I always look forward to December. Is it because of Christmas? Presents? Snow days? The fact that December is part of The Decemberists and they are my favorite band? Is it because I can finally justifiably utter the words “Winter is coming”? Nope....

On Thanksgiving, I will be curled up on my sofa, watching Elf and The National Parks: America’s Best Idea (me plus Ken Burns equals homies for life). I’ll be reading for fun and drinking coffee spiked with Bailey’s. I’ll be eating the leftovers...

This weird transitional weather has me down. It’s gray, it’s drizzly and it gets dark at 5 p.m. I’m a big fan of breaking out my scarves and hats, but I need a little sun to counter the frost. We’ve been handed some considerably dark and dreary...

Unlike most things, Death Cab for Cutie is better with strings attached. Let me explain. After collaborating with the Magik*Magik Orchestra — a string octet from San Francisco — on 2011’s Codes and Keys, Death Cab decided that some of their older...

“You’ve gotta hear this one song; it will change your life, I swear.” It was with that line that the soundtrack to 2004’s Garden State became bigger than the film itself. The soundtrack earned itself an Oscar, while the film garnered barely any...

Winter Playlist! Because every season needs a playlist, and now that school is over you will actually have time to listen to music again. 1. "O Tannenbaum" - Vince Guaraldi Trio: Nothing signals the beginning of the holiday season like the Charlie Brown...

DeKALB | There is an idealism in the artistic restart. Whether it's the clichéd acoustic wanderings of a rock ‘n' roll vocalist who wants to un-sell-out or the avant-garde who feels suffocated by just one name, the restart is a documentable phenomenon...

Indie group Margot & the Nuclear So and So's will headline Thursday night at Otto's, 118 E. Lincoln Highway. With their most recent release, Happy Hour at Sprigg's Volume 1: Live and Acoustic, Margot proves that it is ready to let its subtle maturation...