a coherent collection of random statements regarding God, words and tunes

Since there's nothing new to say....

...I might as well bring up something old.

I direct yr attention to the link to the left called "God Went Bowling: The Movie." Through no fault of my own, it's actually been available on youtube for several months. As I alluded to said clip sometime back and couldn't post it at the time, I offer it for yr viewing... um, pleasure.... now. En... um, joy?

I also added an "About Me" link, which is my original post from a year and half ago, so it's not that exciting but there you are as well.

Posted by: burninglight at 03:06 | link | comments (1)

And now, for something completely different.... conciseness....

Still not ready to write the bigger column, although I can go ahead and eliminate one of the two right now. I am sad to report that the best thing about the new Modest Mouse album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, is its title. After the wonderful surprise that WAS Good News for People Who Love Bad News, and the addition of The Smiths' Johnny Marr to the band, I was expecting even better things this time around. It was not to be. Unless you wanted a whole album's worth of the screamier moments of GNFPWLBN. Highlighting is one thing; this is nothing other. Anyway, go backwards in the catalogue and be more rewarded...

What I've been listening to this week, actually, is my co-workers iTunes, and as I work with a ton of creative types it's allowed me to stumble into a whole bunch of good stuff that I -- and maybe you too -- want to explore further. Maybe some of these will get reviewed in more depth later on. But for now, and in rapid-fire, go fetch (and those visiting from the Plantation should be forewarned that there's little new to see here ):

Abandoned Pools -- Humanistic. Some pretty good pop from the guy from the Eels (who previously hadn't done anything for me)

Albert Hammond Jr. -- Yours to Keep. Likewise, some even better pop from the guy from the Strokes (who likewise, previously hadn't done anything for me, and additionally befuddle me with the constant comparisons to the entirely dissimilat and vastly superior Television).

Alexi Murdoch -- Time Without Consequence. VERY Nick Drakian, but stands on its own. Suffice to say, I like it.

Derek Webb --The Ringing Bell. His brand-new one -- pretty good -- more on-point and decidedly non-"evangelical" (the caricature everyone thinks of, not the real thing), and he's clearly spending even more time with the Beatles than usual -- but this thing is freakin' Dogs'-short.

Dustin Kensrue -- Please Come Home. Another intelligent Christian folkie. Actually, kinda sounds like Richard Ashcroft doing a country-western album.

Dylan Hears a Who. A whole album of exactly what you think it is.

Godspeed! You Black Emperor -- f#a#infinity and Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven. They're compared to Sigur Ros and I guess I can see that (i.e., this'd be considered "post-rock"), but they're more interesting than that, and without the shrieky grating vocals....

The Good, the Bad, and the Queen. Kinda like Elvis Costello forgetting everything he knew about American music and forming a dub band instead. I'd've never guessed it was Damon Albarn (Blur/Gorillaz), Paul Simonon (The Clash), Tony Allen (Africa 70/Fela Kuti) and Simon Tong (The Verve). And I didn't.

Joe Christmas -- North to the Future and Upstairs Overlooking. Really fun Christian garage-band tuneage, and sadly long since defunct.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club -- Howl. Had heard a lot about them, but never actually heard them before now. Sounds like Jack White and the aforementioned Ashcroft putting a band together, and asking Elliott Smith to sit in for a few sessions.  (Actually, someone on Amazon put it "Johnny Cash vs. Love & Rockets," which isn't terribly off base either. )

The Boy Least Likely To -- The Best Party Ever. Big Star meets Jonathan Richman, kicks the crap out Jack Johnson (Alex Chilton, of course, is packing the knife) and remakes the Curious George soundtrack. 

Grandaddy. A bunch of it. Imagine Neil Young starting in the garage and staying there, but only bringing his acoustic. Yeah, you SHOULD be intrigued.

Kamikaze Hearts -- Oneida Road. What I've been waiting 15 years for Son Volt to finally sound like.

Modest Mouse -- The Moon & Antarctica. See above.

Oh yeah: And I am still seriously digging on the Divine Comedy album mentioned a couple entries below. Transportational? You betcha. Life-changing? Well, at the very least it's the right soundtrack for a bunch of other life changes. 

That'll keep us for now. Until next time.... and if I can ever get that CD back from Marion (which oughta give you a big hint right there)....

 

Posted by: burninglight at 23:15 | link | comments

I Shall Be Released…. I Think….

Not quite ready for the next music column (and one of the albums isn’t cooperating very well anyway…), so an update on the ongoing church stuff.

After sucking it up and waiting patiently for a change, I think we’ve finally got the green light to move on. Without dwelling more on specifics than I really need to, a few basics:

1) The few things others in my family were involved in have been, for reasons out of (at least) our control, eliminated.

2) Perhaps the most revealing moment was when we, as a family, field-tested a Bible study I’d helped create at work (stay tuned for the next shameless plug in July ). Aside from the fact it elicited some good conversations about stuff we’d all been wrestling with, it particularly dawned on Marion & I that this was the most we’d gotten out of a study arguably since arriving in Colorado (and it’s worth noting we blew off our regular study to do this). I mean, it was no secret we’d been starving but this really brought it home and made us say “What the @#&$ are we doing???”

3) On a related note, it's a bit tricky being in a small group where more than half the members are ex-employees of yr current employer. And, truth be told, the week prior to #2 got a bit uncomfortable. I understand it's not directed at me personally, but I LIKE it here. I know expectations have a tendency to go up exponentially here, and that often things are so idea-driven here that we tend to forget their effects on the people downstream of those ideas. On the other hand, I'm from Jersey. I've worked worse. Repeatedly. Even more frenetically. And for an entirely different endgame (read: profits for investors vs. helping people to "get" the gospel in an entirely new way). Anyway, it was a bad taste I wasn't expecting, and at a time where it factored into the decision-making elsewhere.

4) It’s also kind of dawned on me that in its own way –- and despite all the hip trappings -- this church has really been about doing (despite the fact that anything I and others tried to get involved with was quickly micromanaged out of existence –- yeah, I see the paradox too, but trust me on this) rather than seeking the One who gives us the life we’re supposed to be living out. And in a rare turn for me, I would dare say some of that is theologically based -- at least in actual practice. If you shut the Spirit out, don’t expect to have the power needed to do spiritual works. That’s all I’m really going to say about that.

5) Oh yes, and while we're on the hip thing: I've never been at the receiving end of ageism before. Maybe because 45 isn't really all that old (for that matter, most people are surprised when I tell them my age), and anything before that certainly is even less so. But I can say pretty confidently that I've experienced it now (and not just me). And that it's played a factor in the shutting of some of those doors I've whined about in the past.

6) Bottom line: A year and a half is a long time to feel like a visitor. Even if things do turn around (and the next six months really are make-or-break for them), it's not our place and never will be, as far as I can tell.

We’re not looking forward to being “on the road again,” but I think this search will be healthier than the one in the fall –- because we waited it out and gave a fair effort -- and ultimately more fruitful. As much as we’ve been a church-planting family for the last 15 years, right now we just want to get healthy and fed. What happens from there, as always, is God’s call.

And boy, I hope I’m not taking anything back in a few more months.  But I don’t think so this time. Onward…. And maybe we get to that tuneage next week….

Posted by: burninglight at 22:12 | link | comments (2)