Is it too early for a Christmas post? Probably. My mother used to impose a "not until Thanksgiving" rule in our house for playing Christmas music on the living room stereo--effectively quarantining Bing Crosby to my bedroom until Nov. 25th.

Well, I'm all grown-up and living on my own, and I can play Christmas music whenever I want.

First, a few gems from the greatest Christmas album there ever was: Vince Guaraldi's A Charlie Brown Christmas.

1. "What Child Is This" - The Vince Guaraldi Trio, A Charlie Brown Christmas
2. "Christmas is Coming" - The Vince Guaraldi Trio, A Charlie Brown Christmas
3. "Christmas Time is Here (Instrumental)" - The Vince Guaraldi Trio, ACBC

I'm not exactly an aficionado in the genre of discount Christmas albums, but I think we might be experiencing a renaissance in yuletide music-making. The renaissance is in indie pop, where musicians have been churning out new Christmas albums pretty steadily since 2000. I'm not sure why, but one thing is clear--the "happy sad" variety of indie pop is just a stone's throw away from the bittersweet chords of many classic holiday songs.

1. "Put the Lights on the Tree" - Sufjan Stevens, Songs for Christmas Vol. 2, 2002
2. "O Come, O Come Emanuel" - Belle & Sebastian, 2006
3. "iPod Xmas" - Hello Saferide, Oh No...It's Christmas! Vol. 1, 2006

And of course, the 1960's saw some of the best Christmas tunes (and new interpretations of classics) in the history of the genre. Some of my favorites:

1. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" - The Beach Boys, 1964
2. "Little Saint Nick" - The Beach Boys, 1963
3. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - Bing Crosby, 1962
4. "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" - Darlene Love, 1963
5. "Blue Christmas" - Who Else? Elvis (Okay, this was released in 1957.)