what are you listening to?

[murlough23]

There's a song on the Knapp album called "Inside" which is BY FAR the most pissed-off sounding song I remember hearing from a Christian recording artist.

Makes me wonder what it's about. The subculture that nearly hung her out to dry with their crazy rumors couldn't have anything to do with it, could it?

Also, it's easily the hardest-rocking thing Knapp has ever cut.

What holds the previous record? "Into You"? Not tough to beat on the rock-out scale.

[Josh]

I think you're right about the topic, though I've only listened casually. And yeah, "Into You" probably is the closest thing, but this one is so much nastier and angrier than that one.

[murlough23]

I would have never characterized anything Jennifer Knapp did as angry, outside of occasional moments of lamenting her own sins on Kansas, a record which was mostly acoustic.

I finally finished digesting the new Lifehouse album. I give it a C+. A few standout tracks ("Nerve Damage", "Here Tomorrow Gone Today", "All In", "It Is What It Is"), but the balance is astonishingly average. Their second worst album after their self-titled. The title of the last bonus track, "Near Life Experience", aptly sums up the record. It's telling that the remake of "Everything" (also a bonus track) is the best thing on the album by far.

[plvarona]

Speaking about Jennifer Knapp, I will actually be seeing her in concert in New Orleans on Saturday night.  Hopefully, I'll get a better idea of the new album then.  In the meantime, I've been getting her first single from the new album, "Dive In", stuck in my head a lot.

As for what else I've been listening to, I've been checking out a few of the New Album Release Parties on Jesus Freak Hideout.  (Hey, it's a free audio stream.)  Here's what I've checked out so far:

Sanctus Real: Pieces of a Real Heart:
I'd describe this one as average.  Nothing really stands out about it, but there's nothing hideous either.  I'll give it at least one more listen, but so far I'm thinking "C/C+" range here.

Me in Motion: self-titled:
These guys sound like a cheesy version of All Star United, except with laughbly awkward lyrics.  I'd recommended staying away from this one unless you are incredibly masochistic, or if you are really looking for something else to ream.

[murlough23]

Speaking of ASU, has anyone here listened to The Good Album? After Love & Radiation, which really only had one or two songs that brought back to old All Star attitude, I kind of grew tired of hunting down their new material due to the obscurity of the labels and the difficulty finding it. All Star can be quite intentionally cheesy themselves, which is fine in limited doses, but annoying when they're so caught up in the insipidness that their good songs criticize other Christian bands for.

[plvarona]

Speaking of ASU, has anyone here listened to The Good Album?

Actually, they have that whole album streaming on their myspace page.  Here's the link:

http://www.myspace.com/allstarunited

Once you get on to their page, don't go to the big audio player on their site.  Instead, go to the "All Star United" news section and you'll see a little audio player affiliated with Tunecore that contains the entire album.

I've heard the album multiple times, and overall I thought it was a mixed bag.  There were about 3 or 4 songs I liked a lot, and another 3 songs I just plain liked.  However, there were also a few songs that were way too cheesy for my taste.   The highlight of the album for me was definitely "Dude ... That's Freaking Awesome!", which is a hilarious satire of a "party guy" in college.  I also found "Good Luck With The Girls" to be quite amusing, and "Lights Out" is also fun.  On the flip side, I kept wanting to hit the "Skip" button on "Is This The Moment?", and I'm not too keen on "Once Again ... with Feeling" or "The Blame" either.  There was still more to like than dislike, though.

[murlough23]

I also noticed they're re-releasing it on a US label this year, so I'll put it in my Current Music Journal and check it out then (just in case anything changes between releases).

NP: "Do You Believe Me?", The Juliana Theory

[ewok20t3]

Lovedrug - "Thieving"
Such a beautiful song.

[plvarona]

I'm currently listening to a stream of Charmaine's Love Reality on Relevant Magainze's "The Drop."  She is probably best known as Rebecca St. James' former background singer.  I'm about halfway through the album now, and there are a few tracks that caught my interest.  I'll definitely plan on giving this one a few more listens.  Funny what can happen when you get rid of cheesy CCM-y production.

[murlough23]

Deas Vail - "Birds"

How sad is it that I only realized yesterday that Matt Thiessen from Relient K sings on this song? He blends in with Wes so well that I couldn't tell the difference.

[ewok20t3]

Deas Vail - "Birds"

How sad is it that I only realized yesterday that Matt Thiessen from Relient K sings on this song? He blends in with Wes so well that I couldn't tell the difference.

Wow, I didn't realize that either. Yet another reason for me to go back to this album. By the way, Birds & Cages landed in the Billboard 200 last week! Quite an accomplishment for them!

NP: The End of An Era - Hopesfall

[murlough23]

Wow, I didn't realize that either. Yet another reason for me to go back to this album. By the way, Birds & Cages landed in the Billboard 200 last week! Quite an accomplishment for them!

They were selling it for dirt cheap. I'm guessing this was a Billboard list for digital downloads?

NP: "Hysteric", Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

[ewok20t3]

They were selling it for dirt cheap. I'm guessing this was a Billboard list for digital downloads?

NP: "Hysteric", Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

It factors in all album sales, digital and physical combined. They made it in on a gimmick, but it's still nice to see that so many people decided to give it a shot.

[murlough23]

It factors in all album sales, digital and physical combined. They made it in on a gimmick, but it's still nice to see that so many people decided to give it a shot.

Relient K recommended/advertised the album on their Facebook page. That probably accounts for some of the boost in new fans. It also makes it really silly of me to not have noticed Matt's involvement in that one track - I just figured he liked them or they were on the same label or something.

And yeah, really cheap pricing may be a gimmick that gets you higher sales numbers, but I think sometimes it's worth taking the temporary loss to gain fan loyalty. They will buy other stuff later and tell other folks about you.

Besides, how much does it cost to host a server where people can download digital copies of something? There's no cost for physically manufacturing anything, so that often allows the band/label to set their own, much lower, price.

[ewok20t3]

Relient K recommended/advertised the album on their Facebook page. That probably accounts for some of the boost in new fans. It also makes it really silly of me to not have noticed Matt's involvement in that one track - I just figured he liked them or they were on the same label or something.

And yeah, really cheap pricing may be a gimmick that gets you higher sales numbers, but I think sometimes it's worth taking the temporary loss to gain fan loyalty. They will buy other stuff later and tell other folks about you.

Besides, how much does it cost to host a server where people can download digital copies of something? There's no cost for physically manufacturing anything, so that often allows the band/label to set their own, much lower, price.

I agree. If i were in a band that was starting to gain a little momentum, I'd be all for selling a new album that I'm proud of for a dirt cheap price in hopes of gaining new fans. New fans equals merchandise sales and concert tickets and hopefully they will also buy old music and any future releases. It's kind of like an investment, you sacrifice some money in hopes that it will pay off in the long run.

[murlough23]

I agree. If i were in a band that was starting to gain a little momentum, I'd be all for selling a new album that I'm proud of for a dirt cheap price in hopes of gaining new fans. New fans equals merchandise sales and concert tickets and hopefully they will also buy old music and any future releases. It's kind of like an investment, you sacrifice some money in hopes that it will pay off in the long run.

I think "loss leader" is the business term for this.

And I would totally go to a Deas Vail concert if they toured out here. (Oh wait, they did. With Mae and again with Copeland. And I couldn't make it either time. Doh!)

[murlough23]

Grizzly bear - "Two Weeks"

Whenever I hear this, I want to punch somebody.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ3wgX2Oruo

[murlough23]

Flyleaf - Memento Mori

Gave this another go today after my first two off-putting listens. It's not horrible, but it feels forced, like a girl with a great voice is making a kind of music that isn't her strong suit. I'm giving this a C- and sending it to the recycle bin, unless someone here would like to plead the case for something great about it that I'm just not noticing.

[ewok20t3]

Flyleaf - Memento Mori

Gave this another go today after my first two off-putting listens. It's not horrible, but it feels forced, like a girl with a great voice is making a kind of music that isn't her strong suit. I'm giving this a C- and sending it to the recycle bin, unless someone here would like to plead the case for something great about it that I'm just not noticing.

I don't have a problem with her doing this kind of music. I'd prefer someone play music in a style that they're passionate about and Lacey seems to be very much into what she's doing. I like her voice and it's easy to root for a 5 foot tall girl who screams her lungs out, but her bandmates just want to play boring radio rock music. I've tried to get into this album, but it's just not that good.

[murlough23]

I don't have a problem with her doing this kind of music. I'd prefer someone play music in a style that they're passionate about and Lacey seems to be very much into what she's doing. I like her voice and it's easy to root for a 5 foot tall girl who screams her lungs out, but her bandmates just want to play boring radio rock music. I've tried to get into this album, but it's just not that good.

Maybe I'm just identifying the wrong thing that doesn't fit. She could perhaps do well at this genre with a better band behind her. But this album doesn't work either way. Glad to know I'm not the only one.

[murlough23]

Jónsi's Go, the solo album by the lead singer of Sigur Rós. Thanks, bloop! I was pleasantly surprised by the upbeat mixture of baroque pop and electronica, since I was expecting slow, sparse, and drawn-out like Sigur Rós's last album. But only 9 tracks? What up with that?

[Ian]

listenin to some gorilaaaaaaz

[bloop]

Yeah, while I liked their last album quite a bit (and almost every album before that), I wanted his solo album to set itself apart in some way.  I don't like when artists strike it out on their own, only to do exactly what they do with their band.  What's the point?

[murlough23]

Yeah, while I liked their last album quite a bit (and almost every album before that), I wanted his solo album to set itself apart in some way.  I don't like when artists strike it out on their own, only to do exactly what they do with their band.  What's the point?

Agreed. It's more of a surprising departure than, say, Thom Yorke.

[bloop]

Related to that, I also don't like when band members go on to form other bands that sound exactly the same as the original unit.  "Wait, wasn't this a little better when it was called ______?!"

I didn't think The Eraser was too bad, but it definitely sounded eerily similar to Amnesiac-era Radiohead, but not as fully realized.

[murlough23]

I didn't think The Eraser was too bad, but it definitely sounded eerily similar to Amnesiac-era Radiohead, but not as fully realized.

That was when Thom exerted the most control over the band, so it's not surprising.

Ironically, I can get through The Eraser more easily than Amnesiac.

[bloop]

I don't find either of them to be particularly difficult to get through, but I go back to Amnesiac more often.  It might be that there's more variety to the album, and more going on in most of its songs where The Eraser is a bit more minimalistic.

[murlough23]

Kid A FTW.

[bloop]

Kid A FTW.

Well, duh.

[ewok20t3]

I'm currently listening to some music I haven't listened to in years and trying to figure out if there's any reason for me not to sell them. Most are from my high school, nu-metal loving days  . Anyone know of any reason I should keep albums by U.P.O., Lifer, Unloco, Professional Murder Music, Five Pointe O, Local H, Manmade god, Dope, Skrape, L.A. Guns, or 3rd Strike? Or what about CCM type albums by Across The Sky, Glassbyrd, JJ Heller, Kyle Matthews, Parkway, or Paige? I'm pretty sure most of that music is horrible, but maybe I'm missing something.

[murlough23]

Glassbyrd should go straight to the trash bin. Don't even sell that to some other poor soul.

[ewok20t3]

Glassbyrd should go straight to the trash bin. Don't even sell that to some other poor soul.

I just read that allmusic.com gave it a 4 out 5 star review, so I thought maybe I was missing something. Guess not!   

[murlough23]

Owl City - Ocean Eyes

Think of a synthpop version of Relient K, with worse puns. (I'm not imagining the RK connection; Matt Thiessen sings on a few tracks.) Despite the cheesiness, I actually do enjoy this.

[Wildcatblue7]

"Get Low"--Lil Jon and the Eastside Boyz

   EMBARRASSING.  This song is so nasty but so addictive.  Can't help myself.

[Ian]

listenin to that new josh ritter

[Ian]

haha, thought i was listening to it.  accidentally had itunes on shuffle.  went from ritter to pedro the lion to bill callahan to a bill cosby sketch, at which point i began to doubt whether ritter could really be this versatile.

[murlough23]

The New Pornographers' Together. Courtesy of NPR.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126174756

[Silvah]

The Real Efforts of Real People's EP Soft Facts...

[murlough23]

"Your Hands (Together)" by the New Pornographers. I know I mentioned the album before, but wanted to point out that this song just gets me PUMPED every time I listen to it. The music video is appropriately action-packed, with its martial arts/ninja action.

[bloop]

I love that video, particularly the end.  The end, where the ninjas run by the older individual, is quite funny.