This is kind of where I am with Christmas music. There really isn't a lot of any kind of music that I'd want to listen to for a month straight once a year and while I certainly like to listen to old albums that I've owned for a long time, I don't feel compelled to do so in some kind of ritualistic fashion around a particular holiday. Maybe I'll listen to R.E.M.'s Green or Coltrane's A Love Supreme a few times this year, or maybe I won't. Maybe in a few years I will go on an R.E.M. kick for a few weeks and reminisce through their catalog like I haven't in years and years. Maybe I'll sprinkle some Coltrane into the rotation when I am in the mood for throwing a bunch of jazz CDs in the carousel on the stereo or on my phone. Most of the time when choosing music I just want to focus on new stuff or stuff that's new to me, stuff that I haven't heard for some time, stuff that is interesting to me at the time, etc.Luke wrote: He makes a good point. Same music, every Christmas.
Christmas music kind of fucks that vibe up and, for many years, was this kind of intrusion into the way that I typically listen to music. A few years ago I stopped playing Christmas music in the car, in the house, etc. all through December and, unless it was like Christmas Eve/Christmas Day or if I was putting up the tree, just played other kinds of music. It has been awesome, because I'd hate to die thinking that I spent essentially 1/12 of my music listening life hearing the same old songs (or an annual list of new ones) all about a holiday. There's just far too much else out there to hear, learn about, and come to appreciate to be wasting time with Christmas music for that long.
That said, I can give you some killer lists of Christmas music to play. I do like a lot of Christmas music and I feel like I have a good handle on both the popular and obscure tunes in the "genre"...but I just can't abide it for weeks on end anymore...