There’s a movement this year to take back the Christmas charts from smarmy pop artists churned out by music factories like the X factor and Idol franchises. The kickoff to this movement is this exhortation posted in the ‘Rage Against the machine for Xmas #1‘ Facebook group:
Fed up of Simon Cowell’s latest karaoke act being Christmas No.1?
Me too… So who’s up for a mass-purchase of the track ‘KILLING IN THE NAME’ from December 13th (DON’T BUY IT YET!) as a protest to the X-Factor monotony?
The group already has nearly 150K members and has received press coverage in stereoboard, nme, Drownedinsound and BritishMusicScene.
Now ‘Killing in the name’ isn’t exactly your typical Christmas song, so to help get people into the spirit of the projects I thought I would try to make the song be a bit more appealing to those with traditional Christmas music sensibilities. And so, I fired up the Echo Nest Jingler and generated a Christmas version of ‘Killing in the Name’. (The Jingler is a bit of software that will Xmas-ify any song by automatically adding sleigh bells, signal bells and the occasional Santa-ho). Here are the results:
This is just to get you in the Rage against Christmas mood. Remember to buy the track on December 13.
Music Machinery 
#1 by Mr Johs on December 5, 2009 - 11:33 am
Remember; What you just did is illegal.
#2 by Colin on December 6, 2009 - 9:52 pm
What Mr Johs says is true, if lacking in humour and Christmas spirit. But tell me, what do we have to do with that code to get it up and running? Desparate to try it out on my entire music collection, ranging from Slayer through Mozart, to The Pipes And Drums, The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards!
#3 by Chris Cannam on December 7, 2009 - 6:15 am
Ah, “Killing in the Name”. A bona fide major-label pop classic, hugely popular with rebellious middle-class kids nearly 20 years ago… yes, an ideal choice for a safe and nostalgic Christmas hit to appeal to the 30- and 40-somethings who remember those days with warmth and affection. Mmmm…