Christmas is one of the holidays people enjoy the most while simultaneously generating the most complaints. From excessive consumerism to the ever-increasing amount of calendar space it takes up, there’s a constant kvetching about the yuletide season.

And don’t even get them started on Christmas music. The same 15 songs, played endlessly, on every radio station for a month and a half. (Hi, Mariah!)

But fear not! While I can’t solve unchecked, rampant capitalism, I can fix one thing: Christmas music.

I respect the spooky season folks enough to not encroach upon their territory; once Nov. 1 rolls around, however, it’s Christmas music time until Jan. 1. My current full Christmas playlist has 901 tracks. I have an exhasutive process for selecting Christmas music. I listen to every new release (or old release I haven’t heard before) I can get my hands on.

If it’s a “new” song, it has to be pretty darn good to crack any of my lists. If it’s a rendition of a song already on the list, it has to be a) good enough, and 1) a different enough take on it to warrant inclusion, or 2) it will replace another, inferior version already on the list.

It’s very cutthroat.

Also, technically this is not all Christmas music, per se. I enjoy all holiday music, and have included songs from holidays of other faiths as well as some generic holiday music. It’s just that xmas is extremely convenient as an abbreviation.

This year, I’m trying to share the collection more widely. I’ve created internet radio stations for every category I include, as well as full mixed playlists in clean and explicit versions.

Christmas music full playlist (clean) | [**xmas.kait.dev/public/xm…](https://xmas.kait.dev/public/xmas-all) | The one you can play at your holiday gatherings without fear

Christmas music full playlist (explicit) | [**xmas.kait.dev/public/xm…](https://xmas.kait.dev/public/xmas-full) | The full experience. I will be playing this almost 24/7 for the next two months.

Christmas music classic playlist | [**xmas.kait.dev/public/xm…](https://xmas.kait.dev/public/xmas-classic) | These are your classic Christmas songs; think Bing Crosby’s White Christmas.

Christmas music contemporary playlist | [**xmas.kait.dev/public/xm…](https://xmas.kait.dev/public/xmas-contemporary) | Either contemporary takes on old classics, or songs not part of the Christmas canon.

Christmas music comedy playlist | [**xmas.kait.dev/public/xm…](https://xmas.kait.dev/public/xmas-comedy) | Comedy / novelty Christmas songs. Not as many Chipmunk songs as you’d expect!

Christmas music instrumental playlist | https://xmas.kait.dev/public/xmas-instrumental | No voices

Christmas music alternative playlist | https://xmas.kait.dev/public/xmas-alternative | Alt-rock/punk. Explicit

Christmas music EDM playlist | https://xmas.kait.dev/public/xmas-edm | Techno/elecronic Christmas music. This is admittedly the weakest playlist of the bunch. Explicit.