The Squirrel Nut Zippers have one. So do Jordan Ferrer-Norton, Diana Krall, Baby Face, Chicago, Nat King Cole, Barbra Streisand and Hanson. The sounds of Christmas are upon us. Compact discs by recording artists who have seen the top of the charts and performers who will always dangle on the edge of obscurity are displayed side by side in music stores across the nation.

In grocery stores, elevators and automated phone systems, the sounds of the season assault or caress the ears, depending on the quality of the performer and the mood of the hearer.

A quick trip to any store that sells cassettes or cds leaves no doubt about the vast array of Christmas music available out there.

For those who lean toward the classical and traditional, The Boston Pops Orchestra has released “Holiday Pops,” the first Christmas album featuring its new conductor Keith Lockhart. Some of the most popular Christmas albums ever recorded featured Lockhart’s predecessors, John Williams and Arthur Fiedler.

Recorded Dec. 30-31 last year at Symphony Hall in Boston, the new CD features the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and a chorus of schoolchildren. From “Gloria” to “Sleigh Ride” to “Christmas Time Is Here” (from “A Charlie Brown Christmas”), “Holiday Pops” evokes memories of Christmases past.

“To create an album embracing the great holiday tradition of the Boston Pops and at the same time expanding upon them was the challenge,” writes Lockhart in the liner notes. “This combination of the old and the new, of tradition and renewal is, after all, what makes this time of the year so special for us.”

This combination of the great history and tradition of the Pops led by this youthful and energetic new conductor is what makes this collection of Christmas music stand out from the others. Also, a history of each selection is contained in the liner notes. For instance, who knew that “Sleigh Ride” was written by Leroy Anderson, chief arranger for the Boston Pops? Now, for the bonus question: What year was it first performed?

For old folkies who are still recovering from the day Dylan went electric, there is Judy Collins’ “Christmas at the Biltmore Estate.” Recorded last December in a lavish, old, Victorian-style mansion near Asheville, N.C., Collins’ sweet soprano captures the joy composers poured into traditional carols like “Joy to the World,” “The First Noel,” “Silver Bells” and many others.

Between songs, Collins shares memories of her own Christmases past, including praying on Christmas Eve, “Oh please, God, no books, no clothes.” She tells Clement C. Moore’s classic tale, “The Night Before Christmas,” adding new stanzas of her own childhood memories. Part of what makes this album so special is the true joy Collins brings to it. Such a feat seems amazing, in light of the loss of her son Clark, who committed suicide a few years ago.

Perhaps, your household needs a Christmas album that can bridge the generation gap between hipless, hapless parents to cool, hip-hopping teen-agers. Cyndi Lauper’s “Merry Christmas … Have a nice life!” may be the CD that does the trick.

Lauper has combined traditional carols like “Three Ships” and pop songs, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” with her own compositions. Lauper’s lyrics smash through the sickly sweet sentimentality of many Christmas albums. “The drunken Santa on the corner looks a little blue. But the twinkle in his eye, dear, looks a little like you,” she sings as she slides into the chorus of “Home on Christmas Day.” “I’ll be home on Christmas Day. I am just a thought away. And every Christmas tree, reminds me where I’d rather be.”

Other Lauper songs include “Christmas Conga,” “December Child,” “In the Bleak Midwinter” and “Minnie and Santa,” the story of the woman who ran off with Santa on Christmas Eve. However, this singer-songwriter captures the spirit and meaning of the holiday in the most traditional of songs — “Silent Night.” Her lilting lament is a haunting reminder of the spirit and joy that can be discovered beneath the tinsel, glitz and glitter piled on by the commercialization of Christmas.

In spite of the Bah Humbuggers, there are ways to put new twists and turns on old carols. Handyman and musician Woody Phillips proves that with “A Toolbox Christmas.” He adds a new dimension to “The Twelve Days of Christmas” when the sounds of saw, duct tape tearing, ratchet, power screwdriver, pneumatic hammer and chain saw join flute, oboe, English horn, cello and mandolin.

Pipe, 2-by-4, tape measure, drill press, table saw, framing square and anvil — no tool is too large or small for Phillips. He even adds the sound of an opening beer can to his “Wassail Suite.” Certainly not for everybody, “A Toolbox Christmas” just might be the perfect present for the guy or gal whose heart skips a beat at the whir, whir, whirring of a circular saw.

Finally, for those who do not celebrate Christmas but are force-fed the Christian holiday by American merchants — does Shirim have an album for you! Shirim is a klezmer band based in Rhode Island. They play traditional and original klezmer music, the dance music of Eastern European Jews.

Their CD “Klezmer Nutcracker” adapts Peter Tchaikovsky’s infamous Christmas ballet to the klezmer style. Instead of “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” Shirim plays “Dance of the Latkes Queens”; instead of the “Dance of the Reed Flutes,” they perform “Dance of the Dreydls”; instead of “Waltz of the Flowers,” it’s “Waltz of the Ruggelah.”

It is at the same time a respectful adaptation and a hysterical sendup of the Russian composer’s most famous creation. “Klezmer Nutcracker” is perfect for people who don’t celebrate Christmas, as well as for those who prefer a little ecumenism in their faith and their music.

Ah, yes, sounds of the season are everywhere. But music like this can get even ol’ Scrooge into the spirit. That’s what did it in 1938 when the Boston Pops first played “Sleigh Ride.” You can look it up.