Best Musical finds 2012 / 2013

The best of the best of the best....sir...with honors

I’ve been told I listen to way too much music.  Maybe…  but some people watch too much football,  golf too much, Pintrest too much, fill in your vice here:
I __________________ too much _________________.

In my musical journeys, here are my favorite finds/listens this past year followed by some groups I'm starting to dig into here at the end of the year.

Many of these groups/bands/artists can be listened to on Spotify (embeded & links included). 

So if you're looking for good new music, perhaps you'll find something here that connects with you just right

Best Music  2012

OR click the following link and when Spotify opens you can click "shuffle" so you get a sampling of all the groups without listening to one entire album
(Best of 2012)

Obvious/Expected - bands I was expecting great music from

Muse – The 2^nd Law

Killers – Battle Born

Snow Patrol – Fallen Empires (released in ’11 but I just found it this year)

Future of Forestry – Young Man Follow

Shiny Toy Guns - III

New to me - bands I stumbled on and fell in love with

Pas Neos -  Wheat & the Tares / Who Do You Say I Am?

Among Savages – Wanderings of an Illustrative Mind

Paper Route – the Peace of Wild Things

Abandon – Control

Gotye – Making Mirrors

Michael Ketterer – Love/War/Solar System

Sound of Arrows - Voyage

Kimbra – Vows

Welcome Back / Returning to the Stage

Men Without Hats – Love in the Age of War

Worship

We Are Creation – We Are Creation

Young Oceans – Young Oceans

Brett Younker – Come to the Water

Christmas

Solid Rock – Gloria

Heading into 2013 … these are groups I’m test driving

The Hollow Threads

Scientist (not on Spotify yet)

Hey Ocean!

The Rival

Reign of Kindo

Kye Kye

All Sons & Daughters

Loud Harp

Young Galaxy

OR click the following link and when Spotify opens you can click "shuffle" so you get a sampling of all the groups without listening to one entire album
2013 Test Drive

BEST of 2011

Here are my picks for best finds of 2011 in books, music, tv and cinema… and some fails

[Not all of them released in 2011]

WINS:

BOOKS:

A Monster in the Hollows (F) – Andrew Peterson
- If you or your kids are fans of the fiction of Tolkien, Lewis, Rowling, Riordan, do yourself a favor and get this series now – you will not be disappointed!!

Erasing Hell (NF) – Francis Chan
- A well written rebuttal to Rob Bell’s “Love Wins”.  Having read both books, Chan makes a much more compelling, theologically faithfully sound and historically accurate case.

Imaginary Jesus (F/NF)– Matt Mikalatos
- captivating from page 1, but with a relatively weak ending, I liked it over all.

The Tehran Initiative (F) – Joel C. Rosenberg
- the latest in Rosenberg’s political thriller series once again predicts headlines before they happen.

SONG:

“Where the Streets Have No Name” (Acoustic Cover) – 30 Seconds to Mars and a gospel choir.
- do I even have to say another word?

FULL ALBUMS:

JOSH GARRELS – Love & War & the Sea in Between
- wow!  So, so , so good (and as of this writing still completely free online at his website)  Haunting, plaintive, worshipful with a dash of hip hop every now and then.  Think of a modern, artsy, Jesus-loving, Gordon Lightfoot

GUNGOR – Ghosts Upon the Earth
If you took Gungor, Sufjan Stevens, Glen Hansard/Marketa Irglova and Enter the Worship Circle and threw them into a blender, you would get “Ghosts Upon the Earth.”  … and I love it!

ARADHNA – Namaste Sate
- Learned of this group just before our team went to India.  Great Indian music with Christ exalting lyrics

ANYA MARINA
- came across her EP on noisetrade.com and ended up buying her previous project.  Fun, quirky, infectious, emotive pop for date nights and long car trips.

DAFT PUNK -  TRON:Legacy
- There are many who saw this movie as nothing more than well executed eye candy, but if you’ve followed this blog, you know I whole-heartedly disagree with that.  One of the reasons being this soundtrack

ECHOING GREEN: In Scarlet & Vile
Big EG fan from way back.  Synth pop. This album hit me at just the right time I guess

YEASAYER – Odd Blood
- I have my friend Justin to thank for introducing me to this group.  Welcome back to the 80’s new wave.  There are moments where this feels like a lost Oingo Boingo album in all the best possible ways.

SHINY TOY GUNS – We Are Pilots
Not a new album.. but new to me.  This is the group who covered “Major Tom” for those car commercials.  Again, wonderfully 80’s… though  you should know there is both a ‘clean’ version and a version with a quiet, but strong profanity in one track

CHRISTMAS MUSIC:

ENFIELD – God of God
- A great refreshing take on standard carols and original songs.  My respect keeps climbing for Enfield

STEPHANIE SEEFELDT – Cradle & Cross
- when I learned my friend Stephanie was recording another (‘official’) Christmas project I was delighted.  When I heard it, I was so thankful for her gifts and skills once again.  Worshipful and tender.

VINEYARD UK – Christmas from the Vineyard
- great take on some standard carols and a some very cool arrangements of very old songs

CINEMA:

BOLLYWOOD
- pretty much as a whole.  The silly stories with their predictable formulas, punctuated with musical numbers that make you want to wobble your head and dance. 

Super 8
- I could have done without all the profanities, but this was such a hearkening back to movies I loved as a 12 year old – Goonies meets Close Encounters.  That magic I felt back in the dog days of summer, escaping the heat and reality by spending a few hours in the cinema?  That.  All over again.

Captain America: The First Avenger
- I was hoping I would like this movie and I was not disappointed.  From the camera work to the dialogue, it felt like a throwback to 40’s cinema – which works perfectly since that is the time period a majority of it is set in.  Great blend of action, humor and romance.

Rango
- We rented it and I laughed my head off


Battle:L.A.
Great, military-gritty, sci-fi film.  The honor of self-sacrifice on display time and time again.

Monsters
- Not the Pixar “Monsters, Inc.”,  the film by Gareth Edwards.  A GREAT low-budget indie sci-fi film where the alien invasion element takes a backseat to the characters dealing with the situation and their story arcs.   Not just Special FX  or high paced action.
(Six years after aliens invaded Earth, a security force maintains tenuous control in the Infected Zone straddling the U.S.-Mexican border. Andrew, a photo journalist, is documenting this war-torn area when he's interrupted by an unexpected rescue mission. Sam, the daughter of a media mogul who just happens to be his boss, needs an escort home, and Andrew reluctantly takes on the job.)

The Muppets
- just saw it today…  it got a 97% “fresh” rating on Rottentomatoes.com…and I laughed quite a bit,  but I’d put this Muppet installment at about #5 of all the Muppet movies.  I’m just going to say I love that the Muppets are back and I hope it’s for more than just this movie.

Where were Rizzo & Pepe? *sigh*

TELEVISION:

To be honest, this was the year we mostly moved away from network TV and just began watching shows via Netflix… there’s just so much poor quality stuff on TV… and I don’t just mean content .

DOCTOR WHO!!!!!!
This was such a huge find that the good Doctor has replaced the Star Wars saga for me.  That’s right – I’m posting my SW collection on eBay.  Don’t need it.  Why the change?  It has to do with storytelling.  Are there silly aliens mixed with the scary like in SW?  yes.  But Dr. Who (while much more professional today in its FX work than say the 80’s) does not rely on FX for its stories.  Star Wars started great, but has become a palette for Lucas to do FX experiments.  Trade routes?  Yawn. Gungans? Bother!  Lightsaber overkill? Ugh.
I’ll take a Doctor with a blue flashlight that we’re convinced is a sonic screwdriver that can fix most things simply by shining it’s light and making the wzwzwzwzw sound.  Dr. Tennant & Rose captured my heart. 

Don’t. Blink.

And I think I will pass on the Adipose, thankyouverymuch.

So 2011 – was  great year for entertainment… but there also were some disappointments…

tvb – TSOOL.
I love this band and artist so much that I can’t even bring myself to list the band name or album title.  I was so excited for this project… and then what I heard was so unlike everything I loved about the band.  I guess maybe I could listen again… maybe.

X-Men: First Class
- gather your stones now… I was totally unimpressed.  As an X-Men comics fan, there was so much continuity that was just thrown out the window it was like having someone hand you a McDonalds breakfast burrito and calling it a Taco Bell chalupa

FAILS

Skyline
- GREAT trailer.  Awful, awful movie.  Seriously so bad that one reviewer said, “When other films are critiqued in the future, they will be able to say, ‘at least it’s ending wasn’t as bad as Skyline’”  Yep – it was that laughably bad.

Star Wars on Blu Ray
I’ll try to say this kindly:  Epic. Colossial. Fail.
Having placed a pre-order the day these went up for sale, I promptly cancelled it when I learned of the changes Lucas made.  With the above mentioned Gungans, bad storytelling, overuse of CGI & lightsabers and increasing potty humor, I had started to drift away from SW – not even the (slowly degenerating) Clone Wars cartoon is of interest anymore.

Here was the promised “own every moment” in 1080p.  But wait.  Some of those moments have changed – for the worse.  (Krayt dragon call? Wha? Moving rocks? Noooooooooo!) Some of the promised fixes to rotoscoping sabers correctly, better color correction, etc. never happened.  And now all the bonus deleted scenes are on Youtube, which themselves are pretty ho-hum.

Angels & Airwaves – Love part II & film
I liked AvA’s I-Empire album a LOT. So it was natural to get Love:Part I when they made it available online… and hey… FREE!  Similar music, and the anticipation of a film that was to come.  An artsy film looking at the existence of God… hmmmm.  Once Love:Part II leaked online, I was able to peruse the album lyrics.  I guess Tom DeLong has concluded that the God Christians know and follow is a big lie that we’ve made up.
Well, there’s more money I can save.  I do still plan to rent the film because it does look interesting.

Here’s to a great 2012!  And, no – the world will not be ending in Dec. of 2012.

Christmas Music 2010 recommendations

junk·ie also junk·y (j ng k ). n. pl. junk·ies Slang. 

 2. One who has an insatiable interest or devotion:

I guess you could say I am a Christmas music junkie.  The spiritual Christmas songs – not the snowman, fatman, flying mammal, consumer-orgiastic-feel-good-snowflakes-and sleigh-bells ones (for the most part).

Why am I a Christmas music junkie?

Part of it is that I love the truths that these great songs remind us of.  Of God come in the flesh in great humility to ransom a rebellious creation because of His tender mercies.

Part of it is the joy of finding new classics like:
“Emmanuel” – JJ Heller
“Christ is Come” – Big Daddy Weave
“2000 Decembers Ago” – Joy Williams

“Light of the Stable” – Selah
“Mary Did You Know?” – Mark Lowry… now sung by everyone and Susan Boyle

“This Winter’s Night” – Kevin Marks

“Babe in the Straw” – The Choir

“Everything Changed” – NorthPoint

“Here With Us” – Joy Williams
“Once Upon a Christmas” – Dolly Parton

and a bunch of others…

Part of it is discovering ‘lost’ gems – like this year’s finding of “Taladh Chriosda” which I can tell you right now will be featured during our Christmas Eve services.

Part of it is the fresh and creative takes on the great ‘standard’ carols. How do you take a cherished and beloved song and breathe new life into it without messing it up?  There are some who would say you should never even try – to them I say… “and a Bah! Humbug! to you!”

If you are looking to add to your collection this Advent and Christmas season I would humbly suggest the following new finds, most of which are available via the links to iTunes or amazon or emusic.  Some even exist on those old fashioned plastic silver round things that a laser has to hit to make sound.

BRAND NEW

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North Point – Christmas

Genre: modern worship

Really great original stuff alongside refreshed classic carols.  Vibrant, upbeat mix lends itself to worship in a full band context.

Where to listen/purchase: itunes  amazon

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JJ Heller – Wake Up the World (EP)

genre: intimate indie folk

Even though it came out in 2007, I just found this one a month or so ago, so I’m putting it in ‘new’ – like the new used car you just bought.  It’s ‘new to me’.

Such a delightfully warm acoustic album with depth that resonates the essence of the Nativity story.

Her reworked version of We Three Kings (“Star of Wonder”) is why I love artists who refresh older songs.

Even though there are just 5 songs, the album easily worth the $4.95 at iTunes.  I would pay double that.

So, so, so good.  Just buy it now.

Where to listen/purchase: itunes  amazon

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Andy Gullahorn & Jill Phillips – Christmas

Genre: acoustic-y folk

“Intimate” and “worshipful” are the best words to describe this project.  This would be perfect playing in your favorite coffee shop this holiday.  Some very cool original songs, and very sweet new arrangement of a hymn I had never heard: “Nations That Long in Darkness Walked”

Also includes “Christmastime is Here” and “Baby It’s Cold Outside”

Where to listen/purchase: The Rabbit Room

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Phil Wickham – Songs for Christmas

genre: lush, intimate, pop

I have appreciated Phil’s heart for worship married to fresh creativity for many years now.  This project wasn’t even on my radar, but based on previous experiences I bought it immediately.  It’s good.. and creative… but some of the arrangements don’t work for me.  “Silent Night” has a country-lounge feel that I just don’t connect with.  But the introspective and sparse “O Come O Come Emmanuel” does.  Same with his rendition of “O Holy Night” – which is one of my favorite songs, period.  Christmas or not.

Overall a tender and lush album – apart from Silent Night.

Where to listen/purchase: phil wickham website

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Future of Forestry – Advent Christmas EP., Vol. 2

Genre: experimental, semi shoe-gazer, alt worship

Their first “Advent” EP is an essential part of my Christmas listening.   The beauty, majesty and creativity of that project is off. the. charts.  The arrangements are artful and out-of-the-box without being gimmicky. And the live DVD proves they have the chops to pull it all off live.

This second project continues that creative vibe and sounds like they’ve taken some of the best elements of Sufjan Steven’s ‘Age of Adz’ experiments and woven them into these reworked classics.

‘Joy to the World’ blended with ‘All Creatures of our God and King’ – whoa – who saw that coming?

And a rock and organ ballad version of ‘Pie Jesu’?  it works!

Eric Owyoung and TJ Hill continue to impress me.

Where to listen/purchase: iTunes 

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Jenny & Tyler – Love Came Down: A Christmas EP

Genre: indie acoustic coffee shop folk

Grab a couple friends, a guitar, a banjo, some fun old organ, bass and a drummer and passionate vocalists and a Christmas chord book and you have this project.

I stumbled upon this gem through my subscription to eMusic.

Tender and acoustic.

LOVE their arrangement of “For Unto Us a Child is Born” – love it.

Where to listen/purchase: iTunes    eMusic

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HONORABLE MENTIONs:

Kemper Crabb – Downe in Yon Forest

genre: Middle Ages

While not technically new this year, it is new to me.  This collection of Medieval songs performed on period instruments opens a new window into ancient expressions from centuries ago.  As stated above “Taladh Chriosda (The Christ Child Lullaby)” will be sung for our Christmas Eve services.

If you prefer your music well aged – like at least 500 years or older – pick up this album.  Do yourself a favor and get the CD/DVD package.

Where to listen/purchase: iTunes  amazon

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Mychael Danna - The Nativity Story soundtrack

genre: soundtrack, classical

If you've seen the movie, you understand why this is a must.  Danna's subtle at times, but gloriously present weaving of traditional carols into the musical narrative of this film is at once sublime and powerful.

I cannot listen to "Silens Nox" without crying at the end.

Where to listen/purchase: iTunes  amazon

Enjoy and a most Merry Christmas to you!

What are the Adz/Odds?

Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz

I first was introduced to Sufjan (Soof‘– ee- yahn) Stevens when a friend suggested I listen to his Christmas boxed set.  I was hooked.  The rawness, the genuineness of the project captivated me.  The beautifully simple instrumentation and arrangements, not only of traditional carols and quirky original songs, but the selected non-Christmas hymns were refreshing: stripped-down arrangements, often featuring banjo as lead instrument.  Delightful.

I had heard he was a professing Christian, and let’s face it – much of the ‘Christian’ market is oversaturated with sound-alikes and not a whole lot of originality.  Notable exceptions do exist, but typically by artists on independent labels who are less concerned with being called a ‘Christian band’ and more content to create great art that also reflects a Christian worldview.  Artists like The Autumn Film, Future of Forestry, Lovelite and others.

I began to listen to some of Sufjan’s other songs on Youtube.  His song ‘John Wayne Gacy’  eerily and grimly reflects a firm grasp on Calvin’s posit of ‘total depravity'.

When I heard that Sufjan was releasing an EP called ‘All Delighted People’, I purchased and downloaded it  right away.  Very Sufjan.  Very Quirky.  Very creative.

Some friends invited my wife and I to attend a Sufjan concert in Minneapolis and I jumped at the opportunity. 

Then, a week prior to the concert Sufjan released his newest full length album ‘The Age of Adz’ (pronounced ‘odds’).  His website indicated that many of the songs were inspired by his recent discovery of an obscure artist – Royal Roberts.

Sufjan was offering two of the songs for free download on his bandcamp page, so I downloaded them, expecting the same quirky, folksy, banjo-acoustic, indie sound.  Wow, was I wrong.

I hesitated to purchase the new album since I was unsure I would like it.  A Facebook friend really didn’t like it – a guy whose opinion I usually share on music.

Amazon was doing a $3.99 special on it and I thought.. “well, it’s only $3.99…and I AM going to want to know some of these new songs prior to the concert.”

Good call.

I’m not exactly sure how to describe Sufjan’s latest work, but knowing some of Royal Roberts history helps.

I was expecting acousti-indie-folk.  And the first song delivers.  But then… whooo what a turn.  I was not expecting the synths and meandering cacophonous moments that break the front door in, and at first I bristled.  I also wasn’t expecting a 25 minute closing ‘song’ that is way too hard to describe right now.

My best description of it is that album is like Sufjan has been listening to the Flaming Lips’ “Yoshimi” album as well as some Blue Man Group stuff and building on those in some unique ways.  It is not for the casual “where’s the radio friendly pop song?” listener.  It requires time to grow on you… seeing the songs live in concert helps.

The concert is very multimedia heavy.  Images on back screens and front mesh screens and backup singers doing interpretive dance and the 80’s breakout section and what was that big cardboard diamond thing that descended from on high?

It had its Cirque du Soleil moments, and vacillated between tender acoustic songs and what sounded like someone pushed an entire high school band down 4 flights of stairs.  My friend Justin once described the movie ‘Speed Racer’ as having ‘molten Skittles poured into your eyes.”  This was kind of like that.

[Aside: what an eclectic audience – hipsters and neo-lumberjacks and college indie kids with the hip cool glasses and… well, guys like me who just grabbed a comfy sweatshirt and jeans.]

I love when artists give you a little history of a song – especially if that song is a bit ambiguous in it’s lyric.  I appreciate good poetry whose meaning needs to be plumbed.  But a straight-forward ‘this is why I wrote this song’ or ‘this is what this song is about’ helps too.

And in the case of ‘Age of Adz’ these revelatory moments moved me to appreciate the music even more.

Justin’s wife, Julie, and I were talking in the van ride home about how Royal Roberts was an odd choice for inspiration and she made a wonderful statement I wish I could remember verbatim.  In essence she noted that his life, while very tragic, still produced beauty and art, and how that illuminates hope.

Additionally, Sufjan shared that his new song Vesuvius is about “standing on the edge of a volcano and needing to decide whether to jump in or not” and how he decided not to jump in.  He was speaking metaphorically about life and death and the struggle or temptation surrounding Hamlet’s dilemma – “to be or not to be.”  Starkly honest to tell your audience you have contemplated suicide and decided to choose life.

In light of Roberts’ life and this revelation – the musical backdrop to the songs makes perfect sense.  Musically, you experience what the conflicted mind does. There is tragedy and confusion and moments John Cage would love.  And yet, there is beauty and there is hope.

At the concert Sufjan shared that the song “Get Real, Get Right” was penned to Royal Roberts and to remind himself of reality:

“Get real, get right / For you will not be distracted by the signs/ Do not be distracted
by them /Do yourself favor and get real /Get right with the Lord”

If you’re considering checking this work out, you can stream the whole thing here (as of 10-24-2010).

I do have one non-musical beef with Sufjan: track 10 “I Want to Be Well” contains a repeated strong profanity.  To my knowledge this is a first for Sufjan. With his great lyrical prowess, this just seemed unnecessary and lazy.

While not my usual fare, this has really grabbed me. And quite frankly, I can’t get most of these songs out of my head.

The Twelve CDs of Christmas

So you’re looking for a new, meaningful, refreshing Christmas album this year?

I humbly submit the following “Twelve CDS of Christmas”*

(no particular order)

      1.    Noel – Hindalong, Daugherty, et al.

   So unique, so blissfully wonderful

      2.    Carol – American Boychoir

    Was this CD created in heaven and floated down to earth like a snowflake?

      3.    Come, Let Us Adore Him – Various

                    Some really wonderful original songs

      4.    Holy Night – Kevin Max

                    Creative and quirky

      5.    Christmas Songs [box set] – Sufjan Stevens

    Honest, raw, real and hey!  Banjo!

      6.    Your King Has Come – Various

                  More beautiful arrangements and standout original tunes.  Best version of Silent Night. ever.

      7.    Peace on Earth – Casting Crowns

                  This is a bar setter in terms of refreshing the songs without totally changing them

      8.    Lost Christmas Eve – Trans-Siberian Orchestra

                  You must read the story that comes packaged with the CD to really get the power of this album

      9.    Humble King – Vineyard Music

                  Great standards, some old forgotten tunes and some great songs from around the world.
                 Also my first introduction to one of the best Christmas Carols ever written –
                “The Wexford Carol”

10. Christmas Portrait – Carpenters

                        seriously, how could this not make the list?

      11. Christmas Songs – Diana Krall

                jazzy, cool and comforting

      12. Merry Christmas – Johnny Mathis

               Childhood nostalgia

*exceptions:

-- The album “The Word Incarnate” by Stephanie Seefeldt (née: Martens) will always
    make my favorite Christmas albums – there’s so much of who I am wrapped into
    the album.  It is unfortunately no longer available

-- “Behold the Lamb: The True Tall Tale of the Coming of Christ” by Andrew Peterson is so much more than a ‘Christmas’ CD that I play it throughout the year.  Yes, it is Christmas, but it is just such an awesome worship project that I can’t relegate it to just a Christmas list

Holiday Novelty – perennial faves that are fun, but not Christ focused:

        ·      Christmas in the Stars – A Star Wars Christmas
     (pure cheese and really nothing to do with Christ)

        ·      Muppets & John Denver – A Christmas Together
       here comes the fun

        ·      Muppet Christmas Carol Soundtrack

             Still my favorite version of the Dickens classic

looking for new tunes?

a few humble suggestions....

a no-brainer, and some new discoveries

THE NO BRAINER:

Matt Redman - We Will Not Be Shaken
The sound:come on... it's Matt Redman!!!
I have loved Matt's material since "The Friendship & the Fear". Lyrical depth, theological depth, poetic. Some critics said that Matt's last album was a return after the somewhat panned "Facedown." "Facedown" was and still is a fantastic album. It didn't have your standard formulaic church-friendly, same 4 chord tunes and I think that was it's strength.  "Beautiful News" is a great album and if it was considered a 'return to form' then this project may delight you too.  This album likewise (and thankfully) weaves in some wonderful atypical chord changes.  Matt touches on themes of the stability of faith and God's faithfulness in light of a world that seems to be 'shaking'; falling apart.  To be honest I was hoping to like this more.  Tracks that stood out immediately were: "We Shall Not Be Shaken", "The Glory of our King" & "For Your Glory" and the powerful "Gloria" which our church will likely be singing at some point in the near future.  The closing song "My Hope" is a beautifully haunting song which borrows a few verses from the old hymn "The Solid Rock" (most commonly called 'On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand').  All in all a worthwhile disc - especially if you are a fan of Matt's work.

THE SURPRISES:

Glenn Packiam - Rumors & Revelations
The sound: Chris Tomlin, some Crowder-esque moments, Desperation Band
I stumbled across this disc by accident. I saw Glenn's message "Secondhand Jesus" and learned he had written a book of the same title (which at some point I'll review that on this blog) That find led me to his tie in project "Rumors & Revelations". Good stuff. I have come to learn that some of these songs have been released previous by Gateway / Desperation Band and Phillips, Craig & Dean, but they are given a new freshness here and still are strong songs. good lyrics here.  If you're looking for 'modern worship' music, you should click through to his page and give the samples a listen.

Jason Gray - Everything Sad is Coming Untrue (Special Edition)
The sound: worshipful acoust-electro-folk & pop (Rembrandts, Steven Curtis Chapman, Andrew Peterson)
This album is characterized by confession, brokeness, hope, humor, and the Gospel's power to transform lives just as sure as the spring can heal the worst ravages of the winter. So here's my confession: I had heard "Blessed Be", but had not bought Jason's previous album. When a local radio station asked if we'd host him in concert we agreed... and then I heard the song "For the First Time Again" - I cannot express to you the impact of this song on my life. Actually I can, but I'm not going to. Hearing Jason's heart during the concert and being extremely impressed with his Lyrics I knew I needed to get the disc... and not just to support the artist I had just seen in a free concert. This music has intellectual & spiritual depth of lyric; the lyrics are poignant, timely, healing, encouraging, worshipful and challenging. If you're wondering if the Special Edition is worth the extra $$ - without a doubt yes it is!
This album will fit very perfectly in the annals of songwriters like Andrew Peterson, Rich Mullins, Michael Card, Fernando Ortega. Yup - it's that good. "For the First Time Again", "I am New" and "Jesus, Use Me I'm Yours" are all quickly vying for a spot on my top 10 all time favorite song list.

The Glorious Unseen - The Hope That Lies in You
I saw this online for $6 (!) and thought from the samples I heard, "well it's worth it to take a chance". Suffice it to say that this will be very heavily listened to by me for a very long time.
The sound: Everything that is right with modern worship music. A few names to make the connect more immediate: The Choir, The Violet Burning, The Cure, Phil Wickham, Something Like Silas.
File this under "gut-level worship in an atmospheric modern rock setting." The disc beautifully walks the lines of lament and praise, desperation and hope. Modern psalms. The inclusion of worship choir on the latter half of the album serves like sunshine piercing the dark clouds of a storm just passed.  Tough questions are raised and addressed to God, but remind me of the cries of the psalmists and likewise of the souls of the martyrs under the Throne asking, "How long?"  It was cool to see that "How He Loves" was covered, and while I think Crowder made a very judicious and artful lyric change, the live recording by Kim Walker of Jesus Culture remains my favorite recording of John Mark McMillan's simple, yet poetically profound heartsong.

Matt Papa - Your Kingdom Come
The sound:  Music that is art and steps out of the box, while artfully maintaining theological integrity.  Those looking for something more than the cookie cutter 'praise industry' album should check out this disc.  It's not as boundary pushing as a Sufjan Stevens or even the aforementioned Glorious Unseen.. but more along the lines of Leeland.
Are there 'standard format' songs?  sure.  But Papa is a refreshing new voice and sound.  I guess I'd say this is a kind of like a more singable Crowder.  I love Crowder but sometimes his songs are so artsy/experimental that singability is an issue.
The opening track "Hallelujah, Our God Reigns" is worth the price of admission by itself.  Papa plays piano, guitar and bass on many of the tracks.  It's cool to hear this style of music led from piano.



I also got the 5 advance downloads of the new Trans-Siberian Orchestra album "Night Castle" today - but I'll wait until the full album drops to review it.  Oh and I got 12th row floor tickets to their Christmas show.  Can't. wait.

..and my friend Andy is trying to get me hooked on Lettuce. I think it's working.

upcoming CDs

another great fall for music is coming

Confirmed projects on the "to get" list:

"summer 09" - Trans-Siberian Orchestra - The Night Castle
AUG 11 - Starflyer59 - Ghosts of the Past
AUG 18 - Mutemath - Armistice
AUG 25 - Matt Papa - Your Kingdom Come
AUG 25 - Matt Redman - We Shall Not Be Shaken
SEPT 22 - David Crowder*Band - Church Music
OCT 06 - Chris Tomlin - Glory in the Highest (Christmas)
TBD - Goo Goo Dolls - ?
DEC 25 - Angels & Airwaves - Love (will be released for FREE)

bands I have yet to buy but am seriously considering.... seriously:
Death Cab for Cutie
Snow Patrol
Frou Frou

and new albums I'd love to see (but are not remotely confirmed):
The Violet Burning (studio album)
100 Portraits
Venus Hum
Fleming & John
Saviour Machine - LEGEND III:II (just release it already!)

or are we dancer?

Every now and then I buy a new CD to expand my library. Often this is based on one song I heard on the radio, a Youtube link..whatever. Rarely do I find a CD that I love the entirety of having only heard one song prior to purchase.

here are a few recent ones:

I-Empire by Angels & Airwaves

The Now and Not Yet by Jeremy Riddle - though to be fair I had Jeremy's last CD and loved it... so

and now Day & Age by The Killers

I bought this disc because I love, love, love the song "All These Things That I've Done" from their previous album. I had hoped to find just one more like it on the CD. Wow was I surprised.

The reasons I love this disc/album are:
1.) overall 80's vibe - you just can't go wrong with 80's vibe
- there are hints and smatterings of ELO, Talking Heads, David Bowie, Cars, Peter Gabriel, Blondie... maybe it's because frontman & main lyricist Brandon Flowers is also the keyboard player. This just naturally lends itself to loving 80's music with its synth rich, synth driven, lush, multi layered, anthem singalong songs. And the Killers pull this off without sounding retro - this is as fresh as tomorrow. yeah. that's it.

oh, and Flowers has said he was influenced by the Pet Shop Boys - so, one more point in the "I-knew-I-liked-this" category

b.) diversty. I love how the straight ahead rock songs sit nicely next to the pop songs, which feel at home with the funk swagger tunes (Joy Ride will remind you immediately of Blondie's "Rapture") and then comes the brooding Cure-like "Good Night, Travel Well'.

I'd highly recommend getting the deluxe version through iTunes with 2 bonus tracks.

There are a few mild profanities... well, better said, the word "damn" is used once appropriately and once out of context, but otherwise it's a brilliant album.

[VIDEO for "human"]


yeah I don't totally get the chorus, but I still really like it - and the rest of the album.

oh and one last thing... Flowers voice makes me think he could have so easily been a famous singer in the 1920's - 1930's. It just adds to the overall charm of the band...