I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas music. I genuinely love it, but there are rules. First, I’m a big Grinch about playing Christmas music early. I’m stricter than most people on this issue, but can’t we all agree that Thanksgiving is the absolute earliest date to break out the sleigh bells?
There is also too [...]

It’s that time of year again — the turkey leftovers are long gone and we’re hearing Christmas music in every store in town, so it must be time for best-albums-of-year lists.
After screaming matches, insults and a fist fight or two, the dust has settled and the Stranger Dance staff stands before you united with our [...]

One of the things that I love most about music (and art in general, I guess) is that everyone appreciates it in their own way. Ten people can have the same favorite song, album or band and love them for completely different reasons. Be it lyrics, rhythm, melody, harmony, style or something else, people are [...]

2007 started off fairly slowly, but ended up as a very strong year for indie music. I’m not sure if it’s a good or bad thing, but a lot of my favorite releases came from an extended indie family (I’m fairly sure that Leslie Feist has dated, toured with or lived with almost every one), [...]