Why is it that you need to "start with a blank playlist"?
if you were to bring up the context menu on the top level item whilst playback is stopped (in this case "/Music" or "/Christmas") and select "Current Playlist"; "Insert", then Album 1, Album 2, and Album 3 will be added to the dynamic playlist in in the order displayed in the file browser. This can be saved and edited at any point, or discarded as a dynamic playlist.
Perhaps I'm not understanding your needs correctly.
[Saint]