Ploafmaster General

This instrument has a wack paint job, but a dope sound:

[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYLqMViWsws&w=425&h=350])

So yeah, YouTube has proved a valuable resource for finding videos of AMAZING musicians. Maybe I'll make this a regular feature?

[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbndgwfG22k&w=425&h=350])

This dude's chops are BOSS.

[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZTziYivOLA&w=425&h=350])

So two fantastic things to report:

1. I finally freakin' saw Ozma last night!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Jake, Elizabeth, and I went to the Norva in Norfolk, VA, to catch Ozma playing with the Rentals - wow, what a show.  Ryan from Ozma was not only a freakin' amazing guitar player, but he also played with the Rentals on most of their songs.  And while Matt Sharp can't really sing, I must say that the Rentals were freakin' excellent live.  They've essentially re-tooled most of their old stuff, and it sounds fantastic.  Ozma played Battlescars, which pretty much satiated me :-)

2. Today is day one of the Apple WWDC in San Fran.  This means Stevie J announces the latest and greatest for Apple, and I'll be glued to my screen continuously pressing F5 until I found everything out.  Huzzah!

You know, I told Mugs that since I bought the special version of Weezer's Blue Album, it's like I've found an old friend.

That sounds really cheesy, yes, but I mean it. I have so many good memories associated with that album, and I just plain love the tunes.

This past week I've found myself driving with the windows down and the stereo BLASTING. I still know all the words, and I can even hum along with every guitar solo. This album represents so much of what was good about Weezer before they pooped out the Green Album. There's some pop sensibility without sacrificing all of their musicianship. Are they virtuosic? Certainly not, but you can actually hear some attention to musical detail on this album and Pinkerton. The lyrics, though not often serious, at least appear to be more carefully written. Not like the last three albums these blokes put out...

Listening to the Blue Album again has made me want Pinkerton even more. I still don't know how I lost the discs so many years ago, yet managed to keep the cases.

More than a stronger desire to have Pinkerton back in my collection, hearing the Blue Album after so long an absence has made me even more dissappointed in Weezer's decline. Their sacrifice of quality in an effort to attain and maintain commercial success is obvious. This isn't a simple matter of calling them "sell-outs" because they've acheived popularity. There's a palpable difference between the quality of the first two albums and everything else they've released since Rivers' public statement about seeking fame and fortune.

Oh well...I can't have everything I want...I can only hope that Ozma won't make the same mistake now that they're back together.

So, I was reading the Weezer webiste to see if they were planning to release a 10th anniversary edition of Pinkerton, just like they did for The Blue Album.  I noticed, however, a much sweeter announcement:

The first US Rentals show in many years is happening in Los Angeles on July 7th at The Henry Fonda Theater (with the legendary Ozma supporting) and the tix are on sale now.

Wow.   The Rentals reuniting is cool, and all...but OZMA!!!??!??!?  HELL YES!!!!!

The return of one of my favorite bands of all time...a band, whose initial break-up literally saddened me for an entire day.

I read this announcement as I was listening to "Say it Ain't So" off of the Blue Album, incidentally.  My trademark Weezer song.  And now I'm listening to "In the Garage."

I'm so happy my spleen could burst!

I just purchased two CDs yesterday - "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "Abbey Road" - both by the Beatles, of course.

Holy crap.  They are both so incredible.

While I was already familiar with about half of the songs on each, some I'd never heard, or hadn't heard in years.  Hearing each album all the way through was a treat indeed, absorbing all the innovative details of the music.  I think the next album I purchase will be the so-called, "White Album," in all of its two-disc glory.

Listen to the Neil Young song, "Like a Hurricane," and tell me it's great. Then I'll laugh at you until I'm hoarse.

That must have been one of the crappiest songs I've heard in 5 years.

My buddy Jake approached me recently about starting a traditional Celtic band - just a small group that would perform occaisonally at Rare Old Times, and Irish pub in Richmond's West End.

Considering I'm 3/8 Irish (woohoo!) and I recently restrung my guitar, this should work out quite nicely. Now I just need to go find some music...

Holy craplacticus, Batman - watch this video now. Great music, sweet Samuri Jack - style video.

So I know I already mentioned Sufjan Stevens' Come on feel the Illinoise album a while ago, but I just have to mention it again, because I've been listening to little other than this album for the past week.

There are so many layers to so many of these songs, and when you have a chance to sit down and really listen to the musical depth of this CD, I think you begin to appreciate it more. A reviewer on Amazon mentioned that to listen simply to part of this disc would be taking it out of context; you really need to soak in the complete album to fully understand it. I would agree - and I think that's why I've been vibin' off of it so much recently.

Songs like, "The Predatory Wasp of the Pallisades is Out to Get Us," and "The Tallest Man, the Broadest Shoulders" do a fantastic job of wrapping up the second half of the album, completing the sense of musical balance that Sufjan constructs in the first half.

Look at me, I'm gushing...I just couldn't keep quiet about this, sitting here as I am, anticipating the arrival of Greetings from Michigan, the Great Lakes State in the mail this week (his first states-oriented album).

UPDATE: My album arrived today, and I'm antsy to start digging in! Rock!

On a more pleasant note...do check out The Beacon Hill Project to see me hangin' out with the rest of the squad and Mars Ill at a recent concert here in the R-I-C. I'm the bloke in the very middle, with Manchild to the far left, and Dust to the far right.

Yo.

If you have a decent media player on your computer and aren't restricted by a corporate firewall (try iTunes, if you are), then go over to Radio Paradise right now and give a listen. And make sure you listen for at least an hour or so, in order to get the full effect.

The more you listen to this, the less you'll want to listen to FM - unless of course you like top 40 garbage...

I received my newest addition to my CD collection last week, and have since been hooked on the incredible sounds of Sufjan Stevens. This guy is freakin' incredible: He plays, like, 20 instruments, has a very pleasant tenor, and writes both amazing lyrics and music. His talent for arranging is outstanding as well.

The song titles range from straightforward (Jacksonville, Chicago, or the hauntingly beautiful John Wayne Gayce, Jr.) to the absurd (e.g., The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us!), but the lyrics on all the songs are poignent and well constructed.

No, I'm not trying to rehash any reviews that I've already read, I'm simply trying to post how excited I am to have this album. I've been trying to push it on everyone that I know that is a music afficianado, such as my mom, my brother, Mugs, my buddy Dave, and soon the rest of my family.

I have to thank Patrick for the awesome recommendation on this one. It's probably one of the best CDs I've heard in the past year.

Oi, spectacular!