
Well today is a snow day in my part of Colorado, bringing everything outside to a deadened, frozen, thickly-blanketed crawl. It's gorgeous and quiet, and perfect weather for putting the finishing touches on my annual Christmas mix. I do love Christmas music, as you might remember from past years , but I also have a picky palate and am always amazed when I turn on the radio (as I did last night while we played cards) at how many many Christmas songs should have never been made. If I have to hear "Wonderful Christmastime" again, [...]
Chad Johnston may live in Kansas but his musical spirit takes him to some far-off places. Not that I have a preconceived notion of what music from Kansas should sound like, but some of his songs definitely have an other-worldly feel to them. Here are a few songs he's shared with me and so I'm sharing them with you. First up is "The Hiding Song/The Fourth of July" and I especially love its experimental, spacey feel and intimate, precise images. He explained that it's a combination of studio recordings [...]

It's rapidly nearing the end of the year and so I've been thinking about my year-end top-ten album list. I've got a pretty good idea of what's going to be on it, although the order is still undecided. But that's not what this is about. This is about making a different kind of top-ten list--a list of the ten funnest/best things I discovered this year whilst blogging. And instead of waiting until the very end of the year, I thought I'd throw it out now. Consider it a precursor to Thanksgiving, because I'm really [...]