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Irish singer Enya celebrates the season with "And Winter Came." - File photo

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Some people say they love all Christmas music. Others say they hate all Christmas music. Don't trust either group.

The truth is that holiday music is always a matter of context. Even the best Christmas song (say, John Lennon's "Merry Christmas (War Is Over)") can be pretty grating after six weeks of nonstop playing at the big-box store where you work. And even the worst (say, Elmo and Patsy's "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer") can become a Yuletide classic, provided you have a healthy supply of singing friends and spiked eggnog on hand.

The trick is to keep new Christmas music coming. In that spirit, here's a wide-ranging mix of new Christmas albums that should appeal to almost everyone on your list.

"Welcome to Christmastown," Courtney Collins and Jeremy Ylvisaker, Maypole Records

Madison musicians Collins and Ylvisaker bring both an indie rock and a retro, cool feel to the holiday songbook. Collins' take on Ron Sexsmith's "Maybe This Christmas" is appealingly sincere, while the duo opts for a Pixies-like sound on "Just Like Christmas" and a feedback-drenched "I'll Be Home For Christmas." Buying local for the holidays never sounded so good.

"Come Darkness, Come Light: Twelve Songs of Christmas," Mary Chapin Carpenter, Rounder

Planning on spending Christmas Eve alone, heating up a Lean Cuisine? This is the Christmas album for you, a startlingly bleak collection of mostly original songs. "Christmas Time in the City" is sung from the view of a rather cynical street busker, while the narrator of "Christmas Carol" has all but lost her faith. You have to admire Carpenter's willingness not to sugarcoat her songs, but also wish she had gone even farther with stripped-down, Tom Waits-style arrangements. The music is rather generically pretty.

"A Very Rosie Christmas," Rosie Thomas, Sing-Out-Loud

Thomas brings boatloads of enthusiasm (like, Katrina and the Waves' "Walking on Sunshine"-level enthusiasm) to Christmas songs, so much so that you can't help but be swept up as well. She has a quirky but affecting voice, a wry sense of humor and a deep, questioning Christian faith, and brings them all to bear on this winsome collection. Also included is a little radio play where Rosie plays Sheila, a neurotic neck brace- wearing Leonardo DiCaprio fan who gets her own Christmas miracle one wintry night in Gary, Ind. It's cute.

"Miracle of Christmas," Neil Sedaka, Razor and Tie

The erstwhile crooner hasn't released an album of Christmas songs before, which is sort of stunning, really. He makes up for lost time with a two-disc set -- one of the usual classics and one of original holiday tunes penned by Sedaka himself. So would you rather have "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" or "Razzle Dazzle Christmas"? For me, at least the old chestnuts have a retro charm that Sedaka's own "Razzle Dazzle Christmas" can't touch.

"And Winter Came," Enya, Reprise

The Irish diva tackles a wide range of seasonal (as opposed to holiday) tunes on this disc, and doesn't stray far from her traditional ethereal sound. "Oiche Chiuin" is a lovely Irish song connected to "Silent Night," and "O Come O Come Emmanuel" is performed as an ancient traditional chant, while "Trains and Winter Rains" has the same dreamy sound that "Sail Away" did 20 years ago.

"The Ultimate Christmas Collection," Brian Setzer, Surfdog

The pompadoured former Stray Cats frontman has gotten a lot of mileage out of bringing the jump-swing sound to holiday classics year after year. This latest edition features a CD "best of" collection and two unreleased tracks, as well as a DVD of a 2004 performance. If you've got one of the earlier albums, you should be all set.