What’s This Playlist All About? The soul man and living EGOT legend (i.e Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony winner) does a little self-promotion on behalf of multinational coffee chain Starbucks in an effort to get us all in the Christmas spirit—and plenty caffeinated.What You Get: A whopping nine-plus hours of Christmas magic from Legend himself (who, coincidentally, released his own festive album, A Legendary Christmas, in October), as well as Yuletide essentials from The Jackson 5, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, and Mariah Carey. Charles Brown, Charlie Brown, and James Brown all make an appearance, too, but this mostly leans on more modern holiday pop nuggets from Sia, Gwen Stefani, Ariana Grande, She & Him, and Jessie J.Best Picks: Cocteau Twins’ misty and magical spin on “Frosty the Snowman,” Run-D.M.C.’s sampling holiday spectacular “Christmas in Hollis,” and The Raveonettes’ fantastically fuzzy “The Christmas Song.”What Song Goes Best With That Frappuccino? Crank up The Kinks’ snarky punk zinger “Father Christmas” and feel that caffeine and sugar kick right in.
