Most years, we here at XLR8R take advantage of the lull in musical activity during the holiday season, happily stepping away from our computers for at least a few days. This year, however, a special event has kept us furiously tapping away right up to Christmas Day: the launch of a brand-new website.

In all honesty, this process was years in the making, but once we realized that it could be done in time for the holidays, we figured that there would be no better time to share it with the world. So please, take a look around. Obviously, we’ve made a lot of changes, both to things our readers can see and the under-the-hood technical stuff that they can’t, but our new site is designed to be cleaner, faster, easier, and just plain better than the old one. Most importantly, it’s now fully responsive and compatible with mobile devices, which thankfully means that everyone can now look at XLR8R on their smartphone or tablet without having to squint or endlessly zoom in and out.

In the weeks and months ahead, the site will continue to improve as we tweak things and make adjustments, and it would be great if our readers could assist us in that process; not by coding, of course, but by letting us know if they spot something that doesn’t work or doesn’t make sense. We’ve set up a new email, [email protected], where people can report bugs, ask questions, or simply let us know what they do and don’t like about the site. Don’t be shy! Our feelings won’t get hurt, and the faster we find out about any nagging issues, the faster we can optimizing the viewing experience for everyone.

Other than that, please take note that our regular posting regimen will resume on Monday, January 5. The new website has plenty of bells and whistles, and we can’t wait to really take it out for a proper spin in 2015. Thanks for visiting, and we hope that everyone has a happy, healthy, and safe holiday season.