#they are part of a numetal cover band

[therealdjsocs]

Simon and Jenny

[thedreadvampy]

Music recs please!!!

Due to the Apple Music Apocalypse earlier this year I lost all my playlists, and my festive playlist was due a refresh anyway, so I'm reaching out to you, beautiful friends, to suggest Seasonal Music.

Guidelines:

Overall vibe

I'm looking for a contemporary (ie largely post-70s unless it's a really good one) festive playlist that does not feel like being trapped on a retail floor. Ideally it would include varied takes on the season, whether that's atheist Christmases, non-holiday winter vibes, non-anglo takes, cynical exhaustion with Christmas, New Year/Hogmanay, etc.

The vibe is mellow, perhaps melancholy in places, and with a focus on winter and what it means/feels like rather than Christmas specifically.

Themes (any or several of...)

Wintery imagery (not necessarily holiday-themed - could be a cold clear night, snow/ice, sharp wind, darkness, bare trees, stars, all that good stuff)

Hope/warmth/togetherness type festive feeling

Looking for warmth/light in the dark/cold (successfully or unsuccessfully)

Historic events from December/January

Oh god Christmas is happening batten down the hatches

It can be Christian but the Christianity it should evoke is old world churches, chorales, incense and the creeping shadow of myrrh-scented death, not like. YAY IT'S OUR BOY JESUS WHAT A LAD. I'm a Quaker but to count as a Seasonal Vibe this shit needs to get High Church.

And yeah ok like general holiday type themes are also good

Genres

Basically anything, although in the interests of not sounding too Retail Water Torture and being an alternative playlist I would steer away from jazz, country and choral music. I generally am into:

New wave and dance pop

Electronic, trance and industrial

Punk (including but not limited to pop punk)

Rap (particularly prog/experimental hiphop, and grime)

Metal (primarily numetal and tech metal)

The heavier end of Weird Alternative Bands

Things that have a driving beat or strong momentum

Not...

Alternative covers of Christmas standards by pop punk/metal/pop/whatever acts. There are a billion of them, I do not want them for this playlist.

Heavy/updated versions of Christmas carols or hymns (the exception is that I wouldn't mind finding a good punk cover of Auld Lang Syne, and I don't mind the more obscure/church-only carols like Angels From the Realms of Glory or the Coventry Carol. Also I have already put Christopher Lee's entire Christmas discography on there.)

'I got dumped on Christmas' pop punk songs. I have recently realised how many of these there are and buddy you're not the Ramones.

Anything mawkishly American (and I swear to Christ if it makes me have even a passing thought of Christmas Shoes I will fling myself off a building what is WRONG with American Christmas it's so gross)

Focused specifically on the trappings of Christmas itself (trees, presents, food, stockings, Santa) unless it has something else to say

Super chipper/upbeat or, on the flip side, pointlessly cynical

For the most part, airy/folksy acoustic stuff does very little for me, but it's not a hard line

Any suggestions gratefully received ❤️