Here my list of the top 10 albums of the decade.  Let me know what yours are.

10. Jack Johnson – Brushfire Fairytales (2001)

9. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)

8. Once: Music from the Motion Picture (2007)

7. Sigur Ros – Takk… (2005)

6. Iron & Wine – The Creek Drank the Cradle (2002)

5. Denison Witmer: Philadelphia Songs (2002)

4. Elvis Perkins – Ash Wednesday (2007)

3. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago (2008)

2. Damien Rice – O (2003)

1. Iron & Wine – Our Endless Numbered Days (2004)

Here’s my review of a new Rosie Thomas DVD/LP that ran in Metro Times this week.

Rosie Thomas (with Denison Witmer and Sufjan Stevens)

All the Way from Michigan Not Mars (DVD+LP)
Factory 25

By MELISSA GIANNINI

“My friends are having babies. You know, people are buying homes. … I never needed that foundation.”

It’s 15 minutes into All the Way from Michigan Not Mars, a concert doc that spans tour stops, set-list discussions, meditative car rides, and kite-flying interludes following the release of These Friends of Mine — a collaborative effort between singer-songwriter-producer Rosie Thomas and co-producers-multi-instrumentalists Sufjan Stevens and Denison Witmer — and Rosie is already launching into one of many contradictions: “There’s a part of me that hopes there would be a shift … that I would enjoy the foundation of a routine in life, because I’ve never really had that.”

Fittingly, this dichotomous quality is the most frustrating and delightful aspect of the film — a quirky, behind-the-scenes romp that’s more space camp than drunken debauchery. And it’s a defining feature of Rosie herself, a Michigan native (along with Sufjan, hence the title) who bookends bittersweet, honey-voiced ballads with self-conscious, squeaky stage banter and bizarre visits from her even-more-awkward, neck-braced alter ego, Sheila Saputo.

Born to musician parents in suburban Detroit in the late ’70s (the most amusing anecdote of the film involves a botched local Star Search audition), Rosie sang with Velour 100 in the late ’90s before heading west, landing in theater school in Seattle, where she befriended Damien Jurado and signed with Sub Pop. The film finds her at a crossroads, seeking a respite from the business side of the industry and a return to the simple joy of making music with close friends. The intimacy that unfolds draws a parallel (albeit on a smaller scale) with another recent doc following fellow ex-pats, the White Stripes. 

The medium suits her well. While Rosie’s studio albums are lovely, they only scratch the surface of what this complex individual, equal parts sentimentality and hilarity, wants to express. Included in the package is an LP that collects relaxed apartment sessions, further pressing this desire to unleash something raw, uncut and spontaneous. And as we ride along, watching Rosie stumble as she tries to figure things out, barefaced in bunchy thrift-store dresses, it’s hard not to feel like one of her friends.

I’ve been sitting on this one a while, waiting to finally have it photographed properly (by the brilliant Gabe Hopkins), and that day hath arrived. One of my favorite musicians Denison Witmer hit me up about doing his wedding invitations. He and his wife Jennie were both great to work with and I tried to incorporate elements of both of them into the design (she enjoys knitting, and he is obviously into music).

They wanted a design that could all be mailed as one piece, and since the postcards have to be 4×6 and the whole thing folded-in has to be under a certain size for postage, there was really only so many ways it could go mathematically.

I’m very pleased with the results. Click through for hi-res shots at my flickr page.

Great Comfort Records is teaming up with Bifrost Arts to do their part in reviving gospel pop music. In their own words:

For more than 30 years, pop music has suffered from a God complex—attaching a scarlet letter to artists who include the religious experience in their songs.

But a new generation of musicians from across the spiritual spectrum is emerging, discarding the trappings of the Christian-culture industry to reintroduce the transcendence, beauty and historical gravity of western [sacred] music to the places where it belongs: dinner parties, road trips and back porches.

Come O Spirit brings together artists like Dave Bazan, Damien Jurado, Rosie Thomas, Denison Witmer, The Welcome Wagon (featuring Sufjan Stevens) and Leigh Nash to revive 400 years of long-forgotten melodies and liturgical music. The brainchild of producers Isaac Wardell and Mason Neely, Come O Spirit interprets hymnody through lush, cinematic arrangements and a drop of Southern gothic mystique. It’s like a prayer.

Hopefully a few brief editorial remarks will not come off as untoward: first, it seems that openly Christian bands only really suffer when the music suffers (let’s pick some low-hanging fruit: Stryper, anyone?).

But much more: can we all please quit bemoaning the fact that there is profit to be made in the manufacture of music? Of any genre of music? We’ve been complaining about that for more than 30 years as well, and the output just keeps getting better.

Click on the first link above to download the title track to Come O Spirit by Aimee Wilson, and “I Sought the Lord,” by Leigh Nash and Megan Roderick. Click on the second link to stream tracks from the Christmas album, Salvation is Created: “Bring a Torch, Isabella” by Ben+Vesper, and “Joy Joy!!!” by Devon Sproule And Paul Curreri.

(By the way “Joy Joy!!!” is absolutely beautiful.)

A Danielson nevével fémjelzett Sounds Familyre és a Sufjan Stevens kapcsán ismert Asthmatic Kitty Records kiadócsalád egy újabb testvérrel bővült, mely a keresztségben a Great Comfort Records nevet kapta. Irányultságuk egyértelműen keresztény, céljuk pedig, hogy a tradicionális amerikai egyházzenébe új lelket vigyenek, visszahozzák a régi himnuszok organikus hangzását. Indulásuk alkalmából egy válogatást is megjelentettek, melyen hagyományos gospel énekek hallhatók ismerős nevek előadásában, úgy mint Dave Bazan, Damien Jurado, Rosie Thomas, Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond), J.Tillman (Fleet Foxes), Laura Gibson, Denison Witmer, The Welcome Wagon (Sufjan Stevens segédletével), Leigh Nash (Sixpence None the Richer). Saját bevallásuk szerint a Come, O Spirit! című lemez filmbe illő hangzással és némi Southern Gothic misztikummal szolgál a hallgatóknak.
Az alternatív folk kedvelőinek mindenképpen erősen ajánlott.

Understated, listenable and uplifting…a real gem.

Steven Wesley Guiles’ new album We will All Be Lifted is a real gem and may one of the best album’s released this year that most people will not hear

Musically  understated, the album is in the same neighborhood as artists such as  Bon Iver, Denison Witmer and early Pedro the Lion. There is an uplifting nature to theses songs that is often missing from albums in the genre.

In a listenable album full of great songs, I gravitate toward a three song cycle.  The epic  Thankful is  sandwiched by two haunting and beautiful songs; Something Fresh and New and Except Perhaps the Human Heart

Thankful

You can find the album at iTunes,  and CDBaby,

Forged in the indie rock of the 90s, Steven Wesley Guiles has toured the country with his band Pushstart Wagon since 1993 and has been a solo performer all of those years as well.

His music is a mix of acoustic guitars and heartfelt sentiment. He’s been compared to Bon Iver, Elliot Smith, and he sounds nothing like the lead singer from Metallica. Steven grew up listening to Simon and Garfunkel and hopes to eventually cover the Bridge Over Troubled Water album in its entirety.

We Will All Be Lifted, his first solo album with California based label New Cool Now, is an uplifting tearjerker with beautiful moments like opening track May He Keep You As He Goes and the heartfelt piano-driven love song slash sure hit single, Keep Me Coming Back To You. And when he goes from quiet to epic in Thankful, you are left wishing the song would continue.

Luckily for the fans, the music will continue in another complete EP which is already mixed and mastered and slated for a Winter 09 release by New Cool Now. …And The Stars Will Guide Us Home.

He also has a rock band. He likes to soft rock with his wife. When not softrocking or mediumrocking he also runs the New Cool Now Music label. He recently wrote more than 80 songs as part of FAWM.org’s songwriting challenges. Here’s a bio. Myspace. Reverbnation. Twitter.

Here is the linup for the Fall 2009 Hope College Concert Series

Hope College Concert Series.

It’s a busy Friday. I just ate some amazing tomato bisque-ey soup that my wife made for lunch. Now I’m buckling down and getting a few projects done while listening to a fun playlist that I thought I’d share.

You’ll have to ignore the graphics on this first one, but check out an awesome tune by Denison Witmer called “Are You a Dreamer”

Next is an awesome Canadian, Coeur De Pirate with her song “Commes Des Enfants” If you’e a fan of Cat Power, or Regina Spektor, and speak French, you’ll probably love her.

I’ve also been listening to a lot of The Rest, but can hardly find any of their stuff online, so this mediocre quality video of “The Close Western” performed live will have to do.

Hope you enjoyed!

“Dearest Christopher,” the letter read. “We are a sampling of your favorite musicians. We know this. It is with great pleasure we present to you something that is special to us…a collection a hymns and spirituals we recently recorded with the help of Lenny, Marian, Elin, and Daniel Smith. We hear you have a great deal of admiration for their hearts and work and the hearts behind their work in your very own heart. Enjoy.”

Putting the letter down, I removed the brown kraft paper used to wrap the package and uncovered what I would soon find to be the most beautiful album I have heard in sometime. A gift from hearts I admire to my heart of hearts.

The above did not exactly go down that way, though it feels like it did. It actually did not go down in any way close to that, though it feels like it did. This album delivers things to me.

Come O Spirit brings together quite the doozy of musicians: Dave Bazan, Damien Jurado, Rosie Thomas, Denison Witmer, The Welcome Wagon (featuring Sufjan Stevens), Leigh Nash, Trent Dabbs, Kate York, Megan Roderick, Laura Gibson, Sam Ashworth, J. Tillman, John Totten, Chris Totten, Kevin Bevil, Shara Worden, Sarah Fullen, Kelly McRae, Evan Gregory, Joseph Pensak, Laura Young, and Liz Janes. I have owned it for two weeks and the play count is near 20. It is fiercely battling Elephants by Aaron Strumpel for my fave album of the year. They will face off at some point.

A nice summary of the collection from Bifrost:

For more than 30 years, pop music has suffered from a God complex—attaching a scarlet letter to artists who include the religious experience in their songs. But a new generation of musicians from across the spiritual spectrum is emerging, discarding the trappings of the Christian-culture industry to reintroduce the transcendence, beauty and historical gravity of western sacred music to the places where it belongs: dinner parties, road trips and back porches. “Come O Spirit” brings together artists like Dave Bazan, Damien Jurado, Rosie Thomas, Denison Witmer, The Welcome Wagon (featuring Sufjan Stevens) and Leigh Nash to revive 400 years of long-forgotten melodies and liturgical music. Sounding like a prayer, “Come O Spirit” interprets classic hymnody through lush, cinematic arrangements and a drop of Southern gothic mystique.

Amen.

How about a bit more from the folks at Great Comfort Records:

We believe authentic worship is not an action on our part… it’s a reaction. Whenever we get a glimpse of the loveliness and powerfulness of our Father, there is a reaction within us. When we let it out, we can call it “worship.” Good worship songs give us vehicles for those spontaneous reactions we have when we see God’s brilliance in creation and in His ways with us… His faithfulness and His generosity. We don’t worship God because we should, we worship God because we can… we have to let out the gratitude and the joy we feel at what we see, His kindness and love. This in not a Sunday activity, this is an everyday occurrence for those who have eyes to see His hand all around us.

Great Comfort Records will be looking for and finding those melodies, those poetic lyrics, those honest expressions, captured in song: the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs… sacred music for the invisible church. We will be recording them in unique and wonderfully fresh ways and offering them to you as vehicles for your own expressions to God. Our hope is that we see what’s really there, and that the songs resonate and ring true to your own deepest feelings of awe and gratitude for your Maker, your Father, and Jesus, your master, your friend. This is medicine for the soul.

Sweet Lord I could begin to cry. My heart is singing right now. The track currently hitting me most is below for your listening. The album cover below that will take you to the place to buy it.

“How Calm & Beautiful” by Joseph Pensak and Laura Young (Bifrost Arts)

photograph by Denny Medley, Random Photography

With my show up at Benetti’s and my attempts to get the word out about this site, this show may be the first one for some.  I record a 25ish-minute show every week to enjoy over lunch or a short drive through town.  I typically aim to have these up every Friday.

I’m still working on trying to sync up these shows with iTunes so they will automatically download. Until then, this will have to do.

The weather has suddenly shifted, and listening to guys like Nick Drake or Denison Witmer makes sense again. Cast aside your High Llamas, Guided By Voices and Jetenderpaul albums, folks. This is fall music.

1. Steven – Denison Witmer
2. Hammock – Birds Flying in Sequence
3. Eyeless in Gaza – Evening Music
4. Starflyer 59 – A Good Living

Radio Free Raytown – Episode 11 (9/24/09)

It’s a busy time for Katy and me, with schedules that do anything but align.  We have had time to work in some music, however.  Tonight, we are going to a performance of “Into The Woods” at the Kansas City Repertory Theater.  Tomorrow morning, I will put up my art show, “Them Changes: An Examination of Jazz & Soul Album Artwork of the 70s,” at Benetti’s that explores early 70s soul, funk and jazz album covers.  (More on that in a bit.)  Wednesday, we are going to see Denison Witmer break our hearts at The Record Bar.

“Them Changes” explores soul, funk and jazz album artwork from the early 70s.  In planning this show, I have strived to discuss context.  For example, why did the black man suddenly become an icon on soul albums?  What’s with the whole blaxploitation soundtrack thing?  I could go on and on and should probably write a thesis on the subject.

I am aware I have chosen some big names and omitted some others, but I don’t think the show will suffer much.  Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield were tremendously important, so it’s not bad that I focus on them.  I didn’t include any George Clinton-related stuff because of the type of place Benetti’s is.  (I assume that old ladies might get a little freaked out with covers to Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow or Cosmic Slop staring at them as they drink their morning coffees.)

Okay, I’m done.

Today I’m stuck on: “Heal for the Honey” by Brooke Waggoner

Brooke Waggoner and Denison Witmer are playing at Union Hall tonight.

Imagine your favorite indie  singer/ song writers singing old time  hymns  and spiritual songs and that is what you get with “Come O Spirit”. Great Comfort Records has made available 2 of the songs  to sample. Get your copy on Sept 8th

Come, O Spirit! from Come, O Spirit!

I Sought the Lord from Come, O Spirit!

“Come O Spirit” brings together artists like Dave Bazan, Damien Jurado, Rosie Thomas, Denison Witmer, The Welcome Wagon (featuring Sufjan Stevens) and Leigh Nash (and more) to revive 400 years of long-forgotten melodies and liturgical music. Sounding like a prayer, “Come O Spirit” interprets classic hymnody through lush, cinematic arrangements and a drop of Southern gothic mystique.

via Great Comfort Records : Bifrost Arts > Come, O Spirit!.

Brooke Waggoner returns on November 3rd with her second full-length album titled Go Easy Little Doves. All twelve songs on the album were not only written and composed by Waggoner, as with her previous releases, but Go Easy Little Doves was entirely self-produced.

Track listing for Go Easy Little Doves
01. Query
02. Ruminate
03. Go Easy Little Doves, I’ll Be Fine
04. Meek; Wild
05. Chromates Soft Love
06. Femmes
07. Godwin
08. Find Her Floods
09. Body
10. Wish for Bridges
11. Burden of Our Courage
12. Get Too Close

Brooke Waggoner has a full run of tour dates starting in Chapel Hill, NC on September 1st with Denison Witmer. Following the conclusion of that tour, Waggoner will join Owl City on the road beginning October 8th in Des Moines, Iowa.

Fall Tour Dates
09/01 Local 506 w/ Denison Witmer – Chapel Hill, North Carolina
09/02 The Boot w/ Denison Witmer – Norfolk, Virginia
09/03 Tea Bazaar w/ Denison Witmer – Charlottesville, Virginia
09/04 Iota Club & Cafe w/ Denison Witmer – Arlington, Virginia
09/05 Kung Fu Necktie w/ Denison Witmer – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
09/06 Union Hall w/ Denison Witmer – Brooklyn, New York
09/08 Mercury Lounge w/ Denison Witmer – New York, New York
09/09 Cafe 939 w/ Denison Witmer – Boston, Massachusetts
09/11 Beachland Tavern w/ Denison Witmer – Cleveland, Ohio
09/12 Garfield Artworks w/ Denison Witmer – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
09/13 The Treehouse w/ Denison Witmer – Columbus, Ohio
09/14 Southgate House w/ Denison Witmer – Newport, Kentucky
09/15 Grace College w/ Denison Witmer – Winona Lake, Indiana
09/16 Vollrath w/ Denison Witmer – Indianapolis, Indiana
09/17 Pygmallon Music w/ Denison Witmer – Champaign, Illinois
09/18 Forward Music Festival – Madison, Wisconsin
09/19 Subterranean w/ Denison Witmer – Chicago, Illinois
09/20 Cactus Club w/ Denison Witmer – Milwaukee, Wisconsin
09/21 Turf Club w/ Denison Witmer – St. Paul, Minnesota
09/22 Picador w/ Denison Witmer – Iowa City, Iowa
09/23 Record Bar w/ Denison Witmer – Kansas City, Missouri
09/24 Off Broadway w/ Denison Witmer – St. Louis, Missouri
10/08 House Of Bricks w/ Owl City – Des Moines, Iowa
10/09 The Waiting Room w/ Owl City – Omaha, Nebraska
10/10 Bluebird Theater w/ Owl City – Denver, Colorado
10/12 The Venue w/ Owl City – Boise, Idaho
10/13 Big Dipper w/ Owl City – Spokane, Washington
10/15 The Biltmore Cabaret w/ Owl City – Vancouver, British Columbia
10/16 Neumos w/ Owl City – Seattle, Washington
10/17 Hawthorne Theatre w/ Owl City – Portland, Oregon
10/19 Slim’s w/ Owl City – San Francisco, California
10/20 Troubadour w/ Owl City – Los Angeles, California
10/22 Chain Reaction w/ Owl City – Anaheim, California
10/23 Epicentre w/ Owl City – San Diego, California
10/24 Martini Ranch w/ Owl City – Scottsdale, Arizona
10/25 Launchpad w/ Owl City – Albuquerque, New Mexico
10/27 Marquee w/ Owl City – Tulsa, Oklahoma
10/28 House of Blues w/ Owl City – Dallas, Texas
10/29 House of Blues w/ Owl City – Dallas, Texas
10/30 Emo’s w/ Owl City – Austin, Texas
10/31 Meridian w/ Owl City – Houston, Texas
11/12 Furman University w/ Tyler James – Greenville, South Carolina

Ah.

Here we are again, crying at work.

I guess I’m tired after a busy week & some music just caught me off guard.

Must always check what’s coming up on the playlist.

Totally irrelevant photo taken in May beneath the Eiffel Tower.

In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel  Cover) – Eisley

In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (Neutral Milk Hotel Cover) – Joel Griffith

These Days (Jackson Browne Cover) – Casador

These Days (Jackson Browne Cover) – Mates Of State (Daytrotter Session)

Nothing Compares To You (Prince Cover) – Ben Taylor

Is There A Ghost (Band Of Horses Cover) – Denison Witmer

I’ve been thinking about this prayer a lot. And yes, I know that it is probably not written by Francis of Assisi at all, but that it most likely is not much more than one century old. But that does not matter much, what matters is the prayer, and what it communicates to God when you pray it.

so first the prayer:

Lord, make me a channel of thy peace;
that where there is hatred, I may bring love;
that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;
that where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
that where there is error, I may bring truth;
that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
that where there is despair, I may bring hope;
that where there are shadows, I may bring light;
that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;
to understand, than to be understood;
to love, than to be loved.

For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
It is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.

Amen.

Just read the prayer, and think about what it says. And imagina that we as Christians could live in the spirit of this prayer, in this kind of humility. How different a world we would have if we would live like that, and be in such a way transformed by the Holy spirit to something more christlike, more loving, more humble…  Btw, Mother Theresa used this prayer as a part of the daily prayers of her order.  It must be very powerful to pray this prayer daily!

I guess most of you already know this prayer. To me it’s like lots of bible texts, i’ve known it for a long time, but when I get to really know the depts of it, it’s something so overwhelming… I hope you all will be inspired by it, and by the idea of living christlike and humble…

shalom

Bram

If you want to hear it sung: here is a link to the beatiful Denison Witmer version. It is from a beautiful free mp3- collection of live solo performances that he has put on happy birthday denison, be sure to check that site out… There also is a great version of this song by the innocence mission!

Originally released in 2000, Safe Away has seen various forms including a re-release in 2006.  This debut album from Denison Witmer has been on my playlist since I first heard it in 2002 from my friends Josh.  Incidentally, he actually first discovered Denison at a Cornerstone Music Festival in southern Illinois.  Just one of the many ways we discover new music.

Safe Away is a very simple album.  And by simple I do not mean that the quality is simple, but that most songs are guitar and voice alone.  If you are into the singer/songwriter scene, Denison is a solid performer worth listening to.  His lyrics often times tell a story that brings your mind to another place.  Below is a live performance of the second track, ‘Breathe In This Life.’  Enjoy.

Rating: 5/5

Yesterday on a whim / on a walk home from a lame job interview, I decided to pick up Arcade Fire’s “Mirror Noir” and Leonard Cohen’s “Live in London”. I got to thinking about how awesome some music DVDs are, and how amazing it is when a film-maker is able to capture the experience of a concert in film.

So this morning I decided to compile a short run-down of some good music DVDs I’ve come across in recent years. To be fair I have tried to cover a broad spectrum of music DVDs, everything from classic rock to folk to metalcore-for-kids-who-wear-tight-pants.

A word on this, and many of my other entries: Please do not feel obligated to read these posts, or check out all the mentioned music, all at once. You can come back to this as a resource whenever you need music to listen to/watch. Think of this as a book with no paper, or a library without awkward people. Cheers.

1) Firstly, Leonard Cohen’s, Live in London-  Leonard Cohen is one of the most prolific songwriters of our time. Cohen took an unexplained hiatus from touring 15 years ago, using some of the time to do some profound soul-searching (Prior to recording “Ten New Songs” Cohen spent 5 years in a Zen monastery in California). Even after a long hiatus from performing, Cohen has still managed to produce a live-show filled with the depth and wisdom of a life-long artist. His voice is still deep and poetic, and his backing band comprises some of the best musicians I’ve seen in a while. I like it.

2) Mirror Noir, The Arcade Fire- This is Arcade Fire’s new DVD, filmed by Vincent Moon (the man behind a number of “La Blogotheque” videos, which I’ll discuss later). This DVD was filmed throughout the recording process of Neon Bible, and snapshots of the tours that followed. The mood and atmosphere of the film matches the feel of “Neon Bible”, and it gives some insight as to the reasoning Arcade Fire had in the recording process- why they used elaborate organ sounds, orchestras, and choirs. Definitely worth your time.

3) Rattle and Hum- This is u2’s travel documentary, recorded soon after The Joshua Tree. For this film u2 travels from Ireland to the US to discover the cultural/spiritual roots of American music. The best parts of the film are 1) A recording of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” in a church with a gospel choir and 2) A performance of “When Love Came To Town” with blues-legend BB King. This one is definitely a must own.

4) The Supernatural Experience- At the height of their career DC Talk recorded “The Supernatural Experience”, which centered on their last studio album, and tour, as a band. This DVD shows a some-what over-publicized band at their best moments. “Supernatural” was the definition of DC Talk’s years of seeking identity, before Michael Tait, Kevin Max, and Toby Mac felt the urge to pursue solo projects. Say what you will, underneath all the hype and baggage associated with DC Talk/Christian bands in general, they were pretty talented and creative artists.

5) Heima, Sigur Ros- Ah, Sigur Ros. This film captures a tour Sigur Ros did in small towns in Iceland. As they tour the band finds every atmospheric locale they can find to put an exclamation point on their already beautifully orchestrated music. The sounds used in this film range from high-technology, to rocks gathered on a hill that make different tones, to a large ice-field that cracks and groans (for lack of a better word) with it’s slow movements. This movie is poetry.

6) Where the Light Is, John Mayer- I haven’t seen this one yet, but I’ve been told it’s good. From what I’ve heard this is a more stripped down John Mayer set, reminiscent of his focused guitar-and-vocals performances before he got gigantically huge with Heavier Things and Continuum.

7) No Direction Home- A documentary about the early days of Bob Dylan’s career, directed by Martin Scorsese. This shows Bob Dylan both at his defining career points (such as challenging the entire idea of folk music by playing electric at a Newport Folk Festival) and his fun-loving character. It also shows Dylan’s reluctance to be heralded as the spokesperson for protest movements. I don’t want to say too much, because there are many conversations to be had with this DVD. Come over some time and we’ll talk.

8 ) Shine a light, The Rolling Stones- A documentary on the career of The Rolling Stones (a band that has been famous for a long time, and no-one can really say why) also directed by Martin Scorsese. I actually haven’t seen this one yet either… does someone own it? Was it any good?

9) Live From Chicago, u2- I don’t think any-one really expected “How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb” to be a great album, but leave it to u2 to keep reinventing themselves every couple years, never finding themselves in a creative rut. This concert was performed during the Vertigo Tour, which I didn’t get to see because I was still a skeptic when this tour came through Vancouver. My best friend went to the show and came back with 97 reasons for me to feel jealous. This concert shines a light on their past career, as well as highlighting the personal nature of “How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb”. U2 is one of those bands that you can’t afford to miss in concert… ever. They’re coming to Vancouver again in the fall, but I can’t find a ticket! I really should learn my lesson.

10) Any concert DVD by Led Zeppelin- I think Nick Andopolis said it best: “I believe in God. I’ve seen him, I’ve felt his power! He plays drums for Led Zeppelin and his name is John Bonham baby!” Some friends of mine were watching a classic Led Zeppelin concert one time, and seeing the legendary drum solo by the late John Bonham was worth some attention. That man must have prayed a lot in his younger days to have been blessed with such a talent.

11) The Best of Radiohead- Radiohead is another one of those bands you have to see in concert! I saw them last year at Thunderbird Stadium, and it was raining most of the time which made it a pretty surreal experience. I’m not sure if they’ve released a decent concert DVD yet, but they did release “The Best of”- a collection of all their best music videos.

12) A Hard Day’s Night- This is the defining rock-movie of our time. The Beatles filmed this one at the height of their popularity, and it shows the band in their young prime- before transitioning into, arguably, the most influential music career in our lifetimes. It’s a glimpse into that point in a band’s career where they realize: “Ah! I’m famous! Now what???”

13) Danielson : A Family Movie – Danielson represents the influence of a humble, sincere approach to music (a common theme in artists like My Brightest Diamond, The Welcome Wagon, Rosie Thomas, Denison Witmer and a host of others). This documentary follows the development of Daniel Smith and his family- a group of his brothers and sisters who played with tooth and nail for awhile, gained a following over the years, then eventually started their own label (a very short synopsis). The result is a hopeful film that makes you feel at home, part of the family. It’s strange comparing Daniel Smith’s sincerity with his weird vocal style, and also comparing Sufjan’s shy quietness with his wildly famous and confident “Illinois“. I can’t say enough good about this movie. Download/Borrow/Buy it today!

14) I am trying to break your heart, Wilco- I still haven’t seen this one (how embarrassing). Is it any good? From what I’ve heard, Wilco is every independent band’s favorite band. They are a band that has maintained a loyal following over the years, but has never become highly successful (becoming the band that every person and their mom talks about). I could see this film centering a lot around the political side of being a smaller band who doesn’t always have the luxury of a major record company putting every aspect of their career in cruise control, so to speak. I will find this movie soon, then rethink my synopsis. Yes.

15) Tupac Ressurection- Tupac was an enigma in the music scene in his short life, leaving behind a wake of controversy and influence. This film strays away from the overtly negative aspects of Tupac’s life, focusing instead on his personal/artistic character. I think “Changes” alone is reason to revisit Tupac’s life and career.

16) La Blogotheque – La Blogotheque is a film company of sorts that films impromptu concerts with independent artists, most of them taking place in the streets of Paris. The best part about La Blogotheque is that you can watch all their movies online for free! The music is good too. (My favorites include: Fleet Foxes, Tallest Man On Earth, Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens). Spend a day or two with these videos, or subscribe to the podcast and carry them around on your IPOD or your zune (Do not carry them around on your zune! in fact, throw your zune away. I am not a fan).

17) This is Who We Are, As I Lay Dying- As I Lay Dying, from what I can tell, is an artist who is committed to working on the art itself and reaching a diverse audience, not limiting themselves to a Christians-only audience (similar bands are Haste the Day, The Chariot, Thrice, and Norma Jean). As well they come across as an intelligent group. I put them in this list because it would suck to write off all hard-music as bad. I think it’s a pretty legitimate art form, and there’s a lot of truth to be found in any genre of music.

18) Finally, This is Spinal Tap- The rockumentary of the ages. This is Spinal Tap is a mock-film that gives insight into the world of 80’s hair/metal bands. If you haven’t seen this one yet make it a priority. Cancel your kid’s soccer game and settle in for an evening of quality family time, or something.

Thus concludes my short list. Do you know of any other music DVDs I really should watch? If so… comment comment comment!

(Man I want some comments. What a horrible addiction. This is why I like using Tumblr).

For the past couple years I have severly cut back on the number of mix CDs to come out of my kitchen. I’ve become a believer in the idea that mix CDs can be almost like journals. I now compile songs for a mix over 3 or 4 months, and then release them in a specific order with a gentle fury upon your ears.

A couple weeks ago, I finished Truth., my mix for the spring. The track listing follows. Let me know if you want a copy, and I will for reals mail you one. cshess {at} gmail {dot} com.

Truth. Spring 2009

1. Throw by Son Lux
2. First Impossible by Dosh
3. Not a Robot But A Ghost by Andrew Bird
4. Best Dress by Damien Jurado
5. Devastation by The Besnard Lakes
6. Free by Phish
7. Kid You’ll Move Mountains by Caribou
8. American Legion by The Welcome Wagon
9. The Meter Marks OK by Loney, Dear
10. Listen by Dignan
11. Suffocation Keep by The Slip
12. You Are The Blood by Sufjan Stevens
13. Barfuss Durch Gras by Hauschka
14. Carry The Weight by Denison Witmer
15. Vacilando Territory by J. Tillman

love.

chris

neutral milk hotel frontman jeff magnum once said “my love for christ has more to do with what christ said and believed in.  the church put this bullshit around it and made it this at-times really evil thing.  if you attach man to anything, he’s gonna fuck it up somehow.  you think that’s too cynical?”  in the past twenty or so years there have been many indie rock musicians who either have expressed faith in christ through their music, or whose personal faith has been an obviously major influence on their songwriting, though not explicitly being overtly “spiritual”.  in my humble opinion no singer/songwriter has made more meaningful and introspective music then david bazan.  as pedro the lion he crafted my own personal favorite album of all time, it’s hard to find a friend, and followed that and the 2 ep’s he’d released prior to it with 3 indie acclaimed albums – winners never quit, control and achille’s heel, all on the jade tree label, a hub for some of today’s best indie artists.  bazan’s songs were like a crazy mixture of flannery o’connor’s dark tales and soren kierkegaard’s existential philosophy set to music.  but, somewhere along the way bazan apparently lost his faith.  that being what it is, he still made it well known in the indie crowd that one can be a person of sincere faith and still an incredible musician.  and, dare i say, “hip” and/or “cool”.  some of these artists came before bazan, some are friends, and some have come since.  here are 10 videos by indie rockers down with the jesus (side note:  this is NOT “christian rock”, which applies to crappy CCM – aka contemporary christian music – knock offs who take 5 year old riffs and add christianese lyrics to it, adding further embarrassment to all of christendom – as if we needed more!).  these people are the real deal.

sufjan stevens is clearly at the head of the pack.  soof had been making music, both as a solo artist and also as part of the danielson famile, for a while before he crafted the hipster album of the year in 2005 with the amazing illinois.  my personal favorite is seven swans, but everything he touches is gold as far as i’m concerned (maybe with the exception of enjoy your rabbit).  here is “for the widows in paradise, for the fatherless in ypsilanti”.

daniel smith is a quirky genius from jersey.  he and his siblings began making very eccentric spiritually themed music in the early to mid 90’s and signed with the infamous tooth & nail records as the danielson famile.  i highly recommend the danielson documentary , it’s amazing.  here’s “did i step on your trumpet?”.

denison witmer is a friend of soof and co-collaborator who comes from philly and has been making records since 1995.  witmer was well known in his local indie scene and amongst the “cool christian” crowd via philly label burnt toast vinyl, but had an indie scene break through in 2005 with are you a dreamer?, which featured a lot of soof.  denison is also a close friend & co-collaborator with rosie thomas.  there were many better quality videos online then this one, but this is my favorite song by witmer.  here is “breathe in this life”.

the aforementioned rosie thomas began playing with velour 100, and on tour met david bazan and damien jurado.  following this she relocated to seattle (home of both musicians) and appeared on jurado’s ghost of david album.  jurado’s label at the time, the acclaimed sub pop records, signed her after this and she released 3 albums on the label.  her most recent work, these friends of mine, was self released and featured bazan, jurado, witmer and soof, and included a cover of r.e.m.’s “the one i love”.  rosie also crafted a wonderful christmas album last year.  from her 3rd album, here’s “pretty dress”.

damien jurado needs to be much more well known.  a close friend of david bazan (his 2000 album ghost of david was named after bazan and the cover features a polaroid of bazan’s wife).  jurado released his debut in 1997 on sub pop, and has been making amazing albums since.  2002’s i break chairs was a more electric band-driven effort (featuring his friends gathered in song) produced by bazan, and along with his sophmore effort rehearsals for departure and last years caught in the trees, i highly recommend you pick it up ASAP.   from caught in the trees, here’s “caskets”.

over the rhine is a husband & wife duo from ohio that my man shane is a huge fan of and is one of those bands that i’ve said i really need to get more into for a long time.  OTR’s debut came in ‘91, and they’ve become critical darlings since, particularly embraced by the wonderful paste magazine (actually, the first issue of paste featured an interview with bazan & jurado).  their catalog is fairly prolific, check them out if you are unfamiliar.  from their 2005 album of the same name, here’s “drunkard’s prayer”.

derek webb began in the CCM market with the band caedmon’s call.  he actually achieved platinum success with them in the 90’s, but left in ‘03 to make solo music.  webb has been active in various ventures, including the non-profit to write love on her arms, co-founding noisetrade and endorsing ron paul in the last presidential election.  webb encouraged readers in patrol magazine to not vote at all if they felt they were voting for the lesser of two evils.  so, needless to say, i think he’s wicked cool   i recommend mockingbird, a nice collection of songs that touch upon faith, social justice & political themes.  here’s “blood of the lamb”.

the vigilantes of love hail from athens, georgia and are fronted by bill mallonee.  the name of the band comes from the new order song “love vigilantes” (wicked cool) and legend has it that at 10 years old, mallonee was hit in the head with a foul ball at a mets game and went to the hospital, where he shared a room with woodie guthrie, who was receiving treatment for huntington’s disease.  VOL achieved some critical acclaim as part of the athens scene and continue to play today.  my personal favorite song of theirs is “she walks on roses”, which i couldn’t find online, so instead here’s “all the mercy we have found”.

page france existed briefly, releasing material on suicide squeeze records, and was led by michael nau who now fronts the cotton jones basket ride.  from their sophmore album  here’s “chariot”.

the innocence mission could very well be considered the original jesus loving indie rockers.  they began in the early 80’s, and had breakthrough success, signed to A&M records and making appearances on shows such as late night with david letterman.  they continue to make new materia, and have a new album scheduled for release soon.  here’s “brotherhood of man”.

p.s. this was a cool site i stumbled upon.  check it out.  bored again christian.

• What a week
• Ashton was born
• Katie did great, she looks great, he looks great, it is nice to have him
• I love the moments when I just hold him, get to talk with him, pray over him, tell him how he just missed the Steelers winning the Super Bowl, all the important stuff
• I heard Dave nailed his sermon & Paul and the band killed on Snow Patrol’s “Take back the city”
• That phrase encapsulates our dream for Revolution
• It was the first night since we started back in September that I was not at church
• A little weird but nice to be able to be with the family and take care of them
• I was reminded of a few things tonight:  1) God cares more about Revolution than I ever will, this is incredibly comforting; 2) There are so many people at Revolution who care about Revolution as much as I do; 3) We have the greatest volunteers on the planet, I would not want to do ministry with anybody else, thanks for your hard work and sacrifice
• But I did miss being there
• But we did have a great family day, we had a picnic in the park which was a good time
• Tonight we did date night after the kids went to bed
• Our menu:  grilled lobster tail, steamed mussels, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, red lobster cheese biscuits
• I can still taste it in my mouth
• Found out this week that a pastor in France is translating some of my sermons on the Song of Solomon into French so he can use them, how cool is that?
• Just finished a great book for school, a must read for any leader
• Here’s a video of Mark Driscoll on D.L. Hughley
• I got my ticket changed to community service, that’s nice
• If you have not signed up for a small group, you need to do so, you can contact me if you are intersted in getting better connected at Revolution
• One of the advantages of not having church on Sunday is we can check out other churches and learn from them. Tomorrow we’re going to check out Vail Christian Church.
• Watching the slam dunk contest with Ava right now, good stuff
• Had another elder meeting this past week, it is awesome to have that team together and helping to lead Revolution to the next level
• This Tuesday is FUEL, this is when we bring together all of our leaders for some community and leadership development time, if you are a leader at Revolution, we’ll see you Tuesday @ 6:30
• We had our first creative team meeting this past Thursday, it’s awesome having some help in planning our worship gatherings
• I got a lot of e-mails from pastors asking questions about this team so I’ll try to blog about it this week to let you know how we do it
• Got the new Denison Witmer this week, I went to high school with Denison and his stuff just keeps getting better
• Also picked up the new Fray album, wow, one of the best I’ve heard in awhile
• Got booked this week to speak at a discipleship conference in March up in Phoenix, it will be awesome to share what is happening at Revolution, looking forward to serving the leaders who are at the conference
• Katie’s dad and step-mom might be making an overnight visit tomorrow to meet Ashton, they live in Kuwait and are in the states for a week, so it will be great to see them
• We’re putting together a newcomer’s gathering for all of the new people at Revolution, I’ll share more details next Saturday, but be on the lookout
• I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again, we are incredibly blessed at Revolution to have the team in place that we do
• You do not want to miss next week as we wrap up our series on Jonah, I’m pumped to be back preaching after 2 weeks off
• Off to some more couple time with Katie

ik heb nu ook een engelstalige muziekblog: http://bramboniusmusic.wordpress.com/… Tot nu to staan er links op naar vrij downloadbare muziek van de psalters, denison witmer, soul-junk en bram cools…

enjoy

Brambonius