Lincoln, Nebraska

For all those of you who have the same upcoming spring break that I do (or a later one), I thought I'd grant you all a suggestion of three cd's you should listen to on you're time off. Consider it a spring break gift!!!!
First off, if you're just relaxing and what some soothing, but incredible Jazz, listen to Bare Bones by Madeleine Peyroux. This CD just came out a couple weeks ago and is her first full-length album free of any covers.
Second, if you want some folk rock, check out Neko Case's newest Middle Cyclone. While you're at her website, watch the music video for Maybe Sparrow. It's beautiful.
Finally, if you want the best rock 'n' roll you have ever heard (I know it's a bold, unprovable statement, but I'll make it anyways), listen to Magic by Bruce Springsteen.

Speaking of Bruce Springsteen, thanks to his "Hangin' out on E Street" promotion, an artist will put up a video every week of him or her covering a Bruce Song and then talking about how Bruce has inspired him or her. This week, it's my boy Josh Ritter with a fabulous cover of "The River." Bruce has so many songs with overly powerful lyrics, singing about the dark parts of life, but always leaving shreds of hope. The River and Nebraska are two of the most powerful (in my opinion. But, watch the videos here and please, please, please read the lyrics to "The River" here.

Princess Leigh-Cheri & the Outlaw, Bernard Wrangler

Frustrated with itunes as I merely opened it to listen to a sermon I missed by Jeff Manion and instead have to wait for it to download endless updates, I find myself here, reflecting. Taking up a recommendation by a friend of mine to read "Still Life with the Woodpecker" by Tom Robbins, I wasn't sure what to think at first. An overly cynical, but fantastic writer Robbins took a little while to get used to. The story is most literally "a sort of love story that takes place inside a pack of Camel cigarettes." I'm not going to explain the story to you--read it if you want--but that is the best description I can give. There's a quote in the end that I particularly liked, about the two main characters (and lovers) Princess Leigh-Cheri and the outlaw, Bernard Wrangler. It reads:

"But having acquired a taste for solitude, each of them spent days separate and alone, Leigh-Cheri in the attic, Bernard in the pantry. Funny how we think of romance as always involving two, when the romance of solitude can be ever so much more delicious and intense. Alone, the world offers itself freely to us. To be unmasked, it has no choice."

It's a powerful quote, especially with the surrounding context. Just to think how busy we try to make our lives when sometimes solitude is a great way to understand the world and even more so God. On an unrelated note, the book also deals wonderfully with the idea of objects and how animate objects (people) can form such intricate relationships with them. It's quite interesting. And, the book will have you wondering, "what did ever happen to the golden ball?"

I love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes

Since this is my first blog entry of March, I must say "Welcome, spring." After coming from the snowy Boston, Grand Rapids, normally a harbor of crappy weather, feels so splendidly nice. On a related note, I entered a Newbury Comics shop in Boston, expecting to be disappointed with the large amount of stocked comics and little amount of anything I'm actually interested in. Instead, I found a huge selection of new and used CD's and was in the shop for nearly 45 minutes.

As if an already dull story couldn't sound anymore less interesting, I left with Neko Case's new album and Blitzen Trapper's newest album in hand. Owning Fox Confessor and Blacklisted, I was never a huge fan of Neko Case. In fact, I listened to those albums a few times after I saw her in concert and then not again. However, after only a few listens, Middle Cyclone (Neko's aformentioned newest) has thoroughly enticed me. While her voice is not what draws me in, her clever melodies and fantastic lyric writing make the song incredible. The most notable songs are Prison Girls, Fever, and Middle Cyclone. The least notable song in my opinion is Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth, a cover that Neko should have turned her back on. In addition, the last track is a thirty minute sound session of the crickets around her Vermont farm. I don't know whether it was an attempt to be artsy, but it is completely uninteresting. However, there are still 13 other tracks that will thoroughly entice you.

Flying in the face of science...or crashing...

"Like you, I know exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard Amanda Palmer had been killed. Like you, I know no more than that...It became a national obsession. "Who killed Amanda Palmer?" bubblegum cards were traded and traded again in schoolyards across America."

To put into words the phenomenon that is the music of Amanda Palmer (shown in the image to the right) is truly difficult. As one of the most complex artists I have ever stumbled upon, the music of Amanda Palmer is truly an art. Amanda Palmer, of the Dresden Dolls and of whom I have never heard of before a couple days ago, released a solo CD, Who Killed Amanda Palmer, in late 2008.

To begin, Amanda Palmer writes phenomenal lyrics. The opening track, "Astronaut: A Short History of Nearly Nothing," deals with the difficulty of a person to hold on to their distant lover. As she sings with her extremely powerful voice (think of Tori Amos plus Regina Spektor plus a small portion of Rufus Wainwright come together), she sings "is it enough to have some love / small enough to slip inside a book / small enough to cover with your hand." At the same time, the song deals with the significant others of those who died in the Challenger crash.

The first couple times the chorus is sung, it reads:

but you are, my love, the astronaut
flying in the face of science
i will gladly stay an afterthought
just bring back some nice reminders

until it changes to...

YES you are, my love, the astronaut
crashing in the name of science
just my luck they found your upper half
it’s a very nice reminder

Another ear-catching song, Leeds United deals with the necessity of love in a culture so driven by cheap-thrills and glitzy entertainment. As the title of the CD would suggest, an overarching theme of the album is the triviality of death in American culture. On the hauntingly powerful Guitar Hero, Amanda Palmer contrasts video games with the war in Iraq. In the eyes of a video gamer now at the front, Amanda eerily sings "how do you get them to turn this thing off? / this isn't at all like the ones back at home / just shut your eyes and flip the cassette." To truly understand the complexity of the lyrics, I recommend checking out Amanda's website as it includes videos and pictures pertaining to each song. Be warned: Amanda is a bit eccentric, you could say a bit...gothic.

In addition to incredible, though bone-chilling lyrics, the musical production amazing. The CD was produced by Ben Folds and he plays simply tremendous piano on many of the songs (Thank goodness for this CD, it's been a long time since he's done anything good in the music world). While Leeds United jumps out at you for its powerful horn section and the guitar mastery of East Bay Ray smashes Guitar Hero home, the true power of Amanda's voice comes on slower, piano-driven songs such as Ampersand and the Point of it all.

I could go on and on about the artistic incredibleness of this album and the website associated with it. At the same time, you should go listen to it. And, of course, I would love to sit down and talk with Amanda as a Christian perspective of the world shatters the fatalistic resignation so much of her lyrics express.

What is a revolutionary without love?

Perhaps one of the most unnoticed actors, but also easily one of my favorites, Benicio del Toro (21 Grams, Snatch, the Usual Suspects) stars in a movie about the life and work of Che Guevara. The 4 plus hour movie will air in the United States in two parts (as none of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films made it to that length). One can watch the trailer here.

Admittedly, I fall in the category of "not knowing very much about Che Guevara" aside from seeing people (many of whom probably fall in the same category) wear t-shirts bearing his image religiously across the United States. And from an article in The Washington Times that one can access here (I think if you're on the facebook-imported version of my blog, the links may not work), it appears that the movie softens the image of Che in various places. Thus, I would encourage all to see the movie (I haven't yet, but really really want to) and then to do a bit of research on their own.

Final word: Benicio del Toro is the man.

Things that I really like right now....

Take a look if you want--this is kind of random.

TV on the Radio. They are an incredibly fresh band and write amazing lyrics. The song that really grabs me is DLZ, especially the first two stanzas. They read:

Congratulations on the mess you made of things;
On trying to reconstruct the air and all that brings.
And oxidation is the compromise you own
But this is beginning to feel like the dog wants her bones
saved

You force your fire then you falsify your deeds
Your methods dot the disconnect from all your creeds
And fortune strives to fill the vacuum that it feeds
But this is beginning to feel like the dog's lost her lead

Super harsh, but super raw. The song is obviously about hypocrisy, specifically in America, but I think they leave the lyrics the way they are for open interpretation.

Charles H. Spurgeon. I just started reading his devotional book, Morning & Evening, last night. Typically I do not like the short devotionals on one verse of scripture, but I really like what I've been reading--maybe it's just Spurgeon or more likely God (highly more likely).

The Watson Twins blog. Also fresh. And outright hilarious.

Finally, the Blind Boys of Alabama concert was incredible. Gospel concerts always are, but especially with such legends.

Brandon Flowers, Elton John.

Well my friends, I never expected to be using Brandon Flowers' name right along side that of Elton John--much less with respect to Christmas. Nonetheless, Brandon Flowers (the lead singer of the uber fun band, the Killers) released a Christmas single in which he sings with Elton John and Neil Tennant. I don't know why it took me so long to discover this--the killers for three years running have released a Christmas single, but I am super glad I did discover this.

So y'all better go check out the song "Joseph, better you than me" by the Killers, Elton John, and Neil Tennant.