Unfound Bloom Music Blog

Wild Goose Festival

2011-06-13T20:39:00.000-07:00

I can't promise much in terms of timely event coverage, but we're hoping to get something together soon after the Wild Goose Festival. I'll be there trying to take in as much of it as possible. Take a look at the musical lineup and I'm sure you can understand how well this fits in with what we had been doing here at Unfound Bloom. Tickets are still available.

Exploring the Lyrics - Over the Rhine's song "The Trumpet Child"

2008-08-09T20:27:00.001-07:00

Ever get the feeling that you need a bible scholar to decipher a well-written song? Well, someone with the proper background has gone in-depth on the lyrics to "The Trumpet Child" by Over the Rhine. It's worth reading if you like the song - quite a few of the thoughts in that series of blog posts are really interesting and non-obvious to us laypeople.

Free Music For American College Students

2008-02-17T09:25:00.001-08:00

I'm not sure how many people can use this, but I thought I'd pass it along: Ruckus is a website that offers free DRMed WMA downloads to anyone with an e-mail address from a college in the United States. They have a surprisingly wide selection, and they get new releases each week from most of the indie labels and major labels. Give it a shot if you can, it makes following music much more affordable (or at least more legal for you pirates out there).

More Free Christmas music

2007-12-24T20:45:00.000-08:00

I know it's late, but here are a few more legal freebies for streaming or downloading:

A free compilation from Sounds Familyre with the following tracklist:
1: ‘Christmas Eve Nite’ - Danielson
2: ‘For There Is Born A Child’ - Lenny Smith
3: ‘Plant A Little Fir Tree’ - Half-handed Cloud
4: ‘Dayspring From On High’ - Soul-Junk
5: ‘Pat-A-Pan’ - Leopulde
6: ‘In The Bleak Midwinter’ - Dan Zimmerman
7: ‘Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming’ - The Singing Mechanic
8: ‘We Wish You A Merry Christmas’ - Sufjan Stevens (new 11/2007 recording with other Sounds Familyre artists)
9: ‘What Child Is This’ - Rachel
10: ‘I Wonder As I Wander’ - Woven Hand
11. ‘Christmas Is A Holiday’ - Ben + Vesper
12. ‘Immanuel’ - Joshua Stamper
13. ‘O Holy Night’ - Elin
Over the Rhine's special St. Elizabeth's show has surfaced on the Internet Archive. The setlist features a few classic tunes ("Poughkeepsie", "Jack's Valentine"), one Christmas song ("White Horse"), their famous Gillian Welch cover ("Orphan Girl"), a highlight from The Trumpet Child ("Don't Wait For Tom"), Drunkard's Prayer's "I Want You To Be My Love", and one new song ("Angel Band") - they made a point to focus on material that they did not play at the Taft show. There's also a generous amount of dialogue between the band and the crowd.

Free Christmas Album from Nettwerk!

2007-12-16T08:52:00.000-08:00

I just found out about a free Christmas album that Netwerk has available ONLY THROUGH THE END OF TODAY. Many of these songs are highlights from the artists' respective Christmas albums. You can download it at http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/features/seriously_westcoast/index.html . Here's the tracklisting:

01 - Barenaked Ladies - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
02 - The Weepies - All That I Want
03 - Sarah McLachlan - Silent Night
04 - Matt Wertz What Child Is This
05 - Liily Frost - Skating On The River
06 - Oh Susanna - Go Tell It On The Mountain
07 - Medieval Baebes - The Holly & The Ivy
08 - The Be Good Tanyas - Rudy
09 - Barenaked Ladies - Elf's Lament
10 - Melissa McClelland O - Holy Night-MST
11 - Jars Of Clay - Hibernation Day
12 - Jenny Owens Young - Things We Don't Need Anymore
13 - Martha Wainwright - Merry Christmas And Happy New Year
14 - Kyle Andrews - Under The Misteltoe
15 - Leigh Nash - The First Noel
16 - Sarah McLachlan - The First Noel_Mary Mary (DJ Shah Remix)

REM's Document is 20

2007-09-14T05:35:00.000-07:00

Hey kids, ready to feel old? I was listening to R.E.M.'s Document earlier and I realized it's been 20 years since that came out. No word though, yet, on when it will be the end of the world as we know it, or if we will feel fine.

I highly recommend scoping out Over the Rhine's recent tribute to that record's hit "The One I Love" - here's a link to it a soundboard cut of it on the Internet Archive.

News: Rilo Kiley New Album Stream

2007-08-18T22:39:00.000-07:00

I just got a hot tip about another new album that's up for streaming - the new Rilo Kiley record. You may recall that their last album proper was 2004's "More Adventurous", a clever set that was half-brilliant and half love-it-or-hate-it. Personally, I think I prefer Jenny's solo record, which we linked to downloads of earlier this year over any of her regular band's stuff. The new album - Under the Blacklight - has been a bit controversial because it sheds most of the band's folk and country leanings in favor of more danceable influences. I'm giving it a first full listen now - so far it doesn't sound quite as jarring as the lead single made me think it might be. You can give this one a listen (legally and free, of course) at myspace.com/rilokiley .

News: New Album Streams

2007-08-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

A few fairly exciting new albums can be streamed in full online (legally and fore free, of course) right now. They all have Flash players, but most of the hip kids seem to not mind too much. Here's a few that have graced my speakers lately, and some brief thoughts on them:

The New Pornographers - Challengers
I'll be honest - I haven't given this one too much time yet. It seems like an enjoyable little disc, though. The New Pornographers tend to be a band I have to listen to a few times to really "get" though - so I won't so much else about this one for a while. You can hear their new album in its entirety at myspace.com/thenewpornographers

Eisley - Combinations
I'm not too much of a fan of Eisley - which is strange considering how often people compare them to bands that I love (Sixpence None the Richer seems to be an all-too-common reference point). Their new album is an interesting ride though - there are a few interesting musical turns, some decent rockers, and even some moments when those harmonies sound less creepy and more heavenly. It's a bit short at 30 someodd minutes, but it's an enjoyable listen. You can check it out at myspace.com/eisley

Over the Rhine - The Trumpet Child
This is a very solid album - my #1 pick for the year so far, actually (although, to be fair, in the time that the 'Bloom has been dormant, I have substantially cut back my new music intake). You can listen to it entirely at http://www.overtherhine.com/recordplayer/recordplayer.html or find out more about it at OverTheRhine.com . This is quite unlike any of their other discs - it's a very jazzy affair. Lots of very organic and retro-feeling horns on this one. The songwriting is up to Karin and Linford's usual excellent standard as well. It's actually very hard to pick highlights here - it's uniformly good and spread out across a variety of styles. One standout is "Don't Wait For Tom" - a clever tribute to Tom Waits. The album is worth hearing at least a few times the whole way through, though, if you get the chance.

Test Post

2007-08-18T20:33:00.000-07:00

This is a quick test post - trying out some new formatting. Sorry - it's mostly behind-the-scenes work here so far. We did change up the sidebar a bit - check out the new links.

Be Patient

2007-08-03T14:12:00.000-07:00

Just a brief heads-up - Unfound Bloom is currently dormant but should be back soon (perhaps even before 2007 is out). We will be relaunching with a new format that is focused around a blog that will be intermittently (but regularly!) updated.

New Tess Wiley download

2007-04-20T10:46:00.000-07:00

There's a new Tess Wiley mp3 up on Tapete's download page. You know the deal - it's free, legal, and Tess Wiley!

Belated Jenny Lewis Downloads

2007-04-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

Because we are terrible, terrible people here, we didn't post about Rabbit Fur Coat by Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins last year. Most of the album can be legally and freely downloaded from her record label at http://www.team-love.com/headphones/releases/tl08/ . Be warned though, they use an annoying Flash thing to serve up the mp3s. It's a fairly good album - nothing truly amazing or innovative, but a catchy set of songs sung with Jenny's intoxicating voice and some subtle harmonies from the Watson Twins. The music is a soft mix of folk and country, with acoustic guitars in various tunings, slide guitars, some keys, bass, and drums. The most unusual thing about it is that the album's lyrics are almost entirely about Jenny's musings on religion. Not that we're complaining. Jenny, of course, is the lead singer of critically-acclaimed indie rock darlings Rilo Kiley.

Switchfoot fansite, Arcade Fire interpretation

2007-04-06T16:35:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been enjoying a fairly new Switchfoot blog called Switchfeed. Thanks to their exceptional coverage and the prevalence of RSS readers today, there's no excuse for missing Switchfoot news again. For those of us who had a hard time keeping up with all those message boards, this is great news. Additionally, this blog has become semi-official and has been given permission to show exclusive rarities, downloads, videos, etc.

That blog has a regular feature called "MP3 Of The Week" (or MOTW). So far it's been a good assortment of music. This week's track is "Intervention" by The Arcade Fire. They've posted a decent interpretation of the lyrics as well.

Incidentally, the blasphemous bible thumpers over at Plugged In decided that they agree, at least in theory, with the Neon Bible. I suppose you can only discuss religion so much on your trendy indie rock album before you start to attract the worst of the "Christian music" crowd.

Steven Delopoulos - Work to Be Done EP

2007-04-05T17:42:00.000-07:00

For those of you who haven't gotten the Steven Delopoulos bug yet, and for those of you who are patiently awaiting his second solo album, there is good news. An EP entitled Work to Be Done and available free online has 6 tracks: two all new tracks, two highlights from the critically-acclaimed solo debut Me Died Blue, and two live performances from his old band, Burlap to Cashmere. It's a decent overview for those just getting into him, and it might help to tide us fans over while we wait for his next release.

Awesome MuteMath music video

2007-03-26T17:01:00.000-07:00

Normally I don't bother with music videos, but this one is really unusual. It's choreographed with a bunch of bizarre stunts, and shot in reverse in on take (with no edits). In spite of all of that, the lip-synching in the video is better than that found at most Ashley Simpson concerts. How did they do it?

Inappropriate Joke of the Year

2007-03-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

Don't say I didn't warn you.

It's come to my attention that the lead singer of Boston killed himself recently, upon deciding that that feeling of loneliness and despair was, in fact, More Than A Feeling.

New Tess Wiley

2007-02-23T09:06:00.000-08:00

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you probably already know who Tess Wiley is. She's a mid-90s indie rocker turned singer-songwriter who, after being in a number of bands in the 90s (Phantasmic, Sixpence None the Richer, etc), started releasing strong, pop-oriented solo efforts. 2004's Not Quite Me is currently not available in the states, but if you're in Europe you can probably still get your hands on it. It looks like we'll see a new album from Tess this year. The new album is called Super Fast Rock'n'Roll Played Slow and is expected to be out this April on Tapete Records.

Three songs from the new album are currently available to download (and a few other songs have been "leaked" legally through various promotions): "Halfway Thru", "Messed Up Everywhere Blues", "Raise Your Hand". Also, you can see the cover art over at Turn Off the Radio, and you can see the full tracklist on this German page.

So far, it looks like this will be good but not as good as Not Quite Me, which was really quite excellent for the amount of recognition it received. Seriously, if we could re-write our best of 2004 list, it'd be right behind Funeral. This is the part where we tell you to buy Tess's music, but since Not Quite Me isn't on Amazon and we can't vouch for Rainy Day Assembly, we'll just have to tell you where to buy Super Fast Rock 'N' Roll Played Slow when it becomes available. If you want to buy me a copy of Rainy Day Assembly though, the link's to the right.

(Old) Arcade Fire

2007-02-22T15:38:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I know, everybody's talking about The Arcade Fire right now. We have something, however, that the other sites don't: a few early tracks only available through The Internet Archive. Some digging we did while we were not posting anything here turned up this link, which was listed on an older version of The Arcade Fire's website to promote their self-titled EP in 2003. Three tracks are available - one from the EP (Woodlands National Anthem), one interview clip, and an early version of Funeral's "In the Backseat". Enjoy! That ought to be enough to tide you over until Neon Bible comes out during the first week of March, or at least until the Arcade Fire appears on Saturday Night Live this weekend. We know you're too good to listen to the leaked version illegally, right?

...and for you cave dwellers who haven't bought Funeral yet...

Internet archive

2007-02-19T20:53:00.000-08:00

Although the site remains in disarray, I was happy to find that most (if not all) of our articles are still available online. You can view a cached older version of our reviews page (with links to most of the other pages) here. I'd like to thank Archive.org again for all of the wonderful things they do. If we were able to get anyone writing regularly here, we'd be raving on and on about their Live Music Archive, their "Wayback Machine", and their many other amazing features.

Poke around a bit there. Feel free to let people know that articles, interviews, reviews and such that used to be at Unfound Bloom can now be found there.

More Downtime and Another Server Change

2006-02-20T22:37:00.000-08:00

The non-blog sections of Unfound Bloom are down. I know we never finished rebuilding the site after the last server change, so this isn't too much of a loss - but still, we're in the midst of another server change. It appears that we'll be staying with the same company as the incident that made the site go down is not their fault and we've been happy with their service. I'll continue to update this blog intermittently until we re-launch the site.

American Music Club

2006-01-30T20:07:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update to say that you should download (legally) a free American Music Club album here: http://music.download.com/americanmusicclub/3600-8573_32-100345935.html?tag=chart_topdls_artist . Apparently the singer's sort-of on tour with David Bazan from Pedro the Lion and a few other guys. I'm hoping to see the tour and possibly even write a review of the show for the site (Although the site does appear to be dead now, so who knows).

The End of 2005

2005-11-04T22:57:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it's only November. I'm early, I guess. I also haven't posted anything on the non-blog portion of this site in months, so I figure if I want something done by new years', I ought to start it now. It's not been a good year for Unfound Bloom - most of the "usual suspects" wound up putting out CDs that let me down, and my lack of writing means that I haven't really had a chance to discuss the concert experiences that made the musical year's highlights for me. So here's what we're doing for the end of 2005 - make up some other lists that aren't as relevant, and let visitors tell us who should be on the top.

Here's what you can do: send us a list of your top 5 favorite albums released this year. If you want to do more or less than that, that's cool too. If you give reasons why, we'll even post your list (if you don't mind) alongside ours (to be blunt, most of "our favorites" don't match the "right answers" for great albums this year - so we're going to print our favorites, and not just what the actual best albums are). We'll be taking favorites-lists in the comments section to this post and at unfoundbloom@gmail.com . Actually, now that I think of it...that e-mail address is good for whatever spam, news, gossip, chit-chat, etc you want to send in, so feel free to use it (even though it's not properly listed on the sidebar or on the other part of the site yet).

"Stripped" video and audio

2005-09-28T11:06:00.000-07:00

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.

Recent Buys, Leslie (Sam) Phillips, Sigur Ros

2005-09-11T18:17:00.000-07:00

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?

Nothing Is Sound

2005-09-09T16:30:00.000-07:00

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!

Leigh Nash, Astronaut Pushers (Sixpence revisited)

2005-08-09T23:35:00.000-07:00

OK, so if you've been reading this (or Unfound Bloom proper, not that it's updated much anymore) for any amount of time, you know that I'm a huge fan of Sixpence None the Richer. Well, I've heard from four former band members in the past three months, and I'm ready for some of their new projects. OK, so you've already heard me profess my love for Tess Wiley's latest album, but I'm guessing you haven't heard the new Astronaut Pushers EP. You can download two songs at that link though. AP is the band that Matt Slocum (guitarist/cellist/lyricist for Sixpence) is in now. Sam Ashworth (Yeah, that guy I meant to review the concert of that I saw last June) is also in Astronaut Pushers, alongside Lindsey Jamieson and Superdrag's John Davis. It's a cute little supergroup. I know though, most people around here remember Sixpence's vocals more than anything - well, I happen to know where you can listen to solo material for Leigh Nash's upcoming (early '06) album.

Just because I can, I feel like bragging that I got an e-mail from The Fatherless and the Widow-era Sixpence bassist T.J. Behling the other day. That's in addition to the Sixpence mailing list getting a visit from Leigh and of course, our buddy Dale Baker is always over there.

I guess it's time to mention that I'm going to be moving to a place not too far from where Dale lives soon. I'm planning on doing the whole "groupie" thing. I'm sure that'll help keep this blog (and possibly the regular part of the site too) exciting for the months to come. Heck, maybe I'll even get around to writing something about it sometime too.

Schizophreniac

2005-08-04T14:44:00.000-07:00

I recently came upon treasure trove of rarities by the band Earthsuit. You've probably never heard of them - they're a little-known genre-hybrid that many people just can't handle. They were discovered at the Cornerstone festival several years back - when a guy from a then-unknown band called P.O.D. decided to announce to his fans that he loved these guys and would make an appearance during their set. Shortly afterwards, they were signed to the normally-boring Christian pop record label Sparrow, where they released one hell of an album - Kaleidoscope Superior. The album was a bizarre mix of rap, pop, rock, techno, and a few other genres on some of the songs (hints of trance, hip-hop, jazz, folk, celtic music, and other unexpected twists were in several of the songs). It's almost funny to think that the album came out in 2000 - before Linkin Park and P.O.D. made their take on the rap/pop/rock sound famous. These guys are better than either of those bands - but they only released one proper album. To be fair, there are two newer bands that were started by Earthsuit's old members - MuteMath and Macrosick. Anyway, you can listen to a good deal of Earthsuit live material, indie material, and rare material at this site. Share the love, buy their CD.

Sufjan Stevens, Havalina Rail Co., and Arcade Fire News

2005-07-07T14:52:00.000-07:00

Sufjan Stevens has recorded a new song called "The Lord God Bird" for NPR. Don't be fooled by the title, this isn't one of his Christian-themed tunes - it's about a bird that was thought to be extinct that reappeared in Arkansas recently. Some more details (and the exclusive download) are available at NPR's website.

Apparently, Havalina Rail Co. broke up and didn't tell anyone. Their message board has an announcement of sorts. I just got this news from Buzzgringer earlier today, but apparently it's not new news. If you haven't legally downloaded their Russian Lullabies album yet, you really should get to that soon.

Oh, and Arcade Fire did a new song for some soundtrack. It's not as strong as anything on Funeral, but it's not bad either. Details (and stream!) at NPR's site

Live 8!

2005-07-02T21:44:00.000-07:00

The day came and went when I wasn't looking. Fortunately, they've made video available here. I might post some setlists here later if I get around to watching a few of these.

Lifehouse, Switchfoot, and summer fests, oh my!

2005-06-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

I decided at the last minute to spring over to the Lifehouse show in Seattle the other day. Surprisingly, they weren't sold out and I was able to grab a nice spot in the front row. Knowing where the band had been since "Hanging By A Moment" stopped climbing the charts, I was expecting to bump into some screaming teeny-boppers, religious fanatics, and fans of the TV show "Smallville". Well, apparently the teeny-bopper type is more of Lifehouse's fans than I thought. Oh well, I had a fun time even if I did have to hear a few more "OMG JASON WE LOVE YOU YOU'RE SO HOTT!"'s than I would like to. Opening act Rocco DeLuca put Lifehouse to shame, being both the more talented band and the band with the better stage presence. Seriously, this guy comes on stage with a dobro, a bassist, and two drummers and rocks out with a middle-eastern vibe. Lifehouse played most of my favorites by them and brought back some great memories of when I used to enjoy them much more than I do now. Their back-up guitarist stole the show, but they still put on a solid performance. Here's a rough set list, a song or two may be out of order:
Come Back Down
Blind
Days Go By
Take Me Away
The End Has Only Begun
Sick Cycle Carousel
Breathing
Only One
You and Me
Just Another Name
Am I Ever Gonna Find Out
Better Luck Next Time
Undone
Spin
Everything

Somewhere in Between
Hanging By A Moment

Also, I've got some news from the Switchfoot camp. They've delayed their album again (September 13th now), but a tracklist (complete with track lengths!) is now available:
1. Lonely Nation 3:45
2. Stars 4:20
3. Happy Is A Yuppie Word 4:51
4. The Shadow Proves The Sunshine 5:04
5. Easier Than Love 4:29
6. The Blues 5:17
7. The Setting Sun 4:24
8. Politicians 3:28
9. Golden 3:36
10. The Fatal Wound 2:44
11. We Are One Tonight 4:42
12. Daisy 4:18

Oh, and if you haven't heard their latest radio single, "Stars", you can stream it here.

I've been trying to keep up with live coverage of both Cornerstone and Creation East this week. I'm pissed that they cut out all of Switchfoot's show again, but what did you really expect from CMRadio? I've been recording the stream, but what I listened to yesterday from Relient K's show sounded pretty sweet. I've dug up some great news on Cornerstone on Technorati. They have WiFi at the fest this year, and you know what that means - bloggers! Here are some blogs providing good live coverage of the event: What's On My Mind, static on the radio, Confessions of a Flabby Ironman. If you really want to check out the official (read: crappy and far from live) live coverage, they're doing a podcast and posting some pictures. Rumor has it they'll have videos too, but "live videos" in JPUSA-speak is "60 second video clips in a crappy format several weeks later". Let's hope they post clips of all the "cool" bands soon.

Festival Time!

2005-06-25T23:06:00.000-07:00

Some news from the tollbooth that caught my attention: Both Cornerstone festival and the Creation East festival will be featuring "live" coverage online this year. For those of us nerds who actually enjoy listening to music festivals (yes, even CCM-fests) online, this is great news. CMRadio.net will be broadcasting "Creation Radio", which is a mix of prerecorded music, speakers/preachers, interviews, news and concerts. Last year they cut a few of the more well known bands (Not airing shows from Jars of Clay or Switchfoot was not a good idea), but I'm hoping they'll air more this year. Some bands playing this year that my readers might be interested in include Switchfoot, Taylor Sorenson, Caedmon's Call, Relient K, David Crowder, and Phil Keaggy. For a full schedule and more details on the festival (which begins next week) click here.

Cornerstone festival's approach is based on podcasting. I'm assuming they'll run pictures and short video clips afterwards like they've done in the past as well. They have more bands than they know what to do with showing up, but who knows what'll actually make the podcasts? The page for the "live" podcast coverage is at http://www.cornerstonefestival.com/podcast/ .

On a lighter note, here's a list of the albums I rated for the "Second Guess the Critic" game along with what I rated them (ordered by which album was rated each week we played):

Jars of Clay - Redemption Songs ***
W0rmSiGn - Big In Japan ***
Arcade Fire - Funeral *****
Low -The Great Destroyer ****
Lifehouse - Lifehouse **
Pedro the Lion - It's Hard to Find a Friend ***
Zilch - Platinum **
Michael Miller - When We Come To ****
Portishead - Dummy ****
Bill Mallonee - Perfumed Letter ****
Tess Wiley - Not Quite Me ****
tobyMac - Momentum **

...and on a personal note, I picked up the Sundays' debut album and Whatever and Ever Amen by Ben Folds Five this morning.

Computer troubles, An article, and Steve Taylor

2005-06-22T23:54:00.000-07:00

Well, expect to hear less around here. I'm experiencing some computer troubles, and last I heard from the other two people who allegedly can post here, one's looking for a new laptop and the other's out-of-state for a bit. Actually, rumor has it Kari's gotten engaged. I guess that's big enough news to mention here even if it is off-topic. Oddly enough, wanting to spend more time with her boyfriend is the main reason she said she's not up for attending press conferences at Creation East this year. Well, not good for us I guess, but great for them! Enough of my whining. I'm probably going to get a new e-mail address here, in addition to trying to finish the file transfer to the new server when we all get back from our computer issues/summer plans.

Considering how much Christian music gets covered here, I thought this was a noteworthy article. It's called "Why On Earth (Or Elsewhere) Am I Enjoying Christian Rock?" It's really fascinating how diverse the people behind "Christian" music are, and how they're beginnning to attract more people out of the stereotypical-young-evangelical crowd.

Speaking of Christian music and stereotypes about it.... I feel a need to plug Steve Taylor. Some of you probably recognize as a CCM pioneer who's put out quite a bit of material. Some of you probably are more familiar with his production work (See Sixpence None the Richer) or his writing for the Newsboys. In addition to that, I'm happy that someone opened up Christian music to good satire (Would we have been able to have Five Iron Frenzy or Relient K without Steve? I doubt it). Of course, now that I check on the site with his mp3s that I usually use, I see that the song I was thinking of (the 1982 classic "I Want To Be a Clone") is not available as a free download anymore because iTunes is selling it now. Dangit, I know I'm not the only nerd who's introduced some younger CCM-fans to Steve through that song. Well, rather than try to pick a second favorite, I'll just post the link to the main download page for Steve Taylor's music. Those of you who're Sixpence nuts like myself will want to make sure to stop by the page with the tribute album to Steve on it. Man, I forgot that Starflyer 59 and Fleming and John are on that too. Good stuff. I always have a good chuckle at the medley that DigHayZoose put together for that album. I have no idea who the heck they are, but any band that can make a random chunk of a song by Mortal feel like it belongs in a larger medley is cool in my book.

CW04-Beta (Return of the Creation West reviews)

2005-06-15T19:09:00.000-07:00

Well, it's not quite the whole site yet, but we have most of the Creation West 2004 coverage up again. It's kind of a "beta" version, since I need to work out a few kinks yet (some pictures make the layout stretch, some links are broken, and a few pictures are broken). I figured something is better than nothing. I'll be re-posting some of the other album reviews and concert reviews soon, and then there'll be some reviews of more recent CDs and events. If you find any specific problems with the Creation coverage, leave a comment on this entry about it. (There is one mp3 link in there too, if you can dig it up.) You can read the Creation West 2004 coverage (featuring Switchfoot, Cool Hand Luke, Jars of Clay, and more) here.

On a more personal note, I've picked up a few new CDs recently besides that Sam Ashworth album I mentioned the other day.

77s - Tom Tom Blues
Caedmon's Call - self-titled
Steve Taylor - Liver

Yeah, I know, more "Christian" music. Deal with it. That 77s album is actually really good, and the Caedmon's album isn't half bad either.

Sleeping At Last

2005-06-14T19:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, so there's this little group called Sleeping At Last that I've been checking out lately. They did a tour with Switchfoot a few years ago, and before that they had some hype because Billy Corgan was into them. I'm not entirely sold on them being good, but it's not really a bad listen either. Anyway, their indie release, Capture, is now available for downloading. You can check it out at their website. I'd comment more, but I haven't listened to this yet. Rumor has it this is pretty good though.

Sam and Matt

2005-06-11T20:47:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to see Sam Ashworth and Matt Slocum at the Q Cafe. They played nearly all of the songs on Sam's new album and also "I Won't Stay Long", which Sam wrote for Sixpence None the Richer's self-titled album several years back. Matt's not sounding much like Sixpence anymore, he's playing the acoustic guitar and the dobro now instead of the electric guitar. His signature style is there though, and it's still solid music. I gave a listen to Sam's album last night after the show too and it's pretty good. Back to the show - Sam and Matt wound up opening because of another event that one of the girls from the intended opening act (vocal trio Late Tuesday) was at. Because of this, Sam and Matt played for about 45 minutes while their "opening act" played after them for another 45 minutes. Late Tuesday was alright but made a few embarassing mistakes. It's a good thing that in a small coffeehouse, we can just laugh that off. Good show otherwise though. Not one of the best I've seen but it was worth it to catch up with Sam and Matt and get some albums signed. I also got to meet up with a few people I know from the Over the Rhine orchard. I'll try to have a full review of this (and possibly even audio!) up sometime soon. I've been moving files over to the new server today and we should be fully up within the week. Oh, and here's a setlist for last night's Sam and Matt show:
Look Back
If She Needs Me
Children Leap
Bridget
All Your Life
I Won't Stay Long
Loved One
talking about the dobro
World On Fire
Eleanor
All About Me
Another Day

X & Y

2005-06-02T23:10:00.000-07:00

You know, I've never really understood what the big deal was about Coldplay. I have a copy of Parachutes on my shelf that I pull out once in a while when I want to try again at "getting it". I kind of like "Clocks", but it sounded to me like "Speed of Sound" was lame rehashing of "Clocks" - which took a little out of both songs for me. Well, now they have a new album coming out - and until just now, I didn't really care too much. I've been tipped on to a streaming copy of the new album at MTV's "The Leak". I've only listened to a few songs so far, but I'm starting to think that X & Y could be the first Coldplay album that I can actually enjoy. That'll be nice. It sounds like they're trying to stop being just "the poor man's U2/Radiohead" and started trying to grow up a bit - they do sound a little like the big boys once in a while, but for the most part it seems like they're really coming into their own here. They also get points from me for taking a few hints from Cool Hand Luke and adding some more ambient sounds and tasty beats to their material. Oh, and the album comes out next week, on June 6th. I have a feeling this'll be the "cool" CD to have for a bit....anyone know of any good sales coming up for this one?

Not Quite Me

2005-05-28T14:31:00.000-07:00

Whew, sorry we've been so busy. We are still working on moving the site, I promise. Some good site news though - we're sending someone to cover Creation East. We're not sure how thorough our coverage will be this year, but we'll at least make sure that you know how Switchfoot and Relient K were.

Some music news we've been falling behind on:

Details have been announced on the new Sam Ashworth album. Ready to drool? Matt Slocum (Sixpence None the Richer) is introducing him, and touring with him now - and we'll be catching them June 10th. The album has an even more splendid cast, as Sam and Matt are working with Fleming and John and members of Superdrag and Ben Folds Five. More at the Tollbooth.
Phantom Tollbooth reports that Viva Voce's gear was stolen in London.

Blindside is rereleasing their first two albums. Also more at the Tollbooth.
Some news from my buddy Kev:
- The rumored re-releases of early Starflyer59 material have been confirmed. Details on Gold - Deluxe Edition (which features a remastering of the original Gold and the elusive Le Vainqueur EP) are available here. Silver - Deluxe Edition features the remastered Silver and the She's The Queen EP.
- The cover for the new Bethany Dillon album has been announced.
- The cover of the new Switchfoot album has also been announced.
- Last but possibly not least, the cover of the new Paul Wright album has been announced.

For today's mp3s, a few songs from the latest Tess Wiley album. Yes, that's what you get when a big Sixpence None the Richer fan is deciding what mp3s to talk about. She was the band's rhythm guitarist from 1995-96, and she's on the album This Beautiful Mess and the Tickets For A Prayer Wheel EP. She put out a solo album last year that's really good, although I only got my hands on it recently. It's called Not Quite Me, and you can hear "Delicate Skin", along with the title track, over at the album's page at PasteMusic.

Random sidethought: Why don't more bands use the bongos? You know, the hand-drums or acoustic drums....with how much they can add to a band's sound, you'd think everyone would use them. I can only think of one band that uses them regularly, and that's Sittser. They're a regular part of Threefold's live shows too, and I know a few other bands (Jars of Clay, Mortal, and The Violet Burning come to mind) use them occasionally too. What I don't get is why they seem to largely only be used for live shows and demos. I think it'd be cool if we saw more of them. Who else does some cool stuff with the bongos?

EDIT: Audio of two new John Reuben tracks, one featuring Matt Theissen: http://www.purevolume.com/johnreuben/music.

At the Castledoor

2005-05-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

Well, it's time for me to apologize on behalf of all of us. Moving files over to the new server is becoming quite a chore, and everyone here either has had something come up to preoccupy them from working on it or doesn't have the neccesary PHP and HTML skills. So, expect delays. We're working on it though. I have some brief music news and I'll post about some CDs I've gotten recently too though.

For the brief news: Pitchfork has details about the new Radiohead album. Heh, it's funny to see Paste Music and Suicide Girls advertise on the same page. In other news, a few former members of the once-boyband-pop group Plus One have attempted to reinvent themselves as an indie pop act, Castledoor. It's not half bad, considering their background, actually. You can listen to (and download!) some of their stuff here. Lastly, Sam Ashworth and Matt Slocum are preparing to tour the U.S. west coast. We're already making plans to cover a show. It appears that the show will be based on Sam's original material, and not on material from Astronaut Pushers (with both Matt and Sam are in) or Sixpence None the Richer (which Matt was in).

I've gotten a good deal of new CD's lately. Not that that's news or even exciting, but it takes up space and makes it look like I've been doing more work around here:

Portishead - Dummy
Tess Wiley - Not Quite Me
Pedro the Lion's Achilles Heel
Bill Malonee - Perfumed Letter
Sam Phillips - The Fan Dance
Frank Lenz - The Hot Stuff

Be My Escape

2005-05-11T19:24:00.000-07:00

Well, we're working on putting the new site together and you can watch the process (and check out our sweet new logo) at http://unfoundbloom.cjb.cc/. Yes, that's the new URL, and it is much easier to remember than the old one. I'll change this blog over to the new format when I have all the details worked out. I might add another blog for music news soon. Right now there's 3 people updating this one, but things are a bit choppy. Anyway, here's today's music news (scroll to the end of this entry if you want to see a new Relient K video):

The David Crowder Band is rumored to be covering a song by Sufjan Stevens soon. More exciting though, is a Dr.Pepper-sponsored version of the Truman Show with them in it. Band blogs too. Details at Phantom Tollbooth.

In other news, the classic Christian rock group Petra is finally calling it quits, and P.O.D. has a producer for their new album (more).

Pop-punkers (if that's still the right name for them) Relient K are the winners of Yahoo!'s "Who's Next" for May 2005. They have videos up of a short interview and a live version of "Be My Escape", their latest radio single. Check it out here.

A New Home

2005-05-09T17:15:00.000-07:00

I think I've finally found a new place for the 'Bloom. I'll post about if/when we get approved there. Skimming over the terms of use, it looks like we won't be able to post about recording webcasts anymore, but otherwise the site will probably be about the same. I might mess with the style a bit since I have to change all the links anyway. I'm hoping to have the transition done by Friday.

Music news for today....Brian Wilson is working on a Christmas album, there will be no Bruce Springsteen albums at Starbucks, and I wish I had been here last night to hear Jeffrey Overstreet talk about Christ in U2's music.

Sidenote: Did anyone else see the Pitchfork review of the new Starflyer59? I thought it was cool that they liked it, I haven't heard the album yet but I think Starflyer makes some sweet music. I had to chuckle though when they incorrectly referred to Jars of Clay as broken up and both them and Creed as "bible thumpers". Funny stuff. It'd be fun to go through the Jars' discography and pick out everything they've done that sets them apart from the more bible-thumping Christian rock groups, but alas, that's for another day when I actually have webspace.

Oh, and speaking of Jars, their hymns album is now streaming in its entirety at their website. It's not as good as most of their older stuff, but it's not bad for hymns album either. The Blind Boys of Alabama really tear it up on "Nothin' But the Blood" and "On Jordan's Stormy Banks", and Sarah Kelly's a nice addition to "I'll Fly Away". Heh, I remember when I discovered the song "I'll Fly Away" - Kanye West put that on his album first. Anyway, back to signing up for some webspace....

Crap

2005-05-07T01:19:00.000-07:00

In a bizarre twist of fate, after going to one of the most unique and intimate concerts I've ever been to, the 'Bloom has been taken offline due to security concerns our web host had. We're looking for a new host and I'm hoping to have the content back online within a week. We're looking through caches and saved documents, and it looks like we'll only lose recent news and some message board posts. This could also be the much-needed chance to get some better software backing up the rest of the site too.

I do have a little more music news too. Switchfoot has finally released some details about their new album. From their mailing list:

Well friends, after months of recording, we've finally given birth to our newest album, "NOTHING IS SOUND." This album was recorded all over the world while on tour in places as far as Germany, Africa, and Australia, and also places as close as our backyard. We are in the final stages of mixing what we all feel to be our strongest record yet... which is scheduled to release... (dramatic pause) in early August. We feel like proud parents, and we can't wait to introduce you to our newest creation. I'm not sure if it's a boy or a girl, but it definitely has teeth.

- Tim Foreman

Additionally, their website has been updated.

Oh, and remember that reunion of the original Further Seems Forever lineup that we mentioned a while back? Turns out it didn't go too well. Such a shame too, looking over the roster for Bamboozle, it looks like it could have been a great event. You just know that the FSF reunion was a one time thing too, so some fans must feel completely screwed now. Well, at least Chris Carabba is working with Daniel Lanois now - I'm sure that'll sound better than his recent Dashboard Confessional projects. Hey, did anyone else here hear about that instrumental Daniel Lanois album? That sounds like it could be exciting.

So yes....if you haven't figured it out yet, we'll be using this as a temporary site news/music news/random commentary page while we work on getting the site going again. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it's the best we can do on such short notice. Hey, those if you who are happy with your free hosting solutions, tell us about it, please. We really need a new host ASAP.

I Died Blue

2005-05-06T00:15:00.000-07:00

Steve was great. He played a good deal of Burlap material ("Mansions", "Eileen's Song", etc), and only two songs from Me Died Blue ("Daisies and Sandalwood", "Another Day"). He had a lot of fun playing covers.

Oh, and I got my own personal encore. I asked him as he was unplugging stuff if he'd play something else from MDB, and he just sat down next to me and asked what I wanted to hear. He's a sweet guy. So in addition to all the new stuff, covers, and old Burlap songs, there was also "Jungle Trail" dedicated to me. Great show even though he didn't play long and just had himself and his acoustic guitar. I'll try to write a bit more about this tomorrow and have a full review of Steven and the two opening acts up soon.

Another concert tomorrow

2005-05-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

OK, so I'm a bit behind and I still haven't written a review for the last concert I went to. This one is too good to pass up though. Apparently it's a rather small show at a nearby college. Steven Delopoulos is going to be there. I'd babble a bit about how great his album, Me Died Blue is, or about how he was on a great label back when he was still with his old bad, but I'm getting a bit tired. I will post a link to where you can download a few live songs from him though. Check out http://www.stevendelopoulos.com/downloads.php for mp3s, then go to the main page of his site and check out the (flash-based?) media player pop-up to hear more of his stuff. MySpace is down right now, but there are a few more songs (including another live track and a new tune) on MySpace from Steven Delopoulos. I'll post my first reactions to the show either late tomorrow night or on Friday.

A place called Vertigo

2005-04-25T23:55:00.000-07:00

So, apparently my decision not to shell out the big bucks to see U2 in Seattle (or was it Tacoma? somewhere in Washington) was a good one. Jeffrey Overstreet's review claims that there were some major technical problems and that Bono botched "One", which is one of my favorite songs from them. I'm happy that the setlist included a whopping four songs from Achtung Baby, my favorite album from them, but it's a bit odd that they skipped a few big hits from The Joshua Tree. If I had gone I would have dragged along a family member who really only knows the big hits like "With Or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", and neither one was in the set. I'm not sure if I find the "worshipful" second encore cute or cheesy. Oh well, at least the older fans who still remember Boy had a great time. I can't say that I'm in that category (the oldest U2 album I have is War), but I can appreciate a band that knows how to rotate the older songs to make the fans happy. OK, so now for what you guys really want - free music. Thanks to U2 Exit, we can hear the entire second night of the Vertigo Tour for free. It's in WMA format and a few of my favorites didn't make the cut - but hey, it's free live U2. You really can't go wrong there, can you? Don't answer that.

Ooops I did it again!

2005-04-23T01:42:00.000-07:00

I hate to post in the middle of the night again, but I cannot sleep knowing that this song has not been recommended to my readers. It's a farsical Louis Armstrong impersonation, covering the Britney Spears hit "Oops I Did It Again!". You need to hear it, it's a good laugh, yet strangely enjoyable.

So I wound up talking to a member of Jump5 for Acaza.com yesterday. I still need to type up the transcript for them, but that should be fun. My recording of the interview sounds like crap but I actually enjoyed talking to Brittany. I probably risk losing all my credibility in music for saying this, but there's more to J5 than meets the ear. I'm not sure if I should feel happy or insulted that she's indier than I am. Whatever - if you're into that kind of thing, watch Acaza.com for the transcript. I might post a link to it here when it goes up (don't look for it on the 'Bloom proper, it won't be on there).

Um....yeah....

2005-04-20T01:26:00.000-07:00

Maybe I'm cheating on you guys, but I'll be interviewing a member of Jump5 next week for Acaza.com next week. No, I'm not a fan of them.

Dale Baker is selling a piece of equipment that I have an urge to buy even though I don't know how to use it. Did I mention it's been used for albums and live shows with Sixpence None the Richer, Over the Rhine, The Basics, and The Prayers and Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers, among others? Check by his blog if you're interested, or if you're like me and just want to drool.

I might just be insane, but I can't figure out why Ashley Cleveland's audience is mostly "older" people. I don't get why kids and teens don't dig her too. OK, so she does do some gospel-y stuff sometimes, but that doesn't really divide people by age. Anyway, if anyone can figure it out, let me know. For all of you who have no idea who she is...you can download her first album free on her website. It's good stuff, I have that one and her live album (and a few songs she's done with Jars of Clay too). Anyway, I'm tired, and now I can say I've updated this week. Goodnight.

Dove Awards, Michael Gungor, new review format

2005-04-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

I really shouldn’t care about the Dove awards. I have this weird feeling that some of my readers actually think that the Doves are given to artists who are good, or at least recent. The artist of the year for 2005 last released in album in 2003. A number of the awards are almost exact repeats of last year. To be short, the awards are a ton of crap. Switchfoot won some, even though no mentally sane person would do an awards show for 2005 covering 2004 that rewards stuff a band did in 2003. Ha, mental sanity – we are talking about the GMA here. Phantom Tollbooth reports and also has a list of people who shouldn’t admit to having won anything.

Anyway, I’ve been meaning to post about Michael Gungor for a while now. I was given his CD back at the Creation West Festival in 2004 and I’ve been dreading reviewing it ever since. You can hear clips of him here, sorry, they don’t have any full mp3s up now. I’ve decided to try a new format of review for his album, and give it a test run here. Let me know what you think of the format…I might put this on the site proper soon.

Michael Gungor – Bigger Than My Imagination

Sorry if this review seems a bit dicey, but we’re trying a new format so we can review albums in our queue faster. We received this album at Creation West in 2004 after the press conference with Michael Gungor, and we’re sorry that it’s taken so long to get to reviewing it.

To be honest, this is a tough album to review. Michael Gungor’s a talented guitarist, and he has quite a heart for worship – but the songs on this album range from fairly good to just plain boring. An irritating, repetitive chorus of “I am a friend of God” is the bulk of two of the album’s 15 songs. Actually, make that 12 songs – three of the “songs” are more accurately described as “short interludes”, coming in at less than a minute each. A rather dull cover of “Here I Am To Worship” quickly proves to be another low point of the album. However, balancing those off are some fairly solid numbers. “Doxology” is played beautifully as an acoustic instrumental, and is one of the best examples of an artist offering up their raw talent to God that I’ve ever heard. “Move Me” features some clever interplay of acoustic and electric guitars, and some great drums, bass, and keys flesh out the song well to make it another album highlight. While the album is largely acoustic, the backing instruments do a great job of accenting Michael Gungor’s sound. Some of the best session musicians in the business appear, including David Davidson (violinist who’s worked with everybody, including big-names like Sixpence None the Richer and Switchfoot) and Mark Townsend (who plays keys on this album but is known for producing artists like Relient K and for playing guitar in a number of popular CCM bands, including dc Talk and Zilch). Strings, guitars, keys, percussion – the album has a fresh and folksy feel that might make fans of groups like FFH and Bethany Dillon feel at home. The lyrics are mostly fresh and while they’re not exactly the best out there, they’re pretty decent for a praise-and-worship album. Let’s face it, everybody in Christian music wants to do a worship album these days, and it’s not easy for a new face from Michigan to release a decent worship album on his first try.

All that said, I’m really not sure what to think of this album. It’s not bad, certainly, but it doesn’t really do much to stick out as being great either. I think it was Nicole Nordeman that said that sometimes some of the most profound spiritual ideas are found in some of the simplest of utterances, and Michael Gungor seems to understand that fairly well. None of these songs are particularly great, but as contemporary worship goes, this is actually rather good. The songwriting is above average for that genre (not that that’s all that amazing, but Michael Gungor certainly deserves points for that) and the backing musicians do a great job of changing the sound enough to keep the album from being overly dull or clichéd. A few songs start to rock a little, while others are more folksy. Nothing really shatters the stereotype of what modern worship music should sound like, but the album doesn’t stick to the exact same sound in every song either. There’s an odd balance of highlights and low points on this album, and while I wouldn’t call this bad at all, I don’t think it really comes together as an album enough to deserve the label of “solid album” either.

Overall, I’d say if you’re into “worship music”, as people in the Christian subculture tend to think of it, you’d probably love this album. Otherwise, you’ll probably only like some of the songs. This is a great attempt for a debut album from a new praise-and-worship artist, but I don’t think it’s good enough to recommend it to everybody.

The Arcade Fire, Threefold, April Davenny, Sarah Masen

2005-04-11T23:55:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven’t updated much lately. Anyway, I have a brief update on Second Guess the Critic, and some reactions (but not a full review) from a concert I went to Saturday night.

For this week’s Second Guess the Critic at the phorum, you can guess what my opinion on the latest from The Arcade Fire is. I’m already planning on surprising people with what I have to say about the album, but I do think many of my readers would like them. You can listen to a few songs from the album Funeral at their record label’s site.

So this past Saturday I went to see Threefold and April Davenny at Club Cristo. OK, so technically it was a fluffy young Christian acoustic pop singer and one of the region’s best Christian rock bands in the back of a church. Still, it was a good show. For a cleaned up church hall, Club Cristo is a smooth and intimate venue. It’s like a coffeehouse, but with a few more chairs and a few less types of coffee. After I’d gotten comfortable I found out that that cute girl sitting next to me was opening act April Davenny. She wasn’t bad, per se, but I was having a really hard time getting into most of her stuff. Am I the only one who finds it irritating when ministry-oriented Christian singers decide to stop and preach on topics that not all Christians agree on? I mean, I can respect some preaching at concerts, but it gets a bit annoying when it’s stuff that has nothing to do with the singer’s faith. OK, so you want to promote sexual purity with kids – sure. Is it really a good idea to stop an acoustic pop show with an audience of 15 people so you can tell everyone that God doesn’t leave anyone single their whole life? I'd have to disagree with April there.

Anyway, enough whining about that. Threefold was awesome. This was my first time seeing them do a full show (compared to the Christmas show I saw last year), and they didn’t disappoint. They played a most of the songs from Through the Torn Curtain, as well as "Why Don’t You?" and "Sinking" from their debut, Sinking. Other highlights included the hymn "Amazing Grace" to the tune of Nirvana’s "Smells Like Teen Spirit". To be honest, I didn’t even know you could flesh out that song well without electric guitars and bass. They also covered "I Need You" by Jars of Clay, and it was a good cover even though it’s one of my least favorite songs by them. A few funky "Sunday school songs" and a cover of "Blackbird" by The Beatles were also pretty fun. Since it was such a small show, I think just about everyone in the audience had a chance to talk to both bands for a few minutes.

Also, I splurged on a copy of Sarah Masen’s Carry Us Through for $3 earlier today. You can get a brief taste of her stuff at her site if you’re not familiar with her. I forget what the details are but she’s some kind of relative of the lead singer of Switchfoot, and she was on Charlie Peacock’s re:think label back when this album came out. I wonder if I’ll like it.

Festivals and Concert Videos

2005-04-03T00:51:00.000-08:00

I wish I had been able to go to FFM. I think it’s refreshing to see talented musicians and authors get together and discuss faith in music. Sadly, I’m worried that was the best of the Christianity/music fests this year. I’ll admit it, I find CCM festivals to be fun, I enjoyed covering Creation West last year. Deep down though, I really feel like people within the Christian subculture don’t put enough thought or artistry into their music. I think that’s part of what I’ve been trying to focus on with this site – trying to find artists that put a bit more into it. I mean, I still love the fun “Christian rock” stuff even though I don’t think it’s all that amazing, but I like exploring what’s beyond that subculture more.

I generally find that there are four different kinds of bands in Christian music. There are "artists", that try to stretch things and be creative; there are "musicians", who play music to back up pop singers and what not (those first two are in the mainstream of music as well); there are "worship leaders", who sing to try to engage people in praising God; and there are "ministries" that aim to convert people with their music. I like artists the most, and I wish that more of Christian music was based on that kind of stuff than on ministries.

Cornerstone festival used to be pretty good about balancing the more popular "ministries" and booking some bizarre "artists" and even some harder music that’s kind of hard to categorize. Now I’m pissed with them – they have an awesome artist lineup this year, but the schedule is rather pitiful. I know, technically Anberlin opening for Relient K and Switchfoot is an amazing show – but they put it up against Bill Mallonee, Ester Drang, and Over the Rhine. The first two days of the festival don’t really have any exciting headliners, but then the last two days have a number of head-scratchers. Why the heck is Ashley Cleveland performing at the same time as Jars of Clay? They both released hymns albums recently, with many of the same hymns. They also collaborated for a few stellar songs on the Who We Are Instead album. They’re catering to almost the exact same demographic now that they’re both singing hymns – so why the hell are they on competing stages? That makes no sense.

Sorry for the rant. Anyway, it looks like that Low concert I saw last week was one of the last they played before feeling a bit under the weather, according to the band’s message board. That stinks.

I do have a cool link for people to check out today. I know, all my whining about CCM and all of the "Christian" stuff we cover makes this look like some kind of "Christian" music site, but to be honest, I dig lots of independent music too. I found out about this cool site earlier today that has live concert videos in the Windows Media Format. Anyway, the site is http://www.fabchannel.com/ , and they have some sweet stuff on there. Well, some interesting bands anyway – I can’t say I’ve actually had a chance to watch any of these videos yet. Artists they have videos of include The Arcade Fire, Bright Eyes, Low, Damien Rice, Sonic Youth, Snow Patrol, and Paul Oakenfold.

Drunkard's Prayer

2005-04-01T22:00:00.000-08:00

A few entries back I plugged some mp3s of Over the Rhine's new album, and I think I mentioned preordering the album too. Well, the album's not here, and they haven't even shipped it yet. They might not ship it for a while. Apparently a few of the other albums I ordered at the same time (Namely The Hot Stuff by Frank Lenz and Fan Dance by Sam Phillips) are out of stock and backordered. Nevermind that I preordered nearly a month ago now....but anyway, the OtR album won't be here until those are back in stock to send. *whines*

The Rest of that Washington state thing

2005-04-01T01:48:00.000-08:00

Sorry, it's late here and I'm feeling a bit rushed. I'll post Thursday's band and Friday's band now. You've probably heard one of these and never heard of the other. For Thursday: There's this band, Broken Image. It's kind of hard to explain them....it's like Jars of Clay's sound on steroids, with a dash of Switchfoot. They claim Coldplay as an influence too, but I don't hear it when I listen to them. I know I'm biased on this group (I went to their church for a while), but I think they're pretty good. Personally, I think that the stuff they've recorded doesn't capture their live sound well, but you can stream (sorry, no downloads) their songs from their purevolume page. Oh, and they are mostly a praise-and-worship outfit lyrically, so if you're not into that stuff, you might want to pass on these guys. They're actually quite good lyrically as worship music goes, so if you're into that kind of thing - you'll love them.

Friday - I'm going to take the easy way out to finish this one up. I'm sure most people reading this have already heard Death Cab For Cutie. I know, all of you who are in bands from Washington that I haven't plugged yet ought to be sending me hate mail for plugging someone well known instead of supporting someone more underground from around here. These guys are pretty good though. I can't say I'm a huge fan, but I can link you to their purevolume page, and yes, they do have downloads. I don't recall if you can see what time it is for me when I post these or not, but it's 2 AM here. I'm going to bed. Enjoy the music.

Week of Washington State

2005-03-30T00:42:00.000-08:00

I’ve decided to make this week a week of local music. Local to me, here in Washington state, that is. Please forget about the fact that I missed Monday, and count last week’s plug for Pedro the Lion as Monday. By the way, that concert review is up now. I’ll post Tuesday and Wednesday now. Just to be clear – I’m only covering my favorites here. Heck, I haven’t even heard a full Modest Mouse album yet, and they got started just a town away from me. This is by no means an authoritative list.

Washington Week, Tuesday – Threefold. Threefold is a duo from Everett, Washington that claimed the #6 spot on my 2004 favorites list. It’s kind of hard to pin down their sound, but it’s easy to tell that they’ve been influenced by Jars of Clay and Maroon5. Did I mention that Kenny Meeks appears on their latest album, as well as members of Sixpence None the Richer and Jars of Clay? Anyway, they don’t have anything from their latest album available to download yet, but they do have a few older songs on their website that you can check out here. If you’re interested in hearing more about them, we’ve reviewed both their latest album and a Christmas concert from last year.

Another great band I’ve discovered from Washington is a group from Spokane called Sittser. They’re a modern rock group that sounds just as good as anyone you’ve heard on the radio. Sadly, sometimes they sound a bit too poppy and radio-friendly, but for the most part, they sound pretty solid. You can hear several songs (old and new!) from them on their website. Click on the album covers, then on the yellow or red boxes to download the songs. Oh, and while you’re checking these guys out, you might want to read the concert review we posted of their show at Creation West.

Don't Dream It's Over

2005-03-29T20:47:00.000-08:00

Whew, I was planning on doing a real entry tonight (I might still do that in a few minutes) about Washington state music, but I just saw some really depressing news. Remember the band Crowded House? I figure some people reading are probably too young to know who they are, but they were a band that was really popular a while back. You've probably heard their hit "Don't Dream It's Over" or at least the remake of it that Sixpence None the Richer did a few years back. Apparently, the drummer, Paul Hester hanged (hung?) himself last night. Full details at: http://aversion.com/news/news_article.cfm?news_id=4037 .

Didn't anyone tell him not to wish the time had passed? Or to....um, not dream it was over? Sorry, I shouldn't be cracking lame jokes this soon afterwards....but you have to admit, it is fun to speculate on what the motive could have been. I'll probably post later tonight (or early tomorrow morning) with some stuff on local (to me) music.

Concerts and CDs for me, more free music for you

2005-03-26T00:00:00.000-08:00

I was able to go to the Low / Pedro the Lion / Trampled by Turtles show last night. I missed the beginning of TBT’s set, but the two co-headliners were both really good live. Low has a kind of muted energy live, it’s kind of hard to explain. They might just be the most talented musicians I’ve ever seen live. I’ll write a full review later, but for now, I will leave you with some stuff to listen to from each band, and a list of some random songs that were played. If you visit the Low website, you can hear a number of their songs there. They played a few older songs, including "(that’s how you sing) Amazing Grace", but they focused on the newer stuff from The Great Destroyer, playing "Monkey", "Silver Rider", "California", and a few others. You can download "Monkey" and "California" on this page, which is ran by their record label. Pedro the Lion played "Never Leave A Job Half Done", "Penetration", "Big Trucks", "Foregone Conclusions", "Rapture", and a number of other songs. It was a great show, and much more energetic than I was expecting. It made Low’s show feel more like an anticlimax, because their music is just so much more relaxing than Pedro’s. You can hear (and download!) some stuff from Pedro at their purevolume page. Oh, and before you ask, no, the legendary Frank Lenz is not drumming for them anymore. I was a bit disappointed about that, and I even had to ask vocalist/guitarist David Bazan about it before I internalized that Frank wasn’t really there (that’s the Fold Zandura fanboy in me whining – Tim Walsh did a great job drumming, really). Then there’s that other group, Trampled by Turtles. I had no idea you could make a banjo, acoustic guitar, acoustic bass, and mandolin(?) sound that aggressive. I guess I’d call them alt-bluegrass, but that might not be the right label for them. You can download some of their songs on their website.

I’ve also gotten a few new CDs since I last blogged – at the show I picked up Pedro’s It’s Hard to Find a Friend and Low’s The Great Destroyer. I picked up Lifehouse’s self-titled at Best Buy (Sorry for those of you who thought I had some kind of indie-cred – I do enjoy some popular music). While I was there I finally got that album from The Arcade Fire that everyone’s raving about lately. They’d given me a raincheck for it a few weeks ago when I went to get it on sale, but today was the first time they’d had it in for me to get. I like it so far, and it just might be the best thing to come out last year. I was at a thrift shop this afternoon when I spotted Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips for sale for $3, so I picked that up too. This’ll actual be my first time hearing them, but I’ve heard that that’s a pretty good album, so I figured I’d splurge the three bucks.

Play games with me because W0rmSiGn is Big In Japan

2005-03-23T22:33:00.000-08:00

I'm going to be appearing as one of the "critics" in a new game at ThePhorum.net called "Second Guess the Critic". Honestly, I don't think anyone actually thinks of me as a "critic", and I've been known to overreact on occasion on that message board, so it will probably be as goofy as all heck - nonetheless, it will be fun, it involves me, and it involves music. Sign up and play, it'll be fun, and besides, you might actually see a music recommendation from somebody credible. I'll be holding my opinion on the new Jars of Clay release until round 1 is over.

OK, so this time around, the title isn't a download. I'm experimenting with a new, simpler format that doesn't run the risk of people accidentally downloading a song when they just want to see comments. Let me know if you like it better this way, or the other way, or if you have any other suggestions.

I want to plug the new W0rmSiGn album. I've listened to it twice and not actually decided if I like it or not. The DanceChapel says "Greg Young of Virus fame is continuing to make music under the name Wormsign, and his latest release is an album called "Big In Japan" which is very experimental and definitely falls into the IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) catagory. It's deep thinking music, it's very moving, and best of all the entire album is available as free downloads"! I'm not completely sold on that, but it sticks out as an interesting album like nothing I've ever heard before. I'll probably use this on round 2 of the game above. Did I mention the entire album is free? That's the best reason to check it out - it's free music. If you hate it, you've only lost your time. You can download the entire thing in mp3 format at http://www.virusworldindustries.com/biginjapan.html or by clicking here.

There is a chance that I will be seeing Low, Pedro the Lion, and Trampled by Turtles tomorrow night. Nothing's set in stone, and I don't even know if I can go or not, but I'll let you know how that goes.

Born (and some links to Beatles covers)

2005-03-23T01:35:00.000-08:00

Over the Rhine is one of my favorite bands, but to be honest I'm not quite sure how to describe them. They jump around genrewise a bit. The only thing that makes them easy to identify is Karin Bergquist's amazing vocals. Anyway - they have a new album coming out next Tuesday, called Drunkard's Prayer. I've already preordered the album from Paste Music, and I'm just waiting for it to arrive now. This page has free, legal mp3 downloads of "Born" and "Drunkard's Prayer" from the album for your listening pleasure. I recommend "Born", because it's such an enchanting song. Like I said, I have a hard time describing these guys, but I love them. Give 'em a listen and let me know what you think.

Is anyone else really excited that the Drop7 Christian Mp3 Blog is doing a second week of Beatles covers? I'd love to recap why I love some of the songs Jeff's picking over there, but I really don't have enough time to. Anyway, if you haven't had your fill on great music today, check out the original "Week Of Beatles" on the Drop7 July 2004 archives, you won't regret it. I get great Beatles covers there "Eight Days a Week"! Sorry, I couldn't resist the joke. I'll stop now.

Hello World! / Something Evil

2005-03-22T01:51:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the new Unfound Bloom Music Blog. Here we'll post music-related thoughts and rambles, as well as legal downloads of music new and old.

Since this is our first entry, we ought to recommend an mp3 that's cool, hip, and underground, so we can establish some indie-cred. You can forget about that, we're not that pretentious and we'll blow our indie-cred within a week. I will plug the song "Something Evil", off of the upcoming Starflyer59 album, TALKING VOICE vs. SINGING VOICE, which will be released on April 12th. You can hear the song by clicking here. Check out the rest of the Starflyer59 website if you have the chance too.

I suppose I should get some legal details out of the way while I'm posting this first real entry too - we have no where to post mp3s, and our hands are tied with 'Bloom management and with contractual obligations to our site's host not to post copyrighted material. We will post nothing ourselves, so we can't post anything illegal. Most of the stuff I'll be linking to will be from label sites and band sites, so don't worry about us linking to some site that will send you viruses and illegal copyrighted material. Most of the time, anyway - I'll link to other mp3 blogs on occasion.

It's understood amongst mp3 bloggers that you don't post free music from big-namers, but rather, plug the underground artists you love and beg people to buy their albums. You get to talk about music you love, the artists get paid - everyone wins. Assuming people don't download and then forget to buy stuff, that is. I'd like to recommend my favorite mp3 blog - the Drop7.com Christian Mp3 Blog! The guy there has good tastes in some of the fairly obscure and more interesting bands in Christian music. I'm not just saying that because he's plugged some of my favorites before either - he's much more credible than I am, really. Go listen to some stuff he likes, you won't regret it.

Test post

2005-03-13T23:46:00.000-08:00

So, I see people are visiting this blog already. Groovy. This is just a little place for me to spout off music-related nonsense. It's an extension of a site called Unfound Bloom. Or this will be, anyway - the layout here is jumpy right now because I keep messing with it to try to get it right.