Other music musings - Updated

Note: Slightly updated! Woo-hooo!!

I was regretting the fact that I haven't bought anything new in a while. And then I splurged. It's just not the way to go. Got Public Enemy's Greatest Hits or something. At 10 clams, I knew I had to get something PE and that's a deal. But I should've held out for a whole, real album or something. It's not like they're the B52's or something, a hit parade and nothing else.

On the other bend, Out of Eden was the pre-Mary Mary um... Mary Mary. I always thought this trio of sisters cute and their harmonies and music (most of which is written and handled by oldest sib Lisa) good, but their vox can sometimes, well, they sound kinda flat and nasally. So I took an Out of Eden hiatus. Now, there was a grassroots movement some years ago that led various artists within and around the Christian music scene to begin to release more and more worship songs, until they saw the response that was getting and released entire albums and basically started a cottage industry (or is it "cabbage industry"? Enough with the puns!) that catered towards those affluent, suburban youth groups? The positive aspect is that the Church now has a larger tapestry of praise and worship songs to pick and choose from for canonization. Now we can choose from a variety of good songs from the schools of Israel Houghton, Darlene Z., Fred Hammond (getting his own post sometime down the line), and Revolt's Maranatha Praise & Worship Band of Choice, Deliriou5? (How could you argue with a name like that?). On the negative side, there's just so many crappy covers and middling songs a lover of Jesus can put up with in his Savior's name. Well, now, again almost independently, the same is happening with classic and ancient hymns. Incidentally, the name of Out of Eden's latest, a sort of re-doing of the classics, sometimes working wonderfully with the old feel (the stand-alone opener, "Fairest Lord Jesus"), sometimes not so well with new arrangements ("I Know Whom I Have Believed," for me). But overall, for a man who will probably never fully regain the hymns experience in his contemporary (read: sometimes just blahh) church service, it's a pleasure.


I'm sorry. They are cute.


Switchfoot, who I've also always loved, right from the get-go with their smart lyrics and fun music is releasing a new album in August. They were produced by Charlie Peacock a few times, who basically discovered them along with David Dark's wife, Sarah Masen, and is the man that I consider to have founded adult pop in the 'Christian' industry. I saw Switchfoot in concert a year ago. Snap, crackle and pop. Jerome Fontamillo has always been fantastic and it just shows Switchies' coolness that they picked the guy from Mortal and Fold Zandura as their fifth man, the man to handle the keys, samples and - what was it? - a Rickenbacher.

I rebought Kirk Franklin's production of God's Property. Remember that album? O snap. "Stomp," "My Life Is in Your Hands," "He'll Take the Pain Away." That was an entire summer spent listening to that album, one of the first gospel records consistently played on WGCI outside of the Sunday Gospel Mornings. It pioneered the terrain for other successful Gospel artists to garner mainstream attention for a sister station and helped to pave the way for GCI and others to develop sister stations that are exclusively Black Gospel music. And it was and is just good music. Sylvia, my college crush, if you're out there, I still think The Rebirth of Kirk Franklin is his best work, but this album is phenom and a classic. And email me. Speaking of it, "Love" was referenced by that little boy in Lauryn Hill's Mis-education and we're using it for our upcoming youth-led Sunday service. As a dance, of course. I'll talk about that service later, after it's done. I don't wanna Cubs it.



Over the Rhine's Drunkard's Prayer is the album to talk about though. 'Cept it's after midnight and my shoes have already turned into pumpkins (Get it? I walk everywhere. See? Oh...). But it is exciting in a way that even Ohio wasn't for me. It just seems so alive and fresh and melodic. More on that if I ever get around to it.

Deepspace 5 just dropped their new album, Unique, Just Like Everyone Else, on Gotee Records and I didn't know? Aaaaarrrghhh! Too much music. Too few funds! Too much music. Too few funds! Too much music. Too few funds! Too much music. Too few funds! Too much music. Too few funds! Too much music. Too few funds! Too much music. Too few funds! Too much music. Too few funds! Too much music. Too few funds! Too much music. Too few funds! Too much music. Too few funds! Too much music. Too few funds!