It’s time again, almost past time, to spin some Christmas tunes. Our annual tradition is to recommend a couple songs that help spread the joy. It’s a fun post to write each year, though challenging — because there’s so much Christmas music, and so little of it is to our liking…

It’s the Most Saccharine Time — Of the Year!

We also like to do some genre-mixing every year: orchestra and slow rock in 2007, syncopated a cappella and melancholy Britpop in 2008. (See our previous recommendations: 2007 and 2008.)

Our top picks this year are a Charlie Brown Christmas carol and some other easy listening. First, Vince Guaraldi’s Christmas Time Is Here (vocal version). Happiness and cheer. And It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way, by Jim Croce.

Merry Christmas. ♦