Peter Nalitch — Guitar

Andy McKee

At one end of the spectrum there are those guitar players — the ‘social players’ — who’ll share a few chords round the campfire every once in a while and then pop it back in the cupboard until the next gathering. At the other end, there are those who sit in their bedroom throughout their adolescence grafting away at a Van Halen solo until their skin is grey and their fingers are worn to the bone. But that sort of dedication can pay off, as this piece of superhuman virtuoso-ing demonstrates.

John Butler Trio’s Oceans

This is a fantastic piece of guitar playing. The John Butler Trio have been tearing up the roots scene Down Under for years now, and you can see why. He looks like your average nu-age folk singer-songwriter, but his obvious deep-rooted connection to the guitar — as demonstrated by his staggering sense of rhythm and chord structure — are pretty exceptional.

Tallan Latz, eight year old guitar whiz

Six years of playing down the line, and I only recently nailed my first Clapton song. The joy and relief it brought to me and my parents, who forever politely smiled as I destroyed tune after tune, was palpable. So, it was with bitter jealousy that I watched this kid, eight-years-old, doing nothing less than laying waste to the fretboard. He’s already playing major venues, and they predict he’ll be an international name within a few years. Little s**t.

Papercraft Skull

Ravensblight, an old-school-looking website featuring tons of free internet knick-knacks, has a bunch of cool spapercraft models, including the skull above. Hopefully no one tries to put candles in them.

October posters from Alamo Drafthouse

I wish people gave presents on Halloween rather than Christmas — then I’d have asked someone to get me these awesome posters by Alamo Drafthouse available through Mandotees. Read more

Topaz Rags

California-based drums-bass-piano trio Topaz Rags may or may not have tumbled out of a desert roadhouse, but their sound evokes the kind of gleefully sinister goings-on you might imagine beneath thrumming bug zappers and a flickering neon glow after the bartender has locked the front door and Bubba has donned his purple cloak.