jon foreman: 4 seasons

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.