Playground Music Center Panama City, FL

Welcome to Playground Music's second edition of Weekend Music Links. If you have any favorite blogs, message boards, videos, or sites you wish more people knew about send them our way. We love to get your feedback!

YOUTUBE TALENT

Beatboxing Flute


World's Fastest Guitar Player? - According to the Guinness Book of World Records-Yes. (admittedly not a Youtube link, but still video).

LINKS

If you're interested in forming a band, but don't know where to start check out Band Mix. Functioning like a classifieds or personals page for potential band members, the site could be a useful addition to your networking arsenal.

For trumpeters: Dave Douglas, a composer and famed trumpeter, maintains a blog with entries that span everything from Dave Grohl's latest project to brass happenings and composer news. Check it out at Green Leaf Music.

NEW ALBUMS

We're new to the music review scene, so we'll probably just be linking to other sites for the most part. If you consider yourself an expert on the topic, we'd love to have your input. The CD's this week have been getting some pretty favorable reviews on the whole, so if you have heard any of the below albums and disagree, we'd love to hear your thoughts.

Also, if there are albums you'd liked to see plugged here, let us know ahead of time. You can always visit Billboard to see what albums are being released, or if that list is too long (which it is), you can take a look at Metacritic's List.

Hard Rock
Killswitch Engage - Self-Titled (2009)
Fans of melodic metalcore should be pleased with KE's fifth album. Reviews on Ultimate Guitar.com are solid. Sonic Dice says that this album is definitely worth taking seriously and gives it a 5 out of 6. Hear their stuff on their MySpace page.

Alternative Rock
Wilco - Self-Titled (2009)
Wilco's new self-titled album is getting generally favorable reviews according to Metacritic. The consensus seems to be that though the album is not earth-shaking, it has enough in it to keep fans of the genre happy. A chances are, if you haven't heard of Wilco, then you are probably not a fan of the genre, but take a listen just the same at their MySpace page.

Electronic/Eclectic
Moby - Wait for Me
Moby's latest is also receiving fairly favorable reviews according to Metacritic. Moby says that he wanted to get back to the basics with this album, shooting less for commercial success than for artistic expression, so he recorded the album in his home. You can hear the album and read some of his musings on his website: Moby.com.

Country
Brad Paisley - American Saturday Night
The Washington Post extols American Saturday Night as being filled, for the most part, with songs that showcase Paisley's stirring delivery that is "full of feeling and fine-tuned to its emotional core." The Dallas News gives the album an A-. For samples and news visit Paisley's Blog.

Pop Rock
Rob Thomas - Cradle Song
Rolling Stone and the L. A. Times have praised Cradle Song as a surprising success in its attempt to merge various styles and appeal to a broad spectrum of listeners. Mikael Wood of the Times says, "What's surprising about "Cradlesong" is how rarely Thomas' please-'em-all attitude saps his music of its distinctive vitality." Visit Thomas' MySpace page to hear some sample songs.