This is an english dance punk band. That’s how they describe it at least. I love the first video too. Enjoy:
This is their latest single (my least favorite song I posted though). Is there anything more entertaining than watching white people dance? Probably not.
Vampire Weekend is the very essence of great indie music. Their self titled album, Vampire Weekend, was a huge success with nearly 500,00 record sales and if there was one album I’d been looking forward to with the new year, it was their new record. With their second album released this week, Vampire Weekend is proving that they are not just a band that makes one good CD and then fall off the map. Instead, their latest album, Contra, will likely debut at #1 on the charts and the New York City hipster band continues to gain momentum. If you are not an indie elitist (don’t worry, I’m not either), the sound may take a bit to grow on you, but I feel like it is the perfect album to have on in the background while plowing through emails at work. The unique sounds and creative melodies make for a relaxing and uplifting listen. I want to write so badly, “I guarantee you’ll like it”, so I think I will throw out that empty promise.
Plus, Christian Lander, creator of the sarcastic Stuff White People Like website, said in an interview with Salon.com that Vampire Weekend is “the whitest band” alive. Perfect.
**Caution: Some of their lyrics are not appropriate for young people, but for the most part their lyrics are not discernable. I’ve listened to their albums on repeat for a long time and I actually never realized there are a few swear words in their music until after I wrote this post recommending the band. It’s a great listen, so don’t worry about reading their lyrics if swearing offends you and you won’t even hear it. Or, just skip this weeks recommendation and rock out to CCM. Nothing wrong with that.
Here is their:
Myspace (recommended to stream and hear their sound)
& their Music Videos:
Happy MLK Day!
Below is a recommendation to my family, friends, and anyone who is interested in 52 artists or bands that I think are worthy of your time. The music selections will consist of some bands you may be very familiar with and some you have never listened to before. The music that is recommended will be more “indie”-ish, but I am not cool enough to be an indie-music snob, so some popular/signed artists will make the year’s cut. I will also keep an ongoing list below here for each week. The genres are limitless, with the criteria being that it simply sounds awesome. There are a couple just for laughs. Enjoy!
Week 1: Death Cab for Cutie
Week 2: The Swell Season
Week 3: Vampire Weekend
Week 4: Friendly Fires
Week 5: Dave Carroll (just because it’s funny)
Week 6: Joshua James
Week 7: Sigur Rós
Week 8: Josh Garrels
Week 9: Bon Iver
Week 10: Ok Go (Only because their music videos are fantastic)
Week 11: Gungor
Week 12: Explosions in the Sky
Week 13: The Civil Wars
Week 14: Diane Birch
Week 15: Sufjan Stevens
Week 16: 10 Worship Songs You Should Hear
Week 17: Virtual Choir
Week 18: Interview/Giveaway with Michael Gungor
Week 19: John Mark McMillan
Week 20: White People Shouldn’t Dance in Church (that would make a good band name)
Siggy’s Rating: 7/7 stars!
I should probably start by letting readers know that most worship music I find overusing church-lingo cliches, poorly mixed music, and average vocalists. Pretty much all the basic parts of a worship recording (vocalists, musicians, engineer, producer, composition of the songs, etc.) could be easily scrutinized by any huge fan of quality music. So yes, I come into worship music with a bit of snobbishness and cynicism. However, I also have a heart that loves to worship God through music and am therefore often left with a dichotomy. “This sounds awful, but it is all we’ve got to be singing directly to God or about His character…”.
Now that we’ve got my personal background out of the way, we move to actually exploring David Crowder*Band’s newest album, titled “Church Music”. This is not a typical worship album. DC*B incorporates large amounts of creative electronic beats with progressive rock that makes for not only an incredible worship album, but an enjoyable listen. The ethereal and ambient sounds fill out a genre that normally leaves listeners empty. With most worship songs having a clear start and finish, Church Music actually flows together like an entire album should. Seriously. I do not remember listening to a worship album on repeat and Crowder has delivered an album that actually dives into some deep lyrical content combined with electronic rock that makes you dance like we hear that David of the Old Testament did back in 1000 B.C. With the use of creative, yet not bizarre analogies, Crowder pulls the listener in for an hour and 13 minute wave of praising and calling out to the Messiah. But, enough reading of a review, check out this video of pictures I made of one of my favorite songs from the album (lyrics below):
SMS (Send Me a Sign) Lyrics by DC*B
(Verse 1)
Send me a sign
A hint, a whisper
Throw me a line
‘Cause I am listeningCome break the quiet
Breathe your awakening
Bring me to light
‘Cause I am fadingSurround me with the rush of angel’s wings
(Chorus 1)
Shine Your light so I can see You
Pull me up, I need to be near You
Hold me, I need to feel loved
Can You overcome this heart that’s overcome?(Verse 2)
You sent a sign
The hint, a whisper
Human, divine
Heaven is listeningDeath laid low
Quiet and in the night a stirringAll around the rush of angels
(Bridge)
O the wonder of the greatest love has come(Chorus 2)
Shine Your light so all can see it
Lifted up, ’cause the whole world needs it
Love has come, what joy to hear it
He has overcome, He has overcome
The beauty in the poetry of these lyrics combined with the emotive, growing music is truly moving. Heaven is indeed listening to the “human/divine”. God (100% divine) becoming a mere baby (100% man). The Love has come and what a joy it is to hear it. It’s lyrics like these that keep the focus on God himself and does not stray to being completely outside of the “worship” genre, but also moves it past the overuse of repetitive words that people only understand if they have been in church for longer than 5 years.
Criticism/Challenge to the Crowder*Band:
The common critique I hear of Crowder’s music is that it is “un-singable for average congregations”. Now, I have often defended Crowder’s music and advocated that it can work in a corporate worship setting, but this latest album takes it to a different level. The electronic driven sounds with many different drum sounds and layered keyboard parts makes it difficult for an acoustic guitar player with volunteer musicians to try and reproduce. So, these are my challenges to each and every worship leader, but is specifically to Crowder since I believe he is actually progressive and innovative enough to consider it:
1. “How to Videos” of many of the songs in an acoustical form. I like the videos of the stories from places like Worship Together, but I would like to hear many of the songs done with David and his acoustic guitar or sitting at a piano completely stripped down. Not only that, but a how-to video. I would even be so bold as to ask for it in multiple keys (for those of us who are not tenors like every popular worship leader out there…). That, my friends, would be awesome.
2. Release of the drum/electronic tracks from Logic (the software the band uses to record their albums with) on your personal website so that worship leaders can try and incorporate it the same way that you have created into their own weekly services. Monster bands like Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead have done this in the “secular” realm, so wouldn’t it be incredible to do it for worship music? You could either release it for free or charge a low rate for local worship leaders to be able to take their computer and play to it. This would also allow fans to re-create your music and do some incredible remixes. This means more amazing worship music, as well as a way for your fans to be able to connect with you on a whole new level. Can you imagine if all the Christian artists released their tracks and allowed joe-shmoe to do mash-ups? There would be all sorts of awfulness all over youtube, but at the same time could result in some incredible progress in the Christian market.
3. Allow the album to be continuously streamed online for free. This would allow people who would never buy your album (or who are not of the same Christian faith expression) to be able to hear the album at any time. Also, most people like to “try before they buy” if possible and may be a way for fans to check out your great album before forking over the cash. No one wants to hear a 30 second clip. That’s what I label “annoying”.
4. Get the price down to $9.99 on iTunes. No one wants to go searching around on the internet to find it for a lower price (although, the .mp3′s are available at Amazon for $8.99 right now for those interested). The price of the actual physical album resulted in over $18 bucks after shipping and taxes, but that price was redeemed when I got a magazine, sticker, the lyrics, etc. Actually, I’ve already bought the album again for a friend. I know that the actual band does not set this price, but the labels need to drop the price down.
Analysis of the Title: “Church Music”
The question that comes to most people’s mind when they hear, “Church Music” immediately questions, “Well…what is church music?” Crowder answers this by saying that it is about the church (it’s people) being able to worship and connect with the Lord and Savior. I think the album title is so over-the-top straightforward that it works. In fact, the band used all kinds of creative marketing techniques to get the album all the way up to #11 on the top 200 Billboard. Yeah…they were the eleventh best selling album that week! They released 4 “Rockumentarys” in a very “Spinal Tap”-type manner that crack me up. You can see or click to an external link below:
Rockumentary 1 – Shred On, Buddy
Rockumentary 2 – You Can Bet Your Life On It
Rockumentary 3 – Turn the Other Cheek
Rockumentary 4 – Twitter Will Kill You
“How He Loves” Story
John Mark McMillan allowed David Crowder to change the lyrics to a really great worship song that blew up in most megachurches across the nation. The song centers on the idea of God’s ridiculous love for us and how is “love is like a hurricane”. You can read John’s words here, but essentially Crowder asked John if he could re-write the words of the bridge from “Heaven meets Earth like a sloppy wet kiss…” to “Heaven meets Earth like an unforeseen kiss”. First off, I heard the McMillan version of the song and completely wrote it off. I even made fun of it as having just gross imagery with the sloppy, wet kiss. I love the concept he is getting at, that the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Earth colliding is completely messy. I completely agree, but just could not sing words like that and not think of two middle-schoolers having their first kiss and accidentally sucking the face of one another. But that’s just me. When Crowder changed that one phrase, I gave the song a second chance and now I find it much easier to connect with God.
You can go here to hear the song “How He Loves” (embedding on external sites disabled because of the stupid record label).
Siggy’s Favorite Song:
The lyrics of this song remind me of the start of Rob Bell’s latest book, Drops Like Stars, where Rob tells a story about a mother and father whose two son’s wives are pregnant. One of their sons has a beautiful, healthy baby while the other has a miscarriage. The point of this unfortunate tale is that we are all walking down hallways just like the one in that hospital which is full of “Light and Shadows” (aka good and evil). The lyrics that Crowder sings, “We will not fear, we will remember…the cross” is a huge reminder to remember the story that God has given us (the Bible) and that we can continue to write today as God meets us right here. Right now. The Bible tells us that we can actually converse directly with the Creator of the Universe. I’m “resting in the shadow of the cross”.
Life is full of light and shadow
O the joy and O the sorrow
O the sorrowAnd yet will He bring
Dark to light
And yet will He bring
Day from nightWhen the shadows fall on us
We will not fear
We will rememberWhen darkness falls on us
We will not fear
We will rememberWhen all seems lost
When we’re thrown and we’re tossed
We remember the cost
We’re resting in the
Shadow of the cross
Funny and cute video of a young child singing, “How He Loves”:
Thanks for a great album, Crowder Band, as well as your joyous spirits. It is great to see you doing great Kingdom work while having fun. To the fans of worship music, I advocate a purchase of this album pronto.
Influences/Sounds Like: Colbie Caillat, Sara Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson, Fiona Apple, Sixpence None the Richer, Aimee Mann, Regina Spektor, Over the Rhine, Adele.
Siggy’s Rating: 
7/7 stars!
I don’t know where to even start in reviewing a talent like Tirzah. Her pop/folk style is so contagious to listen to, but that voice…that voice of hers is just unbelievable. Her lyrics on life and love give listeners something to identify with. From the creative love ballad in “Strawberry Hope”, (“’cause in your eyes I know that we’re gonna make it, make it through somehow”) to the challenge to her love in her first single “Flight” (“Now I have to say there’s things in the way of me letting go, but you, you take me by the hand, help me understand…I am waiting for you to be my flight”), Tirzah brings melodies that always leave us humming throughout the rest of our day. Of course, every first EP from an artist needs to have a good break up song and “Over” gives us just that (“You traded what you had for ease, no more responsibility…but I know you couldn’t care less, cause you won’t even clean up your mess, and I just need you to know, that I’m completely letting you go. This thing is over.”). [Note to humans: never date an artist or autobiographical writer or you will find yourself published in places you never wanted].
I personally helped engineer some of the songs and am Tirzah’s manager, so of course I am going to be bias and think everything she touches is gold. If you are looking to get her music, click on the icons below. You can also go to NoiseTrade for a limited time and “Pay What You Want”. That’s right! You can pay whatever you would like for the EP or (even better) you can get the EP for free! All you have to do is click on the widget below and tell 5 of your friends about Tirzah. This way she can continue to let more and more people hear her music, which is Tirzah’s goal. Of course, a little money thrown her way couldn’t hurt a starving artist… 
Regina Spektor, a folk pianist with traces of hip hop, classical, and jazz all rolled into one, has the voice of a goddess. She is releasing her new album entitled, “Far” on June 23rd (yes…4 days!) which can be streamed now at Regina’s Myspace. I am definitely digging the album after my first few listens through and will be purchasing it on Tuesday. Also, below is her new single called “Laughing With” which has some very nice speculations into who God is and who God is not. I could pull out a ton of truth out of this song, but I will leave the song speak for itself rather than share my thoughts. Feel free to share yours though!
Lyrics:
No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor
No one laughs at God when the doctor calls
After some routine tests
No one’s laughing at God
when it’s gotten real late
And their kid’s not back from that party yet
No one laughs at God when their airplane
Starts to uncontrollably shake
No one’s laughing at God
When they see the one they love hand in hand
with someone else and they hope that they’re mistaken
No one laughs at God when the cops knock on their door
And they say “We’ve got some bad new, sir,”
No one’s laughing at God
When there’s a famine, fire or flood
But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God-themed joke or
When the crazies say he hates us
and they get so red in the head
You think that they’re about to choke
God can be funny
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious
Ha ha, ha ha
No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
when they’ve lost all they got
And they don’t know what for
No one laughs at God on the day they realize
that the last sight they’ll ever see is a pair of hateful eyes
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re saying their goodbyes
But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God-themed joke or
When the crazies say he hates us and they get so red in the head
you think that they’re about to choke
God can be funny
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious
No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
(repeat)
No one’s laughing at God in a hospital
No one’s laughing at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor
No one’s laughing at God
No one’s laughing at God
No one’s laughing at God
We’re all laughing with God.
Since I am a music critic, and therefore a music cynic, people often ask me what makes a good song. The place to start in making a good song is the actual music that goes along with the song, not the lyrics. Always. No one cares what you have to say in a song without good music. Well, nearly no one. This is why Christian worship music ends up being so simplistic all the time. The lyrics are usually written first (some of which are really great – some of which are the worst thing you’ve ever had to try to sing to God) and then a terrible pop-shell is put around to coat the lyrics. Because it is always geared towards corporate worship, the “worship artists” actually say that they try to write easy songs so that you can learn it after one time through. In some ways this makes sense, since then it will be in your head throughout the week. Most artists think that this can be a good thing, but is it? Most songs that get stuck in my head just become very annoying. If I have “I am a friend of God” stuck in my head all day, I want to jump off a cliff. That chorus kills me. But it is indeed simple and it does indeed get stuck in your head (and more importantly to the record label, it sells).
Now that that rant is over for now, I will say that I like the new song from “The Fray” and am not one to normally like popular music. Musically “You Found Me” is ok. It is pretty predictable and the way it was engineered is not how I like my music (could they compress the drums ANYmore?). But obviously your average listener just hears the overall sound and the lead singers voice is bangin. He is the reason that The Fray has been as successful as they’ve been. The Fray falls into a category known as “crossovers” to Christians. They are Christians who write songs that can be heard and respected by everybody. I used to think that every follower of Christ should definitely be a “crossover” artist and that the whole Christian industry was just a big money-making scheme (and the remnants of that belief are still strong), but now I am starting to re-consider. Although I think much of the Christian industry is just a big ploy to make money off of Jesus, God does call us to praise and cry out to him through song. It’s the money making part that I am still wrestling with and still end up in a disgruntled state.
So how do Christians talk about things in Scripture and still gain respect from those who do not believe the same thing as us? Well this is obviously a difficult question, but in music, I see it starting with being creative. Is “You Found Me” musically very creative? No, but neither is most of top 40 radio. Are we going to look back on Britney and Timbaland and have the same sort of respect we had for Elvis and The Beatles? Not a chance. But The Fray captures the attention of most on their latest track and talk about God at the same time (still the #11 song on iTunes after releasing their single over a month ago). I work with a girl who just got done telling me she was leaving to go spend the night at her boyfriends ask to borrow my iPod so she could listen to the song because she loved it so much. So how does The Fray get the attention of someone who does not believe in Christ’s love or try to follow Him with their life?
Like I said, it starts with a good hook. But then, The Fray frames God in such an interesting way. God is smoking a cigarette and the band asks God some tough questions: “Where were you when everything was falling apart? Why’d you have to wait? Where were you? Where were you?” Finally, the song ends with an open-ended, “Why’d you have to wait, to find me, to find me?”. Now this is not the most revolutionary song in modern-day history, but The Fray does force us to wrestle with the idea of “where is God in the tough times?” Every person can identify with that feeling. Whether you are a follower of Christ or not, this resonates.
Let’s look at the other side of the coin. When we take a look at the top worship songs out there, everything is the same. “I sing your praises oh Lord because of your glorious majesty”. There is nothing wrong with singing this NIV language over and over, but it simply becomes monotonous. And although God is never changing, He is definitely never boring. That’s a big concept right there. And so that is the thought of the day: To know that God has found us even in the toughest of times and that we owe it to Him to use our creative talents to spread His name.
Music Video (For listening, not worth watching): http://tiny.cc/s8Q1K.
