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“One Time” by Earthsuit, Wednesday, November 20, 2024

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  Earthsuit formed in 1995 when Adam LaClave and Paul Meany started attending the same church in New Orleans. The two led worship at the church, forming a band that would eventually play at the Cornerstone Festival and sign to Sparrow Records . The band expertly mixed funk, jazz, reggae, and blues with rock and hip-hop. Their debut album, Kaleidoscope Superior , released June 20, 2000, was a moderate success in Christian Rock, but beyond the somewhat lackluster commercial success, the band was what some of the biggest names in Christian Rock were listening to from Martin Smith of Delirious? to Kevin Max of dc Talk to Rebecca St. James, for whom the band wrote a song on her 2000 album, Transform . LORD, HIT ME ONE TIME, INFILTRATE THE MIND. Earthsuit’s sound was a bit eccentric to be commercially viable in the Christian market. Influenced by The Police and The Beastie Boys and adding various New Orleans flavors, half of the album sounded akin to a jazz version of
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“Knowing This” by Kye Kye (repost), Tuesday, November 19, 2024 + Young Love Remix EP Track by Track

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  I got into  Kye Kye  in 2013 when I was also starting to listen to K-pop. The Christian electronic band made up of Estonian-born, Portland, Oregon-based siblings with their vaguely spiritual, ethereal pop music never quite caught on with any part of the Christian music scene. They may be too artistic for the Christian pop world and not heavy enough for the Christian rock world. The band is still around today, though not releasing Christian music. Today I wanted to delve into their remix EP,  Young Love .  1. " Broke ." This is a remix of the band's single from the record. I remember it kept losing on  RadioU 's  Battle of the Buzz   but when it was released in regular rotation, it caught on and even topped their countdown show,  TMW . 2. " Introduce Myself ." On the album  Young Love ,  "Introduce Myself" is kind of a mundane track; a kind of meandering intro to public speaking class that breaks the rules of good speech writing. As a dubstep trac
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“To Fly” by Day of Fire, Monday, November 18, 2024 (repost)

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  In Christian Rock in the ‘90s and ‘00s, nothing spelled success as a conversion testimony. Founding Day of Fire , Josh Brown brought with him the testimony of a near drug overdose before turning to Christianity. Starting his music career as the lead singer of the nu-metal band Full Devil Jacket , Brown toured with Nickelback , Creed , and others and even played at the infamous Woodstock '99. EVERY MORNING THERE'S A BROKENNESS YOU SWALLOW. After a fairly successful debut album released in 2000 that spawned two radio singles, Full Devil Jacket was about to record their follow-up. While on tour with Creed, Brown overdosed on heroin, but survived. After his near-death experience, Brown quit music, becoming a Christian and rebuilding his life. In 2004, Brown's new band Day of Fire signed to Essential Records, Sony Music's Christian imprint, and released their self-titled album. Much of the album contrasts the darkness of Brown's past with the hope he found in Christi
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“Viva la Vida” by Coldplay, Sunday, November 17, 2024 (repost)

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My musical history started with hymns and classical music playing in the house, and sometimes classic and alternative rock in the garage. After going back to church, my mom stopped listening to secular music, well  contemporary secular music,  and tried to convince me that rock music was evil when I started liking the sound of it. Little by little, she started listening to modern music--first CCM, especially  Michael W. Smith 's  This Is Your Time   album because of the bagpipes. Then she started listening to music she grew up with, the soundtrack to her teenage rebellion. These were the smooth pop songs of  Hall & Oats  and  Elton John  and some rock bands like  Boston  and  Journey . MY MISSIONARIES IN A FOREIGN FIELD.  All of these songs' artists could be heard on local light rock radio stations along with contemporary hits by  Kelly Clarkson ,  Train , and of course  Coldplay . When my mom heard " Viva la Vida ," she loved it and bought the album. Soon, on lon
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“APT.” by ROSÉ ft. Bruno Mars, Saturday, November 16, 2024

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This summer Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga made a huge comeback with “ Die with a Smile ,” which became a global number 1 hit . Last month Mars released another collaboration, this time with ROSÈ , the latest member of the girl group BLACKPINK to go solo. “ APT. ” marks Mars’ first K-pop collaboration, the singer was quite big in South Korea before teaming up with a member of one of the currently biggest girl groups. Just like “Die with a Smile,” “APT” has been a global  smash hit, topping charts around the world, including South Korea and peaking at number 8 on Billboard ’s Hot 100 and number two on the UK singles chart. RANDOM GAME. BLACKPINK has been regarded as the biggest girl group in the world. The group, however, hasn’t made new music since 2022. Last year, all four members of the group re-signed their contracts with YG Entertainment and are expected to release new music next year. This year, however, has been about solo activities. This year has seen massive hits from 3 of the
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“Satellite” by Harry Styles+ Songs About Space Playlist, Apple Music Edition, Friday, November 15, 2024 (repost)

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  It’s a clear chilly night. It’s been a rainy year, and the city lights rarely allow for a peak into oblivion. Today, I give you my playlist for those occasions, when the clouds open up and we can look into another world. Most of these songs are not scientific, but rather impressions and mediations on an otherworldly experience. Enjoy!
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“The Wire” by HAIM, Thursday, November 14, 2024

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I noticed a shift in my listening habits this year. My Spotify Wrapped will undoubtedly reveal that I listened to more female-identifying artists this year than male-identifying artists. It’s been a particularly strong year in pop, but women dominate the music industry in other genres. Singers, producers, rappers, songwriters, and, yes, frontwomen to rock bands are a few examples of women in music in 2024. In the 2020s, some of the most critically acclaimed albums in many genres were made by female artists. Yet, there was a time when many listeners and critics didn’t take women very seriously in any genre. Male listeners often didn’t buy music made by women. And gender is often used to qualify music. “It’s good music for a girl band” or “ I really don’t relate to rock bands with female lead singers” were statements I heard when talking about music. I don’t know if things are different now among male listeners, but in the 2010s critics seem to be starting to take women in music much mor
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