I love Christmas. I love Christmas music. However, I don’t like many Christmas albums that have been released since I was born. (Mariah, that means you. Sufjan, that does not mean you.) 
But any hipster Christmas party or holiday hootenanny playlist this year wouldn’t be complete without a few tracks from A Very She & Him Christmas (AmazonMP3 & Spotify). She & Him, the duo made up of Americana badass M. Ward and actress-singer-songwriter Zooey Deschanel, adds this latest number to its list of two other fine albums released in 2008 and 2010 (these are creatively named, Volume One and Volume Two).
The album, which is currently the #2 album on AmazonMP3 (and only $5 this month), is loaded with old time renditions of classic pop Christmas songs, including “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” which we all remember from the Deschanel shower scene in Elf. It sounds like a classic, so you can get away with playing it at family gatherings and after a few glasses of eggnog, grandma ,might even think it’s her album.
Did I mention that M. Ward is a badass? Deschanel, who just broke up with her husband and Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard, is the star of New Girl, a hilariously awkward (but hard to turn the channel) new show on FOX. Its characters are pretty interesting and well drawn, making it a guilty pleasure for me and most people I cautiously talk to about it, but not sure if that one will catch on.
On a side note, for those that hate pop Christmas music…I’ll be posting a Very Grassclippings Christmas Playlist in the next few weeks that I’m sure you’ll like.
grass clippings - Piles of Americana & bluegrass news, reviews and festivals 