There are certain obvious signifiers of Christmas music: child choirs, harps, jolly melodies, actual jingle bells. But what happens when you make a Christmas song from completely unrecognizable sounds? Can you still feel mirth and good tidings if you replace familiar items with an alien-sounding synth or a mangled drum effect? On “Island Christmas,” the Japanese footwork producer Foodman wants the listener to expand their thinking and imagine a different kind of a holiday song. His contribution to a recent holiday-themed Mad Decent compilation, A Very Decent Christmas 5, is about as left-field as you can get, with its restless, syncopated percussion and random bursts of bleeps and chimes. But there is something ultimately festive about “Island Christmas” that makes it appropriate for this time of year. Perhaps it’s the faint hint of bells or the general merriment of Foodman's experimentation. Whatever it is, he unlocks something new in Christmas music—a strange but powerful boogie that’s fun for the whole family.