Unexpected Gems

Recent Music that has captured my ear:

MUSE: The Resistance

Ok – so I have to confess – I first heard a MUSE song on C-SPAN.  Yes, C-SPAN.  I caught the end of a CPAC thing, and while I consider myself a conservative, some of those things are downright odd.  Glenn Beck was pontificating (not a fan btw) and the meeting/convention deal ended and the coolest song came on.  I would later learn it was “Uprising”.  Then I heard the same song on the promo spots for the TV show “V”.  A friend on Facebook then told me she really liked the album, “The Resistance”.  I checked it out on the now defunct Lala.com and was hooked.   Honestly I cannot stop listening to it.

Lyrically - it could easily be the soundtrack to the novel/movie 1984 – I mean seriously one of the tracks is called “The United States of Eurasia”.  Read the book if you don’t get the reference.

Musically - it’s like someone took Queen, ELO, Chopin, OneRepublic, Depeche Mode and Beethoven and made a perfect blend.

The three “act” symphony at the end is exquisite

Love it.

So I asked around and ended up buying their previous project: “Black Holes and Revelations” – great stuff.

The Killers – Live from Royal Albert Hall

This one was less “unexpected” in terms of the music in general, but since this is a CD/DVD the unexpected part comes in seeing what great showmen they are.  Granted most of the ‘show’ is Brandon, but this project gave me a new appreciation for the diversity of their music.

And as I’m always on the lookout for good new modern worship albums....

Here are a few (in no particular order) that keep drawing me back:

Rend Collective Experiment - Organic Family Hymnal
iTunes

ALM:UK – Name Above All Names
iTunes

Ascend the Hill – self title
iTunes

Lovelite – All Color
iTunes

Ian McIntosh – Alive
iTunes

United Pursuit Band – EP 

iTunes

And I’m very curious to hear John Mark McMillan’s “The Medicine”