poke it with a stick. music

newsboys: born again

2010-08-04T17:43:00.001-07:00

looks like there has been another shake up in the newsboys line up! newsboys is a group that has been changing members for a long time, back when i first started listening to them, right around 'take me to your leader', it was five guys with lead singers were john james and peter furler. over the course of their career the band has gotten many different members and even some different lead singers. i thought they hit their stride around the 'step up to the microphone' and 'love liberty disco' phase, which are my favorites. as the years went on they lost some direction as a band, putting out some pretty generic work, but they found their direction again with their worship albums. after that they floundered again with a couple forgettable albums (especially 'in the hands of God', very bland). turns out, it was time for them to change it up again. this time their lead singer, peter furler, left the band. it looked like it was time for the 'boys' to wrap it up and call it a career. then they found a new lead singer in the form of michael tait, one of the former lead singers of d.c. talk. i wasnt sure what to make of this radical change. even though they had mixed up their line up before, they still kept their basic sound. this was going to change everything! i had loved tait in d.c. talk, and even enjoyed a couple of his solo albums under the band name 'tait', but i wasnt sure if his sound fit with the newsboys. turns out, i didnt have anything to worry about! the latest album, fittingly titled 'born again', shows the 'boys' back at it, and the influence of michael tait has reinvigorated all of them, it seems. this album is fantastic! the first single 'born again' is so catchy and wonderful that you cant help but love it! well, it looks like that song wasnt a fluke- the whole album is amazing! as i look through the song list, i cant even pick out a favorite. 'one shot' is a lot of fun, 'way beyond myself' is really catchy, 'when the boys light up' is good old fashioned newsboys fun, and the rest are great as well. the only misstep on the album was the choice to rerecord an old d.c. talk song 'jesus freak'. that one was great for its time, but has not aged well... and if you are going to rerecord it, at least give us something new- it sounds exactly like the original. fortunately, the other 11 tracks are so much fun that one misstep can be forgiven. the newsboys certainly have been 'born again', and better than ever!

U2: no line on the horizon

2010-04-27T10:23:00.000-07:00

ive like U2 for a while now. i didnt get into them until they released the album 'pop' (which i realize i am in the vast minority here, but think is their best album so far). i loved the resurgence they had at the beginning of the decade with 'all that you cant leave behind', but was pretty disappointed with 'how to dismantle an atomic bomb'. due to that disappointment, i didnt plan on picking up this newest album. that, and the dislike of their first single off this disc 'get on your boots'. well, with some encouraging from my old roommate sean, i gave it a listen. turns out that its pretty good! after listening to it a couple times through i was hooked. i guess bono's still got it! there are some real stand out songs in this album, such as the title song and 'i'm going to go crazy if i dont go crazy tonight'. they are good old U2 at their best! which begs the question: who is picking the lead single for these guys?!? after spending a month or two listening to this album exclusively and really enjoying it, i must say that 'get on your boots' is one of the weakest songs on the album! why would they put their weakest 'boot' forward? (pun intended...) i'm sure there are a lot of fans who heard that one on the radio and, like me, gave the album a pass. they missed out on some really great U2 songs because of that poor first single selection. well, hopefully they are in the studio again getting ready for the next album, and this time they wont make the same mistakes...

joy electric: favorites at play

2009-11-08T20:14:00.001-08:00

ahh! a new full length joy electric album at last! its great to have some new material from joy electric, but with this album there is one catch: its not original material, its an album of cover songs. now, i'm not saying thats bad, i'm just saying its not as good as hearing ronnie martin's own stuff.
this collection is a set of cover songs from some of today's bigger bands, its not old songs, but rather ronnie's take on songs from the last few years. he covers everything from fiest's '1,2,3,4' to coldplay's 'viva la vida'. it's pretty interesting to hear syth versions of many of these songs, but the problem is that i am not really up to date on what is on the radio anymore. i have a cd player in my car, so i rarely listen to the radio, so much of these tunes are new to me. since i'm not that familiar with the original material, the songs tend to sound a bit out of place with the usual joy electric sound. the thing about joy electric's catalog of music is that it is very unique and out there. to put his sound on something that is pretty standard, like a rock song, it seems like he is limiting himself by having to play by someone else's rules. some of the songs, like keane's 'somewhere only we know' fall flat and are pretty bland. but then there are some others, some of the songs are so beautiful in their original form that ronnie is able to take these gems and polish them with his own sound and create something magical. the best example of this is the song 'falling slowly' from the 'once' soundtrack. i would not have thought this simple song, originally played on an acoustic guitar and piano, would lend itself to the techy sound of a synth, but it becomes something more than it was. the song soars to new heights, and digs even deeper with ronnie's emotional vocals. the ethereal sound of it is pure paradise. also, its nice to see him collaborating on the album with his wife, who plays a moog synth on some of the songs.
some of the covers are bland, but songs like 'falling slowly' are reimagined in such an amazing new way that the album is worth owning purely for that one song!

relient k: forget and not slow down

2009-10-07T15:57:00.000-07:00

these guys can do no wrong! their first studio album since 'five score and seven years ago' finds these guys a little older, a little wiser, and life a lot more complicated. the lyrics on this album are just as amazing as the rest of their stuff, but there is a bit of a shift from light hearted word play, to more soulful introspection. the title song sounds breezy, but the lyrics about breaking up and forgetting to examine yourself and learn from it are very poignant. the rest of the album flows from this well, examining life from different situations and trying to understand what it means. there are quite a few transition songs that lead from one tune to the next, making the whole album one that must be listened to all the way through. the highlight of the album is the song 'sahara' and its transition into the beautiful 'savannah', which feels like a trip from the desert into a beautiful prairie, as the names would suggest. the vocals from matthew theissen (who is also the chief songwriter) seem more matured and poetic this time through. gone are the vocalizations that the band started with in its pop-punk sound, they are replaced with the melodic yearnings we now hear from a band that has more than hit its stride, they are at an all out sprint! can these guys possibly get any better? i, for one, am more than willing to find out!

black lab: give us sugar

2009-09-08T20:53:00.000-07:00

ever since college i have been a fan of black lab. when they first came out it was right during the hay day of 90's rock grunge (which is my favorite!), they had a couple hits on the radio which were really cool. when i lived with rex at college he had their 'your body above me' album and we would rock out to it regularly. the problem, though, was that they never came out with a follow up. a few years later rex and i were talking about music and black lab came up. i thought 'dude, we should totally check and see if they have put out anything else since their first one!' so i did a little online searching (i would say i googled it, but this was before google...) and found that they had released a five song disc with a few songs from what they would eventually release. i got rex and i each a copy of it and it was amazing! the short sampler, called 'i feel fine', was amazing and reminded us both why black lab rocks so much! since then they have released two full length albums, which i have also gotten from their website. i even signed up for the email newsletters that the lead singer/songwriter paul puts out sometimes(i'm a major dork, i know). over the summer i got an email from the lead singer and he said that he was going to make a couple hundred double disc albums of some of the band's unreleased stuff. i quickly ordered myself a copy and got one of the first prints of the album! it is really good too. there are over thirty tracks on it, some of them are extra songs from different recording sessions that didn't quite make it on the albums they were recorded for, some are rough demos of songs that he did release, and others were songs featured on movie soundtracks. there are many gems in the bunch, but the best part is being able to hear paul's different takes on some of the songs, hearing them in their rough forms, and listening to some of the more unusual songs that didn't fit the albums they were written for. its a ton of music, and a really cool look into the different branches the band has taken.

owl city: maybe i'm dreaming

2009-09-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

i came across this band in a fairly strange way. one of my former students gave me this cd. now, my students know i love joy electric because we listen to it often while they are working on homework. she must have remembered that and thought that owl city sounded similar, so she gave the cd to her little brother who is still a student. she attached a little note saying how much she loved this band and thought i might too. boy, was she right! she actually gave me the cd 'maybe i'm dreaming', and owl city's newest cd 'ocean eyes'. for some reason i just happened to pop in 'maybe i'm dreaming' first, not really aware that it was their first album. from the first listen i knew: i have a new favorite band! it now joins the ranks of joy electric and reliant k, which is kind of interesting, because owl city strangely sounds like a perfect mix of the two! it has the melodic focus of those two bands, the synth-pop feel of joy electric, and the vocal sound and style of reliant k. perfect! the tunes on this first cd are really amazing. its very light and popy, and the songs just have a beautiful flow to them. i'm not sure it thats really how smooth his voice is, or if he's using a voice changer to make it sound that way. some highlights of the disc are 'the salt water room', and 'dear vienna'. he, like joy electric, is able to find a simple hook that can get stuck in the head for days!
i got the cds a few weeks ago and have fallen in love. i havent actually even put the second disc in the player yet- i'm still too obsessed with this first one!

foxglove hunt: stop heartbeat

2009-06-17T09:25:00.000-07:00

the foxglove hung is a side project of ronnie martin, of joy electric, and rob withem, of fine china. they have worked together before, ronnie was the producer of fine china's first disc. as a fan of joy electric i knew i had to get it just to hear what other things ronnie has been up to. the album is really good, it has a 70's syth vibe to it, which i really enjoy. some of the strongest songs on the album are 'the life highrise', and 'that's getting personal'. as always, the melodies and hooks are strong, and the beats are thumping (quite a change from the usual joy electric fare). on some of the best songs there is a full rich sound that ties it together and gives it its unique personality. a very good album, i hope these guys work together again soon!

joy electric: curiosities and such

2009-06-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

its been a while since ronnie put out any music under the joy electric banner, so it was with very high spirits that i dug into this album. and let me tell you, i was not disappointed at all! musically its very much in the style of his last outing, 'my grandfather, the cubist', but still very different. its a very short disc, with only 6 songs, one of which is an instrumental, and another is just the title song with out the vocal tracks. ronnie has always been a fan of the whole 'short and sweet' mentality, and this cd sticks to that. all the songs are very catchy and quite good, but there is a stand out among the songs: 'which witch' is an instant classic with its unusual chorus hook and great music. that song rockets straight to the upper echelon of the best songs joy electric has ever written!

beyonce: i am sasha fierce

2009-06-17T09:19:00.000-07:00

for her birthday i got the new one from beyonce for my wife. i didn't mess around either, i got the deluxe edition, which featured five extra songs. this album is divided up into two discs for some reason, one of them is the slow, heart felt stuff, and the other disc is all the loud dance floor tunes. now, i personally have never cared for beyonce or her music, but having listened to it often (diana usually has it playing in her car when we go out anywhere), i have to admit, its actually not bad. no, i will go even further than that, i will admit that i actually like it! the only song i had known before was the 'put a ring on it' song, but i really love 'if i were a boy', and 'halo' (which diana said reminds her of me, so for that reason alone i like the song!). now, dont worry, i'm not going all hip-hop or anything, but i have to give recognition to a great album when i hear it.

our wedding cd

2009-04-17T18:27:00.000-07:00

diana and i made a mix cd for our wedding and we gave it out to all the guests during the reception. the songs are a collection of different tunes that have played a part in our relationship. some of them come from different mix cds that diana and i have made for each other while we were dating, others are ones that we have heard while we were together that we both loved. here is the song list from the cd. some of them we dont actually know the names of or the artist of, but we know we love the songs!

this collection of songs is the soundtrack to our relationship- the music we fell in love to!

1. better together by jack johnson

2. dance away the city by andrew osenga

3. the best thing by relient k

4. kiss me by sixpence none the richer

5. such great heights by iron and wine

6. 500 miles by the pretenders

7. the lining is silver by relient k

8. when the day met the night by panic at the disco

9. sugar rush by joy electric

10. something beautiful by newsboys

11. i got my mind set on you by george harrison

12. i want all of you by verve pipe

13. by jack johnson

14. i'm taking you with me by relient k

15. birdhouse in your soul by they might be giants

16. never let you down by verve pipe

17. what do i care? by johnny cash

18. it's always you

19. reach your love by paul mccartney

20. take my life and let it be by andrew osenga

wedding mixtape

2008-12-08T18:20:00.000-08:00

ever since diana and i started dating she has been introducing me to some different music. a couple months into our relationship we made mixtapes for each other so that we could try out a few of the bands each other liked. there were some really good ones on there, and she felt the same about the one i made for her. we were thinking about the wedding and thought it would be pretty cool to make a mixtape of all the songs that we love together, or songs that make us think of each other. we were thinking we could make a 'wedding mixtape' and give one to each of our guests as a small gift.

this weekend we finally sat down and started organizing and selecting what songs we would like to include. we made a copy of the songs for each of us and are going to listen to it for the next week or two and see if we like the picks and try to figure out what order would be the best for the songs. so far i can think of one i'd like to add, and one of mine i realized doesnt really fit in with the rest. im not going to be revealing the playlist until its finalized, though. (but dont worry, there will be at least one joy electric song!)

relient k: birds and the bee sides

2008-07-28T13:37:00.001-07:00

wow! with each new release from the guys from relient k are raising higher and higher in my list of favorites! i had barely taken their last album, 'five score and seven years ago' out of the player, and then they released this one!
this is a single disc with two albums on it. first is a new ep titled 'nashville tennis ep' which has some really great songs on it, the best of the lot is 'the lining is silver'. they try a few different things in this group of songs, and are able to pull it all off wonderfully. the second album on the disc, called 'the bird and the bee side', is a collection of b-sides and unreleased stuff. it includes a couple of acoustic versions of previous songs as well. this side is filled with more great songs, from the silly, such as 'five iron frenzy is either dead or dying', to more experimental stuff like 'the stenographer'.
over all an incredible collection of 26 songs. im guessing it will be a year or so before this one leaves my player...

jon foreman: 4 seasons

2008-07-28T13:28:00.000-07:00

this past fall jon foreman released a double disc single set. this past week i got the other set, completing the series of four (explained further here).

after spending some time with it, i must say that the series is quite good, if uneven. the first set, 'fall and winter', is the better of the two. its filled with songs of longing and realizations. the best of this first set is 'equally skilled' and 'learning how to die'. both capture the search and discoveries that are a part of the christian life. this first set has been a recent favorite of mine, and is the direction i had wished from switchfoot after 'beautiful letdown'.

the second set, 'spring and summer' is not as engaging. the set is filled with guest vocalists and what seems to be an almost forced variety of music. we get a whole bunch of different instrumentation, but it just doesnt feel as focused or as personal. the lyrics seem a bit awkward too, as in the song 'love isnt made', and 'baptize my mind'. its also upbeat, which is good, but its upbeat in a way that doesnt sync well with jons voice, in my opinion. but i have been accused of liking 'slow and boring' songs before, so maybe this is just my bias coming through.

gavin rossdale: wanderlust

2008-06-20T18:01:00.001-07:00

for a while now ive been complaining any time someone would mention gwen stephani. 'why does she get all the attention? her husband is much better! why doesnt he put out any new music?' well, i guess he must have heard me, because he finally released his first solo album! a few years ago bush broke up, and gavin rossdale formed a new band called 'institute' and released a cd (which was amazing! which i review here), but since then there had been nothing.
with his solo cd he seems to be back in fine form. over all, this album is a bit on the lighter side. gavin seems to be more focused on 'light rock' this time out, which stands in stark contrast to the heavy rock of 'institute'. the album is filled with references to his new life, most songs are about family, fatherhood, and being married. some of the songs are a bit bland and forgettable, but the stand out song is definitely 'forever may you run' the chorus is instantly catchy and will roll around in your head for days.
over all i would say this is 'bush' lite- great songs, but less filling.

joy electric: my grandfather, the cubist

2008-06-20T17:53:00.000-07:00

ah, yes. its time once again for a joy electric album! truly the happiest time of year!!! i was very excited to get this one, considering that the last album, 'the otherly opus', was their best since 'the white songbook'.
in this album ronnie has once again gone in a different direction. with his last album the focus was squarely on the vocals, which led to some beautiful layered harmonies. but this time, he shifts back to an equal weighting between vocals and music. the singing on this album is not quite as melodic and airy as his last effort, but the vocal shift is not too drastic, there was a bit stronger vocals similar to this on 'red will dye these snows of silver'. its a bit of a change, but still good.
the thing that continually impresses me about this band is its ability to write a catchy tune. as i listened to it through the first time i had a bit of a strange feeling- though it was only the first time i had ever heard them, they felt like songs i had known all my life! as i listened i wondered 'how could this have never been written before?!?' i guess that just speaks to the amazing gift ronnie has with writing a catchy melody.
the tune that immediately struck me as a favorite was 'whether by horse, or horseless'. it is a beautiful melody, and surprisingly deep lyrics. this is true of the entire album, ronnie seems to have taken his songwriting to a new level. gone are the constant references to lilly pads and gumdrops, replaced by honest critiques of love and relationships. i always loved the light hearted aspects to his lyrics before, but it is a welcome change to hear some deeper thoughts.
the pinnacle of the album is definitely the title track. the song is actually a trilogy of songs, bookended by instrumentals that echo the melody and guide us to the song and out into the bigger picture being presented.
an impressive addition to the joy electric catalogue. it will spend many many months in my cd player...

hymns?

2008-05-22T18:18:00.000-07:00

you ever have a hankering for a type of music and you dont know why? for some reason i cant quite figure out, i have been on a hymn kick lately. the other day i was walking around walmart and was just checking out the cheesy collections cds at the front of the store. i was actually looking for a cd of irish drinking songs, but i happened upon a collection of 100 inspirational hymns, and on a whim, i bought it (it was only five bucks). i popped it in and have been totally loving it ever since. strange. i guess they just remind me of church growing up and i think i like that. i feel like im listening to my moms music or something...

nine inch nails: ghosts I-IV

2008-03-22T14:37:00.000-07:00

recently trent reznor, the man behind 'nine inch nails', has released a bit of music exclusively from his website. i became a fan of the band a few years back with the release of the album 'fragile'. it was a double disc release of songs both loud and dense, as well as some quietly moving songs. since then he has released a couple more albums, 'with teeth' and 'year zero' (as well as a handful of live and remix albums), all of which did not live up to the scope and power of 'fragile'.

my problem with the last two albums is the different direction reznor took. what i loved most about 'fragile' was the melodic flow in the songs, but his last two albums have broken from that style and it seems that he has returned to the more bombastic and chaotic song structure, which i dont care much for.

with his newest release, 'ghosts: I-IV', the pendulum has swung all the way back... and then some! this release is 36 songs broken down into four separate eps. and here is the best part: all 36 tracks are instrumental only! now, dont get me wrong, i dig nins vocals, but this means that the focus is once again put on the music and the melody, where it belongs.

nine inch nails recently finished their contract with their record company, so he is now taking advantage of the chance to self release this album. on his website there are multiple options for getting the songs. a free option is given, but you can only get the first nine tracks. other options include one for ten bucks, one for 75 dollars, and a super duper deluxe edition for $250. amazingly, all 2500 copies of the expensive one sold out almost immediately. which, when you think about it means that he has already netted at least $750,000 dollars from this album. wow! i guess you can do just fine without a recording contract, huh?

im really digging the nine free songs and will probably opt for the ten dollar release soon. go to the site, download it (free!), and decide for yourself!

jon foreman: fall, winter

2008-02-13T14:10:00.000-08:00

jon foreman is the lead singer of the band 'switchfoot'. i have been following the band for a few years now. i, like most people, got my first taste of them from the movie 'a walk to remember'. they had a couple songs in that movie, and i just fell in love. especially 'dare you to run'. so i really enjoyed their album 'beautiful letdown'. it was certainly beautiful, and anything but a letdown. the same cant really be said for their follow up albums though. their next record 'nothing is sound' was decent. not exactly as good as their last, but it was passable. i got their latest, 'oh! gravity', and i can honestly say ive listened to it through only once. it wasnt terrible, just very forgetable.

so, it was with trepidation that i picked up the new solo singles from the lead singer jon foreman. actually, i didnt hesitate to get it, mostly because i was at the bookstore with my mom and she was offering to buy me something. who would pass that up, huh? since then i have been giving it a try. i figured that i should take a break from my month long obsession with the second 'black lab' cd anyway

the concept is this: foreman is releasing a six song single for each season (say that five times fast!). so far he has released 'fall' and 'winter'. i saw them at the bookstore packaged together. im not entirely sure, but im assuming that the songs on each disc follow the theme of the season. i cant tell much difference between the 'fall' and 'winter' discs, but im guessing that the 'spring' and 'summer' discs will be a bit more upbeat!

i have really been enjoying the 'fall' disc so far. especially memorable is the song 'equally skilled'. all of the songs carry a melancholy feel to them. they mostly consist of just an accustic guitar and jons voice. there is an occasional stringed instrument as well as a harmonica. the songs are slow, melodic, and sad. there are some really great lines, and as a whole it stirs a longing for something. what? im not sure. but it moves the soul.

black lab

2008-01-11T18:18:00.000-08:00

i just got some new music from black lab yesterday in the mail. black lab, if you dont remember, had a couple hits way back in 1997. they were one of the last bands that were a part of that whole grunge movement in the 90s. they had a few hits with 'wash it away' and 'time ago'. i remember first hearing them on the radio back then and digging it, but i was much more obsessed with verve pipe to be distracted by any other bands.

a couple years later at college when rex and i roomed together we would listen to their album 'your body above me' whenever we would hang out or play video games. i quickly gained a love for it as well. i never heard of them releasing a follow-up album, so i kind of forgot about them. several years later rex and i noticed a song in the movie 'blade: trinity' and really dug it. we waited through the credits to see who it was- low and behold it was black lab! eureka! they were still around! i did some investigating online and discovered that they had released a little 7 song ep called 'i feel fine'. i quickly bought a copy for myself, and one for rex.

ever since then, that little ep has kept creeping back into my cd player because its so catchy. it had some amazing songs on it like 'learn to crawl' and 'gone'.

well, last time i was home rex and i got to talking and black lab was mentioned again. it dawned on me: i should see if they have put out anything new! so i did. and they did! i was actually quite surprised by how much new stuff they had- they had a second album called 'see the sun', which features the songs from the ep, they have a third album called 'passion leaves a trace', and they have even gone back to their first album and remastered it and put in a couple new songs! wow! what a find! lucky for me they had a special deal for all three of them. so now i have three new albums to enjoy!

set aside

2007-08-31T12:49:00.000-07:00

ive been getting quite a few new cds and books over the past several months. ive also been falling victim the greatest problem with new music: buying more than one at a time! whenever i get a new cd i like to listen to it through alot so that i can begin to recognize each song, and sing along with the ones i like. if i get more than one cd at a time, this becomes almost impossible because i feel a need to switch back from one to the other, and i end up not spending enough time with either of them, and they end up on the cd shelf, never to enter my rotation again.

most of my recent purchases have fallen into that unfortunate category. but here is the thing: im not concerned. what seems to happen with me is that it will tell me when im ready for it. ive had this happen many times. ill receive or buy a book/cd/movie that for one reason or another i just shelve it. a while later, could be a month, could be a couple years, i suddenly have an urge to listen to a cd, or read a book thats been collecting dust since the mid 90s. and when i do finally get around to checking it out, i find that it has been waiting for me to be ready for it. a cd whose message now speaks to my situation, a book that ties into an understanding i am now ready for, or a movie that now shows truth in a way i can see.

so, as i set aside neglected stuff today, i eagerly wait for the time when it awakens and calls to me for my time to discover it anew.

the latest batch

2007-08-17T13:40:00.000-07:00

this afternoon i happened to find myself in a kregel christian bookstore. i milled around for a while. i was mostly checking to see if any of the bands i like have released any new stuff. nope. so i just started perusing the shelves for anything else that might catch my eye. i noticed a cd that was only five bucks! it looked decent, so i took it to one of the listening stations (they have a place where you can just scan the barcode and it will pop up on the screen and you can listen to it). much to my surprise, it was actually pretty cool! the cd was by a band called 'leeland'.

i figured i should see if there are any other good deals for bands ive never heard of. turns out there was! another five dollar cd that sounded rather cool was a band called 'everyday sunday'. so, i picked up a couple of theirs as well.

the search continued. i also found a deluxe version of the last 'audio adrenaline' album. i was really into them about 6 years ago, and they recently broke up, so i figured it might be worth checking out. its the cd as well as a dvd of the history of the band and all of their music videos as well. not bad. also, i happened upon an album from 'the normals', which was the former band of my personal favorite andrew osenga. i already have a copy of the cd, but its so darn good, that im sure i can find someone who will dig it too and i can give it to them. oh, and i got a little giftypoo for a friend...

not a bad haul, huh?

mxpx: secret weapon

2007-07-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

mxpx has just released another album last week. its a nice noisy return to their roots. ive been a fan for many years now and have had the good fortune of seeing them half a dozen times or so. i got into them starting with 'slowly going the way of the buffalo'. the stuff before that i never got in to because it just seemed like chaotic noise, not much by way of melody. 'buffalo' still had some of those qualities, but was much crisper and the vocals could actually be understood. their following albums, 'the ever passing moment' and 'before everything and after' continued to move away from the punk feel that they had started in. these albums were more pop than punk, and it lent itself to catchier tunes, and a chance to better display their lyrics.

their last release, 'panic', kept the pop hooks, but leaned back into the punk sound a bit. their latest, 'secret weapon', continues that slide back into punk. the hooks arent as apparent on initial listenings, but im sure they will grow on me quickly. there is even a little bit of playing around with acoustic guitars and other non-punk instruments like a synthesizer and horns.
they do seem to know that the slow songs are not the vocalists strong point, so most songs speed up quickly. another thing that i appreciate about these guys is that, unlike many musicians, they dont skimp on album length. with the special edition of the album i got there are a total of twenty songs! i like it when a band makes it worth the investment. $15 for ten songs? boo!!! $15 for twenty songs? sounds good to me!

smashing pumpkins: zeitgeist

2007-07-14T16:10:00.000-07:00

i was a bit late coming to the smashing pumpkins party in the 90s. about a year or so after the release of mellon collie and the infinite sadness i finally picked it up. i didnt much care for it, i liked the radio songs, but that was about it. the reason i picked it up at all was because my brother, in one of his kinder gestures, took me out for dinner one year on my birthday. after we ate, we went to best buy, and he said that i should pick out a cd, and he would buy it for me as a birthday gift. he liked the smashing pumpkins, and i wanted to be as cool as him, so i picked out that one.

the problem was that i never really got into it. the next summer adore came out. they played 'perfect' on the radio and i totally loved it! i resolved to pick up the album. it was very different than their earlier stuff, it was a lot more synth based, and seemed to be a bit more melodic. it wasnt just the loud guitars of their previous releases. i listened to that cd almost nonstop for the next year. in fact, at college that year it became a bit of a soundtrack among my friends. by the end of the school year there were several people who wanted me to make them copies for the summer (ahh, that was back during those innocent napster days...)

when their next album came out, machina, my buddy bob and i ran out and bought it together on its release day, then proceeded to spend the next hour listening to it in silence and following along with the lyrics in the cd booklet. (ah, good times...) that album was a bit of a return to the loud guitars sound of their previous stuff, and didnt quite grab me like adore did.

then it happened: they split up. i wasnt heart broken or anything, but i was disappointed. i followed corgan to zwan, which i actually enjoyed. there was a lot of potential there that was never tapped. they split, and billy put out a solo album. i never did get around to buying that. from what i hear in reviews, its not really worth picking up.

well, this week the pumpkins are back together and released a new cd: zeitgeist. i picked it up a couple days ago, and rather enjoy it. unfortunately it does not seem like much of an evolution for the band, rather, it seems like a retreat into the familiar. more loud guitars. oh well, at least some of the songs are catchy, and its always fun to be a bit nostalgic now and then.

andrew osenga: letters to the editor volume 1

2007-06-17T23:16:00.000-07:00

time and time again andrew osenga has surprised and impressed me. ive been a fan of his music for a long time now (as described here), and i have been a reader of his blog since he started it. he always has interesting and thoughtful posts (funny ones too). he started as the lead singer for the band 'the normals', but when that went bust he started a solo career. he currently is a member of 'caedmon's call' and still does his own solo stuff too.

he is constantly thinking up new ways to get his music out there. his latest idea was to ask readers to email him different thoughts or ideas for songs. then, he wrote six songs based on what people submitted. he currently has them posted here on his website for free (donations are welcomed...). the songs are wonderfully creative and catchy. be sure to check them out, and while youre at it, go ahead and buy his other albums too- you wont be disappointed!

the joy electric show

2007-05-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

wow! thursday was quite a night! it has been a while since ive been to a joy electric concert. ive been to three of them before (this one makes 4) and they are usually quite far away. my first one was about an hour and a half drive, the next two were over two hours each. so this time it was nice, it was only about 40 minutes away!

it was truly a fantastic time. the flier said that the show would start around 9:00. i got there around 8:45. as usual, i went alone to their concert because there is no way i could find any friends who would be willing to go with me. but this worked to my advantage, actually. when i got there i found a couple guys sitting at a table in the front of the room. i decided to throw caution to the wind, and i approached them and started chatting with them. as the wait for the concert to start continued, i invited a couple other guys who arrived alone to come and sit with us. im very glad i did! i recently wrote about how i seem to be the only one who likes joy electric, but i was proven very wrong that night! it was a blast to just chill with those guys and talk a little je business. ive never been able to have a conversation about joy electric with someone who actually knows what im talking about! it was absolutely glorious!!! we discussed the new album, which cd is our favorite, what we think of the bands shepherd and brothers martin, etc. it was so awesome to finally be able to geek out with other people who share my passion!

sheesh, i havent even started talking about the concert itself! the opening acts were quite interesting- the first group, called anaphylaxis, played one song, it was about 15 minutes long though. it was almost like watching two guys just kind of tinker around with their synth equipment. one of the guys had this strange intrument that he played by waving his hands around next to it. weird. the second group were mostly the same people, except this time they had more traditional songs, and the vocals sounded very morrissey-like. not bad at all.

but finally, around 11:20, ronnie got on stage and started his set. it was glorious! its always a treat to watch him play- he has some great moves while playing, and almost the whole time hes tinkering and fussing with nobs and dials on his equipment. i have no idea what any of them do, but it sure does sound great! the concerts always sound a bit different than the albums, on the albums he doesnt often use a lot of bass, but in concert the bass is thumping! he even put on an extra long show. like his cd lengths, ronnie usually likes to keep it short in concert. at one of the concerts ive been to he only played for about 30 minutes, and then wrapped up the show. this time though, he just kept them comming! he ended up playing 15 songs and playing for about an hour and fifteen minutes! that definitely made it worth the trip!

after the show i got to talk with ronnie for a couple minutes, which is always a treat. i picked up a bunch of music too. i got the workmanship cd, i already have it in vinyl, but i dont have a vinyl record player, so that doesnt really help much... i also got the foxglove hunt demo, and the brothers martin vinyl.

definitely the highlight of the month! or maybe year...

arcade fire: funeral

2007-05-16T16:34:00.000-07:00

last thursday my brother surprised me and bought a cd for me online. he had it shipped to me instead of him. he didnt tell me he was going to do it. how cool is that?

he sent me the first album from arcade fire titled 'funeral'. ive only had a chance to listen to it once, but i think i dig it. its totally my brothers kind of music, but ive always enjoyed his musical tastes. he is the one who introduced me to morrissey, so i owe him.

i thought this was such a cool idea, to order a cd and ship it to someone with out telling them. just kind of like a 'hey, i dig this, you should too!' i think im going to have to try this with the stuff i like...

joy electric

2007-05-16T16:16:00.000-07:00

the new joy electric album came out a while ago. but i have not yet written about it. the reason is this: i have a very hard time writing about joy electric.

have you ever had something that makes you happy and your not entirely sure why? have you ever had something that you adore, but you just cant explain what about it attracts you? have you ever felt passionately about something that most people around you would dismiss as stupid? well, this is my relationship with the music of joy electric. ever since i first heard their music as a freshman at dordt college, i was entranced. its hold on me has not lessened, in fact its gotten tighter and tighter with each consecutive album released.

i dont know why i love their music so much, it is certainly a strange obsession. their music, to say the least, is obtuse. its not my typical music scene. thats what makes the attraction so much more uneplainable.

i could regail you with details about the newest album 'the otherly opus', i could tell you that it is a masterwork, that ronnie martin has finally made the perfect compainion album to go with 'the white songbook', i could tell you that these two albums together make up what i expect to be the soundtrack of heaven. but i dont think many would care. i realize that joy electric is my obsession, and im ok with keeping to myself.

but i may ask you to give it a chance if you want to bum a ride in my car where this cd is constantly playing.

what is good music?

2007-04-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

the other day i came across this article which posses a question about recognizing fine art. its a pretty cool social experiment- a world renowned violinist, joshua bell, plays his best music in a train station as commuters head off to their offices. would anyone notice the world class music, or would they pass it by and not even recognize it for what it is?

the article explains the set up and the results of performing such an experiement. it is a long article, but incredibly interesting. it reminded me of a very important lesson: stop and smell the roses (or, in this case, stop and hear the music).

relient k: five score and seven years ago

2007-03-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

finally, a new album. i got into these guys a couple years ago when i got their last album 'mmhmm' for christmas. i wasnt very interested in it, but i was told that i should be. ok. so i gave it a try and it started to grow on me. i began listening to it incessently and quoting the lyrics to friends every chance i could get.

well, the boys have finally released their next album. i am expecting mediocrity, so my sites arent set too high. after getting into 'mmhmm' i went back and checked out some of their older stuff. i picked up 'two lefts dont make a right...' and was sorely disappointed.

i picked up the new one earlier this week. i havent had much time to listen to it yet, but so far i am liking it. it doesnt seem to break any new grounds musically, most of the songs sound similar to the last album, but im going to give it some time and take a good look at the lyrics before it decide if its going on the 'heavy rotation' pile, or the 'at least it makes a good coaster' pile.

brothers martin

2007-03-04T15:09:00.000-08:00

a couple weeks ago i picked up an album i had been awaiting for quite some time: the brothers martin. if you are unaware, then i will explain who this is: it is the collaboration between the lead singer of joy electric, and the lead singer of starflyer 59. the reason they are collaborating is because they are brothers. and their last name is martin. clever, huh?
the album is very enjoyable (i like both bands seperately, so it wasnt a big surprise that i would like them together...) and the sound is exactly what i expected. there are mellow guitars, like sf59, and there are blippy synths, like joy electric.
the way the collaborated is a bit interesting. it seems that there is only one song that they sing together on, and the rest of them are split up every other song. its clear that they each took turns coming up with the skeleton of the song, and the other one was in charge of filling up the backgrounds. its sounds strange, but the two styles complement each other quite well.
the songs are very catchy, and i look forward to getting more and more familiar with them and singing along (loudly) in my car!

new joy electric song!!!

2007-02-18T12:43:00.000-08:00

last night i finally got to go to the joy electric myspace site and hear the new song 'red will dye snows of silver' from their upcoming 'the otherly opus'. about all i could get myself to say (besides girly shreeks of glee) was 'wow.'
it is very different than what he has done in the past, typically his music is very melody focused, with little or no bass or strong beat. also, the vocals have always been secondary. ronnie martin himself has said that he is not a singer, he only does enough to service the song. it seems that he has gone a very different direction for this song, and hopefully the whole ablum. there is a shift to focusing more on what can be done with vocals- and it sounds fantastic!
on his blog he has stated how rough of a process this album was to make, but the last time he said that was about 'the white songbook' which i would consider his best. so, maybe his frustration means we will be getting another masterpiece from the master of the moog!

the otherly opus

2007-02-01T15:08:00.000-08:00

This is the cover art for the new joy electric album. it comes out march 20. ive always loved the covers they have for their albums, they are always interesting, yet simple. i think this one is just plain beautiful. i cant wait for the album itself!!!

newsboys: GO

2007-01-19T16:08:00.000-08:00

over christmas i got the new 'newsboys' album called 'go'. ive always had a soft spot for this group, it being one of the first to get me interested in christian music in the first place. i was in high school and my friend nathan brought a few new cds over for all of us to listen to. the highlights were 'take me to your leader' from newsboys, and the first album from audio adrenaline. we all totally loved them! i convinced my mom to get them for me (i figured she would be ok with footing the bill since it was 'christian' music).
i listened to the newsboys album all the time, we even went to go see them in concert a few times. what i liked about them was that their music was catchy, but the lyrics were also witty and a bit silly. (a song about how they dont serve breakfast in hell? rediculous...) over the next few albums of theirs i still loved their sound and catchy hooks, but i grew tired of the lyrics which grew more and more forced in their attempt to be quirky. i still got some of the later album of theirs but i kept them on rotation in the player for less and less time. finally when they totally sold out to jump on the worship music bandwagon, i decided it was time to part company. all the best guys, but this is the end of the road for me...
but then they released this album. i was sceptical at first, but the more and more i listened to it the more and more i grew to love it! there are some really great songs that change up their typical sound and bring into play some new elements that they havent really used before. there is a song called 'your love is better than life' that has an element of spoken lyrics (actually, it kind of reminds me of u2's song 'numb', only happier), and the title track even has a bit of a club sound to it. all of which adds up to some exciting songs and fresh takes from these guys. as far as the lyrics go, the are still thoughtful and well written, but that forced quirkiness is thankfully gone.
its good to see an old favorite return to form and surprise with such a great album!

verve pipe concert

2006-12-25T10:57:00.000-08:00

this past saturday night i once again had the opportunity to see 'the verve pipe'. they are one of my favorite bands and have been able to see them quite a bit (they are originally from grand rapids). they broke up about five years ago, but i guess they are now making a tradition of a christmas weekend concert at the Intersection.
the concert was a blast. another local band that kind of made it big opened up for them, papa vegas. i had been preparing myself by listening to papa vegas a bit lately, so as to reacquaint myself with their stuff (i dont ever have to reacquaint myself with verve pipes stuff, because i know them all by heart...) and really enjoyed their performance. before they started playing i got a chance to chat with brian vander ark (verve pipes lead singer) for a bit. he actually remembered me from the last show i saw him at (where i was one of 11 audience members. great story, ill share it another time). also, i talked with a guy named brandon- he was one of the people who was on rockstar:inxs last year! kind of strange to see him there. actually, its stranger that i was able to recognize him...
around 11:15 verve pipe came on and it was awesome! they played so many hits. just about everything from their villians album, and two or three from each other album too! they even through in a song they recorded for the soundtrack for 'great expectations' called 'her ornament'. they played a couple of songs from brians solo stuff, but the focus was certainly on the old stuff. one of the biggest highlights was the appearance of griff. if you have ever seen this man in action with a harmonica, then you know who much fun he brings to the stage. at one point there were actually 9 musicians on stage singing/playing/being crazy just loving the fact that they were back together again! it was very obvious that they were enjoying themselves just as much as the audience was. they ended up playing a two hour show- the longest ive ever seen them on stage.
definitely a great time, and i look forward to seeing them again next year.

a strange playlist

2006-11-12T13:05:00.000-08:00

im finding some interesting changes in my listening choices since i got an mp3 player. im still in the process of converting all my cds onto it (mostly because i keep forgetting to bring my cds with me when i go online) but ive got a good collection of about a thousand songs on it so far.
the big change ive been noticing is that ive been listening to a lot larger variety of music. yesterday i was cleaning around the house listening to my player. i started off with a little joy electric, then i moved on to our lady peace, then i sang along to jonny cash, which brought me to nirvana, and that oddly lead me to the prince of egypt soundtrack, which of course flows directly into the beauty and the beast soundtrack, and the listening session finally ended with a bit of radiohead. does it get much weirder than that?
i totally love the freedom to switch between my whole collection, but its also really wierd...

bleach: farewell, old friends

2006-10-21T15:57:00.000-07:00

back in college a good friend of mine, joel, was totally obsessed with the band bleach. he would always talk about them and try to get everyone else to listen to them and try to see in them what he saw (ive never done that with bands i like...) i tried, but i just never got into them.
a few months ago i was in bakker bookhouse (a christian bookstore in gr) and saw their latest cd, 'farewell, old friends' in the cheap bin, so on a whim i picked it up. i gave it a good listen and really enjoyed it. come to find out, it was their last cd because they broke up. great timing, as always. i guess i owe joel an apology...
since i am back in town i headed back over to bakker bookhouse, and much to my surprise, there was another cd by them in that same bargin bin! its called 'audio/visual' and its actually a best-of type of album. its got 18 songs, and it comes with a full concert dvd with it! i guess i can check out the old stuff that joel obsessed over all those years ago.

the new stuff

2006-10-15T13:17:00.000-07:00

over the past month ive gone on a new music buying spree. i didnt intend to, its just the way it worked out! i went a few months without buying any new music, but ive just gotten caught in an avalanche! i havent had time to properly digest any of the yet, because i keep switching between them... as i spend more time with them ill comment about them here, but until then, this is the current rotation:

jars of clay- good monsters
bleach- fairwell, old friends
andrew osenga- the morning
brian vander ark- angel put your face on
skillet- comatose
starflyer 59- my island
phil joel- deliberate people

a new world awaits!

2006-10-15T13:02:00.000-07:00

this past summer my parents bought me an mp3 player for my birthday. it was a really cool gift and i was very excited about it. the problem was that at the time i didnt have a computer and so there was really no way for me to use it! so, with there blessing, i brought it back and just set the money aside for a later time.
well, this weekend the time came. yesterday i went out and joined the digital age and bought a computer. i still had that extra cash sitting around, so i decided to buy an mp3 player too! i didnt exactly know what i wanted, but i knew i didnt want an ipod. i know they are supposed to be the coolest thing and all that, but it just seems like they are more style than substance. so, instead i got a sansa. ive been told that they are pretty decent quality, and the one that they had at the store was an amazing deal. i got a 6 gig for cheaper than a 2 gig ipod.
i have been spending the weekend playing with my new computer and this new mp3 player (oh, it does videos too, but i havent figured out how to do that stuff yet...) and now im starting to see why everyone loves these things so much! im in the process of loading my cd collection on it. i think im really going to test its limits as far as storage goes! ive already got about 4oo songs on it!

sufjan stevens

2006-07-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

i never have, nor ever will consider myself a 'hipster' when it comes to music. but i try to at least keep in the loop with who is getting a lot of buzz. ive been hearing about this guy a lot for the past six months or so, but ive never been able to actually hear his music.
well, yesterday i finally did. and i have to ask: whats the big deal? i listened to his illinois album and didnt really care for it. he has an amazing voice, which i loved, but heres the problem: the music is very eclectic. that is usually a good thing, but from what i listened to (about the first half of the album twice) its too eclectic. its all over the place. now, i understand what hes going for here, hes trying to incorporate all the music that is a part of the state and trying to tie it all in to have an authentic representation of the culture that is illinois. i get that part, but im not interested. i like an album with an eclectic feel, but this one seems to have every eclectic feel it can strong-arm into one disc. the way i typically listen to music is by poping in a cd and listening straight through. i dont like 'shuffle', and i rarely like compilation cds. i like albums that have a unified sound. they dont all have to have the same tempo or volume, but i like it when the artist uses the same aural language through out. with this album each song sounded completely different (except that they all sounded like he was trying too hard to be strange). one song would be just woodwinds, the next would have a xylephone and bells, the next would have drums and guitars. i dont know, maybe my musical tastes are a bit more restricted than i thought, but i wont be jumping on the sufjan bandwagan anytime soon. i guess i will remain 'unhip'.

our lady peace: healthy in paranoid times

2006-06-26T16:49:00.000-07:00

ive really liked these guys going all the way back to their first us single: superman's dead. i picked up that album, 'clumsy', and really enjoyed it. their next one, 'happiness...', wasnt quite as good. it was mostly just a bunch of angry songs. a very angry album, to be sure. i wasnt sure if i should even bother with their album after that. i am very glad i did. 'spritiual machines' is the best of their career, i still listen to it often. their next, 'gravity', was good, but it felt like they had been forced to loose their original sound so that they could be more sucessful. the best part of the group are the catchy melodies and the totally unique voice of the lead singer. one of his trademarks is that he constantly changes from normal voice to a really high falsetto. which, amazingly, works really well. on 'gravity' we rarely hear that range, instead it seemed like someone told him that he could only sing normally, so he doesnt 'frighten the kids'.
their latest i got a little while ago, but i didnt give it the time it needed. i think i only listened to it once (i really should know better than to buy two cds at once, this happens every time i do...). its called 'healthy in paranoid times'. its good that the singer is back to his old ways with the vocals, but the problem with this one is something else. there are alot of great melodies on the cd, the only problem is that they get cut off. there will be a great set-up for an awesome chorus, but then it just kind of changes its mind and limps of in another direction. one of the starkest examples is the song 'wipe that smile off your face'. the song has a strong flow to it and the vocals are some of his best, and then half way through the chorus the cool flow is dropped and replaced with a crappy lame sneer.
oh well. ill still keep holding out for a proper follow up to 'spiritual machines'.

andrew osenga

2006-05-31T07:57:00.000-07:00

oh, where to begin? lets try the beginning... (this is going to be a long one) music is a powerful thing. it can change a mood, it can shape an experience, it can altar a way of thinking. some music i listen to is just for the good tunes and the catchy lyrics to keep my mind busy while driving or hanging out, bands like joy electric would fit that role for me. but then there is another side to music; the side that challenges me and challenges my mind and heart. for that i go to andrew osenga.
heres the story: back in college i used to get free stuff from forefront records (i have no idea how i pulled of that scam, but i got a few good cds out of the deal), one of the cds i got was called 'better than this' by a band called 'the normals'. i gave it a spin, but wasnt very impressed. i pushed it off to the side and instead listened to the skillet cd i got. my college buddy bob asked if he could borrow it. sure, so he did. after a week or two he kept talking about that cd and how great it was. just to shut him up, i told him i would give it another try. i did. slowly the songs got to me and seeped into my head. they were catchy and deep, definately a rarely in christian music at the time.
as leaders on dordt's campus, bob and i were in charge of planning some student activites. we used our pull to convince the people in charge that we should invite the normals to come and perform at our college. and it worked! mostly it was a ploy to meet the guys and hear them live. they guys were as cool as i could have hoped for, and i got to meet the lead singer, named andrew osenga.
after a time i heard that they were releasing a second album, and bob and i got really excited. when it arrived (miraculously free, again) i was blown away by the cange in sound. their album 'coming to life' was one of the richest, deepest, most lyrically challanging album i had heard up until that point. i thought it put their first record to shame with the leaps and bounds of musical growth evident on the new record. oddly enough, bob disagreed and soon lost interest in the band. me, on the other hand, i was obsessed! again, i pulled a few strings, and arranged for the band to come to our college the next year. this time, it was even better, they were the headliners, their lineup had changed a bit, and they were now able to create that full lush sound in concert. (one of the highlights for me, which i had never seen done before: there was a part of one of the songs where they guitarists put their guitars up to their faces and yelled into them to create a stunningly haunting and beautiful sound) they must have made other fans as well, because the following year, at which point i was no longer involved with planning events, they were asked back for a third year in a row! (at that concert andy announced 'we have decided that we are now the official band of dordt college!')
eventually the band released a third album. by this time i was out of college and living on my own far from anyone i knew. because of this fact, their next album became a very important one to me. its title 'a place where you belong' became a safe place in the storm i was going through. i was entering an new chapter in my life, begining a job in the working world, in a new place on my own, and not knowing anyone. the song 'ill be home soon' helped me make it through many long and lonely weeks. it became a bit of an anthem for me.
then i heard the bad news. the normals had split up. i was crushed.
but soon after i found out that andrew osenga was going to continue writing and recording on his own. i have been following him ever since, and each release has been better than the last. he has since put out a full length release, 'photographs', and a short release called 'souvenirs and postcards'. now, he has just released his latest self-produced album 'the morning.' i havent heard it yet, but i know it will be filled with truth, depth, and beautiful music.
if you have any interest in andrew, or his music, check out his website, or check out a few songs you can listen to for free.

third eye blink

2006-05-08T14:30:00.000-07:00

ive been digging out some of my older cds. mostly mid/late 90s stuff. i pulled out this cd by 'third eye blind' and gave it a spin. wow. i had forgotten how many great songs this album has on it! i am almost ashamed to admit this thought, because i remember my friends and i making fun of people who liked this band. but i think i am going to officially chance my opinion on these guys. i dont really remember them having any more hits after this album (but thats ok, because this album had about 5 #1 hits on it), they burned bright, but burned out fast. maybe i will have to hit up the used cd shop and fish out some of their other stuff, see if there might be some undiscovered gems.

jars of clay

2006-04-11T14:22:00.000-07:00

i have a strange pattern with liking albums by jars of clay. i, like the rest of america, quickly fell in love with their first cd (for most, thats where the interest ended, but i have kept up with them since then). when there second cd came out, called 'much afraid', i absolutely hated it. my parents bought it for me and i ended up just giving it to a friend after about my second listen. i was totally disappointed. then their third one came out, 'if i left the zoo', and i started to really dig 'much afraid'. since then, this unique pattern has emerged: i like a jars of clay album after the next one comes out. i started to like 'zoo' when '11th hour' came out. i didnt like '11th' until 'who we are instead' came out. i didnt really listen to 'instead' until 'redemption songs' came out. and i dont much care for 'redemption songs'. maybe i should just wait until their next one comes out.

what to do?

2006-04-04T14:20:00.000-07:00

im debating whether or not to pick this one up. i actually enjoy morrisseys music quite a bit. my brother introduced me to him many years ago. i was never interested in the smiths, but i rather like his solo work. i was introduced through the album 'maladjusted' and have picked up a few older ones since. i really liked his last one 'you are the querry' but i hardly ever listen to it. i figure this cd will be the same; ill listen to it for a few weeks then put it aside quickly. is it worth the money or not?

mxpx at the metro

2006-03-22T12:08:00.000-08:00

last night i threw caution to the wind and went downtown chicago and saw a rock concert! it was a bit crazy because it was a tuesday night, and i have an actual job to return to at a resonable hour the next day. but here i am, almost done with the day, and im still chugging along! ive wanted to take a nap many times today, but i have sucessfully resisted... so far.
the concert was a blast! it was at the metro downtown chicago, which is the place that the smashing pumpkins started off and also where they performed their last show. so, the place has some cool history to it. once we got there (after getting a little lost) we hung out until the bands started playing. the first band, i think it was called 'transition' or something like that, was not very good at all. actually, it was kind of embarassing. the only time they could get any somewhat possitive reaction from the crowd was when they covered 'walk like an egyptian' poorly. i almost felt sorry for them.
the second band was called 'treaty of paris'. they were kind of cool. they had three singers and often harmonized during the choruses, which was really cool and gave them a very unique sound. their cds were only five bucks, so i picked one up. ill listen to it a bit and figure out if they are actually any good.
finally, mxpx came out on stage! ive seen these guys three times before and each time they totally rock it!!! they certainly have a strong command of the stage and a huge amount of awesome songs. about a half our in, mike (the lead singer) said 'look guys, it gets boring for us to just follow a set list, so instead we would like to take some requests" and they proceeded to play four requested songs! how awesome is that? ive never seen a band do that before- and then after a handfull more songs mike took three more requests! mike himself actually said that they have never taken so many requests before. one of them they played he had to take a minute or two to remember the words before they could start playing, which made it that much funnier. there were many awesome moments during the show, from inviting an audience member up on stage to play base on 'punk rawk show', to having another audience member tell everyone a joke. it was totally obvious that those three guys up there were having a blast- and that made it even more fun for the rest of us!

those crazy monkeys!

2006-02-20T13:19:00.000-08:00

i was over at aarons the other day and we were talking about a song that was on the radio last time we hung out. neither of us had heard it before but we both really liked it. he figured out what it was: DARE by the gorillaz. cool! they just keep surprising me with how cool their stuff is. i have their first album, but im thinking i should pick up their new one...

Marty Casey

2006-02-12T09:43:00.000-08:00

last week i got a new cd. i havent gotten a new cd in a while (mostly because i never listen to the radio, so i never get suckered into buying the crap they are playing). last year i was drawn in by rockstar: inxs. i cant defend myself, i know it was really stupid, but i liked it- it was better than american idol at least...
anyway, i really liked one of the singers on there: marty casey. he made it to the last two, but was not chosen the winner. i was mad, but then i thought about it- the person who wins has to sign a contract to sing for inxs. how is that winning? marty got the best deal, he got all the exposure, but he could go back and play with is own band. they even got invited to open for inxs on their world tour.
i got the marty casey cd and the song that he sang a few times, 'trees', is on it. i really digged that song alot. ive only gotten a chance to listen to it through a few times, but it seems cool. its alot more rock than i was expecting, i thought it would be a bit more popish. ill have to listen to it some more to give an accurate review.

an oldie, but a goodie

2006-02-02T13:31:00.000-08:00

as a teacher i am always looking for teaching aids. usually that means movies or music that will help get across the ideas that i am teaching. a while ago i found an aid in the most random of places: a band called pegtop. dont feel bad if you dont know who i am talking about, i would actually be more surprised if you knew who they actually were... let me explain:
back in college i found myself with an oportunity to see a band i had never heard of. we were already at the place, it was free to get in, and there was nothing else to do. so we figured why not? i ended up actually liking the band a lot, but my friends didnt really care for it. i ended up buying their album called 'the great reverse'. in the following weeks i found myself, much to my friend's annoyance, playing the cd alot and really loving it. soon after i found their first album 'just us' and picked it up.
fast-forward 5 years... was looking through my cds and was feeling a bit nastalgic. i spotted those pegtop cds and popped them into the player. as it turns out there are a couple of great songs with lyrics that fit perfectly into a couple lessons that i teach! who would have thought, a local folk band from minnisota with no record deal and a 50 gallon drum for a kickdrum would have helped me so much in my teaching!

the lure of a good tune

2006-01-20T12:11:00.000-08:00

no matter how hard i try, no matter how much i listen to new music, no matter how many new cds i buy, i am still drawn back to Monarch. there is something magnetic, perhaps even carnal, about that music.
i was introduced to them a few years ago in a very strange way. i was checking out this record labels website and there just so happened to be a music player playing songs from all the different bands on the label. (if you must know, i was checking out a joy electric side band cd on northern records) and there it was: the most shockingly beautiful music my ears had heard in many moons. it took me a minute or two to discover who it was that was playing on that player, but once i did it toon me about thirty seconds to speed to the online store and buy a copy of it! and, fortunately, it is one of those few gems: the rest of the songs were actually better than the one that had caught my attention!
as far as i can tell they only released one album, the promptly broke up. the name of the album is 'the grandeur of rome', and you can buy it here. the sound is unique- something special to be sure. it has guitars, drums, a piano, and a string section. there are heavy beats, strong hooks, and a piano that will break your heart. the vocals are airy- but not in a breathy way (try and make sense of that...)
im not sure if there is any way to listen to it online, but if you get the change, give it a listen. or just buy it.

sorry...

2006-01-11T19:17:00.000-08:00

in a moment of weakness, i must confess. im thinking i might want to pick up that kelly clarkson cd. im sorry. let us never speak of this again.

the verve pipe concert

2006-01-10T14:13:00.000-08:00

my favorite band is joy electric. i have been obsessed with them for a while now. but there once was a time before i had ever heard of joy electric. shocking, i know. at that time my favorite band was a little local west michigan band that soon hit it big.
it was the verve pipe. that name might sound vaguely familiar to you because about 9 years ago they had one hit. and that was all. it was the song 'freshman'. when it came out in '97 many people got sick of it quickly because they overplayed it on the radio. well, imagine my situation: they band was really big in grand rapids when i was growing up because to us they were 'the hometown boys' and were local favorites even before they had the record label deal. so the local radio stations would play their songs all the time. and of couse they would typically play 'freshman'. lucky me, i got to hear it over played twice! the thing is though, i never got sick of it. im still not sick of it. i totally love it. unfortuantely the band broke up a few years ago and the the lead singer (brian vander ark) has since been making a go of his solo career. ive seen verve pipe many times over the years, once when i had no idea who they were but was told 'check em out, youll like em...', and a few times since. i also was able to see brian solo a few times in chicago at the house of blues. i had figured there wasnt a chance to ever see verve pipe live again.
imagine my excitement when i had come to learn that the verve pipe was going to be playing a one-time-only reunion show in grand rapids- and i was actually going to be around for it!!! so i called up my buddies, some were fans as well, some wernt, and we made plans.
the show was on december 23 and it was amazing!!! the boys played their hearts out and proved that they still got it. it was great fun, they played quite a varied assortment of music. they pulled out some of their hits, some of their new stuff, and some of the classics that needed a bit of dusting off, they even threw in some great cover songs. certainly a solid show, one of the best ive seen in a long time. i was easily reminded of what i loved about them so much.

joy electric: montgolfier and the romantic balloons

2005-12-19T13:40:00.000-08:00

last week i received an early christmas present. granted, i bought it for myself, but it still counts. in the mail came the latest release from joy electric (which, by the way, is the greatest band of all time.) and it is great!
joy electric is a very prolific band (20 releases in 11 years and counting...) lately the pattern for joy electric has been to release a full length album every year as well as a companion album that is shorter and more experimental. often the companions will have very unique songs as well as a few remixes from the full length. also, lately there has been at least one 'extra' release each year as well. last year it was a christmas album, this year it was the 'workmanship' vinyl.
the last full length album was called 'the ministry of archers', and it was really good. ever since the misstep of the tick tock treasury joy electric has been growing steadily stronger, including all the inbetween albums. 'ministry of archers' was his best since 'the white songbook' and this newest inbetween album continues the rising quality. the new songs are really good and surpringingly memorable, and the remixes are spot-on (which hasnt always been the case...) all in all, an excellent addition to the ever-expanding library from joy electric.

collective soul

2005-12-12T13:50:00.000-08:00

dang. i forgot how much these guys rock! over the weekend directv was showing a free concert of collective soul. i guess it was just highlights from an upcoming live dvd. it was totally rocking good though. the coolest part was that they were being backed by the atlanta youth orchestra. which meant the four guys ripping it up with their guitars, and about 150 teenagers playing orchestral instruments behind them. it was totally awesome! some of the different renditions of their songs were mindblowing!
ive really enjoyed collective soul for many years now. i first gained an interest around the time of 'precious declaration', but i wasnt totally sold until the first time 'dosage' hit my ears. every thing since i have loved. they are actually one of the rare examples of a band that i actually enjoy their back catalog.
one of my favorite songs of theirs has always been 'crown' from dosage. and it just so happens that they best part of the concert is during this song (go figure...) during this song ed (the lead singer) dedicates it to his father who just died last year. he proceeds to sing the entire song without any guitars (which is shocking for collective soul) and only the music of the strings in the orchestra. wow. a truly moving moment. and they end with a rock your socks off finale with 'feels like' from 'youth.'

joy electric: ministry of archers vinyl

2005-11-30T12:20:00.000-08:00

one of my favorite bands in the whole world is the genius known as joy electric. my passion for them cannot really be explained. so i wont bother. the reason i even bring it up is that i finally (after about 3 months of waiting) have received their latest full length album on vinyl! i already have the album on cd, but the vinyl one has two extra songs on it, so i of course had to buy it. i am really excited to finally have it. the only problem now is that i dont actually own a record player. oops. probably should have thought that one through, huh?

weird...

2005-11-30T11:58:00.000-08:00

yesterday i heard what might be the funniest thing ever. i heard the music group hanson doing a cover of 'optimistic' from Kid A by radio head. wow. i dont think i could have ever put those two together. what a strange combo... and you know what? i kind of dug it.

reliant k: apathetic ep

2005-11-10T02:16:00.000-08:00

i know that reliant k has a certain image among many people. most people see them as a group for 12 year old girls. and for the most part i would agree with you. i would, at least, until i got their last cd "mmhmm." it was actually given to me by one of my student for christmas last year (at the time, she was a 12 year old girl. oh the irony...) and i figured id give it a try. im glad that i did. ive heard their old cds and dismissed them as bubble-gum pop that was trying to be silly. for the mmhmm album they totally grew up! there are amazing songs about love, life, death, and taxes. a fantastic album. probably one i would put on a list of must-haves if stranded on an island.
anyway, they just put out a follow-up ep called "apothetic." i picked it up yesterday and its pretty cool so far. there are three accoustic versions of old songs, and four new songs. one of them , called in like a lion is inspired by the narnia books. (actually, im not really sure if it is, but it sure sounds like it...) on first listen, i would say that its a good ep, but it feels really lopsided. the first two songs are more agressive and rocky, but then there are three accoustic songs, and the last two new ones are fairly quite as well. ill keep listening and write again when i have a better feel for the disk.

kevin max: the imposter

2005-10-28T12:07:00.000-07:00

i got into christian rock when i was in middle school. my first introduction was the self titled cd by audio adrenaline. (i know, i know, i apologize, but back then i thought it was cool...) another band i thought was cool (and i will still defend this one) was dc talk. i got into them with the jesus freak cd, but really loved the supernatural album. when they announced they were breaking up i was pritty disappointed. then they all released solo stuff. like most people, i was first drawn to toby mac. his song extreme days totally rocks. but i thought the rest of the album was crappy "i want to be a hip hop star" filler. so i moved on. next, i checked out tait. i dug it actually. i really enjoyed his first album, and rather liked his second. i liked it, but never really got into it. on a whim i decided to check out kevin max's album. i gave it a listen, and decided it sucked, so i tucked it away for about 3 years. this spring i happened across it again after all this time. figured id give it a spin, an fell in love! wow! for some reason, all these years later, it really connects with me. i tracked down his short 7 song cd, and now have just gotten his latest from northern records. ive only been through it a few times so far, but i really like it! ill keep listening and get back to you about some of the details...

institute: distort yourself

2005-10-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

i am a fan of the music group bush. i must admit that i came to the party a bit late. i wasnt really listening to that kind of music when they showed up on the scene. when i first got into them was actually after razorblade suitcase. unfortunately i had totally missed out on songs like come down and machine head. i went back and picked them up and really liked their first one, sixteen stone. i really got into them, for reasons i cant really explain, with the song the chemicals between us. i think it was the cool title of the album, the science of things, and the rad video for that song. but, i got that album and really dug it. years later they finally released a follow up with golden state. i didnt really care for it at first, but then it started to grow on me and i listened to it alot. actually, everytime i would play ssx3 video game i would put it on mute and listen to that album (i still instantly think of snowboarding every time i hear that cd) then the band broke up. doh...
i really dig gavin's stuff and was getting frustrated that he hadnt put any solo stuff out. his wife was getting all the attention, and the real musical genious of the family was playing second fiddle. well, finally this summer he released another album with a new band called institute. kind of a dumb name, but i can get over it. anyway, its totally awesome. ive had it in my car cd player for about the last month straight. it sounds exactly like bush, but the songs are so good, it sounds like a disc of bush's greatest hits.

a brief summary

2005-10-12T22:47:00.000-07:00

i figured i would share a little bit about what i like to listen to. my musical tastes arent very strange at all. they are perfectly normal. if you think they are strange, perhaps it is just you who is the strange one, no?it would probably help to explain my music listening background. i grew up listening to country. not this crappy country thats so popular now, im talking REAL country music- like jonny cash, ronny milsap, oakridge boys, statler brothers, marty robbins, conway twitty, etc. as i began to choose what i wanted to listen to i was introduced by a couple friends to this whole 'christian rock' type stuff. so i started listening to stuff like audio adrenaline, newsboys, dc talk, etc. but i soon grew weary of the generic cookie cutter music and cheap lyrics. i started to explore the more offbeat christian music like joy electric, starflyer 59, ln, pony express, andrew osenga, etc. and still enjoy some of it. otherwise i like some of the stuff on the radio, but the past year or two i have found very few bands that i have any interest in. instead i just keep up with some older bands and enjoy their new stuff. bands like u2, our lady peace, black lab, bush (or now institute), nine inch nails, smashing pumpkins, verve pipe (or now brian vander ark), hootie and the blowfish, michael jackson, and a few others. anyway, thats my musical tastes in a nutshell. that should give you an idea of what kind of stuff i dig...