Canadian Christmas 3

Christmastime is here again — and along with it, another perfectly wrapped batch of Canadian Christmas Essentials, headed up by the Irish Descendants, adding a swirl of rich Newfoundland cream to their warm vocal treatment of "O Holy Night," while their neighbours the Ennis Sisters melt ice with the harmonies of "Mary's Lullaby." Céline Dion, untouchable as ever, glides elegantly between vocal power and delicacy on "Ave Maria." Santa straps on his six-string and cranks out a power chord, in Next Steps.

There's nothing like a bit of Yuletide country for stompin' the snow off your boots, and here we've roped in Doc Walker, wishing "Merry Christmas to All," while Ontario's Prairie Oyster marks "Christmas In Jail" with a hangdog fiddle and lashings of tongue-in-cheek despair. Randy Bachman salutes Bing Crosby with a rockin' version of "White Christmas," and Helix takes a brace of familiar tunes — "A Wonderful Christmas Time" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" — and coats them in metal. Johnny Farago summons the spirit of Christmas Elvis, in Deep Cuts.

"If I had the chance, I would have shot St. Nick," sing Toronto alt-country hell-raisers NQ Arbuckle on "Christmas In Hell" — evidently destined for a place where there's no snow — and there's just as much heat in "Don't Fear the Reindeer" by rock 'n' roll throwback outfit, the Ramblin' Ambassadors, setting the season alight with a blizzard of red-hot guitar work. Estelle Caron borrows the "Jingle Bells" melody for "Vive le vent" and Johnny Farago channels a whole lot of Elvis into "Blue Christmas."

If you like a Christmas full of surprises, you've come to the right place. Our third selection of Yuletunes by Canadian artists is stuffed, like the perfect stocking, with enough variety to delight the whole family. Naturally, we've nailed the traditional vibe — whether it's Ginette Reno doing "Promenade en Traîneau" or Sarah McLachlan giving "O Little Town of Bethlehem" a folky spin — but we've also gone off-piste a little . . . is that Céline turning up the heat for "Feliz Navidad"? Sure is. And how about the Oliver Lake Steel Quartet add Caribbean flavour to "Little Drummer Boy"? Priceless. Any way you cut it, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a sackful of tunes like these.