2010 Top Ten Lists: Music

I got some good stuff here. In no particular order...

Mumford & Sons
Oh, yeah, this is in order. These guys were my most-listened-to band of the year. Love their album. So the rest of the list is in no particular order.




Dave Barnes
Crazy good vocals and guitar, and a very funny fella




The Avett Brothers
I know I'm probably not introducing anyone to these guys, but perhaps to the Tiny Desk Concert podcast from NPR.




Ben Rector
Mandy and I saw him open for Dave Barnes a couple of months ago. There are other songs that I like better, but I couldn't find a good video of them. Check out his album.




Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors
Not sure how I've missed these cats for so long, but at the aforementioned Dave Barnes/Ben Rector show, they kept mentioning them. Then we got to see their Christmas show a few weeks ago. And don't worry. I learned that Ellie does not have casts on both arms.




Hey Marseilles
I discovered this band on the Tiny Desk podcast.




Gabe Dixon Band
I discovered these guys listening to Ben Folds on Pandora. This song came on, and my response was, "Who is this guy?"




Aaron Strumpel
I can't remember how I heard about him, but one night, after I had just purchased his Chair & Microphone album, Mandy and I listened to it in its entirety. Just couldn't turn it off.




Steven Curtis Chapman
This song paints a beautiful picture of where hope intersects tragedy. I had this album awhile before I really sat and listened to it. I don't know that I've heard so many songs that come forth from the heart. This is my favorite song from the album.




Aaron Ivey
And last but certainly not least. This is one of my favorite songs of the year. What a great story!

iPhone Makes Pretty Music

Slow Down and Enjoy

That's a good New Year's Resolution for all of us. How often do we find ourselves so rushed that we miss out on the really important things? As a father of a 5-yr old and 2-yr old, I'm faced with this on a daily basis. I don't want to miss those moments that will never happen again.

This story took place almost four years ago, but I just heard about it today. Here's the synopsis:

On January 12, 2007, in a subway station in Washington, D.C., a musician took out his violin and began playing. It was almost 8:00 am, and during the next 43 minutes he played six classical pieces. 1097 people passed by during that time, most hurrying to get to work on time. Of those, only seven people stopped what they were doing and just listened. Twenty-seven people dropped money into his violin case, the grand total being $32.17 ($20 of that was given by one woman who recognized who the musician was). Three days before, this musician had played in Boston, where the cheapest seats were $100.

The musician was Joshua Bell, and this was a social experiment organized by The Washington Post. You can read the article here, and below is a video of the performance.

I received an email this morning with this story, and here's the question it ended with:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made...how many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

Andrew Ripp

Mandy and I saw this fella open for Dave Barnes last night. Enjoy!

Sentimental Guy

I'm a big Ben Folds fan, but somehow I had never heard this song...until today, while listening to Pandora. All I can say is that it made me very happy, and I've listened to it about five times in the last hour. Now I realize that my non-musician friends may tune out at this point, but for those still here...you know how your head moves ever so slightly when you hear a luscious chord (as one of my piano teachers used to say)? Well, the chords in the vamp do exactly that to me. Enjoy

Using Smart Playlists

I've become a big fan of using the "Smart Playlists" function of iTunes. Several weeks ago I read an article from Lifehacker that gave me the idea that I'm using right now. I use a 4-star system and a 5-star system. I created a smart playlist that compiles any song with five stars and that hasn't been played in the last week. This playlist is labeled "Best Songs." They're songs that I don't mind hearing anytime. I then created a second smart playlist that compiles any songs with four stars and that hasn't been played in the last month. These are my "Better Songs." I have a lot of songs with four stars now. I don't rate anything with one, two or three songs.

Rating songs takes a long time. I use the Remote app to rate songs when I'm at home, and I love the fact that I can also rate songs that are on my iPhone. My old iPod didn't have this feature. I created one more Smart Playlist to help with this as well. It compiles songs with no stars and that hasn't been played in the last month. I also used some other parameters so that it would not include podcasts or audio books. As I go through that playlist I can rate songs, which will then move them to my primary two playlists.

New Andy McKee Video

If you're not familiar with this fella, prepare to be amazed!

2009 Top Ten Lists: Music

This marks my third year for sharing my top 10 list. First, we begin with music.

1. Bon Iver
I discovered Bon Iver at the end of 2008 and was instantly hooked. Both of his albums are great.



2. Sojourn Church's "Over the Grave"
The song "Warrior" has got to be one of the greatest songs I've heard in a long time. I couldn't find a video for it, so check out this link from Grooveshark (if you haven't signed up for your grooveshark account, check it out).

3. Mumford & Sons
Just heard about these guys through Steve McCoy's blog. Loved it immediately! Some free downloads to get you going can be found here.



4. Derek Webb's "Stockholm Syndrome"
Perhaps you've heard that this album is controversial. Webb has always been controversial because of his message, but now he's gone off the deep end by including two curse words in his song. Here's a good article about the new album, and enjoy the video.



5. The Fray
I know they've been around for a little while, but this year I've listened to them a lot.



6. Fiction Family
Jon Foreman of Switchfoot plus Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek = Awesome.



7. Brooke Fraser
I first heard Brooke Fraser on a Hillsong United album. Such a great voice. Her album Albertine came out a couple of years ago, but I came across it this year. So many great tracks.



8. U2
In my opinion, you can't have a top 10 list of music for 2009 and not include U2's newest album.



9. The Avett Brothers
It took me awhile to get into these guys, but then I heard this song...



10. Kings of Leon
I loved these guys when they first came out, but haven't listened to them in awhile. Then I heard this song awhile back and was instantly happy.

A Christmas Set List - Pt. 2

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Chris Martin (Coldplay)




Amen, Amen, Sojourn




Christmas Time is Here, Vince Guaraldi Trio



O Magnum Mysterium, Morten Lauridsen, conductor

A Christmas Set List

Here are some of my favorite Christmas songs, with videos courtesy of YouTube.

O Holy Night, Tipitina Foundation, as seen on NBC's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip




O Come O Come Emmanuel, Sufjan Stevens




Joseph's Lullaby, MercyMe




Winter Snow, Audrey Assad & Chris Tomlin

Weekly Links

Audio from the Acts 29 Bootcamp in Louisville can be found here. Haven't listened to any of it yet, but reading Steve McCoy's reflections of the event make me want to.

Found this site from Acts 29. Here's the tag line from Dustin Neely: "speaking up for the guys who may never plant mega-churches, while being thankful for those who do."

Great interview with Jon Foreman of Switchfoot.

Advent Conspiracy in Wired Magazine

My friends Linda Bergquist and Allan Karr have a new book out: Church Turned Inside Out. Check this out.

New Music

New Imogen Heap CD can be streamed here for free!

And I just ordered Sojourn Music's newest CD Over the Grave: Thy Hymns of Isaac Watts Vol. 1. If you're not familiar with this, go to their facebook page and listen to Warrior.

Anniversary Party

This Friday Mandy and I will celebrate 10 years of marriage!  It's hard to believe that it's been ten years.  We've had our highs and we've had our lows, but thankfully, there have been more highs than lows.  God has blessed us with two wonderful sons, and has placed us in a great neighborhood with great friends.

Earlier this year Mandy had suggested that we celebrate our anniversary by having a concert for our friends.  So every so often we would get out the guitar and play through some of our favorite songs.  As we got closer to the date, we began planning the party.  

We couldn't have picked a better evening for our party.  The weather was wonderful, we had good food and drink, and I think everyone really enjoyed themselves.  I know that for Mandy and I, it was a very special time.

I'll post pictures as soon as I get them from Josh (you reading this?).

Coldplay Album for Free

Coldplay is giving away their new live album for free!  Download it here.

American Idol

I think the talent in this year's American Idol competition is the strongest ever. I love Matt's soul, Danny's power, and Adam's charisma, but of all of them, the one I would spend money to hear is Kris Allen. His performance a few weeks ago of "Ain't No Sunshine" was amazing.

A Good Day

Today was a really good day. It was a family day. It was truly Sabbath. This morning I decided to take Mandy and the boys to Victorian Village. I had driven all around this historic part of Memphis but had never driven down Adams Ave. We're going to go again sometime soon and go on a tour.




When we got back I used an emusic coupon to get some new music - 50 new songs to be exact. I love music. Some of my finds: Bon Iver's Blood Bank, Great Big Sea's newest album, some Over the Rhine, a few songs by Adele, some Sufjan Stevens, and some Andy McKee.

After that Dad, Evan and Kelsey came over. Dad and I watched the Tigers beat UTEP. Great game. And it was great to see UNC lose to Maryland in overtime. We also enjoyed a little BBQ from Paynes after the game.

Finally, as if the day couldn't get any better, I introduced Adam to Star Wars tonight. We watched the first hour of Episode IV: A New Hope. Before you get too worried, I fast forwarded several scenes. Right before putting him to bed, I asked him if he liked it. His response: "I love Star Wars." That's my boy! My mom wants me to come by sometime soon and go through my toys, comics and baseball cards in their house. I'm looking forward to showing off my collection of Star Wars toys to Adam.

Oh, one last thing...in addition to being able to say Momma and Dada, Micah can now say Night night.

Bon Iver

A few days after compiling my top 10 music list, I purchased Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago during Amazon.com's $5 sale on their top albums of the year. Had it been a few days earlier it would have been at the top of the list. This album is SO good. If you listen to it, I encourage shutting yourself in a room, turning off all the lights, and using a good pair of headphones. Oh yeah!

If you're not familiar with Bon Iver, check this out.

2008 Top Ten Lists: Music

1. Dave Barnes, Me + You + the World
   
2. Fellowship Church, Closer to the Start
   
3. Anthony Skinner, Crush
   
4. Sondre Lerche, Dan in Real Life soundtrack
   
5. Coldplay, Viva La Vida
   
6. Jon Foreman, Fall & Winter
   
7. Daniel Doss Band, Greater than Us All
   
8. Hillsong United, All of the Above
   

Chasing Cars

I love the world wide web. It provides answers for so many of my questions. For examples, today I heard a song on the radio that I really liked. It seemed very familiar, and I thought I might have heard it while watching Grey's Anatomy (Mandy has gotten into this show recently, and I've watched a few episodes with her). The song was soon over, and it was time to get out of the truck and go to Adam's first soccer practice (I'll post some pictures if my buddy Josh will send them to me).

Five hours later I remembered that I need to find that song, but of course I couldn't remember any lyrics or even what it sounded like. So I went to FM 100's website, and discovered a handy dandy song finder. I scrolled over to 5:30pm and found a song called "Chasing Cars" by the band Snow Patrol. Sure enough that was it. I googled it and saw that I had indeed heard it last week on Grey's Anatomy.

So the thought for the day is that the world wide web brings me great joy and satisfaction.

For more great joy and satisfaction, watch this video.

Ever heard of this guy?

Bon Iver - "For Emma" from MySpace Transmissions