Tag: Music

New Caspian Record: Dust and Disquiet

Dust and Disquiet

 

Caspian has been on heavy (and I mean: heavy) rotation ever since I saw a screening of their concert film Live at the Larcom.

They’ve got a new record coming out this fall, which I suspect will be excellent.

Here’s the track list, with names that portend some epic soundscapes:

01. Separation No. 2
02. Ríoseco
03. Arcs of Command
04. Echo and Abyss
05. Run Dry
06. Equal Night
07. Sad Heart of Mine
08. Darkfield
09. Aeternum Vale
10. Dust and Disquiet

I’ll report back as soon as I can. In the meantime, you can pre-order here or here, and listen to the first released track below (you’ll have to open the post if you’re reading on email or RSS):

 

 

Ah… So *That’s* Why Wilco Gave Away Their New Album

Ah… so Wilco reveals the impetus behind offering their new album free. From a brilliant email blast today:

This message has arrived in your inbox because you downloaded Wilco’s new album Star Wars. Thanks for that and we hope you’re enjoying the new tunes.

Wilco Star WarsNow a bit of background… We consider ourselves lucky to be in the position to give you this music free of charge, but we do so knowing not every band, label or studio can do the same. Much of the “music business” relies on physical sales to keep the lights on and the mics up. Without that support, well, it gets tougher and tougher to make it all work.

With that in mind, Wilco has put together a list of some of their favorite recent releases. We encourage you to explore it (and beyond) and yep, even march down to your neighborhood record shop and BUY. There’s a lot of great music out there, lets all try to support it. After all, it’s the years of support (and purchases) of Wilco’s music that allowed us to do what we did last week.

Here’s a list of folks Wilco thinks you should listen to:

Adron – Organismo
Cibo Matto – Hotel Valentine    
Empyrean Atlas – Inner Circle
Eleventh Dream Day – Works for Tomorrow
Full of Hell, Merzbow – Full of Hell & Merzbow     
Game Theory – RealNighttime
Girlpool – BeforetheWorldWasBig
Invisible Familiars – Disturbing Wildlife
Landlady – Upright Behavior  
Luluc – Passerby
Ned Doheny – Hard Candy
Parquet Courts – Content Nausea  
Richard Julian – Fleur de Lis  
Scott Walker + Sunn O))) – Soused 
Speedy Ortiz – Foil Deer    
Steve Gunn – Way Out Weather  
William Tyler –  Deseret Canyon 

Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but I’ve only heard of three or four of those artists. Looks like I’ve got some new tunes to check out.

And kudos to Wilco for using their platform to highlight others!

New Wilco (Free Download)

Wilco Star Wars

 

Wilco unexpectedly released a new album and is giving it away for free. You just have to enter your email address at http://wilcoworld.net/, and you get a download link.

I’m a few songs in and looking forward to listening to more. It’s not as poppy as I thought it might be (the first track is a bit cacophonous), but I expect it may grow on me as I listen to the rest.

Caspian: Live at the Larcom

Caspian
Image via band Website

 

Last night I went to a screening of Caspian’s Live at the Larcom concert film. Here’s a short write-up from the hosting venue (The Cabot):

Live at the Larcom is a 2-hour concert film chronicling CASPIAN’s momentous 10-year anniversary performance on October 18, 2014 at the Larcom Theatre in Beverly, MA. Performed in chronological order spanning all 4 of their studio albums, the set features both well known and rarely played songs by the band, captured in sweepingly atmospheric, reverent fashion by director Ryan Mackfall (Mastodon, Defeater) of Crashburn Media from London, UK.

The sound was amazing, the lights perfect, and the music and performance were incredibly moving. (And the Cabot Theater is itself lovely.) Caspian does both heavy and beautiful well, and often both at the same time. Their dynamic range is truly impressive. I’ve never seen them live, but when I closed my eyes at this film screening, I could easily imagine myself in the room with them.

Here’s the trailer (you’ll have to click through if you’re reading this post via email or other feed):

 

 

Here’s the set list:

1.) Cigarette
2.) Quovis / Further Up / Further In
3.) Moksha
4.) The Dove / ASA
5.) Ghost of The Garden City
6.) Malacoda
7.) Concrescence
8.) Sycamore
9.) Gone In Bloom and Bough
10.) Halls of The Summer
11.) Fire Made Flesh
12.) Hymn For The Greatest Generation

Check out “Gone in Bloom and Bough” (yes, it’s 10 minutes–all of it awesome):

 

 

Find Live at the Larcom available for purchase here on Blu-Ray and here as a digital download.

Apple Music Launches Today

Apple Music
Image via MacRumors/Apple

 

Apple Music launches today, and you can jump right in with a free, three-month trial. Individual user subscriptions will be $9.99/month thereafter.

The big question will be: How does it compare to similar subscription-based, streaming services like Spotify? MacRumors has a nice round-up of some early reviews here. From that article:

Everyone will be able to test out Apple Music for themselves soon enough, with the official launch of the updated music app in just a few hours at 9 AM Pacific. Those interested should remember to first download the new iOS 8.4 update an hour before in preparation for the streaming music service’s debut.

Get all the details at Apple’s page here.

Parenting Pro Tip: Use AC/DC to Help With Brushing Teeth

AC_DC logo

 

Here’s a free parenting pro tip: sing the chorus of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck antiphonally with your child to help them keep their mouth open. Then you can brush their teeth and gums the way the dentist tells you to.

You say: “Thunder!”

Your child responds: “Ah-ah-ah-ahhhh-ah-ah!”

You say: “Thunder!”

Your child responds: “Ah-ah-ah-ahhhh-ah-ah!”

Repeat ad infinitum, or until your child’s teeth are clean.

It’s been working like a charm here in the K-J house all week. Here’s the song if you need a refresher.

 

Narrative Discography: A New Way to Listen

Narrative discography, I’ll call it, for lack of a better phrase. Or maybe just sequential listening. At any rate, I just had a fun idea tonight, that I can’t believe I haven’t thought of before.

I’m going to pick a band and, over the course of a week, listen to every one of their recorded albums, from the earliest to the most recent. I know Radiohead’s early stuff so well that I could probably do some of this in my head. But the thought of listening to a band’s collective output from start to finish is intriguing to me.

I’ll let you know if it leads to any interesting observations. First up: The Appleseed Cast.

“Jonah” (A Poem by Bonhoeffer)

Source: German Federal Archive
Source: German Federal Archive

 

They screamed in the face of death, their frightened bodies clawing
at sodden rigging, tattered by the storm,
and horror-stricken gazes saw with dread
the sea now raging with abruptly unleashed powers.

“Ye gods, immortal, gracious, now severely angered,
help us, or give a sign, to mark for us
the one whose secret sin has roused your wrath,
the murderer, the perjurer, or vile blasphemer,

who’s bringing doom on us by hiding his misdeed
to save some paltry morsel of his pride!”
This was their plea. And Jonah spoke: “’Tis I!”
In God’s eyes I have sinned. Forfeited is my life.

“Away with me! The guilt is mine. God’s wrath’s for me.
The pious shall not perish with the sinner!”
They trembled much. But then, with their strong hands,
they cast the guilty one away. The sea stood still.

 

–“Jonah,” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, written from prison the year before his death

Our King and Savior Now Draws Near—How Shall We Behold Him?

advent wreath

 

Keeping Advent is counter-cultural. To be sure, Advent has been integral to the culture of the Church for at least a millennium and a half. But if we used to complain about seeing Christmas displays and shopping specials before Thanksgiving, now it’s not unheard of to hear Christmas music in mid-October at Stop & Shop. Not exactly Advent-y.

In a society where Black Friday deals (and now pre-Black Friday deals) seem to outpace a few moments of meaningful reflection, how can we be faithful in preparing our hearts for Jesus? “Our King and Savior now draws near,” declares the Book of Common Prayer. We, the people of God, are expected to respond—want to respond—“Come, let us adore him!”

This King draws near when we don’t expect him, maybe when we weren’t even watching. But God’s mercy is like that—unexpected. Unpredictable. And meted out to all the wrong people.

Jonah certainly thought of God’s mercy that way. Though a prophet—whose vocation was to proclaim God’s message of deliverance—he resisted God’s call, because he was angered at the Lord’s grace toward the evil empire of Nineveh. How much more offended might he have been at the scandal of the Incarnation, and at the universal, saving power of the Cross?

Jonah is an obvious counter-example as we seek to pursue a faithful response to God’s mercy. On further examination, however, we find ourselves more like Jonah than we want to admit.

At the church where I minister, we’re keeping Advent together, a season of expectation and inward preparation. Each of four Advent Sundays I am preaching from a chapter of Jonah. My hope is that we can engage Jonah’s inner turmoil as a springboard to inwardly reflect and prepare our own hearts for the coming of God’s great mercy, as revealed to us in his incarnate Son, Jesus

 

Our King and Savior now draws near—how shall we behold him?

 
 

 

The above is adapted from a letter I wrote to my congregation in advance of Advent. Keep coming back here for more posts on reading Jonah and receiving Jesus this Advent.