Whenever the moon is just right, the Vague Panther picks his favorite MP3s from the web to bring you the “In the Know” series. If you’ve got a tip that might pique his interest email him at vaguepanther(at)strangerdance.com.

Taken by Trees – “Watch the Waves”
“Watch the Waves” is a single off of Taken by Trees’ upcoming [...]

Yep, it’s time again for the quintessential “so far” list — no music site is complete without one! 2009 is shaping up to be an interesting year, with old favorites and newcomers alike issuing strong releases. In an attempt to make some sense out of everything, our staff got together to vote on our favorites.
We’d [...]

[Weekly roundup of the week's notable CD releases - try before you buy. Check out our upcoming CD release schedule for all 2009 releases.]

Artist: Great Lake Swimmers
Album: Lost Channels
Sample: “Pulling on a Line”
The Canadian folkies are back with their fifth album, Lost Channels, following up on 2007’s critically acclaimed Ongiara. Considerably more produced than their [...]

Abe Vigoda – “Don’t Lie”
Abe Vigoda’s 2008 release, Skeleton, wasn’t something we talked about here at Stranger Dance. Our fault completely. Even though “Don’t Lie” is on this year’s Reviver EP (due out 2/19, pre-order here), its driving, metallic guitars have just enough reverb on them to force me into some 2008 regret.
Here We Go [...]

I have a good feeling about these picks despite their unlucky number. Who would have thought that Peter, Bjorn and John’s new LP Seaside Rock would be an instrumental? Not I. But then again they’re from Sweden, so I guess that makes it ok.
I was also inspired by today’s David Byrne & Brian Eno release [...]