If you're looking for spirit, you won't find it on Ashanti's joyless Christmas album. Throughout the ten-track disc, she plods through both old and new holiday tunes -- from the monotonous original "Christmas Time Again" to flat renditions of "The Christmas Song" and "Joy to the World." The thin-piped songbird nearly redeems herself, however, on the sentimental "Time of Year" and karaoke-worthy covers of Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas" and the old standby "Silent Night. But even those songs don't generate enough warmth to shake off the album's bah humbugs. On the cutesy original "Hey Santa," Ashanti asks Old St. Nick, "Can you bring me something good?" That's what we were hoping for. (TRACY E. HOPKINS)

Various Artists A Santa Cause: It's a Punk Rock Christmas (Immortal)

Punk-rock rabble rousers and emo-core darlings come together in the spirit of Christmas for A Santa Cause: It's a Punk Rock Christmas. This festive collection, a portion of the proceeds from which will benefit the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, includes holiday classics from the likes of Blink-182, Acceptance and Matchbook Romance. Spiky riffs, frenzied melodies and solid pop hooks infused with a little yuletide cheer make this set much more than your traditional Christmas record. Paying tribute to the late Jam Master Jay, the A.K.A's funk up the Run-D.M.C. hit "Christmas in Hollis." Deftones frontman Chino Moreno joins Far for a sobering rendition of the Band Aid smash "Feed the World (Do They Know It's Christmas)." But it's "Christmastime Is Here" from Gatsby's American Dream that best embodies the dynamic energy of A Santa Cause. (MACKENZIE WILSON)

Various Artists Maybe This Christmas Too? (Nettwerk)

Nettwerk Records' second Christmas compilation is an eclectic and post-modern affair, with contributors either penning their own Xmas confections or fiddling around with time-honored originals. But if you're expecting season's greetings, you've come to the wrong place. Rufus Wainwright's "Spotlight on Christmas" is a clever Marxist spin on the holiday. Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan deconstruct "Silent Night," turning the pristine carol into a mawkish soap opera by erasing any traces of piety or religion, as Hannigan complains: "Silent Night, broken night . . . I've found some hate for you." The Be Good Tanya's "Rudy" may sound lighthearted, but underneath the close harmonies and soaring vocals lies "Rudolph the red-nosed wino." Even perpetual Christmas revelers like the Flaming Lips turn dour on their high concept version of "White Christmas." The usually funny Barenaked Ladies falter with a forced and cheerless version of "Green Christmas." Things don't lighten up until Guster takes the reins on the rollicking "Donde Esta Santa Claus?" infusing the song with their goofy charm. (JAAN UHELSZKI)

Various Artists hOMe for the Holidays (Om)

Rather than listen to the rave-room version of "Jingle Bells" one more excruciating time, San Francisco label Om gives electronic music fans eleven beautifully crafted, breezy, jazzy, house-style Christmas offerings. It's generally sunny in California on December 25th, and Bay Area boy Kaskade captures the rays in the sexy, bright groove of opener "Peace on Earth." Rithma puts a quick-stepping beat behind "Psycho Jingle Funk," giving it a city-slicked, urban holiday feel. The Pleasant Groove Minstrels do a soulful, jazzy take on "What Child Is This." And "Winter Wonderland" gets a bass-heavy backbeat and a creamy top line from Sutro Heights. With these thoroughly modern renditions of Christmas favorites, and some quality new songs thrown in for good measure, decking the halls and getting your groove has never been so easy. (JOLIE LASH)

Various Artists A Very Special Acoustic Christmas (Lost Highway)

Bookended by gentle tracks from Nashville stalwart Reba McEntire ("Silent Night") and jazz-pop siren Nora Jones ("Peace"), A Very Special Acoustic Christmas assembles stars of country, bluegrass, new-grass and Americana for the dual purpose of celebrating the holidays and raising money for the Special Olympics (all proceeds go to the charity). The album ranges from playful (Dan Tyminski's "Frosty the Snowman") to traditional (Wynonna's lightly Celtic-flavored "O Holy Night"), and from string-and-steel embellished waltzes (Willie Nelson's great "Please Come Home for Christmas") to light-hearted instrumentals (banjo legend Earl Scruggs' "Jingle Bells" and Sam Bush's "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!"). It's a pleasant mix of classics and originals, the best of which are Marty Stuart's droll "Even Santa Claus Gets the Blues" and Alison Krauss' soul-kissed "Only You Can Bring Me Cheer (Gentleman's Lady)," complete with Stax-style horn section. (MEREDITH OCHS)

Various Artists Now That's What I Call Christmas: The Signature Collection (Capitol)

With 2001's Now That's What I Call Christmas compilation, the team behind the popular fourteen-volume Now series strayed from its bankable formula of featuring various hot-off-the-frying-pan hit-makers by devoting most of the two-disc set to classic holiday songs sung by legendary artists. The second volume of that venture, Now That's What I Call Christmas: The Signature Collection, blends the two blueprints, offering something for every generation. Disc One, entitled Now and Forever, is full of pop and R&B acts, like Elton John and 'N Sync, putting their spin on old favorites and adding some of their own holiday tunes. The results are mixed. Destiny's Child delivers a beautiful -- if at times overly embellished -- "Opera of the Bells," Stacie Orrico mutilates the classic "O Come All Ye Faithful" with a bevy of synth-beats, and Norah Jones delivers a timeless rendition of "Peace." Disc Two, entitled Then and Always, goes with time-tested classics, like Louis Armstrong's "Winter Wonderland," Peggy Lee's "Happy Holiday" and Jose Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad." (KRISTIN ROTH)

Various Artists We Wish You a Hairy Christmas (Koch)

Other than Warrant's feeble cover of the Kinks' "Father Christmas," this collection of vintage hair-metal rocks with an exuberant awareness of its own absurdity. Danger Danger's "Naughty Naughty Xmas" and Enuff Z'Nuff's "Happy Holidays" affirm that beneath all the hair spray, the Eighties-metal boom included a bunch of totally rocking Cheap Trick tribute bands. (BARRY WALTERS)

Various Artists The American Song-Poem Christmas: Daddy, Is Santa Really Six-Foot-Four? (Bar None)

In the Sixties and Seventies, production companies lured amateur songsmiths across the land to pay up front and have their lyrics (known as song-poems) recorded by "professional" musicians. Enticed by the prospect of a big payoff, the submitters' reality was, without fail, much colder. The would-be hits were out of public earshot . . . until now, as The American Song-Poem Christmas presents twenty-one of these musical train wrecks. The compilation includes the crooning Dick Kent and the Lancelots with their Seventies chug-along, "A New Year's Dawning," the Sisterhood's "The Rocking Disco Santa Claus," Sonny Cash's "Merry Christmas Polka" and Rodd Rogers truly awful "Maury, the Christmas Mouse." The performances are off-key, out of tune and often devoid of musical ability. But the performers on this wickedly funny compilation are full of holiday sincerity, jubilantly delivering one sure-miss after another. (TYSON SCHUETZE)

Jethro Tull The Jethro Tull Christmas Album (Fuel)

Jethro Tull wear the holiday spirit well -- think Aqualung after the Christmas ghosts have had their way with him. The originals simmer with eccentric, eclectic, folky energy, rocking ditties threaded through with Celtic stylings, jazzy undercurrents, Ian Anderson's distinctive flute and wry humor. The spry "Last Man at the Party" celebrates the excesses of the season, while the wistful "First Snow in Brooklyn" is a winter's tale about cooled romance. Though the Tull tunes lilt with carol-esque abandon, the reworked traditional songs are the tracks that really sparkle. On "Greensleeved" the band spices up the seasonal classic with a dash of bossa nova flair; "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "We Five Kings" swing sassily with jazzy syncopation; and "Holly Herald" is a sprightly take on "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." Few things are more festive than accomplished musicians having a dickens of a good time, and that's what this album is all about. (SANDY MASUO)

Various Artists Christmas Remixed: Holiday Classics Re-Grooved (Six Degrees)

This hip-hop-flavored set doesn't present remixes so much as it funks up and fleshes out pre-digital holiday chestnuts. Still, it's remarkable what software, keyboards and guys like Dan the Automator can do to the likes of Andy Williams, Bing Crosby and Dean Martin. (BARRY WALTERS)

(December 15, 2003)