Spurred on by listener requests and constructive criticisms (which always stay with me), I began seeking out contemporary music of the holiday because I truly believe this season belongs to all of us. As with Christmas music, there's plenty of dreck (some of it worthwhile for its very deck-i-ness), but there is always music to be discovered that reflects legitimate expressions of the secular joy and/or spiritual enlightenment of the faith of Judaism. Or, to borrow a phrase, "everything is beautiful in its own way".
Among my new Hanukkah favorites this year is the latest from Michelle Citrin, who has previously delighted with such classics as "Rosh Hashanah Girl", "20 Things To Do With Matzoh" and her Hanukkah reworking of George Michael's "Freedom", "Pass The Candle". For 2012, the "little girl with the big sound" is back with a loungey Jazz number that may be the Hanukkah equivalent of "Baby, It's Cold Outside". "Hanukkah Lovin" is available at Amazon, iTunes, and CD Baby.