If you’re seeking swinging, skuzzy, cheerless, dryly cheerful, trippy, soulful or simply unexpected musical gems to enhance your seasonal playlist, we’ve curated some sound suggestions. This story is paired with a supplementary Spotify playlist, which you will find at the bottom of this page.

Bad Religion, Christmas Songs EP (2013) The irony of Bad Religion issuing a Christmas album isn’t lost on anyone, least of all the West Coast punk band. Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" gets an "I Wanna Be Sedated" instrumental backdrop and “What Child Is This?” drives fast and hard while “Angels We Have Heard on High” might be the strongest display of Bad Religion’s trademark multi-voice harmonies to date. The best part? A portion of proceeds from the quasi-serious effort benefit the nonprofit SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests).

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, It Feels Like Christmas Time (2013) The third holiday album from the big band swing jazz ensemble mixes traditional favorites, newer odes (“Christmas Is Starting Now” from Disney’s Phineus and Ferb) and original material, like the album’s title track, which features guest harmonies by vocal group She, Her and I.

Mary J. Blige, A Mary Christmas (2013) The Queen of R&B brings in a few big names for her first-ever Christmas album and 11th overall, among them, Barbra Streisand (“When You Wish Upon a Star”) and Marc Antony (“Noche de Paz (Silent Night)”), though she carries the majority of the album on the strength of her own velvet-soulful vocals.

Bright Eyes, A Christmas Album (2013) Available in digital formats only when it was originally released in 2002, A Christmas Album is now offered in CD and 180-gram vinyl. Conor Oberst re-imagined 11 songs with select guests (members of Rilo Kiley, Cursive and others), though the clear standout is “Little Drummer Boy,” transformed into a haunting lo-fi duet with Maria Taylor of Azure Ray, her ethereal vocals and Oberst’s sweet intones filtered through fuzzy static.

Cee-Lo Green, Cee Lo's Magic Moment (2012) The Buddha-like hip-pop artist tries his hand at eclectic , Motown-flavored holiday fare, crooning through a lovely leisurely duet with vocal gymnast Christina Aguilera (“Baby It's Cold Outside”) and even bringing in The Muppets in for a mash up of his track “All I Need Is Love” with the classic Sesame Street/Piero Umiliani ditty, “Mahna Mahna.”

Kelly Clarkson, Wrapped in Red (2013) Surprised the powerhouse pop rock songstress and American Idol alum is just now issuing her first Christmas-themed album? And that it’s actually pretty darn good? She touches on classics, modern holiday odes and even pens a new vintage-hued original, the soaring castanets-fueled title track.

Erasure, Snow Globe (2013) The British duo examine the darker side of the season and strip their synth pop down to its subdued bare bones in a set of original Erasure songs paired with select holiday cuts, like medieval Latin carol "Gaudete" (a hit for Steeleye Span in 1973) and "Midnight Clear."

Nick Lowe, Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection For All The Family (2013) British rocker Nick Lowe’s warm deep intones croon through traditional hymns (like a bouncing rockabilly cover of "Children Go Where I Send Thee”), obscure holiday cuts, and three of his own off-beat originals, among them the cheeky languid “Christmas at the Airport” and “A Dollar Short of Happy,” the latter co-written by Ry Cooder.

Polyphonic Spree, Holidaydream: Sounds of the Holidays Vol. One (2012) The effervescent pop-psych rock collective presents a holiday LP made up of 10 standards, two original instrumental compositions, and a cover of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's classic, "Happy X-Mas (War is Over)."

She & Him, A Very She & Him Christmas (2011) Indie folk-roots singer-songwriter M. Ward (Monsters of Folk) and actress/songstress Zooey Deschanel (star of Fox’s hit comedy New Girl) have been collaborating on nostalgic pop project She & Him for the past seven years. Here, they deliver a classy vintage twist to an otherwise traditional holiday covers album, stripping down to just Deschanel’s rich throaty vocals and ukulele in “Silver Bells,” while packing in twangy tinsel and cheer to “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”

Straight No Chaser, Under the Influence: Holiday Edition EP (2013) The all-male a cappella group’s second holiday recording hits on all the classics of the season with barber shop harmonies, pop modernity and a variety of guest singers, including Cee-lo Green, Colbie Caillat and Otis Redding.

Various Artists, Holidays Rule (2013) A rather diverse 17-song collection of seasonal tunes by Andrew Bird (“Auld Lang Syne), fun. ("Sleigh Ride"), The Shins ("Wonderful Christmas Time"), Rufus Wainwright with Sharon Van Etten (“Baby It's Cold Outside”), the Civil Wars (“I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day "), and several other super hip artists that you probably like, along with a few vets (Paul McCartney, Irma Thomas & Preservation Hall Jazz Band).

Various Artists, Psych Out Christmas (2013) Santa Clause dropped a hit of acid — quick, what do you do? Slip in this Cleopatra Records comp and let the trippy rock odes feed his head. Sons of Hippies fuzzes and ahs through a cover of The Zombies’ “Time of the Season,” Dead Meadow serves up a sluggish drippy rendition of “Mele Kalikimaka” and Iggy Pop’s resonant murmurs amid the lo-fi psychedelia of “White Christmas” closes the 17-track set.

Various Artists, Punk Goes Christmas (2013) The label behind the Punk Goes… comp series, Cali-based Fearless Records, presents a seasonal installment of raucous, snotty, balls-out holiday odes by 12 punk-rooted bands, among them, Yellowcard (“Christmas Lights”), Tampa’s own Set it Off (“This Christmas (I’ll Burn It to the Ground)”), New Found Glory (an original, “Nothing for Christmas”) and All Time Low (another original, “Fool’s Holiday”).

This article appears in Nov 14-20, 2013.