01 Dec Your Geeky Holiday Music Guide

I fight it every year. I’ve even gone as far as to completely avoid the stores from August until after Thanksgiving because of the often-too-early Christmas tunes blaring from the speakers. If you frequent Hobby Lobby (which I generally do not), you will see the holiday trees and decor start trickling onto the floor starting in July.

July.

What even is that?

It’s safe to say that I am not really a “traditionalist”, per say…

“Google, please define traditionalist.”

Google: A traditionalist is a person who supports the established customs and beliefs of his or her society or group, and does not want to change them. A traditionalist idea, argument, or organization supports the established customs and beliefs of a society or group, rather than modern ones.

Yeah, no – I much prefer diverse ideas, innovation, improvement, and change. But when it came to the holiday season, I was pretty adamant that if you celebrate, you should celebrate them in order – Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Trees up after the Thanksgiving meal and down by January 1st.

But I have to admit that after the garbage year that was 2020, I am now an advocate of ‘if holiday music makes you happy and helps you forget about the shitstorm that is currently our world, then sing it all year round’. Because life is hard. So I didn’t even get (too) irritated when our neighbors had their tree up in October. Because holiday trees make us all happy, am I right?

So with all that being said, you probably guessed that we’re about to talk about holiday music. But with a geeky twist.

You knew this coming in.

I have some new and different recommendations for you. This is my geeky holiday music guide.

The problem with geeky holiday music

Okay, let me clarify – there is no problem at all with geeky holiday music. In fact, I want more. More. More. of it. And that’s actually the problem. While doing a bit of research for this post, I looked for bloggers and sites that were talking about geeky holiday music, hoping to find some recommendations that I could add to my Spotify page. But alas, most of what I found were outdated lists of Weird Al Yankovic and vague references to old movies that I have never and will never likely see.

Sigh.

So I decided to modernize the geeky holiday music list to include new holiday soundtracks, remixes, and amazing music by artists you may not know but should.

See? Not a traditionalist.

Always the full circle moment.

Where to find geeky holiday music

I’m sure you can find these songs and artists on various music platforms, however I am a loyal fan and premium member of Spotify. So my recommendations come from there.

*As of the writing of this post, I am not a Spotify Affiliate. I have been a super happy Premium Member of Spotify since 2017 and will honestly probably never use another platform. I have discovered all my favorite music there with the help of their amazing algorithm and that makes us best friends. Probably lol. If my status ever changes, I will be sure to let you know; but for now, just know that I promote them because I love the service they have provided me for the last 6 years.

I have an account created specifically for this blog and I hope that you will find and follow me at This Geeked Out Life on Spotify for all the geeky fan music you can listen to. I love music and I especially love the music I hear in my favorite movies and television shows. I find them and save them on Spotify so I’ll always have access to them, and I’ve shared them so you can find your favorites, as well!

 

Your Geeky Holiday Music Guide

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

Last year (2022), Marvel and Disney+ put out the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical about how good this could possibly be and worried that this was just a holiday cash grab. Not even close and I was so wrong. This 45 minute long special didn’t seem long enough, and by the end I just wanted more of these amazing characters.

Without giving away any spoilers or doing a review in this post, the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special was all about giving Quill (Chris Pratt) an unforgettable holiday. The music, as always, is great and I really encourage you to watch it this year if you haven’t already seen it.

Even better is the original soundtrack with all the of the music from the special. It’s a fun listen and will take you right back to the show. It’s the holidays, Guardians’ style.

The Star Wars Holiday Special

So let me tell you what I learned about the Star Wars Holiday Special: Apparently, you can’t see it anywhere. Legally. I’ve wanted to see this infamous special for a long time and have not been able to find it anywhere. Come to find out, this special was so bad that George Lucas doesn’t want it played anywhere. And nope. You won’t find it on Disney+. They want us to forget.

Needless to say, you will not find the soundtrack, either. At least not on Spotify.

What Disney+ did, instead, was create a new Star Wars Holiday Special – a LEGO’s Holiday special with all of the Star Wars, all of the Lego charm, and none of the terribleness that was the original. So I’m told. I wouldn’t know since I can’t find it.

If you ask me, they shouldn’t erase that part of Star Wars history. You have fans like me who have never seen the original special who would watch it at least once, no matter how bad. I mean, it’s Star Wars. I’m a fan. I’ll find something to like about it, regardless. Because I’m not a toxic fan. I just love Star Wars. 

Either way, you can find a two-song soundtrack from the new and improved Lego Star Wars Holiday special on Spotify. Try it out if you’re feeling nostalgic. It’s short but cute.

More Star Wars Holiday Music

And if you want even more Star Wars, I found a few single remixes that will put you in the holiday spirit on a galaxy far, far away. Samuel Kim is an artist who creates epic and cinematic versions of all our favorite songs from television movies anime and games. He has quite a collection of amazing remixes on Spotify, and even more on YouTube. When I heard his remixes of Carol of the Bells and the Imperial March, as well as the Mandalorian theme set to Carol of the Bells, I almost lost my mind.

Another amazing artist I found is AtinPiano on Spotify. He makes his piano keys dance to the tune of a holiday Mandalorian remix and a Carol of the Fates. It. Is. Amazing. He also does a Carol of Davy Jones from Pirates of the Caribbean if you’re so inclined. 

There are many other geeky piano remixes on both of their channels, as well, for your fan favorites all year round. I have compiled  a Geeky Holiday music Collection for all the singles I mention in this post. It’s an organic list that I will add to whenever I find holiday music I think my fellow geeks would love.

Hawkeye is a new kind of geeky holiday music

I don’t know about you, but besides Hawkeye being one of my favorite Avengers in the Comics, I absolutely love the way Jeremy Renner portrays him in the films. So when the Hawkeye Marvel Disney+ television series came out, I was all in. I mean, Hailee Steinfeld (Kate Bishop) and Florence Pugh (Yelena)? I had no idea I needed to see those two together so badly.

Related Sidenote: Can I please speak to the manager of Hawkeye? How about an episode with just Hailee and Yelena touring New York? or an entire series of their adventures? Please?

Okay, let me get back on track… soundtrack. 

pfft…

This series takes place around the Holidays, so I’m going to claim the soundtracks as a geeky holiday listen, as well. Yes, plural. There is a Hawkeye Volume One Soundtrack, and a Hawkeye, Volume Two Soundtrack. I mean, I’m listening to Carol of the Buy and Sells right now and I have to say it’s pretty spot on. Admittedly, this won’t be your typical holiday tunes soundtrack, but it’s Hawkeye, so it’s Marvel, therefore it’s geeky. It’s also just really good.

A Very Spidey Christmas

I can barely type this without giggling. This soundtrack has to be one of the funniest holiday tracks I’ve heard in a while.

So do we all remember the reference to a Peter Parker Spiderman holiday album reference in the first Spiderverse movie? Well, it exists and it’s on Spotify. Shameik Moore (Miles Morales), Jake Johnson (Peter Parker, Spiderman), and Chris Pine (Peter Parker, Spiderman) add their voices to the soundtrack in a short but hilarious Spiderman Holiday soundtrack. Just listen to it – I promise you’ll enjoy every bit.

8-bit Christmas

For those who love the old-school pixelated video games, I found a holiday soundtrack for you, too!

Not to be confused with the 2021 8 Bit Christmas movie featuring Neil Patrick Harris (or Doogie Howser, by which I will always know him). There’s a soundtrack for that, too, and coincidentally it is also a very nerdy-geeky holiday movie with all the nostalgia of Stranger Things without the strange things.

8-bit refers to the processors used in computers and consoles for PC games and computer programs back in the before times. Without nerding out too much, when we think of 8-bit, we think of a time when graphics were more blocky and loading times were slower. Most of us think of a time of slow computers, low-resolution graphics and simplistic sound.

But the thing is, that style of computer and gaming graphics is making a comeback. Just without the slow loading times. And the nostalgia of those cool 80’s games like the ones my sister and I played on our Commodore 64 (geez, I just aged myself) is making its way back into our video game world under the umbrella of “cozy games” with all the pixelated adventures our little hearts can handle.

Funny how everything comes back. Eventually.

See? Full. Circle.

The 8-Bit Christmas Music album has all the classic Christmas songs made to sound like a Holiday old-school video game. It’s actually quite charming, in my opinion. It reminds me of the Mario Bros. games, which are some of the most charming games I’ve ever played. Give this a try, I think you’ll geek out over it as much as I did.

Disney Holidays

For those Disney fans out there, I found A Very Merry Disney Christmas album that features the cast of Frozen, Zendaya, and more of our favorite Disney stars singing some of our favorite holiday songs. If you’re in the mood, that is. 

The Muppet Christmas Carol

I mean, who doesn’t love a Muppet during the holidays? It’s the Muppets – Kermit, Miss. Piggy, Animal! We loved the Muppets when we were younger and this album is from the Muppets Christmas Carol and has the perfect mixture of classics and original holiday songs with all the cute hilarity that is the Muppets. 

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Oh man, I love this movie and I watch both of them every year. There’s nothing really ‘geeky’ about this movie but it has quite a following. Is it a cult classic yet? I’m not sure, but it’s one of my top movies. I first saw Dr. Suess’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas played by Jim Carrey. Nothing else to say except pure hilarious perfection. *Chef’s kiss* But then Benedict Cumberbatch played Dr. Suess’ The Grinch in another version and I just love his Grinch as well. 

What I love most are both the soundtracks. You have the album with various artists, and then you have the original motion picture soundtrack from the first Grinch movie. Both variety albums have a good mixture of music, as well as bomb hip-hop versions of the original Grinch songs. I have to be in the mood, but when I am it’s a blast. Then you have the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for the first movie is a great instrumental version of the holiday classic.

Video Games

Batman: Arkham Origins

I’m not saying you need an excuse to listen to Batman during the holidays or anytime of year, but I am saying that Batman: Arkham Origins the game takes place on Christmas Eve. I’m also saying that there are two very specific songs on the original video game score that refer to ‘Christmas’: The Night Before Christmas, Winter Comes to Gotham, and Carol of the Bells (Joker’s Theme). These songs can be found on my Geeky Holiday Music Playlist, and the game soundtrack can be found on my favorites.

*I will update this post and my Spotify playlist with more video game holiday songs. For now, let’s leave it at this. The dive is too deep!

Non-geeky movies with great holiday soundtracks

Well, mostly non-geeky.

Spirited

Ryan Reynolds. We all know and love him as Deadpool. I can’t. But I love every moment of him, and when he’s not harassing Marvel heroes and mutants in his movies, he’s starring in movies of his own. And they’re great. So when hubs and I saw that he and Will Ferrell were in Spirited we had to see it. I mean it’s a cheesy classic Scrooge holiday movie with the humor of Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell… Yes. Yes, please. And it did not disappoint.

Neither does the Spirited soundtrack. Trust me. Watch the movie, listen to the soundtrack. It’s Ryan Reynolds. Just do it.

Jingle Jangle

I almost lost my mind when I saw Jingle Jangle on Netflix a couple years ago. There wasn’t much fanfare behind it, and Netflix (as is their habit) did not really promote it. But we watched it and it was the perfect feel-good holiday movie with singing and dancing. I mean, it stars Forest Whitaker, Anika Noni Rose, Keegan-Michael Key, Ricky Martin, Lisa Davina Phillip, and Phylicia Rashad. Of course I had to find the soundtracks. 

So I may be biased. Admittedly, it was all the brown faces that you don’t usually see in holiday movies that drew me in. But as a cosplayer, it was the costumes that kept me entranced. The! Costumes! That’s the end of that italicized exclamation. They are simply amazing and you know I already chose one to make.

As for the Jingle Jangle soundtrack, it was so great. Such a vibrant soulful celebration of Black Girl Magic. So you just have to watch the movie and then listen to the soundtracks.

Geeky Holiday Music

So that’s it for my geeky holiday music recommendations. I hope you find this geeky holiday music playlist to be a bit more modern and even more fun than some of the others out there. 

No, that’s not right.

We all have our favorites and preferences. While I was looking for something more than Weird Al Yankovic singing about Santa Claus, you may love him and want to listen to him every year. I get it. I’m here for it. But I hope that for those of you who want to listen to something differently geeky this year, you try this list out. Don’t forget, I’ll be adding more songs and updating it during the season, and will add to it every year.

And there’s always the favorite classic non-geeky holiday music by Mariah Carey and Pentatonix. I go absolutely mad over their music every year.

Enjoy the season! And go enjoy some of these geeky holiday music recommendations, you geeks!

Did I leave anything out? What are some of your favorite geeky songs and albums? Share below – the more seasonal geeky music we can find, the better!