Virtuosity

Happy New Year! This entire post is going to be off topic, but hopefully worth it; I will resume the usual ranting about how video cards are slowly turning our brain into string cheese later.

I think my favorite part of working for Laminar Research and being part of the X-Plane community is the friends I have made in the X-Plane community - X-Plane really does bring a great group of people together. While I lived in California, I met Jay Oliver, and actually lived not too far from him while I was in ATC school.

Here's the thing about Jay: he is a fabulous musician. In an age where music is "produced" and so much of what we hear is digitally manipulated, there's a lot to be said for listening to a human being who is simply astoundingly good with his or her instrument. It's an experience that can't be synthesized. It was always enjoyable to get a few drinks into Jay and put him down in front of the Piano and then just listen.

I've been listening to Jay's new album for a few days now, but Austin beat me to the punch, putting it on the X-Plane announce list. Jay set up his new website here, and his album is available for sale in CD or DRM-free mp3 format. You can also listen online right on the site.

Austin's usual diet is highly electronic, usually runs at about 180 beats per minute, and is the musical equivalent of shooting Jolt cola directly into your brain. What Jay does is completely different, and it's really something special.