andrew osenga

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.
here's 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 wasn't 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, definitely a rarity in christian music at the time.
as leaders on dordt's campus, bob and i were in charge of planning some student activities. 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 change in sound. their album 'coming to life' was one of the richest, deepest, most lyrically challenging 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 the 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 a new chapter in my life, beginning 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 haven't 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

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

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?

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

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!

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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...

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.