Gift ideas for your musical holiday!

'Tis the season to give your friend or relative a nice gift of musical delight. I made my own little list of recommendations for music buying this holiday season, a gift guide per se... Come on in to take a look!

Greetings from my dorm room at USM! I hope y'all have been enjoying this snow as much as I have been. The snow day on Monday treated me very well! Anyhow, here are some musical recommendations from yours truly...

First off, lets go through some festive items.

First on the list...the definitive Songs For Christmas by Sufjan Stevens (fyi: Sufjan is pronounced Suf-yan).

I have yet to fully listen to this collection of Yuletide songs, but from listening to his amazing album that is Illinois, I can extrapolate that Songs For Christmas will make a wonderful purchase for your loved ones this year. Entertainment Weekly said, "[His] rare combination of deep religiosity and dark whimsy makes SONGS FOR CHRISTMAS the season's most thrilling holiday release." I can't wait till this comes in the mail!

Next on the list is a few Christmas song compilations from various alternative artists including The Polyphonic Spree, Guster, Pedro the Lion, The Flaming Lips, and the Barenaked Ladies. You can buy Maybe This Christmas, Maybe This Christmas Too?, and Maybe This Christmas Tree, or all of them! I suggest Maybe This Christmas Tree just for the sake of getting The Polyphonic Spree's cover of John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War is Over)", but all of them are full of great artists.

Now for some other stuff...

If you want to treat a friend to some dancey indie pop, I suggest getting them Of Montreal's latest album, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?. Out of their entire discography, this album contains their most electronic and most infectious pop music. Pick up this CD, and you'll be dancing all season.

Think someone close could do well with some good ol' rock-and-roll? Get them Icky Thump by The White Stripes, and they'll be more than satisfied. With the heavy riffs from heavy guitar choruses in title track "Icky Thump" to the organ-heavy, cymbal-smashing "I'm Slowly Turning Into You", you just can't go wrong with this album. Classic rock fans will really enjoy this album especially, because it sounds a lot like Led Zeppelin in their golden days.

Want to give something cheerful and uplifting? Why not pick up The Polyphonic Spree's The Fragile Army? There is no band out there quite like The Polyphonic Spree. With a total of 23 members, this self-described "choral symphonic rock" group brings a full chorus, trumpets, stringed instruments, a flautist, a harpist, and many more instrumentalists. Throughout the album, the band sends messages of hopes despite the murky political atmosphere we live in.

Have a friend who digs some good experimental music? Get them Animal Collective's new Strawberry Jam. This album has been hailed as Animal Collective's best work so far. While the music may be heavily experimental, it is very infectious and poppy. However, it still maintains the tribal and organic feel from past albums. This album is full of happiness, weirdness, and madness. If that sounds like something your friend will like, I highly suggest it.

That is all I have for now, but I will be posting another edition at the beginning of next week. Happy Holidays everyone!