Social media and modern meme culture are responsible for the resurgence in popularity of many nostalgic songs, movies, and other pop culture motifs. Perhaps none of those resurgences was bigger than that of Mariah Carey‘s polarizing holiday number, “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”
You hear it in every grocery store. In Tik-Tok videos and tweets. In your mother’s house, on the low-quality, ripped-from-YouTube, burned CD that you made for her in 2003. In your nightmares.
Now, hear it five more times, but with 808 drum samples and Eurobeat supersaw synths, too. Get ready to celebrate the holiday season in very questionable fashion with the five best remixes of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You.”
DIMITRI VEGAS & LIKE MIKE VS. BRENNAN HEART
Don’t kid yourself: hardstyle DONKs are at the top of your wish list each year. There are plenty of those in Dmitri Vegas & Like Mike vs. Brennan Heart‘s take on “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” which puts a hardcore spin on the holiday staple, perfect for all of those festival and arena performances that aren’t actually happening this year.
SYN
A fine addition to your “Lo-Fi Hip-Hop Beats to Chill / Wrap Presents To” playlist. Syn filters Carey’s vocals and adds a clever reverb in classic lo-fi fashion, laced with a low-key hip-hop beat, providing an atmosphere best suited for roasting those chestnuts on an open fire. This one will bring you down from that eggnog-induced sugar rush for some much-needed holiday relaxation.
DYLAN MATTHEW & DANNY OLSON
Dylan Matthew and Danny Olson covered Carey’s classic with a dialed-back, cinematic future bass take. Boy band-esque vocal work and orchestral pieces turn up the cheese just enough to remain on par with the original. It’s good enough for a calm sleigh ride over the snow-covered countryside.
ANDY PURNELL
Producer and DJ Andy Purnell delivered a clever mashup of the late Pop Smoke‘s “Welcome To The Party” and Carey’s Christmas earworm to create a Brooklyn drill version that’s ridiculously hype. The tracks somehow work well together and serve as an homage to the young drill icon, who was tragically murdered in his home earlier this year.
CLAY KRAMER
Producer Clay Kramer delivered a cover of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” in the style of the undisputed best Animal Crossing villager, the effortlessly cool, guitar-wielding dog known as K.K. Slider. Slider is responsible for the music of Animal Crossing and entertains villagers with it in the video game series, in the way that the guy who brought his guitar to college parties always wanted to. Kramer puts a Slider-spin on Mariah Carey’s hit with the strange synthetic vocal sounds of the game. It’s perfect for maintaining your island in New Horizons at your socially-distanced holiday home hangout.
BONUS: AUGUST BURNS RED
Just when you thought it was over, another cover has been added to the list.
You read that right: metalcore band August Burns Red have found their way into EDM.com‘s gift bag. Sure—it’s not EDM—but metal is heavily favored by a large number of dubstep and bass fans (just ask PhaseOne). August Burns Red always delivers competent covers of holiday anthems, as heard on their Sleddin’ Hill and Winter Wilderness EP releases. This cover is no different. It’s a great instrumental metal take on “All I Want For Christmas Is You” and a good way to feel badass while listening to Mariah Carey. The cover art of lead vocalist Jake Luhrs in Carey’s outfit and pose from the original single is enough to make the list on its own.