Inspired by Dr. J’s 12 Days of Christmas Music, Confucius says: here’s twelve albums of Christmas music from the past dozen or so years that are worth your while (and money). Of course, this will only bring us to the twenty-fourth, so you’re on your own for the actual Twelve Days of Christmas unless we get any more bright ideas. That said, we figure you’ll probably want to be left alone to deal with all the treed fowl, leaping lords, etc., that tend to fill up that period.

Kristin Chenoweth — A Lovely Way to Spend Christmas

Probably the most conventional album on the list, and the one that’ll probably be in press forever. A-list Broadway star works her way through standards? You got it. Chenoweth brings theatricality and humor in spades, and starts most songs with the verse that gets dropped most places. She can be perky and brassy and sugary like an old-fashioned crooner. If that’s not your bag, move on, minion.

She doesn’t vamp on the religious carols, singing them with admirable clarity and sincerity. One oddity: “Sing” (“Sing, sing a song…”) of Sesame Street fame is in here for no obvious reason. “Come On, Ring Those Bells” is a bluegrassy country song Confucius doesn’t know from anywhere else; her version might almost be Dolly Parton doing a song from her Tennessee childhood. Pretty much perfect background music for a Christmas party, and impressive in places to listen to.

Confucius, Œc. Vol.

Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu.