El Vez

Hands down, Graciasland hosts the rockingest Christmas celebrations. El Vez even mixes Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll” into his take on “Little Drummer Boy.” He doesn’t leave anybody out of the party, either, including a version of “The Dreidel Song” that’ll make all the non-Jewish kids jealous of the years of sacred tradition they’ve missed. In honor of his own heritage, El Vez rewrites “In the Ghetto” to tell the tale of what happens “En el Barrio (at Xmas Time),” ganking the chorus of “Champagne Supernova” to end up trapped beneath a landslide in a souped-up Chevy Nova. But not everybody can make a holiday pilgrimage to Graciasland, so on the album’s second, live half, El Vez takes Graciasland to the people, tearing through “Blue Christmas” filtered through the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil.” After a song dedicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe, “Lordy Miss Lupey-Little Latin Lupe Lu,” the Iggy Pop-tweaking “Now I Want to Be Santa Claus” and “Brown Christmas,” it’s evident that Christmas with El Vez should be under everyone’s tree.