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Viking's Choice Holiday Special

Let's make the yuletide weird, y'all.
Illustration by Daniel Warren Johnson, Lars Gotrich
/
NPR
Let's make the yuletide weird, y'all.

Viking's Choice, my weekly playlist / newsletter / curation vehicle, has always been about smashing together sounds that don't immediately make sense together — bubbly pop songs sidle up to filthy headbangers and dreamy ambient. So why not turn that wall of spaghetti sound into tinsel and twinkly strands of light?

Join me for a live, eight-hour holiday music marathon on Dec. 23 from 12–8 p.m. ET. You can RSVP via NPR Presents and watch via NPR Music's YouTube channel.

Expect the unexpected as holiday classics — your Gene Autrys and Darlene Loves — get airplay alongside saccharine, silly, somber, saucy and stunning originals and covers by artists across drone, indie rock, reggae, punk, R&B, hip-hop, pop, metal and whatever else makes for a jingle bell time. This is a marathon, not a sprint, so friends, family, colleagues and musicians will call in to chat to keep my holidazed spirits up. Let's make the yuletide weird, y'all.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Lars Gotrich is the editor of Tiny Desk and Tiny Desk Radio, a nationally broadcast program based on the beloved live concert series. He’s produced performances at the Desk by Paramore, GWAR, Amy Grant, Turnstile and Goo Goo Dolls.
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