Christmas songs of 2012: Our Top 5

Christmas spirit is big this year in the music world, with several artists releasing singles to help us all get in the mood. Here are our favourites:

5. Linkin Park - 'Burn The Christmas Pain Falling'

Although the song develops into what Mike Shinoda optimistically calls "an extremely creative and original dubstep tune", it begins with quietly with pained piano chords and the amazingly-nasal voice of Chester Drawers who sings meaningfully:

"Look at what we've caused / The snow covers / The ashes of a world we've left behind"

We emailed Linkin Park in an attempt to clarify the vague-environmentalism in the song, but the reply only told us that: "We expect [the single] to sell well. We don't need websites people don't even visit emailing us to try and make a point."

4. Mumford & Sons - 'Home-Made World-Weary Christmas'

A popular choice at the MME office party, Mumford & Sons once again show just why they are one of the biggest bands right now, with wonderfully harmonised references to wearing cardigans by the fire, presents under the tree, and looking like a cunt.  

3. The xx - 'Xms'

Taking a more solemn approach, The xx use sparse instrumentation and tragically beautiful lyrics to show the pain of being alone at Christmas, a celebration they then cleverly show to be an unnecessary social construct anyway. One of the most innovative acts around.

2. Lady Gaga - 'Christmas Freakk'

As ever with Lady Gaga, much of the song's appeal lies in the video, with her 'Santa is dead' reindeer-burger-infused outfit being one of the most controversial things the singer has done all year. Elsewhere, the song contains several particularly un-festive digs at her sister and arch-nemesis Nicki Minaj.

1. Kate Bush (ft. Stephen Fry) - '50 Words For Snow'

Kate Bush is where music begins, 

Kate Bush is where music ends.
This song was released in 2011,
But it is constantly being released in the present.

One Direction: Our Top 5

With the release of their second album, we take a look at our favourite hits so far

One Direction performing early hit 'You Are Tearing Me Apart Lisa', from the soundtrack to 'The Room"
Image: 'One Direction' http://www.flickr.com/photos/76753780@N02/7073562169

One Direction have only released five singles so far (although future hit 'Little Things' will be out soon), which is a perfectly valid reason for any musical website or blog to arrange them into some sort of order and call it a "Top 5", although One Direction are so sexy and dreamy (yet still marketable to a younger 'Disney" audience) that really all of their songs are our favourites.

5. 'More Than This'

This amazing and charming ballad only made it to number 86 on the charts, which is really really bad, even old and practically dead people like Gary Barlow can probably get a higher number than that. Luckily for One Direction, there are still some fans of the song, such as YouTube's own Casey White, who (for real) wrote:

"I'm a guy, and I'm not gay. But 1D honestly is very talented. Whoever doesn't like them does not know good music! :)"

Forty people gave that a thumbs up within 17 hours. 

4. 'Gotta Be You'

In a clever move to target not just teen girls, but also their mothers, One Direction wear a selection of outfits here that could either be from Topman or Marks & Spencer, making dreamboat Harry Styles look really amazing with all his hair, which makes the song good. 

3. 'One Thing'

One thing that makes One Direction so unique and good is that all their songs have really nice melodies that no one has ever heard before ever. 

2. 'Live While We're Young'

When this song was released, some people said the guitar riff sounded quite a lot like a song by The Clash, which was not very nice and made lots of true fans say that was wrong. This was backed up by dreamgoat Harry Styles, who told the BBC that: "It's kind of on purpose though", because as we all know, plagiarism on purpose doesn't count.

1. 'What Makes You Beautiful'

Not just the best song by One Direction, but quite possibly the best song of all time. This completely original hit which doesn't sound like anything else was the single that introduced most of the world to dreamcoat Harry Styles and his friends, who are now so famous that they might even be playing at the White House =/ Please don't steal our One Direction America!!!