♫ “Cease and Desist” ♫

“Cease and Desist” – Bah & the Humbugs

It’s Christmas time, so here comes the man in the suit. And I don’t mean Santa.

♫ “Titanic Tannenbaum” ♫

“Titanic Tannenbaum” – Bah & the Humbugs

For Christmas Day: the unsinkable Christmas tree.

♫ “No Free Lunch” ♫

“No Free Lunch” – Bah & the Humbugs

The true story of the birth of Jesus at Manger Stadium, from those who were lucky enough to get tickets.

♫ “Mr. Big Christmas” ♫

“Mr. Big Christmas” – Bah & the Humbugs

For some people, a financial meltdown just means things keep getting bigger — especially at Christmas.

♫ “What I Ate on My Christmas Vacation” ♫

“What I Ate on My Christmas Vacation” – Bah & the Humbugs

Food is part of the Christmas tradition, but don’t be obsessive about it. Not like this, at least.

♫ “Snow Day” ♫

“Snow Day” – Bah & the Humbugs

For the 50 million people who are snowed in today, or will be before the day is over, Fish Nation is officially calling a snow day.

♫ “The First Snowflake” ♫

“The First Snowflake” — Bah & the Humbugs

Is that a snowflake? It must be almost Christmas!

♫ “Black-and-White World” ♫

“Black-and-White World” — Bah & the Humbugs

Some people are too busy to deal with moral gray areas. Take Santa, for instance.

♫ “Christmas Tree from Hell” ♫

“Christmas Tree from Hell” – Bah & the Humbugs

If you’re going out to get a tree tonight, make sure you don’t take home the Christmas tree from hell.

♫ “Christmas in July (in August)” ♫

“Christmas in July (in August)” – Bah & the Humbugs

Of course you’re procrastinating about Christmas. But be careful about that — because this is what can happen.

♫ “Limelight” ♫

“Limelight” – John Montagna

A bass player’s tribute to the recently departed Eric Woolfson (Alan Parsons Project).

♫ “Bohemian Rhapsody” ♫

“Bohemian Rhapsody” — The Muppets

Twice as Bohemian as the original. At least.

♫ “Give It Up to Me” ♫

“Give It Up to Me” — Shakira

The new album is out, with the sleekest dance pop yet from Shakira. And the new video? Anything you want in the world.

♫ “Looking for the Magic” ♫

“Looking for the Magic” – Dwight Twilley Band

An early music video, showing the Dwight Twilley Band at the peak of their success, on a song with rockabilly, British invasion, and glam influences.

♫ “Fading Like a Flower” ♫

“Fading Like a Flower” – Warmen featuring Jonna Kosonen

A Finnish heavy metal band redoing a Roxette song — because we have the technology to make the song heavier, louder, more dramatic than before!

♫ “Hey U” ♫

“Hey U” — SideStreet featuring Muffy.

Loud and obnoxious, smooth and precocious — it’s your dance-pop hip-hop wake-up song.

♫ “Highway” ♫

“Highway” – Paul McCartney

One blues song from Paul McCartney’s Citi Field concert, and the new album Good Evening New York City.

♫ “Did It Again” ♫

“Did It Again” – Shakira

Smooth, sassy dance pop – it’s the new single from Shakira in most of the world.

♫ “Stop This Game” ♫

“Stop This Game” – Cheap Trick

In case you missed the Cheap Trick performance at Chicagofest in 1981, this is how it started. (YouTube video)

♫ “Who Cries Now” ♫

“Who Cries Now” – Unruly Child

This 1990s hard rock band, formed when World Trade broke up, has just signed a new one-album deal with Frontier Records. Here’s a song from way back when.

♫ “Want of a Nail” ♫

“Want of a Nail” – Todd Rundgren and Daryl Hall

Some Philly soul on Live From Daryl’s House.

♫ “Love Never Wasted” ♫

“Love Never Wasted” – Howard Jones

Optimistic, soft-spoken, heartfelt, multidimensional. From the forthcoming album Ordinary Heroes.

♫ “Ice” ♫

“Ice” – Lights

Teen angst in bouncy electropop.

♫ “We Weren’t Born to Follow” ♫

“We Weren’t Born to Follow” – Bon Jovi

Roaring gospel rock that might remind you of another band from New Jersey. “Well let me hear you say yeah!”

♫ “True Player for Real” ♫

“True Player for Real” – MC Lars

First MC Lars invented the genre of post-punk laptop rap. Then he realized he had to introduce himself. Triumphantly. With sock puppets.

♫ “Everything Is Music” ♫

“Everything Is Music” – Deepak Chopra and Dave Stewart

A cosmic meditation on the link between music and the origin of the universe.

♫ Pentatonic Scale ♫

Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Pentatonic Scale

If you’ve ever wondered whether music is an innate human ability, here’s the answer.

♫ “Parallels” ♫

“Parallels” – Yes

Inside the studio in 1976 as progressive rock band Yes records basic tracks for one of the more energetic songs on the Going for the One album.

♫ “C Moon” ♫

“C Moon” – Paul McCartney

The perfect song for a full moon in summer. This is a surprisingly durable song from the 20th century’s most noted songwriter.

♫ “Som do Sol” ♫

“Som do Sol” – Banda do Sol

Smooth progressive rock from a Brazilian band that goes back 27 years, as they announce their new album Tempo. Careful listeners who are fans of the genre may pick up the distinctive mixing style of Billy Sherwood.

♫ “United Breaks Guitars” ♫

“United Breaks Guitars” – Dave Carroll

How many music videos have brilliant harmony, tell a true-life story, and prompt an official response from a major airline? (YouTube video)

♫ “Skipper Dan” ♫

“Skipper Dan” – “Weird Al” Yankovic

When your career doesn’t work out the way you planned it, what can you do but keep telling the same jokes over and over again till you cry? (YouTube video)

♫ “Stand By Me” ♫

“Stand By Me” – Andy Madadian, Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora & Friends

Producer Don Was and singers Andy Madadian (an Iranian exile) and Jon Bon Jovi recorded this duet of the Ben E. King song “Stand By Me” June 24 as a symbol of worldwide solidarity for the Iranian people, currently protesting a rigged presidential election. The first verse is in Farsi (only natural for Madadian, but a first for Bon Jovi).

♫ “Vodka” ♫

Vodka by Korpiklaani

Finnish heavy metal with fiddle and accordion. Hard-drinking fun.

♫ “Sick Man of Europe” ♫

“Sick Man of Europe” – Cheap Trick

How to turn the British invasion into a full-blooded roar, from the brand-new Cheap Trick album The Latest. Oasis might want to take notes.

♫ “Craigslist” ♫

“Craigslist” – “Weird Al” Yankovic

No, it’s not a new Doors single. Jim Morrison, sadly, did not live long enough to comment on the Internet’s own swap meet, so “Weird Al” Yankovic had to do it for him. It may be a cheesy low-budget video, but it still has to be seen to be believed.

♫ “Calley Oh” ♫

“Calley Oh” – Billy Squier

Billy Squier’s summer tour gets underway at the end of the month. On his home page (look for the player in the upper right corner of the page) you’ll find a live performance of a song from his first album, Tale of the Tape.

♫ “Glamour Boy” ♫

“Glamour Boy” – Burton Cummings

The questions about what really matters in life haven’t changed all that much since 1973 when this song was written. A YouTube video from a concert last December.

♫ “Some Kind of Magic” ♫

“Some Kind of Magic” – Orkestra

A song for summertime.

♫ “Magnificent” ♫

“Magnificent” – U2

Arches, tiles, and cotton in the new U2 video filmed in Morocco, as the band gears up for a tour. (Flash video)

♫ “Lighten Up Morrissey” ♫

“Lighten Up Morrissey” – Sparks

It’s a cheesy video, but how are some guys from California supposed to compete with a real celebrity anyway? (YouTube video)

♫ “Man on the Run” ♫

“Man on the Run” — Joon

The band says it’s an old demo, but it’s very much the kind of heady rock that the north of England has become known for.

♫ “I Like It” ♫

“I Like It” – Lacuna Coil

The Italian gothic metal band releases their new album Shallow Life this week.

♫ “Ka-Ching” ♫

“Ka-Ching” – Shania Twain

A pick from Swedish television for tax day coming up in the United States.

♫ “Conscience Point” ♫

“Conscience Point” – Billy Squier

Billy Squier’s thoughtful side comes out in this song, which might or might not make the cut for Squier’s summer tour.

♫ “You and I” ♫

“You and I” – t.A.T.u.

The new single is another defiant love song — this time, in English.

♫ “There’s No One As Irish As Barack O’Bama” ♫

“There’s No One As Irish As Barack O’Bama” – Corrigan Brothers

For St. Patrick’s Day, it might be a new song, but it’s as Irish as can be.

♫ “Shifty” ♫

“Shifty” – Turnaround

Plaintive back-to-basics rock from four teenagers in Old Virginny.

♫ “No Line on the Horizon” ♫

“No Line on the Horizon” – U2

The new U2 album marks a return to the large-format music of most of their 1990s albums.

♫ “Rock and Roll Dream” ♫

“Rock and Roll Dream” – Wetton/Downes Icon

Watch the encore from the recent concert in Tokyo. (MySpace video)

♫ “Classic” ♫

“Classic” (single version) – Adrian Gurvitz

A classic for Valentine’s Day: the 1982 hit “Classic.”

♫ “Dream Police” ♫

“Dream Police” – Cheap Trick

What? You didn’t know Cheap Trick had a YouTube channel? This 1988 concert video of “Dream Police” is the perfect way to get started on your Cheap Trick watching habit.

♫ “That Was Me” ♫

“That Was Me” – Paul McCartney

The new Grammy-nominated live version of this Paul McCartney song has more life and presence than the 2007 studio version from Memory Almost Full. While you’re there, check out some of the other nominated tracks.

♫ “Farewell My Love” ♫

“Farewell My Love” (rough mix excerpt) – Lunatica

Proof that Lunatica is back! Large-scale progressive rock with a guest vocal by John Payne of GPS.

♫ “If It’s Not Too Late” ♫

“If It’s Not Too Late” – Circa:

The second Circa: album, Circa: HQ, is out. Circa: has roots in the music of the early 1970s, and on this track you can hear an almost psychedelic sparkle.

♫ “Through the Kaleidoscope” ♫

“Through the Kaleidoscope” – Steven Cravis

Celtic new age piano music that sparkles with life.