I wrote a while back about my discomfort with how holiday music choices inevitably mire down in predictable, wearying ruts, and I promised to take a stab at a mixtape recipe that, while it might approach the holiday season more obliquely, would at least feel a little fresher. I will concede now that it's a more difficult proposition than I anticipated - I had to resist my own urges to fall back on classical, showtunes, singer-songwriter... My challenge stands, though: consider how some new music might revitalize the holiday obligations you may be dreading.1. Pipettes - In the bleak midwinter
2. Dream Academy - Twelve-eight angel
3. Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas
4. Kate Bush - December will be magic again
5. Feist - Mushaboom
6. Weepies - Stars
7. Delerium - Innocent
8. Lisa Gerrard - Largo
9. Ennio Morricone - Gabriel's oboe (2:14 version)
10. Dead Can Dance - The arrival and the reunion
11. Bjork - Vokuro
12. Kirsty MacColl - Please go to sleep
13. Book Of Love - With a little love
14. Roxy Music - More than this
15. Peter Gabriel - Bread and wine
16. Tori Amos - Winter
17. Elizabeth Leonskaja - Shostakovich piano concerto no 2, andante
