weezer - Say it ain’t so

4:19 for April 19th

Undone and Buddy Holly were weezer’s first two hits, but this was their first single to announce to the world that Rivers was much more than just a quirky geek who was good with metaphors.

weezer - No One Else (live and acoustic)

3:29 for March 29th

This is probably my favorite live weezer performance of all time.

weezer - My Name Is Jonas

3:25 for March 25th

Sometimes this song still gives me goosebumps. It’s not my favorite weezer song but I do think it’s their signature song.

weezer - The Good Life

Just because I’m having a difficult month.

Cause everything I need is denied of me.
And everything I want is taken away from me.
But who do I got to blame?
Nobody but me.

weezer - devotion

3:12 for March 12th

Oh… Rivers.

weezer - Pork and Beans

3:09 for March 9th

Speaking of huge choruses… goddamn.

This song gets a bad rap for its lyrical content, but it’s really one of their best songs since the ’90s. I don’t know if that means the song is great or that their recent catalog is not-so-great - probably a bit of both.

weezer - Only in dreams (steelopus version) - arranged for Mallet Percussion Ensemble

It’s been a while since I’ve reposted this…

I arranged this 8 years ago, just as I was finishing up my undergrad Music Education degree.  It is essentially a note-for-note transcription of this classic song.  I was a trumpet major and a percussion minor and I dated an extremely talented marimba player for a while.  Her talents were what originally inspired me to explore mallet arrangement.

My experience with percussion, under the direction of the fantastic Dr. Kristin Shiner McGuire, introduced me to many a varried new technique, including my favorite which was bowed vibraphone.  When you bow the bars of a vibe, they emit a pure pitch that fades in and out (youtube example).  The first time I heard the technique, I immediately thought it sounded a lot like electric guitar feedback, and decided I would find a way to use it in that sense.  That spawned this project.

Unfortunately this recording is just a somewhat unfortunate MIDI version, but it gets the point across.

For years I’ve wanted to set up a live performance. Last week I saw the Eastman Percussion Ensemble perform and ever since I have been inspired and reinvigorated to make it happen.

Please let me know what you think!

weezer - waiting on you

I asked you if you had a good heart.
You answered: “Yes; I’ll never do you harm.” 

weezer - The Good Life

When was the last time you listened to pinkerton through a good set of headphones? I’m guessing it was too long ago.

It sounds like a completely different album - in all the best ways.

weezer - Velouria (Pixies Cover)

This was our first introduction to weezer with Mikey on bass. It’s also one of the 5 best post-pinkerton weezer releases.