The Reindeer Room: A Christmas Chillout, various artists (Kriztal Entertainment)

Downtempo" and "chillout" are varieties of modern-day electronica that are the "slow jams" versions of such music. The artist names listed with each tune are probably not relevant, as the liner notes state these are all pseudonyms for folks who have reputations in this particular musical world. Most of the tunes on this 2002 release are evergreens -- "Little Drummer Boy," "Sleigh Ride," "Silent Night," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," although Rauder and Hobbs put some thump to "Happy Christmas (War Is Over)" and for some reason two different artists take a crack at "Feliz Navidad," Tetsumi Nagaka and Sub Santa, the latter of which is retitled "Feliz Navidub." "A Child is Born" by Jon Kennedy is the one original here. The arrangements, while mostly similar in tempo and instrumentation, take an eclectic approach to rhythms, picking and choosing among bump-and-grind, Latin and Caribbean grooves. Contemporary sounding, but a little too easily pushed into the background -- although that might be the point of this kind of music; it has some of the trappings of Brian Eno's ambient experiments, along with a veneer of lounge. UPDATE: There was a Reindeer Room 2 for 2003 and a third edition in 2009.