If I didn't share this. . .

I would be quite heartless. I want you to prepare yourselves, because (obviously I have no idea, but) I think this is how music in heaven will be.

This is Hoppipolla and með blóðnadir by Sigur Ros.

Get on your boots

Let me tell you what just made my day, if you haven't guessed already. U2 JUST DID!!! That is right. The first single released from U2's album No Line On the Horizon, "Get on Your Boots" is seriously blowing me away. I've already listened to it 3 times in a row. I'm going to write a full scale review once the album comes out. Right now, I just want to share my jubilation and maybe some of you shall share it with me.

Peace 

Sigur Ros- Staralfur

I do say, there is a lot of common grace going on with this band. This music is heavenly. I hope this song affects you as much as it did me!

Sigur Ros- Njosnavelin (the nothing song)/Untitled #4

Listen to this song, and tell me it isn't beautiful. It's repetitive, but it still has just enough variation to sustain the beauty. Words are useless, just listen to it.

Sigur Ros is amazing. I recommend heartily.

I open the dam on Top 10 lists

Last night our good friend Jeremy Soder purchased a 1950's era portable turntable record player with built in sound system from the Salvation Army. It's amazing. We immediately went to Bookpeoples in downtown Moscow and purchased the following LPs: "Flight of the Valkyrie," "Beethoven's 9th," some 80s pop music which is really cool, "Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975," and "Saturday Night Fever - The Soundtrack." Yes, we listened to Stayin Alive on vinyl. It was amazing, and we discoed in their apartment. I also found a copy of the original Orson Welles broadcast of War of the Worlds on two LPs. For 8 of the hardest earned. It was phenomenal. Anyhow, here's my top 10 list of records that will sound better on vinyl than on CD. I'll be following this up with a post on why I think vinyl is coming back because of the sterility of digital music, but that'll be later. After my rhetoric final. So, here goes.

Top 10: Albums That Will Sound Better On Vinyl Than On CD

10. The Way It Is, Bruce Hornsby and the Range

Why:
The classic, mellow sound of this album has always moved me to tears, and the turntable sound accentuates the soulful. Hornsby's piano is among the greatest in modern rock (Elton John and Stevie Wonder being obvious contenders) and the echoes of records will complement his sound.

Key Tracks: On The Western Skyline - "I'm staring into the twilight" enough said. Every Little Kiss - The chips of vinyl on top of those haunting melodies? Perfect.

9. Come On Feel The Illinoise!, Sufjan Stevens

Why:
Sufjan's so ridiculously indie that the grit of the turntable can't help but add character to an album already exploding with it.

Key Track: Casimir Pulaski Day - Turntable grit/static combined with "And He takes and He takes and He takes . . . "



8. In Rainbows, Radiohead

Why:
When I first downloaded this album, I had it in 192 kbps MP3, which if you know, is not great quality. Then I burned it onto an old blank CD I had lying around, and the next morning at 5 am I played it on an old walkman which then went through a banged up FM transmitter to an already static-filled frequency. The result - magic.

Key Track: Reckoner

7. Narrow Stairs, Death Cab for Cutie

Why: This album is definitely not my favorite Death Cab. Plans took them a long way from the genius of their indie selves, but this is a step in the right direction. You can tell because it will sound better on vinyl. Plans is to poppy, too crisp to work on record, but songs like Bigsby Canyon Bridge and I Will Possess Your Heart beg for the care of the needle.

Key Tracks: No Sunlight, Grapevine Fires

6. Give Up, The Postal Service

Why:
Despite the inclusion of yet another Gibbard project on the list, there's a reason he releases on Barsuk LPs. The echoes and subtle beats of such classics as Nothing Better, Clark Gable, and District Sleeps Alone Tonight promise great things on the turntable.

Key Track: We Will Become Silhouettes - the echoes and chips of a record on this already haunting track? This track was created for vinyl.

5. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, The Flaming Lips

Why:
My main reason for the presence of this album, which I've listened to very little of, is also the key track. Do You Realize?? is an amazing song for its life, exuberance, and existential contrast. Throw it on the table and let the magic happen.

Key Track: Do You Realize??



4. Speak for Yourself, Imogen Heap

Why:
I mainly want to hear the purist sounds of Imogen Heap, so painstakingly produced with various random "instruments;" beer bottles, cardboard tubes, etc., put through a record player. Just to see what the chimes of Say Goodnight and Go sound like after the vinyl rebirth.

Key Track: Just For Now - in case that song didn't have enough awesomeness going on already, let's add yet another dimension to the sound.

3. Viva La Vida, Coldplay

Why:
Surely the most existential album of Coldplay's history, Viva La Vida was, the dust jacket tells us, recorded in such places as a church, a bakery, and a monastery. The beat of Lost, and the soaring life that is the guitar solo in the second half of Yes, these are things that need a needle to give them life.

Key Tracks: Strawberry Swing - the beginning of this song already sounds like it's coming out of an old jukebox, so let's go all the way and see what happens! Death and All His Friends - "No I don't want a battle from beginning to end. . . " to the fade back into Life in Technicolor's theme, this will blow our minds. I can't wait.

2. Takk, Sigur Ros

Why:
An Icelandic guy singing to us in a language which sounds like that of the angels while someone behind him plays an electric guitar with a cello bow. Throw in soaring, heart-rending melodies, drops in tempo that explode again in renewed life, and you've found yourself one heck of an artist. Welcome to the wonderful world of Sigur Ros.

Key Track: Hoppipolla - When I think about the glorious shift in this song near the middle into that exuberant crash, I think of the resurrection of Christ. Listening to it on vinyl would be the difference between listening to your 3rd grade sunday school teacher tell you the story and reading the Scripture. We may never feel the same about Sigur Ros on digital again.

1. Transatlanticism, Death Cab for Cutie

Why:
This is probably my favorite album of all time, so it's a shoe-in for number one on any list. But I fought this urge until, 10 seconds later, I realized how perfect it is. Transatlanticism is an album about distance. It's the story of two lovers seperated by the Atlantic and the effect this has on their love. From the first time you hear the clacking of rails in New Year to the final note of Lack of Color, Transatlanticism is a triumphant, Kierkegaardian treatise on distance in a relationship. Vinyl has the unique quality of adding a different level of distance. Digital music puts the sound right on us, in our ears, rather than removing it to the appropriate place. This record will be amazing.

Key Tracks: We Looked Like Giants, New Year - "God bless the day light, the sugary smell of springtime" and "explosions off in the distance, in the distance" under the needle. Sublime.

Why I listen to Green Day and U2

Most people don't have a problem that I listen to the rock band U2 a good bit. U2 is generally a pretty wholesome band, and they are mostly Christian (all except Adam Clayton). This doesn't really describe them very well, but you sort of get the idea.









Green Day, on the other hand, is not as wholesome as we might like. Here's a picture of them:


Now here's the problem most people have with Green Day: they are punk. Also, they sound angry a lot, they are not Christians, they curse sometimes in their lyrics, and they look weird (this all kind of goes along with being punk).

Okay people, I hear you but let me explain why bands like Green Day are necessary in the music industry.

Let us say, for the sake of argument, that there are a lot of run-down buildings that need to be demolished. They are pretty old and historic and they represent a lot of tradition for some people. At some point, though, we need someone to knock those buildings down. That's Green Day. They are the demolition crew. They come in with sledgehammers and knock at corrupt America and traditions steeped in injustice. While they are at it, they also attack traditional religion and start to criticize the Christian faith (this is the point where we pay them their wages, take their sledgehammers away from them, and confiscate the keys to the wrecking ball).

This is all well and good, but what happens after they get carried away? Someone needs to build and put beautiful buildings up where before there was only decrepit, moldy, and condemned public housing projects. Who is going to do this? Bands like U2.

I see U2 as a band that primarily tries to replace the old vestiges of hate with love. Even when they were being more experimental and postmodern in the 90's they were using different means of achieving the same goal (primarily irony). It is hard to go to a U2 concert without being confronted about the suffering of the world. Bono may ask "Am I bugging you? I don't mean to bug ya". The audience may reply "Yes" cut it out and play the music; but his point is ultimately taken. I can't think of a better way of getting the message of love across to 4o,ooo people at once; because 40,000 people are singing along to a song that questions "how long, how long must we sing this song."

This is not to say that hate will ever disappear, or even that there never is a place for hate. But if we keep replacing it with love, surely the world will run out, right? Perhaps not, but Christians, fools to the world, can keep trying.

I am helping cure racism . . .

By posting this.



NB: Please don't go randomly clicking on Flight of the Conchords videos, dear young readers. They can get rather mature rather quickly. And by mature I mean immature yet dirty. Funny, isn't it?

For legality - I downloaded this video using Google video. I'm obviously not using this for profit, just to make a few friends laugh. And this is easier than getting the embed thing off youtube, etc. I love the flying conchords, and if this is infringement I'll pull it at once. I just don't think it is.

A Shadow of a Truth

"Marilyn Manson". This is the name of one of the most controversial bands ever to sell records, and the adopted name of Brian Warner. Just the name brings a shudder to most Christians (and many other people) who have heard of him. He is so taboo to many Christians that they resolutely refuse to understand him. They don't even bother to know how he became what he is today. But wouldn't it be better if we half-way came to understand who he is and why he does what he does?The following is not a defense but rather a firm condemnation of Marilyn Manson's actions and beliefs. I do not wish to make excuses for him - merely to understand him.

So, who is he? The short and rather simplistic answer to this question is that he is a goulish, satanic, artistic, severely confused rock star with a very un-original message characterized by unabashed nihilism. He became this way through a half-way godless home and several years of a Christian education that became abusive when he was ostracized and bullied. This is yet another argument for why non-believing children of non-believing parents should not be admitted into Christian schools. It is for their own well being.

What about his message? He tells us there is no God (and if there is, then we shouldn't follow Him) and the only way we can be truly happy is if we revolt against traditional morals and fulfill all our desires. Is this a new message? Certainly not; this is classic nihilism and we've been hearing it ever since the garden of Eden. The only surprising aspect of his message is the very explicit manner in which he presents it. When it's not manifesting itself in heinous actions sin has a very shrewd way of disguising itself. It has a way of hiding behind impeccable public lives and deplorable private lives. Our most respected Presidents can be the worst adulterers when we're not looking. In the past we've had no problem with sin, just so long as it stays smartly hidden. The reason that Marilyn Manson is so hideous (to nearly everyone with eyes, ears, and a conscience) is that he makes no effort at all to disguise his depravity. With Marilyn Manson, there is no shroud. What you see is what you get, and naturally it's ugly.

Many people claim that his influence is partly to blame for the Columbine tragedy. In Michael Moore's documentary "Bowling for Columbine" Manson responds to these accusations. "I definitely can see why they would pick me - because it's easy to throw my face on a TV because I'm in the end sort of a poster boy for fear - because I do and say what I want. . . The Two byproducts of that whole tragedy was violence in entertainment and gun control and how perfect that that was the two things that we were going to talk about in the upcoming election and also then we forgot about Monoca Lewinsky and we forgot about. . . the President shooting bombs over seas and yet. . . I'm a bad guy because I sing some rock n' roll songs and who's the bigger influence - the President or Marilyn Manson? I'd like to think me, but I'm going to go with the President." He's right, you know? Or maybe just half right. He claims that the media markets fear in order to keep people consuming. True. Yes, he understands the problem quite well. But he gets the answer to it woefully wrong. The answer to unjust fear is never, more fear. The answer to fear is hope. That is what neither Manson nor the mainstream media understands.

What is the band? I think MM said it best "We are America's s***". The band is a byproduct of what America has been producing for decades. They're what we have been sweeping under the rug for so long. They are "The Picture of Dorian Gray" modified for America.

Manson really doesn't give us much of a reason to listen to his music. His lyrics, as mentioned already, are vile. The instrumentals are terrible, and he simply disguises his poor singing voice with distortion and deep moaning into the microphone. And remind me again what we usually do with s***?

Nine Inch Nails- The Slip

Last week I did something that I would not normally do. I purposefully downloaded an entire album of Nine Inch Nails (NIN). I know, I know. But it was their newest album and it was free from their site so I thought "what the heck, might as well." I didn't really expect it to be terribly good. Now I realize that it is kind of unfair to compare an industrial rock band to an alternative/semi-indie rock band but I'm going to do it anyway. DCFC is so much better than NIN. When I listened to "The Slip" I could not discern any redeeming value in it. The lyrics are pure drivel and the music really needs some serious work. The sound is all distorted, Trent Reznor's voice is just awful, and the percussion gave me a headache.
At this point someone might interject and say that this is the effect that NIN was going for. They just wanted to make their music fit the point they were trying to make with their lyrics. I have to object. On "Year Zero" they may have some of the musical leeway with their subject matter to make something musically displeasing. On "The Slip" though I could not notice a consistent theme, and the lyrics did not justify any such move. On the whole, I'm glad it was free because there is no way I would pay for this.

As an interesting side note, Radiohead was the first group (that I know of) to make their music free off their site with "In Rainbows." Now there is a review for another day, but suffice it to say that I would have paid good money for that album.

Narrow Stairs

Today I purchased Death Cab For Cutie's (henceforth referred to as DCFC) newest album Narrow Stairs. I have been a big fan of DCFC for several years and I've come to expect great things of them. I was not disappointed this time. There's just no other way to put it - this album ROCKS!!! Gibbard's lyrical poetry is in full form and the melodies are incredible. I was especially happy to find that DCFC breaks out of its typical sound. This album features a lot more bass and electric guitar then most of their previous stuff. Their change in instrumental tone fits perfectly with the tone of the lyrics. Lyrically this is a much drearier album than Plans. Plans is very upbeat and optimistic about the future. Narrow Stairs tells the sorry tale of the disillusioned idealists, dejected singles, and disappointed suitors. I recommend this music, but don't expect it to cheer you up.