"Stripped" video and audio

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A cool little site for live footage (and audio) that you can stream and download: http://www.strippedmusic.com/ . Switchfoot, Kanye West, Gavin DeGraw and more. I like how they end each session with a cover - it's a nice way of making sure they have content that the other sites don't.

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Recent Buys, Leslie (Sam) Phillips, Sigur Ros

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Ok, so it's time to post about some new music I've been getting into lately. Well, some new and some older stuff that's new to me, anyway. Let me catch you up to speed. A few weeks back I bought a good-sized box 'o' CD's from Joel over at The Unscene, and I've been exploring that for most of the time while the blog's been out of commision. Some great new music for me by Velour 100, Sixpence, Sarah McLachlan, Fleming and John and more. I haven't even had a chance to listen to half of it yet. I figure that ought to keep me from trying to buy too many more CDs this year.

...or maybe not. The other day, while killing time before I had to pick up my mother from an appointment she had, I decided to see what exactly the "Family Christian Store" had in stock for CDs. I was expecting to see a pitiful selection of crappy and overpriced Christian pop artists - to my surprise, the selection wasn't too bad and some of the prices were pretty good. I mean, I still had to chuckle when I noticed the second Jars of Clay album missing from the shelf full of their albums (that's the one that most CCM fans consider to be "of the devil" or "secular" or whatever), but I also found some items I actually wanted. I actually found myself walking past the latest titles from better Christian bands like metalcore act Living Sacrifice and the experimental Starflyer 59 in favor of the clearance section - where I still spent just as much money! I picked up a copy of the highly recommended (and out of print) Chasing Furies album for $4.95. I picked up a copy of the new Kevin Max EP for 6 bucks, and I even spotted a solo project from The Choir's Steve Hindalong for just $1.97! To top it off, I found an old copy of the last Sam Phillips album she released before leaving the Christian music market for $4.95 - and when I got to the register, I found out that the out-of-print little gem was only going to cost me $1.97. Not too bad.

You're probably wondering if the CDs are any good. So far, yes. Steve Hindalong's Skinny has quite a few high-profile guest appearances by some of CCM's best - Matt Slocum, Jason Martin, Andy Prickett....you get the idea. Chasing Furies will have to grow on me a bit, but I like the sounds on that album. None of the songs stick out at me too much, but that atmospheric pop-rock sound has a way of sucking me in. The Sam Phillips album (technically a Leslie Phillips album - see, before she was a critically-acclaimed acid-pop singer-songwriter famous for composing the score for Gilmore Girls, she was a Christian rock star....then she changed her name and renounced all of her previous work, with the exception of 1987's The Turning, which is largely considered one of the most influential CCM albums of all time) is pretty strong, but it sounds a bit dated. In a weird way, I wish that "Carry You" wasn't the only song from that album to have been remade (by Sixpence None the Richer, no less!) - I think some of the other songs on the album would benefit from more modern sounding production. I can see how it was an influential album and I can appreciate it for that, but to be honest I doubt I'll listen to it too often. My favorite album from her will probably be The Fan Dance for a while yet.

...but feel free to call me off-base there. It is a bit weird for me to disregard an album that well-respected this quickly. You can listen to most of the album here, in a radio special promoting it. It's mixed in with interview clips and I think it's missing a song or two, but it's still most of the album. Just so that I get the page I got that link from plugged on here (since I doubt I'll plug that page again - I don't know too much about classic Christian rock), here's a link to Servantsheart.net.

I have another streaming album for you to listen to though! That's right, three in one week! Go to the Sigur Ros MySpace Page to have a listen to their new album. This is really my first exposure to the band, but I'm falling in love with their sound. So lush, so beautiful. Who needs intelligible lyrics when you can have soundscapes this gorgeous?

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Nothing Is Sound

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Have a listen to the new Switchfoot album over at VH1's website. It's not too bad, but I was expecting a bit more from them. In spite of it being more of a rock album, the softer songs are the ones grabbing me the most so far. Let us know what you think of it!

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