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

Maybe we can make it better....
(the standard Top 10 list, with a few additional observations thrown in free of charge)

Posted by: burninglight at 01:57 | link | comments (3)

Shameless Plug #15

Or shameful, as the case may be. I have to say it's by far the least satisfied I've been with a product since coming here, but it is what it is and it's a saga not worth retelling. The children's part is OK, but the Youth/Adult part... well.... (It's a nice website, anyway (courtesy of the aforementioned art director from last entry).... Sample and judge for yrself; the full set of lessons should be up in a few days....

Plus, there's at least three more quarters to come, so here's hoping it goes better than Quarter 1... I'm pretty confident it has to.... considering the original stakes of this project, frankly, the last few months can't afford to reoccur.... In the words of Ronald Reagan: We're doing what we can, dear. (Again, thankfully there's that other project that's growing some legs, and will be SO much better given the chance....)

Anyway, realized I needed to add that (and/or just plain vent some more).

(Addendum 12/19: Having just come out of a three-hour brainstorming session for the next quarter, I have to say -- besides "my brain hurts" -- that I'm somewhat more optimistic about Quarter 2 at the moment. Not that that would've taken much.)

The Top 10: Sometime soon....

Posted by: burninglight at 22:44 | link | comments

A few more, and done for now (2007 version)…

We’ll start with the new one and work back….

But first, thanks to jim(s) and rob for their responses to my last post. Not the amount or variety of responses I’d hoped for, but I’ll take it. Suffice to say, it’s something I’ve been wrestling with personally lately as well, and have also been working on an idea (alluded to sometime back) that's actually developed a life of its own here (and which, it’s worth adding, looks nothing like other more “official” ideas already in the works). Sufficer to say, it looks somewhat more like things rob was alluding to. I can’t rewrite the Mass, after all. :) That said, jim’s journal idea – and more so, the idea behind it: Coming to God/church with a sense of expectancy rather than expecting to be entertained/”filled up until next week” (an idea rob hit on as well) – resonated pretty well for me, too. Again, something I’ve wrestled with here in past posts.

Anyway, anyone of the praying persuasion for said project is free to do so. I’m thinking it’s a God thing, especially given the unexpectedly positive  responses in some sectors. We’ll see.

And the thread is, of course, still open to anyone who wants to respond. I ain’t picky, you know.

So, on to tuneage….

Matt Pond PA – Last Light. As also mentioned previously, our senior art director’s music fanaticism rivals (if not exceeds) mine. Sometimes we intersect, a lot of times we don’t. He keeps throwing CDs at me; I keep responding “It’s okaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy….” More to the point, they tend to be musically quirky yet gutless (wait for me here…) Clearly they enjoy putting out what’s in their heads, and I have no problems calling it creative, but on a visceral (and for that matter, lyrical) level, something’s missing.

So I wasn’t exactly all ready to like this one either. And I kept trying to ditch it. But like Al Pacino, it just kept pulling me back in. This one’s actually pretty good. It’s not the sharpest thing lyrically (it’s not insipid either, mind you, just not the thing you’ll want it for), but it’s got heart. Lots of it. And hooks. Lots of them. It doesn’t maintain for a whole album, mind you, but the moments are there.

To make your own decision easier, go here and listen to the title track blaring out of the home page: http://www.mattpondpa.com. It’s just a great single (even though I think that initial honor went to the bouncy yet bittersweet “Sunlight” -- which, by the way, probably features the best line of the album – in the chorus, no less: “I wish you would say / When I f*** up, that’s it’s OK.”)

Other highlights include the decidedly Elliott Smith-ish “Wild Girl” and the strum-to-a-dang “Giving It All Away.” My version also includes the 2007 EP If You Want Blood, which has its moments as well: “Reading” is another hooky blasty thing on the level of “Last Light,” and “Magic Boyfriend” features a sense of humor that’ll surprise anyone who’s been listening up to that point.

So sample. And hold? Well, that’s up to you….

The Russian Futurists – Our Thickness (2005). Picture a Canadian Andy Partridge locked in his room with a crapload of cheap instruments and recording equipment, channeling Brian Wilson big-time.

(Wasn’t all that difficult, was it? Didn’t think so.)

That’s pretty much all you need to know about The Russian Futurists. This is ear candy of the highest order.

That said, one critical issue requires to be pointed out. Matthew Adam Hart (who, for all intents and purposes, IS the band) writes some very good lyrics (again, a la Mr. Partridge again channeling Mr. Wilson). Just one example, from “Sentiments vs. Syllables”:

If my time's up, then please don't wake me
And if I word stuff far too vaguely
It's because things don't mean much to me lately,
Enjoy it, boy, it's ending
Past and patent pending
In black and white, like your dreams
It's sentiments and syllables
And still it pulls and rips you apart at the seams.

One little problem: The mix is such that the only way you’d know they’re this good is to read them on the lyrics sheet. Which, as a lyrics guy, I really think is a shame.

That said, the music is so buoyant that it keeps everything afloat too. Just throw on the beat-heavy sonic blast opener/single “Paul Simon” and try not to smile. Just keep not trying not to  smile during the great lost Pet Sounds track “My Pen’s Out of Ink.” Or the slightly hip-hoppy-yet-keyboard-perky “Why You Gotta Do That Thang?” Straight through to the downright orchestral closer “2 Dots on a Map.” (How’d he fit a whole orchestra in his bedroom, anyway?)

Anyway, if Sufjan Stevens can make a quantum leap into Illinois, I’m thinking this guy’s got almost as much chance of pulling off his own pop masterpiece. Just find someone to mix the danged thing right next time, Matthew, a’ight?

Graham Parker – Deepcut to Nowhere (2001). My ongoing rediscovery of The Great Soul Atheist continues. (How exactly does that work, by the way? Never mind…) And yeah, as does his exploration (or dismissal, as it were) of the big questions: “Syphilis and Religion” is your standard Graham Parker missionary diss (amazing how many of those he has, although 20 years later “Break Them Down” remains the best); and the quiet closing cut, “Last Stop Is Nowhere” doesn’t exactly leave you with the warm fuzzies – more like the cold abysses: “Last stop is nowhere / That’s where I’m bound…”

This album takes some listens -- there's no obvious single here -- but it hits deep in any number of places. He’s got a few albums better, but not many. And Graham's got a LOT of albums. Other highlights include the opener “Dark Days,” where Graham gives his also-somewhat-standard state-of-the-world address (Short version: It sucks); and “I’ll Never Play Jacksonville Again,” a slice of classic pub-rock-with-a-dark-side (and a sitar?).

And if you buy this for no other reason, buy it for “Depend on Me.” Another one of those “I’m in this for the long haul” songs that have affecting the heck out of me this year (see also The Divine Comedy’s “Perfect Lovesong” and Steve Earle’s “Days Are Never Long Enough”), but this one’s positively human-rubble territory. Soulful and powerful, featuring some Knopfleresque guitar to boot, and all from the rare rock-and-roller who’s actually backed up his promise for nearly 30 years now:

Come on, baby, take my word
My word’s about as good as it gets
I know the language of your heart
Better than the alphabet
And if you think that that’s absurd
Stick around – this’ll make you smile
I might not be your puppet, girl
But I been hangin’ for a long, long while

And if you lose your mind
It’s only in your head
If your eyes go blind
Feel your way instead
And I’ll be there, I’ll be right there
Where I’m meant to be
And if I depend on you
Depend
On me.

What a freaking gorgeous song. Makes me want to cry and falsetto all at once (and I've done it, too, trust me), and yet thankfully looking nothing even remotely like Michael Jackson.

If you haven’t yet (re-)discovered the hidden treasure that is Graham Parker, this album’s as good as any place to start. Especially if you like diving right into the deep end. (If you want to ease in a bit more, you could do far worse than Heat Treatment, Squeezing Out Sparks, Another Grey Area, Struck by Lightning, or this year Don't Tell Columbus, for that matter.)

Next week (or thereabouts) the standard Top 10 list. Well, standard for me, anyway.

Posted by: burninglight at 21:44 | link | comments (1)