I Like Music

Inspiring Tunes

The other day I blogged about the grassroots organization The Invisible Children which is trying to bring attention to children in Uganda who are the victims of rebel fighting.

Not only is Invisible Children a cool charity, but they've got a great soundtrack. While watching their various videos and commercials I found three great tracks, two of which I downloaded immediately (the third one I already owned):

"Always Love" by Nada Surf
"For the Widows in Paradise, for the Fatherless in Ypsilanti" by Sufjan Stevens
"Rescue is Coming" by David Crowder Band

The NYT Reviews MercyMe

The New York Times reviews Christian band MercyMe, which shouldn't be as surprising as it sounds, considering they moved two million copies of the album Almost There, thanks to the hit song "I Can Only Imagine."

But what is surprising is this statement about the genre of Christian rock:

In an overwhelmingly Christian country, it may seem strange that Christian rock even exists as a niche genre; if rock better reflected American demographics, then secular rock would be the niche.

I'm not sure what planet the reviewer lives on, but the fervent brand of Christianity expressed in the niche genre of Christian rock doesn't quite match up with the watered-down brand of Christianity weakly embraced by this "overwhelmingly Christian country." That's the reason Christian rock is such a niche, and, interestingly enough, it's the same reason bands like MxPx, P.O.D., Switchfoot, dc Talk and more are branded as sellouts by some in the fervent Christian niche who see mainstream success as an embracing of a watered-down Christianity.

Johnny Cash: Personal File

It's been almost three years since Johnny Cash died, but he continues to remain in the spotlight thanks to the biopic Walk the Line and the posthumously released Unearthed boxset. On May 23 another 49 unreleased Cash tracks will be released with Personal File, a collection of bare acoustic tracks Cash recorded between 1973 and 1982.

Nearly half of Personal File includes gospel songs, eleven of which are Cash originals.

Sixpence's Leigh Nash is Back

If you miss the lush vocals of the defunct Sixpence None the Richer, miss them no more. Leigh Nash is back with a solo album due out this summer. You can hear a new song, "Along the Wall", from her MySpace page or Relevant magazine (oddly stuffed under "music downloads," though it's clearly a streaming file and not a download).

Check out the Rolling Stone article for more on Nash's solo venture.

Rolling Stones Suck at Super Bowl

Instead of a wardrobe malfunction, this year's Super Bowl halftime show had a talent malfunction. The Rolling Stones put on a "ragged" and "mediocre" show. Their first song, "Start Me Up," needed a little starting up, the obligatory new single "Rough Justice" was boring and the classic "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" was lacking.

ABC actually had to edit the performance to silence potentially offensive sexual language, but nobody bothered to censor the incredibly offensive swagger of 62-year-old Mick Jagger. The guy needs a walker.

It left me yearning for some genre-bending crap-medley from the likes of Eminem, Ashlee Simpson, Metallica and the Dixie Chicks. At least then there's the threat of a full-on fight instead of a full-on heart attack.

Audio Adrenaline Calls it Quits

Christian rockband Audio Adrenaline is calling it quits after 15 years. The press release cites "ongoing vocal challenges" facing lead singer Mark Stuart. After consulting with a doctor he decided to retire (though I think if he consulted anyone attending their concerts for the past two years they could have told him that his voice is done).

The band will release one final album later this year, a retrospective (read: best of, plus two new songs) dubbed Adios, and head out for a farewell tour.

There's no word on what will become of the remainder of Audio Adrenaline, guitarist Tyler Burkum, bassist Will McGinniss and drummer Ben Cissell, who one can only suppose aren't facing "ongoing vocal challenges." Apparently Audio Adrenaline won't be going the way of Petra, Newsboys, Further Seems Forever (OK, my rock history is pretty poor, but you know it's happened before) and so many other bands that just replaced their lead singer and kept going.

I see two possible outcomes:

Some lucky solo artist out there finds a stellar backing band. Who could it be? Justin McRoberts? Derek Webb? Andrew Peterson? Sara Groves? Bethany Dillon? Shawn Groves? The return of Michael W. Smith? Wait, scratch that last one.
Their record company decides to go the way of INXS and launches a Christian version of the sorry reality show where average Joes can try out to be the lead singer of a rock band.

Free MuteMath

For the love of all things holy go download MuteMath's "Chaos" for free right now. No, don't stop and think, don't file it for later. Now. Go. Download. It's free.

I'll wait.

I first saw MuteMath thrashing across the stage at Sonshine 2005, which included over-turning the drum kit twice and standing on the piano and playing it with your feet. The duct-tape holding the drummer's headphones to his head couldn't keep from partying itself and gave up its headphone holding duty.

Now MuteMath is celebrating its debut album with free "Chaos" download goodies. You can thank me later.

It's a CCM Christmas

It must be Christmas in Nashville as the Christian Music crowd is cranking out Christmas singles:

"Feliz Navidad" - David Crowder Band
"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" - Bethany Dillon
"What Child Is This" - ZOEgirl

It's all from the requisite Wow Christmas 2-CD set. For a little more edge to your Christmas dance party you can turn to Tooth & Nail's Happy Christmas Vol. 4, which includes Switchfoot (again), Relient K, Eisley, Mae, Hawk Nelson and more.

Bono: My Music Will Be Around in 100 Years

U2 frontman and social activist Bono told 60 Minutes that he wants to be remembered for his music more than his activism.

"I think my work--the activism--will be forgotten. And I hope it will. Because I hope those problems will have gone away."

He went on to predict that his music will still be around in 100 years, "explaining that his songs occupy 'an emotional terrain that didn't exist before our group did.'"

Is this rock 'n roll hubris, ego maniac lead singer, exaggeration in hopes of a sound byte--or is [insert favorite U2 song here] that good?

Romantica Video for "Mexico"

Check out the video "Mexico" from Minneapolis band Romantica (go to Sonicbids and click video). There's nothing incredibly amazing about the video, but it is weird to see a few guys you know in a professional music video. I went to college with the lead singer, Ben Kyle, and the bass player, Luke Jacobs.

While the music video may not be incredibly amazing (not many videos are), Romantica's music itself might be. Check out their 2004 debut It's Your Weakness That I Want.

Free Songs: Living Things and Ryan Shupe & the Rubberband

A couple of worthy free songs on iTunes this week:

"Bom Bom Bom" by Living Things, a guitar-romping anti-war track, and "Banjo Boy" by Ryan Shupe & the Rubberband, a goofy bluegrass banjo hoe-down.

Faith, Doubt and Nickel Creek

Religion columnist Terry Mattingly covers the bluegrass band Nickel Creek and their mix of faith and doubt. It includes a great line from guitarist Sean Watkins:

"I'm so sick of sugar-coated songs from the Christian perspective," he said, in his online journal. "One of the most comforting and inspiring lines to me is from the last chorus of 'Come Thou Fount' where it says, 'Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.' Not many un-watered-down songs make it through the filter of the Christian music industry mafia these days."

Animated Bono Sings "Head & Shoulders, Knees & Toes"

Check out the avatar Bono and U2 doing "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes" on the Mother Goose Rocks DVD. The video doesn't play very well on my computer, but you get the idea. Kind of creepy, but the song is fun. You can also snag the song on volume 5 of the CD, which also includes sound-alikes of Green Day, Gwen Stefani, Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay, Evanescence and more (of course they give them all goofy names, like ME2, Green Week and Effervescence). You can also grab "Head and Shoulders" (and all the tracks) on iTunes.

"Lights and Sounds" from Yellowcard

You can get an early taste of the new Yellowcard album, Lights and Sounds, which comes out in January, with the first single, "Lights and Sounds". The new album is supposed to be a departure from their Ocean Avenue sound, supposedly more rock and roll.

"We kind of got grouped into a certain thing with the last record, and whether it's good or bad, who knows?" Pete Mosley told MTV in August. "But we don't want to walk around and go, 'Hey, I'm in this pop-punk band called Yellowcard' for the rest of our lives. So we made a record that's not like Ocean Avenue. It's not bouncy — it's rock and roll."

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

The indie band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah has sold 17,000 copies of their self-released debut album. They make $8 per copy mailing the CDs to customers themselves (a lot better than the $1 per copy most record companies offer), which amounts to $136,000. Granted they have bills to pay and have to divide up the earnings, but that's not too shabby for a band, considering they also have merchandising and concert income.

You can download a few tracks from their site (check the sidebar) and they're now available on iTunes. They have an odd sound that I have a hard time describing, but I'll say that it's catchy enough that I like it, though the vocals are odd enough that my wife can't stand it. It's kind of like musical noise.