One of my favorite Christmas traditions in my adult life has been tuning into Jon Solomon’s 25 hour Christmas music marathon. Jon Solomon, a DJ at WPRB in Princeton, New Jersey hosts a 25 hour every Christmas Eve where he plays a mix of random stuff including a 42 minute version of little drummer boy and 30 minute blocks of x-mas themed Ramones, Misfits, and The Fall parodies. There’s also bands that record songs for the marathon now so it’s not all cursed music. He’s been doing it about 30 years now. Here’s some of the songs from last year but there’s new ones every year

He also has a Hanukkah Show every year. This year it’s tonight on 103.3 fm WPRB from 5-8 pm ET. You can also listen online here.

If you’re looking for more stuff, here’s some of the music I’ve picked up on Bandcamp over the last few years.

Some bands have made songs for the marathon in previous years, this includes this nice song by Outer World called Arc & Bow, which kinda has a slight shoegazey sound to it.

Low’s Christmas album is an all-time classic. It’s a mix of covers and new songs that capture some of the bittersweet feelings that people can have at this time of year.

Anna Burch also has a song about how Christmas can be a weird mixed bag of emotions.

If you’re looking for something lighter, I’m a huge fan of Alpha Chrome Yayo and this album is silly fun.

I’m also a big fan of the game Hypnospace Outlaw so this Christmas song made for the game is an enjoyable listen.

Henning Ohlenbusch, from bands like Gentle Hen and Polaris, has two nice songs for the holiday, Coming Home Alone on Christmas Eve and Here Comes Christmas

And finally, while there is a shorter version on Bandcamp, I must recommend the 42 minute version of Little Drummer Boy by Lindstrom. It’s part of the 25 hour Christmas music marathon so I listen to it every year and has also become an important part of Christmas for me.