Ho, ho, ho. Only a few days after Halloween and people are already talking about Christmas. To add to the increasingly commercialized festivities, Arista Records released “Ultimate Christmas,” a new holiday album last week.

The album includes songs from many different eras and genres, which sets it apart from the average Christmas comp. Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” from 1942 sits alongside Whitney Houston’s version of “Joy To the World.”

Other artists appearing on the disc are Judy Garland, Nat “King” Cole, Elvis Presley, Ella Fitzgerald, Herb Alpert, Luther Vandross, Kenny G, Sarah McLachlan and Carly Simon.

A musical riverboat floating down river departs Dec. 1, with the release of “The Mississippi: River of Song,” a new album featuring artists such as Soul Asylum, Babes in Toyland, Ani DiFranco and The Bottle Rockets.

The double CD is part of an event of the same name that includes a four-part PBS television series, a book and a seven-part Public Radio International series, reported Rocktropolis.

The television event begins Jan. 6 and will run the next six consecutive Wednesdays. An exact date for the radio series has not yet been scheduled, but it will most likely air in early January. The book, “River of Song: A Musical Journey Down the Mississippi,” by Elijah Wood, comes out Jan. 13.

Hollywood Records announced the release of a CD with “an all-star punk line-up.” “The SLC Punk!” soundtrack contains songs by The Ramones, Dead Kennedys, The Stooges, Adolescents, Fear, Generation X, The Vandals and The Suicide Machines. It’ll be a while before the release of the album; expected time of arrival is March 15.

The movie was featured at the Cannes Film Festival and will be shown at the 1999 Sundance film festival. “SLC Punk! is a subversive comedy about the youthful rebellion of two dedicated punk rockers in God-fearing Salt Lake City in the early 1980s,” a press release said.

Punkers wanting to see the movie may have to beg Sub films because the corporate movie cronies that dominate Ames theaters probably won’t be showing it.

There are plenty of opportunities to see local music in the near future.

Custom and Mr. Plow are set to play two shows at Friends Club Thursday, one at 5 until 9 p.m. (all ages) and the other 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. (21 and over).

Ska will take over Boheme next Tuesday Nov. 10, when Mediocre Superheroes perform a show with Christian ska band Bolsa de Popas.