Daniel Warren Johnson's (<em>Murder Falcon</em>, <em>Extremity</em>) illustration for Viking's Choice gets a festive update.

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Daniel Warren Johnson's (Murder Falcon, Extremity) illustration for Viking's Choice gets a festive update. / Daniel Warren Johnson

Viking's Choice, my weekly playlist / newsletter / curation vehicle, has always been about smashing together sounds that don't immediately make sense together — bubbly pop songs sidle up to filthy headbangers and dreamy ambient. So why not turn that wall of spaghetti sound into tinsel and twinkly strands of light?

Join me for a live, eight-hour holiday music marathon on Dec. 23 from 12–8 p.m. ET. You can RSVP via NPR Presents and watch via NPR Music's YouTube channel.

Expect the unexpected as holiday classics — your Gene Autrys and Darlene Loves — get airplay alongside saccharine, silly, somber, saucy and stunning originals and covers by artists across drone, indie rock, reggae, punk, R&B, hip-hop, pop, metal and whatever else makes for a jingle bell time. This is a marathon, not a sprint, so friends, family, colleagues and musicians will call in to chat to keep my holidazed spirits up. Let's make the yuletide weird, y'all.

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