New Wave Xmas: Just Can't Get Enough

Just Can’t Get Enough: New Wave Christmas

“As any compilation threatens to do, Rhino’s yuletide entry for Just Can’t Get Enough is all peaks and valleys. For all of the genuinely fun, oddball glories like XTC’s “Thanks for Christmas” and Mono Puff’s “Careless Santa,” there’s the dreariness of Root Boy Slim’s “Xmas at K-Mart” and whatever the hell Wall of Voodoo’s “Shouldn’t Have Gotten Him a Gun for Christmas.” For a collection that’s primarily around New Wave and its shiny innovations, New Wave Christmas is curiously devoid of genuine hallmarks from the genre.   Sure, you get the Pretenders’ aching “2000 Miles,” the Pogues’ rebellious and romantic “Fairytale of New York,” and the eternally weird meet-up of Bing Crosby and David Bowie, but where’s the likes of Joan Jett and the Bla” read more

The 25 Greatest Christmas Albums of All Time (25 music items)

"This hall-decking edition of Rhino's Eighties new wave compilation series is full of fun, quirky alt-pop nicely divided between oddball U.K. Christmas singles and college-radio novelties perfect for that last show you do before winter break. The album has two sad, snow-covered romantic masterpieces (the Pogues and Kristy MacCall's "Fairytale of New York" and the Pretenders' "2000 Miles"), some jangly adorability (Matthew Sweet and the Buzz of Delight's "Christmas" and Chris Stamey Group's "Chris"