprinkled through an eclectic holiday mix?  Most definitely.

Merge album #2 is from She & Him, the duo of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward.  It's their 2011 album A Very She & Him Christmas.  Fans of the duo's retro-pop sound won't be disappointed with this release (though if you're not a fan of the band, this won't change your mind, either).  Deschanel's winsome voice is an appropriate vessel for these secular songs of Christmases past ("Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "Blue Christmas").  While there are a few uptempo tracks, for the most part, this is an album you'll want to play after the kids are in bed and you're recovering from the Christmas Eve activities looking at the tree.

The most recent Merge holiday release is from Tracey Thorn.  Her 2012 album Tinsel and Lights is what I'd call a Christmas album, but not in the usual meaning of the term.  Instead of singing about the holiday, the album focuses on the emotions of the season, with Christmas as a backdrop.  (Thorn's lovely-yet-slightly-weary voice is perfect for this.) There are a few nice covers -- "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" makes an appearance, and Thorn also covers two modern Christmas classics, Joni Mitchell's "River" and Sufjan Stevens' "Sister Winter."  This is not a Christmas album your kids will ask you to play often, but it is one you'll probably dig out even after the tinsel and lights have been put away.

Finally, Kelly Clarkson's Wrapped in Red made its way into our holiday music collection this year.  This 2013 release features Clarkson tackling a broad range of Christmas songs wrapped in glittery pop-rock sheen.  The originals and less-specifically-Christmas songs stand out on this album.  The "Wall of Sound"-era sound of the title track and the poppier "Underneath the Tree" show off Clarkson's voice to best effect, but I personally liked "Winter Dreams (Brandon's Song)" and her take on "Silent Night" with Reba (McEntire) and Trisha Yearwood.  And whatever demerits Clarkson she gets for the silly "4 Carats," she gets earns kudos for covering Imogen Heap's Christmas breakup song "Just For Now."  The album isn't a classic, but it's good enough to pack away and pull it out when you set up the tree next year.

Note: I was provided copies of all albums except the Kelly Clarkson album for possible review.