Music Spotlight: End of Year
Ok, so I struggled with how to approach music at the end of the year.
It's hard for me to highlight the best albums of the year because all I have to work with is what I have on iTunes and to be honest I probably came across more older stuff that I liked than new stuff that I liked.
So, I've put together a list of music that I discovered this year and heard for the first time, though some of it is as old as 1996.
Here are my best song discoveries of 2008.
12. Fortunate Son by Donavon Frankenreiter from the EP Recycled Recipes, 2007
11. Hanging Tree by Counting Crows from the album Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings,2008
10. Seattle by The Classic Crime from the EP Seattle Sessions, 2007
9. Does Me No Good by William Elliott Whitmore from the online exclusive Daytrotter Sessions, 2006
8. Leave by The Swell Season from the album The Swell Season, 2006
7. Black Lungs by The New Frontiers from the album, Mending, 2008
6. Shine Your Light (Acoustic) by Robbie Seay Band from the album Give Yourself Away, 2007
5. Glory of it All by David Crowder Band from the album Remedy, 2007
4. Fitzcarraldo by The Frames from the album Fitzcarraldo, 1996
3. Watching Airplanes by Gary Allan from the album Living Hard, 2007
2. Good Arms vs. Bad Arms by Frightened Rabbit from the album Midnight Organ Fight, 2008
1. Welcome to Schubas Medley by Jason Mraz from the live album Selections for Friends, 2007
And my top 3 artist discoveries: The Frames, The New Frontiers, and Missy Higgins
Merry Christmas…
...from me and Neil Diamond
Disclaimer: Neil Diamond has absolutely nothing to do with this website... other than being the greatest songwriter of this or any generation.
Holiday
Rather than just not write for several days, I thought that I should make an official proclamation of taking a holiday hiatus. Hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas.
Birthday is… Today
So, I'm taking the day off.
I'm going to read a comic book, download some iTunes, watch some TV, maybe take a nap, and see some friends. Simple pleasures.
Community is… Music
I got married in 2007. I met my best man around 1995. I was attending private Christian school and had just transferred in. To say that I looked, felt, and acted like an outsider would be an understatement. I had a Bible class and played baseball with a couple of guys - Jeremy and Ryan (the latter is the one who was my best man). Now at this time in life I was way into... umm, CCM. Yeah, like I was going to 4Him concerts. (Get your laughter out now). So these two guys were always talking about some of the more edgy stuff that my mom would never allow - stuff like Audio Adrenaline and DC Talk. But eventually I crumbled to peer pressure and borrowed the album bloom which sparked more than a decade of talking and trading music, hanging out, sharing life together and seeing what it means to have a real friend.
I met another guy from my wedding aroud 1998. We were attending church together, but weren't that close. In some sort of act of fate, though, we both took up playing guitar within 3 weeks of one another. From that we began playing and writing music together and spending every Saturday night going to concerts by bands like Blindside, Within, Embodyment, and the ever amazing Travail.
One of my other groomsmen and I met at a Christmas party in 1999. I was home from college and had been invited to an annual party of former high school classmates. There I met this guy, James. Both of our ex-girlfriends were there with their new boyfriends. So, James and I broke out our guitars and discovered a mutual affinity for the late-90s alternative stylings of bands like Bush, Pearl Jam, and STP. James and I eventually played a couple of private concerts and recorded countless experimental demos.
The next groomsman on the list - Matt - and I met around 1998, but didn't start hanging out much until I moved back after college. He and I had sung together in choir at church when I was still in high school. When we started hanging out, though, we took up the ritual/adventure of karaoke. We would take turns singing our own stuff (for him: Hootie, Uncle Cracker, David Allan Coe; for me: Fuel, Foo Fighters, Bon Jovi) and then team up on some killer duets (Sister Hazel, Neil Diamond). Funny story, now that I think about it - the first time that I performed on guitar in public was at church with Nick and Matt.
My last groomsmen was Jeng. He plays trombone. We taught him enough bass to play a song with Nick and I once. He gets me, musically, though if for no other reason than our mutual love for late 90s alternative and pop including Goo Goo Dolls and DMB.
I could tell countless stories of how music has filled my life with great and interesting people: BJ, Ryan & Jenny S., Dave H., Trent M., Trent W., Donnie B., Dave B., Stephen and Erica, Chris C., Chris S., Colton, Jason, and John.
Community is… Reunion
My birthday is Friday and my birthday is one of my favorite days of the entire year. It's not so much that I want people to celebrate me, but rather I feel like it is my opportunity to celebrate my friends. It is so close to Christmas that a lot of people that live out of town/state are back in town and I have a built-in excuse to get people together.
So, for me, community is reunion. Nothing stimulates my awareness like getting as many friends - old and new - together in a room. I'm very sentimental about relationships, so there's that element, but it's also a great way to see where I am and from where I've come.
Of course, there is usually some level of discomfort for some people with these things. I mean, my friends come from a variety of backgrounds and often express themselves very differently from one another. I have been encouraged to do separate things with different groups of people, but it took me a long time to accept the idea of integrating my social circles and I don't really want to go back. In fact, this integration is what builds community because it almost forces authenticity. It's almost impossible to manage perceptions when people in the same room could have different perceptions of you.
In short, reunions bring out the best in me. They bring out the real in me. They help me to realize the value in relationship rather than the value in activity or the material. So, for as long as I'm able to, my birthday will be a day of community, of reunion, of relationships, and of authenticity.
“Community is…” Introduction
If you've been reading here for long, you probably know that much of my thinking this year has been centered on the topic of community. My year has been about trying to find it, trying to define it, understanding its necessity, and raising awareness of that. I sparked my own creativity a few weeks ago with a series of posts called "Change that Matters" and one of those changes, again, was community. And I think that just because the year is ending, this journey of discovery doesn't have to.
Also, this time of year always prompts a great bit of nostalgia, reflection, and sentimentality in me. It usually means the opportunity to see friends that I haven't seen for a while or the chance to actually "commune" with friends I work with.
With all of this in mind, I've decided to spend the last couple of weeks of this year on a series called "Community is..." Over the next few days I'll fill in that blank with my own personal history of discovering community in the least likely places and with the least likely people. I don't know that I'll answer any questions as to the definition or problems surrounding community. All I intend to do is paint pictures of the movements of art that community is.
Stay tuned.
Monday Morning List
Friday
- Church Staff Christmas Party - good time with friends, even though someone took my iTunes gift card during the gift exchange.
Saturday
- Bought storage containers for all of the baby stuff we've been buying
- Fought a terrible headache all day
- Returned some storage containers and a bunch of other stuff. Bought some other containers and the new John Mayer live album.
Sunday
- Church
- Re-organized my iTunes, formatted my portable hard drive, cleaned out my PC.
- Watched the Survivor finale and the Cowboys game
New Feature: Comic Spotlight
I've recently begun reading comic books. What with a summer full of comic book movies, one could hardly help but become interested in back story.
So, I've been reading quite a bit and thought I would share a bit of my findings with you.
The best book that I've picked up so far has been a series called District X. The plot is pretty simple - there's a neighborhood filled with mutants (District X/Mutant Town) and it has its own unique crime issues. One of the X-Men, Bishop goes there to work with their police force, on loan from the FBI. From there it is just a Law & Order style police story with very unique characters.
The series was launched in X-Men Unlimited #2, which (although the story was way to short) had unbelievable artwork. It then ran 3 distinct story arcs in District X 1-6, 7-12, and 13-14. It was then shelved, but re-appeared as Mutopia X as a House of M cross-over. I've not yet read Mutopia X.
The entire series along with Unlimited #2 have been collected as District X vol. 1 and 2 in trade paperback. Mutopia X also is collected in a House of M TPB.
Anyway, if you're interested in heroes, but find it difficult to get into comic books because they are so complicated, or if you don't want to see people flying around in tights, this is a great place to start.
You Tell Me
I've been debating this with myself for about a week now and I've decided to do something that could possibly be controversial. If we can't discuss real topics, then why bother? And real topics are often controversial.
On the way back from Kansas City two weeks ago, I heard a song on the radio by an artist whose name was familiar. When I got back here I picked up the album and, to me, it is amazing.
Missy Higgins: On a Clear Night
Now, after listening straight through the entire album twice, back-to-back, I was about to Twitter about how great it is and how you all need to hear it.
Before I got around to that, though, I decided to check out Wikipedia and learn more about her (i.e. why her name was familiar, what her background is, career thus far, etc.) [I'm doing this more and more with new artists that I find because their websites are all propaganda.] In doing so, I learned that she is bi-sexual. So, I decided that someone might know this or find out and be offended, so I decided not to tell anyone about this great album that I had discovered.
The more I've thought about it, though, the more I've been unsure where lines should be drawn regarding media recommendations - especially as someone who works at a church.
I appreciate great art and skilled performance and it takes a lot to offend me (this album, for the record, is a great, clean, pop/songwriter album in the vein of a Matt Wertz, Jason Mraz). Further, I rarely take into consideration an artist's personal life when listening to their music. Third, we all have problems and have made bad choices even many artists in the "so-called" Christian Music Industry.
So, I want your take. Are you offended if I recommend a great album by a bi-sexual person? What level of responsibility does one have in recommending media? What if I had never visited wikipedia? I certainly would have recommended the album without reservation. What about Michael Jackson? What about your favorite actor and his personal life? You tell me. No, seriously, that's what the comment box is for.
(If you are a co-worker who reads this and feels that I'm out of line, please call me to discuss. I value your input and wisdom. You know who you are.)
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