Various Artists
Motown Christmas

Smokey Robinson and the Temptations bookend a collection featuring new Hitsville upstarts like Ne-Yo, Tasha Cobbs, India.Arie, Toni Braxton, Babyface, and VaShawn Mitchell—the latter bringing some real ball sweat to the occasion when he bellows “Jesus Christ!” in the middle of “Silent Night”. A couple of interludes by the Aaron Lindsey Orchestra remind us that even in its heyday Motown would release weird shit like the proggy Libra album, but for the most part, this is yer state-of-the-art R&B, and a nice gateway between turkey with the in-laws and late-night cocoa-butter encounters with the old lady.