The third installment of IRC's special Christmas music series of "The 12 Plays of Alternative-Indie Christmas Songs" includes some more mainstream rock artists such as My Chemical Romance, Slade and Belle and Sebastian, as well as popular indie artists like Low, Sufjan Stevens and Jens Lekman.

More 'underground' indie and alternative artists, like Sciflyer and The Ten Thousand Dollar Tattoo, have also contributed to this mix.

Enjoy Mix Three and support your favorite artists.

1. Have Yourself a Merry Little Xmas - Daphne Loves Derby
2. Maybe This Christmas - Ron Sexsmith
3. Silent Night- Low
4. All I Want For Christmas Is You - My Chemical Romance
5. The Opposite of Hallelujah - Jens Lekman
6. The Same Thing Goes for Christmas - Sciflyer
7. My First Santa - Ten Thousand Dollar Tattoo
8. Merry Xmas Everybody - Slade
9. Star of Wonder - Sufjan Stevens
10. Bittersweet Eve - Balasana

Bonus Tracks - Belle and Sebastian live on the historic Peel Sessions, Dec. 18, 2002:

- The 12 Days of Christmas (Live) - Belle & Sebastian
- Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto (Live) - Belle & Sebastian

In case you missed:
- Xmas Playlist Mix One
- Xmas Playlist Mix Two

Note: Check back to this page for bonus tracks, album art covers, artists and band photos, blog links and comments. Feel free to join in and leave a comment.

Subscribe to the Indie Xmas Feed to get all the playlists delivered to you however you choose, in any format. Once completed, IRC will have featured more than 120 unique indie, alternative, rock, techno and pop Christmas songs and videos on 12 Christmas and holiday playlist mixes.

About the Xmas Songs Playlists Series
Beginning earlier this week, IRC launched "The 12 Plays of Alternative-Indie Christmas Songs" series to create one place in the blogosphere, and the larger web community, where anyone can sample indie, alternative, rock, pop and other genre-oriented Christmas songs.

By Christmas day, IRC will post 12 playlists containing ten or more alternative, indie, rock and pop songs from some of the best known mainstream artists, but many more from alternative and indie artists. Many of these artists are very under-rated, which is why I started this blog.

After a long and arduous search for the best original and cover Xmas and holiday songs, featuring popular and less-known musicians and groups around the world, there are many alternative Xmas tunes out there on the web.

However, it literally take days or weeks, even for an experienced Internet researcher, to track down a good collection of alternative Christmas songs that are easily accessible, correctly titled, featured in full-length and playable on any web page.

The main purpose of all of this is to share the results of this collection of Christmas song playlist mixes with everyone, everywhere. You can help by pushing one of the bookmark icons below, adding this to your favorites and sending the link to your friends and family.

There will also be a collection of Christmas music videos (like this Christmas video from Pedro The Lion), funny Christmas pictures and an index of links to other websites and blogs featuring mostly alternative and indie Christmas MP3s, playlists and mixes.

MP3s, music videos, album cover work, band photos and all other related multimedia is for evaluation only and intended to promote and help support the artists featured here. Please do your part by purchasing music, visiting websites, telling friends and attending concerts and festivals to support your favorite musicians and groups.

Check back to this page for updates, including link lists directly to artist websites and more.

Labels: Alternative Christmas Songs, Alternative Xmas, Indie Christmas Music, Indie Christmas Playlists

Have you heard enough of the old Christmas songs that make you want to pull your hair out yet? ;-)

Well, hopefully the playlist below will help alleviate the stress. Peace on earth and good will to all is not a bad mantra.

In the on-going series of alternative and indie song playlists, we hope to alleviate some of that by offering you the best collection of alternative Christmas tunes available anywhere on the Internet (and we checked! - for weeks!).

1. Blue Christmas - Bright Eyes
2. Christmas is Going to The Dogs - The Eels
3. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Death Cab For Cutie
4. We Three Kings -Fuel
5. Christmas Night of Zombies - MXPX
6. This Time of Year - Mighty Mighty Bosstones
7. When I Get Home For Christmas - Snow Patrol
8. Put the Lights On the Tree - Sufjan Stevens
9. Santa Claus is Coming to Town - Sugarcult
10. The Christmas Song - The Raveonettes

Listen to the first volume of the alternative-indie Christmas songs series or subscribe to get the entire 12 playlists as they are published.

Please remember this are for sampling and to support your favorite artists!

Editor's Note: Arguably, these are not all "indie" or "alternative" songs as some of the artists below are now major label artists. The debate over what is "indie" and what isn't (and same for "alternative) has gone on for years and is easily one of the biggest hot potatoes in the rock and roll culture.

Labels: Alt XMas, Alternative Christmas Songs, Best Christmas Songs, Indie Christmas Music, Indie Rock Christmas

Indie, alternative, rock and pop music fans have made it as clear as fresh fallen snow; they want a complete collection of alternative Christmas and holiday songs.

Here is the first of 12 Xmas playlists featuring many of the best original and cover-version Christmas and holiday songs available anywhere. I hope you enjoy these playlists as much as I have enjoyed putting them together. (Note: the photo to the left is a staged photo; you know, like a joke.)

"The 12 Plays of Alternative-Indie Christmas Songs" collection playlist series - Mix One

- Happy Christmas (War is Over) - The Polyphonic Spree

- 25th December - Everything But The Girl

- Last Christmas - Jimmy Eat World

- First Noel - My American Heart (pictured on the right)

- Hey Parker, It's Christmas - Ryan Adams

- Miracle Of Christmas - Funeral For A Friend

- Just Like Christmas - Low

- Born on Christmas Day/Annunciation Day - Ted Leo and Pharmacists

- Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses

- Did I Make You Cry on Christmas Day? - Sufjan Stevens

Buy Sufjan Stevens' amazing Christmas Songs box-set - it is really a must have for any music lover, or Christmas enthusiastic, and a must-have for Sufjan Stevens' fans. The box set is packaged box, including lyrics, notes from Sufjan and other exclusive goodies.

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One down, 11 to go!

Listen to all of the published Christmas and holiday songs playlist below.

The Other Xmas Playlists:

Mix Two - Featuring Sugarcult, MXPX, DCFC, Fuel, Bright Eyes, Snow Patrol, The Raveonettes and Sufjan Stevens.

Mix Three - Ron Sexsmith, Daphne Loves Derby, Low, My Chemical Romance, Jens Lekman, Sciflyer, Slade, Balasana and Ten Thousand Dollar Tattoo.

Mix Four - The Kinks, The Fray, In Memory, Belle and Sebastian, Celestial, Ex-Otago, The Knife, A Band Called Quinn, The Format and Matchbook Romance.

Mix Five - Reliant K, The Fine Lines, The National Splits, Milton DeLugg & The Little Eskimos and The Used, Alien Sex Friend, Sandry Mooy, Gatsby's America, Arcade Fire, Kirsty MacColl and The Pogues.

Mix Six - Band of Horses, Great Lake Swimmers, Phantom Planet, Yo La Tengo, Comet Gain, The Reindeer Section, Phofo, Jason Gleason, Chris Letcher and Belle and Sebastian.

Mix Seven - The Weepies, Yo La Tengo, Manic Street Preachers, Green Day, Le Man Avec Les Lunettes, Monster Bobby, Bright Eyes, Ladybug Transistor, The Flaming Lips, From First To Last, Acceptance, Crawling with Kings, Thick Pigeon and Rilo Kiley.

Disclaimer: If you enjoy the artists on these playlists, please respect their work and help support your favorites by purchasing music, going to shows and sharing the artists' websites with friends. The Christmas MP3s displayed on this blog are for evaluation and your listening pleasure only.

You can subscribe for free (using any feed reader, email or link you prefer) to get the latest and greatest playlists throughout the year.

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Labels: Alt XMas, Alternative Christmas Songs, Alternative Holiday Music, Indie Christmas Music, Indie Christmas Playlists, Indie Christmas Songs, Indie Christmas Videos, Polyphonic Spree