If this were a normal christmas it would not be safe to go shopping without a pair of noise-cancelling headphones to shut out the sugar-coated seasonal muzak that shop owneers insist on playing. The pandemic lockdown has put a stop a stip to that, but every tv or radio program is still rife wiht the likes of Mariah Carey and Wham. It will be a relief to crank something different like the The Yuletide Wave, a collection made the folk at Big Stir Records: 25 songs from the psych power pop underground that are a joy to listen to. Sure, the blatant optimism of some of the lyrics still can be a bit too much, but at least the music itself never disappoints.