... FOR "BIG DREAMS AND BOUGAINVILLEA" (AN ALBUM REVIEW OF LUCID 8 AND "AMERICAN EYESORE")

And now for something completely different here at FTWW... a full-on CD review of American Eyesore, debut album from local-band-makes-good Lucid 8. Drummer Jonny has been one of my closest friends for as long as I can remember, and I know he and the guys poured their hearts and souls into the project, so it pleases me to put in a plug for them here. (And, yes, I am fully aware of how self- serving that sounds.) Now excuse me while I try my hardest to sound like a rock critic...

When we're young, we all dream of becoming rock stars. It ranks up there with being a superhero, or an astronaut - surrounded by millions of adoring, screaming fans, worshipping at the altar of your very existence. Yet how many of us actually get to do the things we dream about? Breaking into the music business, believe it or not, can be just as difficult as learning to pilot the space shuttle or adopting super powers. For every artist that makes it, though (Imagine Dragons and fun. [formerly The Format] are recent examples, and even Belgian-Australian singer Gotye dabbled in the avante garde for nearly a decade before gaining international success with "Somebody I Used To Know"), there are literally hundreds who don't - timing, talent, and good old fashioned luck all playing a key factor in any artist's success.

... FOR "THE IRRESISTIBLE POP RHYTHMS OF GOTYE AND 'SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW'"

An odd post today, since I'm getting irritated with myself for procrastinating so much in between my regular week/two week updates to the site. Also, it's time I started living up to that "And Other Crap" sub-description for FTWW above. So here's the first in a series of sporadic mini-posts for you to mull over/discuss/complain about/whatever while you anxiously await the bigger, better stuff.

I'm warning you now: These really won't amount to much. Just a few short sentences and a video link or two to get some things off my chest - whenever the mood strikes me. Which will hopefully be often.

Today: How about a good old-fashioned music video for your viewing pleasure? More specifically, it's "Somebody That I Used To Know," by Belgian-Australian singer-songwriter Gotye (or "Wally" to his friends), which has been climbing the charts over the last few months both here and abroad. (A Twitter post from Ashton Kutcher, of course, helped a lot.)