Great New Music

I think I commented a few blogs ago on what I thought of the current state of pop music. Even now, you’re hard pressed to find a trend-setting, mind-changing record come out that totally sweeps you off of your feet. Well, while some of these releases may not have changed my world of music, there have been a few that I thought necessary to mention; everyone loves a good listen every now and then. Here’s what I’ve been listening to lately and what’s been prompting me to write a bit differently and influence me as it pertains to recording the next JSB record.
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Thrice – Beggars

At first listen, “Beggars” is not your typical Thrice record. Although, you’ve got a light “scream” or “yell” here and there, Thrice haven’t completely left their post-hardcore sound behind. The prototypical pop-rock and Brit-pop influences have been subtly added to the familiar hard-rock/prog-rock sound in songs like “The Weight”, “Beggars”, and “Circles”. Add Teppei's soothing electric piano sounds, Dustin ethereal guitar textures and soaring melodies, layered vocals, and tight bass & drum grooves and you get a great body of work by Thrice whom also self-produced/engineered the album. Although I wasn’t as blown away with Beggars as I was the “Alchemy Index” volumes, Beggars is not a far cry from what you’d expect from the ever-evolving band of uber-talented Orange County countrymen.
Akthough I would never consider Thrice a Christian band, singer and primary lyricist Dwight Kensrue is open about Christian influence in his life. Again, Thrice's lyrics are immersed in a lot of biblical imagery and examples of Christ's teaching. "In Exile" hints has a Psalm-like longing for Jerusalem, "All the World is Mad" takes notice of man's fall from sinlessness to its loss of perfection, and "At the Last" seems to reflect teh thoughts of the Prodigal Son. Whether the lyrics are truly biblical annotations or not (I believe they are), the lyrics are just as thgouth provoking and true while the music takes you on many levels from loud to melodic ballad. While it sits second or third on my list of fave Thrice albums, I still reccomend it to anyone looking for seomthing loud, yet melodic and musical.

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mutemath – Armistice

Honestly, who wasn’t waiting for this record to come out? It’s been a long wait since 2006’s self-titled release. I’ve been following the various scattered vlogs, blogs, and youtube vids since the beginning of the recordings, and I’ve been anxiously awaiting to hear it. Paul Meany said two interesting things during the making of this record that made me question whether I’d like it not. First, he said, “Our goal is to embarrass the first record, that's what we're trying to do here, and I think we're on point to pull it off” then adding, “Anyone who thinks first album is perfect will hate this [new] record”. I quickly became cynical in the possibility that MM “sold out to the man” and made a record the labels and MTV-cronies would want while leaving behind the sound that make them who they are. I was wrong.
While some of Armistice’s song structures follow a familiar pop-formula, MM still take you to sonic territory that not many other bands do. I am certainly interested to see how some of these will be performed live; I don’t doubt they’ll deliver one of the greatest lives shows. From the opening statement of “set it on fire!” on the opening track “The Nerve”, MM light it up on every track. From a Stevie Wonder-esque “Armistice” to a jazzy “Pins and Needles” to the Brit-pop rip-off track “Goodbye” to the Radiohead-like outro in “Burden”, mutemath take you on a roller coaster of soundscapes. Though not extremely known in the mainstream, I can’t see how Armistice gets passed by for some Grammy nominations as this record has certainly surpassed their previous release and EP.

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Derek Webb – Stockholm Syndrome

This is another album I was following the progress on through Derek Webb’s Twitter account. What makes this release so interesting is the controversy that came along with it despite Webb being a well-known Christian song-writer and member of Caedmon’s Call. Derek’s INO record label wouldn’t let him release the album based on some controversial content, and some particular lyrics found in the song "What Matters More" (which contains the words "damn" and "shit" which, ironically, came from a popular quote by well-known theologian Tony Campolo). Derek and INO decided to agree upon releasing the record with a censored version after Derek took the liberty of making a digital copy of the album (along with other goodies) available on his website.
Lyrically, Stolkhom Syndrome doesn't stray too far from Webb's other albums where he often dances the line between what is spiritually acceptable in the Christian music market. Songs like What Matters More, What You Give Up to Get It (about the prominence of materialism) and Freddie Please (which is a response to anti-gay activist preacher Fred Phelps) contain material that often offend the squeamish of Christian cynics. Musically, however, Webb takes a 180° turn. Derek, along with co-writer and producer Josh Moore, trades in his guitar for midi controller, samples, techo-beats and many electronic sounds. While its boggling to imagine how Webb would re-create this album to his regular coffee-house crowd, Derek creates something really different and special with this album. There's a lot of toe-tapping grooves (Spirit vs Kick Drum) while also taking you on fragile soundscapes (The Proverbial Gun). If you enjoy blending sounds from the likes Radiohead, Wilco, and Muse then you might like Stockholm Syndrome. However, if you are hoping to pick up a singer/songwriter acoustic album from Webb, buy something else; this is not for you or the light-hearted Christian for that matter. Webb has some really challenging things to sing about, especially for the conservative dogmatist.

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Leeland - Love is On the Move

Leeland's debut album, The Sound of Melodies, took everyone by surprise with its mature worship-rock style of writing from a mere 16 year old Leeland Mooring. However, their sophmore album, Opposite Way, was mediocre in my opinion as they left a lot of their worship-tinged tunes behind for some straight up rock ballads (which are pretty good, mind you). Luckily, Love is On the Move returns to a more worship-centric genre and really create some great tunes including the hymn-like Via Dolorosa, Weak Man, and My Jesus.
Taking a familiar step with having well-known Christian-music producer Ed Cash come on board to engineer the album (and even help write a few songs), Leeland continue their quest to make great worship music while also entering the heights of great worship writers like Tomlin, Hughes, Redman, and the Neufeld brothers. This album is a great pickup if you liked Sound of Melodies, yet does bring some sparkle left behind by some great gems from Opposite Way like "Count Me In" and "Enter This Temple". I'm not overly gaga over it yet, but I've only given it one or two listens straight so the more I listen to it, the more the melodies will stick with me.

Resolutions or Revelations?

It's been a week or so since I've last blogged, and my last blog was a poor excuse of a blog. So, I just wanted to comment on "New Years Resolutions".

I don't really have any. I can't say I've ever really had any New Years resolutions before. At least not any that worked out well. But, being someone who is conscious of his own inner and outer being (both physically and spiritually), I realize that there are things that I do need to change or improve on. I'm not sure that they're considered resolutions or not because I don't believe most issues can be "resolved" in a year. Rather, I believe I can "reveal" in my own soul that need improvemnt, changing, and beginnings. So, this year I'm replacing resolution with revelation; I choose to improve myself by not changing who I am. Rather, change who I am by the improvements I make. When we look at our own lives, the things we need to resolve are revealed to us over the course of our journey. So, here're the things that've been revealed to me that I want to accomplish:

Eating:
It's only been the last few years that I've started to notice the spare tire starting to form around my gut. It's more of the bicycle tire at this point, but who's to say it won't move to a motorized vehicle tire at some point soon? So, if anything, I'm probably going to watch how much late-night snacks and in-between-meals munchies I'm consuming. I've always had great metabolism, but since I got married (and probably become less active the past few years), I find my sugary desires catch up to me and show a bit more. I am in no way saying I'm fat or need a diet, but I can certainly become more aware and disciplined in my eating habits. My wife is always serving me great (and healthier) foods so I certainly can't blame her. It's my own cupboard-scouring habits that get me into trouble.

Less TV/More Reading:
I love TV. And I especially like watching movies/DVDs. There're only a few shows on TV that I deliberately watch: House, Heroes, & 24 on Monday with Survivor and The Office on Thursdays. There're also a few shows that I like to catch now and then like American Idol (usually only the audition episodes), 30 Rock, and Hell's Kitchen/Kitchen Nightmares. And, of course, I'll watch every Calgary Flames game I can when they happen to be on TV (if not, I'll try and catch a live stream on the net). So, that only takes up a few of my TV-watching hours in the course of a week.
I hate reading. However, I love knowledge, spirituality, philosophy, and debate. I've got a stack of about 4 or 5 books that I deeply want to read. Moreover, I don't just want to read them, I want to enjoy them. With the TV being on almost all the time, with being a father, and with the the weekly routine filling in the rest of the blanks, I find I don't really have time for reading as much as I would like. Catherine and I have mentioned canceling our TV service on several occasions, but we've never followed through. I imagine that is only because we really don't want to miss the shows we faithfully love to follow (see above). While I'm sure I could download those episodes, we then wouldn't have the time to catch up on them. And with the digital-cable era taking over, there will soon be no such thing as "basic" cable or the 3 fuzzy channels that any TV might receive. A conundrum, for sure.
So, this year, I hope to watch less TV and read more books.

Bible/T.A.W.G.:
As a Christian, I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of what God's Word has for me. Then again, I doubt anyone really has, but even just the simple stuff is waiting there for me to retain. My Bible (wherever it lies in my house) has virtually been unopened this past year, so I intend to start to wear the binding a bit more. Along with this, my Time Alone With God has also suffered. Although I have taken some steps over the past few months to change that, improvement is still needed. Even if it takes getting up a 1/2 hour earlier (thx, Tim) then I should do so if it is going to refresh my soul. I'm sure the payoff is killer (figuratively speaking).

Patience:
I think I've actually become a more patient person since getting married. My wife brings out the best in me, I believe. Probably because I'm more patient than her and it makes me feel better about my own... heh. But, no, she does bring the best in me and I love her for it. Even when my son is crying in my ear, or being stubborn as a mule, I need to learn patience and not get frustrated so easily. Babies are learning too. Also, cooped up dogs need something to keep them entertained. So when Morris has been alone for a few hours and feels the urge to chew my Dion Phaneuf statuette or eat the whole bag of caramels my mom bought for me, I need to be more patient with him. I also need to have patience in finding God's will for my life. God is enver late, God is never early, God is always on time. That needs to be instilled in my life. Then again, I can only discover that through reading His Word more and said T.A.W.G.

Play More Guitar:
I'm serious. If there's one thing I could do more of in my spare time, it'd be playing guitar. If it's something I want to do as a living, I better get better at it. My practice time is next-to-none these days. When I get home, I veg for a few minutes, eat supper, and help my wife exhaust the baby and put him to bed. Once that's done, I can't turn my guitar amp on in fear that it'll keep/wake the baby up. I had the chance to play a few gigs with Matt Brouwer over the holidays and while they all seemed to go very well, I realized how important it was that I stay sharp on all my chops. On our drive home from Saint John on New Years Eve, Matt had some very encourageing words for me on my playing. While I strive to accept both criticism and compliments equally, I couldn't help but feel my playing was inadequate as he talked about some players and artists he's shared the stage with. I also think of what opportunities could be held for me if I was to be better at my craft.
On the flip side of this, I do believe that I'm learning more about music in general. Theory, different styles, music technology, and playing different kinds of instruments are all aspects of playing music I've been able to embrace. I certainly can't claim any deep comprehension any of those aspects, but I do believe they've made me grow as a musician in small ways.

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Anywho... those're my 2009 "goals". I believe I have a great support system in friends and family that will keep my accountable on those things. So, feel free to be one of those people and send me a msg now and then to see how I'm doing on those accounts.

So, from myself, Catherine, Noah, and Morris, the Cambers family wish you a very (belated) Merry Christmas and Blessed 2009!