…packages will be sent to distant lands through beams of light.

So this is off topic I know but honestly, it involves a tad bit of craft so here goes. When I was in college, I was really into music. Really into music. Not that I’m not now but back then it was basically all I did, homework and attending class be damned! I lived next door to this lovely girl and she introduced me to all sorts of tunes that changed my life – Simon and Garfunkel, Rufus Wainwright, and tons of others. I actually still have a mix tape she made me – which is saying a lot because I’m in possession of only about 8% of the cd’s I owned way back now – titled “Mmm….PIE!” (thanks Jamie, I listen to this cd constantly even though it skips and trails off and generally doesn’t play well – VIVA PETE YORN!). Anyway, all this background is just to bring us to Howie Day. I know, I know, but I dug him BEFORE he went into rehab and started cavorting with Britney Spears. His second album came out and he totally fell out of my favor with his over-produced pop crap BUT his debut disc, Australia, is still one of my favorites. Thing is, since seeing him in concert at a university near me then spending a night out at the bars with him and his crew after the show (in which he did nothing but drink and repeatedly ask me for cocaine) a few years ago, I haven’t given him a second thought. But this morning I was dicking around on the Sell the Lie blog, diggin for some new tunes for the playlist today, and it seems Howie’s got a new album coming out soon. Now, I could give a shit less about that BUT it did remind me of him and his glorious one-man-guitar show of looping that he occasionally pulls out onstage. I don’t recall anything such as YouTube back in my college days so I was blessed with only shitty quality mp3’s of performances like this but seeing him in action really is awesome and cool to watch…

Even though I dig the whole thing, in all it’s reminescent glory, I recommend maybe skipping through Ghost and heading straight to the outro, Beams of Light. You’ll dig it, I’m sure :) …