The InBetween
by
Scarlet White Black or white. Hot and cold. Good and evil. Dead or Alive. Extremes on continuums. And in-between? An infinite series of points on the scale. Something that seems to define Scarlet White....
If the internet era has bequeathed artists anything, it is the ability to find and grow an audience, and from there attract notice from the music industry. The independent musical landscape is...
Californian Brad Hooks, self-described leader of a “worship-focused ministry team,” tries his hand at recasting traditional hymns into a contemporary frame with the release of his second album Hymnastics. Hooks states. “(T)hat this is not your typical hymns remake record. This is something drastically fresh and yet totally worshipful.” Though he didn’t write the (original) songs, he rewrites their music. And for the most part he succeeds.
Hymnastics features 10 “remakes” as well as 2 original songs. These “fresh” re-imagings work best when Hooks sticks to alternative and adult contemporary- influenced pop expression. Hooks’ vocals are reminiscent of Barry Manilow at the height of his popularity (don’t laugh- Mr. “Chairman of the Board” Sinatra gave his personal endorsement to the exceptionally talented Mr. Manilow). His renditions of “Oh How I Love Jesus,” Blessed Assurance,” and “Be Thou My Vision” evoke musical comparisons to Coldplay, Maroon 5 and Josh Groban. “All Blessing,” one of the two original compositions, is a standout track that demonstrates Hooks’ legitimacy as a songwriter.
Fans of creative troubadours the like of Phil Wickham, Aaron Shust, Andrew Peterson and Bebo Norman would be doing themselves a favor by checking out Hymnastics.
Modern Worship With A (Traditional Country) Twist | Posted November-19-2009 Time-Life's latest Songs 4 Worship project Country Live features some of Country Music's biggest names, past and present, participate in this live worship experience recorded at Nashville's storied Ryman Auditorium.
CM's heritage is well represented by the various artists who lend their considerable talent to this event. Representing the old school, the Palmetto State Quartet gives us their harmony-rich take on Darrell Evans' "Trading My Sorrows," while elder-statesman Randy Travis covers "Open the Eyes of My Heart." Multi-platinum artist Collin Raye makes "Indescribable" his. Other contributors include Susan Ashton, Bryan White, Alison Krauss, Diamond Rio and the venerable Alabama.
Of the album's 15 worship tracks, 12 are less than a decade old and well represent the current (mega-popular) worship leaders such as Tomlin, Redman, Riddle, Baloche, etc. The producers' particular choices of contemporary worship songs and the artists who perform them make for some interesting interpretations. If you're looking for pop-worship with a modern country flavor, this album does not fit that bill. However, if you're a fan of more traditional country music and wonder how it might meld with popular modern worship then, by all means, give this disc a spin.
If you were to combine the sonic dexterity of Mute Math ( including frontman Paul Meany’s chameleonesque vocals) with TFK rock excellence and add the influence of Jars of Clay’s edgier musical miscellany you’d have a pretty good idea of what Canadian rockers Manic Drive have accomplished with their 1st widely distributed album (but 5th studio project) Blue. With Storyside:B’s guitarist and lead vocalist Lu Rubino in the producer’s chair, the band has polished and refined eight tracks from the band’s 2007 release Reset & Rewind and added 4 new tracks to create a robust set of music that falls somewhere between rock and nü-metal
Fans of unique modern rock acts Above the Golden State, Decyfer Down, Ever Stays Red, Mikeschair, Pillar, This Beautiful Republic, etc. will enjoy Manic Drive’s excellent contribution to the genre and should check out Blue post haste.
Duets is the latest from the Grammy-winning musical icons known as The Blind Boys of Alabama. The 14 tracks of both previously released and unreleased collaborations bear the indelible and unique stamp of one of America's most enduring and historical bands. The Boys' blend of blues, gospel and jazz eschews staid traditionalism and blurs musical boundaries yet seamlessly meshes with each genre represented.
Smooth harmonies, tight musicianship and minimalist production let each song shine. Whether it is the modern stylings of Ben Harper or punk legend Lou Reed, first lady of Rock & Roll Bonnie Raitt or blues legend Marva Wright, country supergroup Asleep At The Wheel or elder statesman Randy Travis, The Boys’ contribution imparts a distinctiveness that transforms each performance into a timeless spiritual. The tracks of Duets are vignettes of musical Americana that are genre-defying classics, pure and simple.
Holy (or maybe holly) hairspray and spandex-clad axe men! Western specialty label VSR presents a tinsel-bright, laser-illuminated, fog-machine enshrouded offering for Christmas with the release of Northern Light Orchestra’s yuletide gift The Spirit of Christmas. The album is a metallic mash-up of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Joe Satriani & Guitar Hero, brazenly bearing the indelible stamp of late 80’s pop-metal. This comes as no surprise considering the who’s who of Santa’s helpers involved. NLO’s roster is an assemblage of 80’s-90’s pop metal supergroup doing a Christian-oriented Christmas-themed project (I know; kind of rhetorical but made obvious for the sake of clarity). Names like Audioslave, Dokken, Magdallan, GTR and Emerson, Lake & Palmer come to mind.
The album is a cornucopia of frenetic, fret-board mastery; epic, ear-tickling solos; all wrapped up with a salubrious helping of majestic, soaring vocals. In fact, there are several whiplash-inducing moments and the album begs to be played LOUD! In one double-take instance, Bob “Mr. Butterfly Kisses” Carlisle revisits his “Long Way From Paradise” days with (the Christian, semi-super group) Allies to great effect. Other musical MIA’s who make an appearance include: Jon Gibson, Lanny Cordola and John Davis- and that’s just to name a few!
While several of the tracks from The Spirit of Christmas would be right at home on a TSO set list, NLO does an admirable job of avoiding “cloneliness.” Retro metal-heads whose playlists are populated with the likes of Angelica, Bloodgood, Giant, Leviticus, Mastedon, Shout, Stryper, Whitecross, David Zaffiro, etc. should hop in their internet sled and swoosh to the band’s myspace page and order The Spirit of Christmas . This album deserves to be at the top of any head-bangers’ Christmas list.
Comedown is the North American debut from Norwegian rock band Dreampilots and, as expected, tends toward a heavily European style of pop rock. But the band does not limit themselves to a strictly continental sound. Hints of eclectically influenced modern acts as diverse as The Black Crowes, Sting and are also heard in the Dreampilots' sound.
The band does an admirable job of treading that fine line between retro coolness and rehashed datedness. Harkening back to the heyday of bands like Echo & the Bunnymen, Adam Ant, Siouxsie & the Banshees, and The Psychedelic Furs, Comedown is part homage, part reflection on bringing up-to-date, what made the old classic.
Comedown is a well crafted and well executed album from this talented group of Norwegian musicians. Fans of Fono, The Elms or any of the aforementioned bands should check their baggage and hop on the next Dreampilots flight.
Already Believing | Posted October-12-2009
Small label VSR continues to expand their roster of talented, yet overlooked bands with the signing of Minnesota-based Silverline. The label recently loosed the band’s 6 song debut, Start To Believe, on an unsuspecting nationwide audience.
Silverline demonstrates a seasoned maturity beyond their relative youthfulness. Start To Believe’s smart, meaningful lyrics are ably paired with the distinctive, established guitar-driven, post-punk influenced sound offered by the likes of Green Day and Relient K. “Get It Right,” the band’s current rock single, and the album’s title track, “Start To Believe,” are impressive cuts that tease the listener with a sound that is both conspicuously fresh yet seems like they should be familiar.
If your playlist consists of artists like Wavorly, Run Kid Run, Number One Gun and FM Static, as well as Hawk Nelson, Secret & Whisper and Stellar Kart, head on over to the band’s myspace page and order Start To Believe. With any luck, we will hear a full-length project from this extremely talented band soon.
Christmas Songs for the King | Posted October-05-2009
Downhere our Dove, Juno and Covenant award-winning neighbors from the north have thrown their collective hats into the holiday ring with the October 6th release of How Many Kings: Songs for Christmas. Though the popular, decade-spanning band has relocated to Tennessee, they’ll forever be associated with the “Canadian Invasion” that Christian music saw in the mid to late 90’s and early 00’s. And even though Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving a week early, they still observe Christmas in Octo… oops, December.
Instead of merely updating standard, ubiquitous seasonal favorites with their signature acoustic alt-rock sound, the members of Downhere chose to create distinctive and engaging yuletide hybrids. The band members’ careful consideration in song selection for How Many Kings: Songs for Christmas was balanced by a desire to preserve the timelessness and integrity of the original carols and hymns. Songs such as “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “Bring A Torch,” and Glory To God” bear Downhere's trademark sound replete with acoustic guitar, melodic piano, strings section, shared lead vocals and deep harmonies; while the albums’ other tracks are much more stylistically diverse. “Christmas In Our Hearts” has a Beatlesesque feel and “What Child Is This” harkens to a Segovia-influenced classical guitar piece. It’s when the band departs their customary that the songs of How Many Kings: Songs for Christmas gleam with that indefinable spark that seems to characterize Christmas, as well as their musical career.
And though the coming of The King of Glory to Earth is due more than a measure of gravitas and respect, the band also recognizes the pure joy and fun associated with the Yuletide. This is nowhere more evident than in the bluesy, honky-tonk interpretation of “Good King Wenceslas,” the extremely short choral “Five Golden Rings” and the quirkily hilarious, oompapa-seasoned “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”.
With their distribution partnership with EMI, Arizona-based label VSR continues to grow its roster with the addition of the Phoenix-based hard-rock band Echoes the Fall. Earlier this month, the label debuted the band’s first full-length, nationally distributed project: Bloodlines.
The band’s musicianship is impressive: Massive, distorted guitar riffs, driving percussion and blistering lead licks characterize the majority of Echoes the Fall’s songs. That’s not to say the band is one dimensional: two of the album’s stand-out tracks are the reflective and mature mid-tempo “Dirty Water,” and the closing acoustic reprise of “Things Will Change [This Time Around].” Another track of note is the band’s inclusion of a cover of Survivor’s Rocky III, hit “Eye of the Tiger.” Each original song of Bloodlines is a solid example of how to "do" powerful modern rock, evinces lyrics of a fundamentally sound Christian ethos and has the potential to give the band a high-charting single.
The band’s blend of edgier pop/rock, rock and nü-metal, takes its cues from popular secular alt-rock bands such as The Foo Fighters, Fuel, Linkin Park, and Three Days Grace. In fact, lead singer, and primary lyricist, David Mackey’s rough-edged vocals shine as bright as anything Bennington, Green or Grohl deliver. If there's anything that this reviewer could offer, it would be to suggest that producer Ken Mary add a little less polish to the production, leaving the band's sound a tad edgier.
Fans of Blindside, Chevelle, Pillar and TFK will find plenty of reason to throw up their “rawk fists” with the plethora of potent tracks found on Bloodlines.
Jason Gray’s latest project, Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue, is an album of disarming poignancy and ubiquitous vulnerability. Its 13 songs reveal the longings and struggles of one who is trying to live up to godly ideals. That being said, it is an album brimming with hope, joy and honesty.
A sense of self-deprecating empathy accompanied by genuine transparency permeates the songs of Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue. Gray plays to his strength as a songwriter, creating songs with an ability to establish meaningful rapport with listeners. Gray wears his beating heart on his rolled-up sleeve. In truth, every track of Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue‘s acts as a window in that house of glass where stones aren’t meant to be thrown.
Fans of those artists who tend to be more nuanced, blurring the line between modern pop & worship, (i.e.Paul Alan, Brandon Heath, Matt Kearny, Jadon Lavik, Jeremy Riddle, Waterdeep, and Matthew West) should find Everything Sad Is Coming Untrue to their liking. The album drops September 1st from Centricity Music.
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