Just like that, it’s that time again, where the holiday season is upon us and the mad scrambles down store aisles to find just the right gifts for friends and loved ones commences. It’s a yearly ritual that always seems to come sooner than later. It’s also a sign that the year is coming to a close, and of course there’s no question that 2016 will remain in memory and history as one of the most turbulent, challenging, and painful times ever seen. It is for that reason that the holiday time should hold even extra special positive emotional weight, as community and solidarity run high among people during this time, acting as sort of metaphoric concrete that fills in the gaps that division among many created. And music too, is an eternal, external, and ultimately internal healing agent for the soul, regardless if times are happy or sad, joyous or maudlin. Music also reflects those aforementioned emotions and more. Here’s some of the best released this past year that will for sure excite even the most hardened by the whirlwind of the times and warm someone’s soul like kindling a hearth on the coldest December nights.

Check out our 2016 Holiday Geek Gift Guide for Music…

The holidays have dawned upon us again and it seems as if the unveiling of them gets sooner and sooner each year. In a world that has seen one of its toughest and tragic years in 2015, the beauty of the holidays is more than a traditional, religious bent, but more about the communion of people and the act of humanity that seems to crawl from the cobwebs only during this time for some people. Regardless of the volume rate, whenever something can collectively bond people together with a sense of energy that runs placid and empathetic, there’s something to be said about the perennial emotion that gets reserved for this time of year. And of course with this year, comes the giving and receiving of gifts and good cheer. And as is my wont for the past few years now, I too have been rather perennial in my choices for key music items to bestow upon good friends and loved ones this time of year. So here’s some picks for this some of this years A-list offerings in music. As usual, this list goes to eleven.

Here’s the Holiday Geek Gift Guide 2015 for Music…

In conjunction with Rush celebrating their 40th anniversary with a tour this year, a limited edition hologram vinyl of the album 2112 will be released on March 17, 2015, and is available for pre-order right now. (Purchase of the vinyl comes with a FREE MP3 version of this album.)

Check out the sneak peek video of the vinyl in action here below.

HBO’s new series Togetherness has just become my new favorite TV show.

Star Mark Duplass recently appeared on Conan with his brother, Jay Duplass, who co-created and co-wrote the HBO drama with him. Host Conan O’Brien asked the brothers about a scene in the third episode, “Insanity” (which aired on January 25th), where Mark’s character Brett tries to motivate his long-time best friend Alex (Steve Zissis, fellow co-creator and writer) by using Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” as inspiration, resulting in the friends doing a whole synchronized air-drumming sequence. The brothers, who explained that that part of the episode was based their real-life experience from college, got the host to join them in recreating the air-drumming scene.

Watch the video from Conan here below.

Canadian rock titans RUSH have announced a 34-date North American tour trek to commemorate their 40th anniversary. According to the band’s website, this may be their last major tour.

Continue reading for more info and the full listing tour dates and locations.