The Brainstorm Digest

Playlist: The 77's - 7 Songs by The 77s

2012-03-02T17:40:00.000-06:00

The 77's - A Collection of 7 Songs For Your Entertainment.....

The 77s (alternatively spelled The Seventy Sevens or The 77's) are an American rock band consisting of Michael Roe on vocals/guitar, Mark Harmon on bass, and Bruce Spencer on drums

After considerable success on Exit/A&M in the early 1980s, The 77s soon found themselves signed to Island Records (which, like A&M would be bought by PolyGram in 1989) and on the road to what Mike Roe would refer facetiously as "teenage stardom." Their 1987 self-titled release was reviewed favorably by Rolling Stone magazine and produced "The Lust, the Flesh, the Eyes & the Pride of Life," the band's biggest single to date. "The Lust..." ended up being much more influential than the band originally thought. A decade-and-a-half later, the reggae-rock band 311's hit single "I'll Be Here Awhile" "borrowed" several lines from "The Lust..." (i.e., "And if a person, place, or thing can deliver / I will quiver with delight"). Ironically, "The Lust..." itself borrowed musically from Barry McGuire's song "Eve of Destruction".

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05otChTdox4

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Don't, This Way

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug7l5cYhvf4

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I Can't Get Over It (Live)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqKpiKJNDEE

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This Is The Way Love Is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X9U8Jb3Q64

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Cold Cold Night

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHS1y-303oY

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Film at 11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-YFUvqwuLk

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I Could Laugh (Live)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Cpo8ESeDfQ

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Profile: Mark Heard (1951-1992)

2012-03-02T08:22:00.003-06:00

John Mark Heard (December 16, 1951 - August 16, 1992) was a record producer, folk-rock singer, and songwriter originally from Macon, Georgia, USA. Mark Heard released 16 records in his lifetime, and produced and performed with many other artists as well, such as Sam Phillips (aka Leslie Phillips), Pierce Pettis, Phil Keaggy, Vigilantes of Love, Peter Buck of R.E.M. (who co-produced VOL's album Killing Floor with Heard), John Austin, The Choir, Randy Stonehill and Michael Been of The Call. Heard produced part of Olivia Newton-John's The Rumor, which also included a cover of Heard's own "Big and Strong" (originally called "How To Grow Up Big And Strong").

After graduating from the University of Georgia in 1974 with an ABJ (bachelor of arts in journalism) degree in television, Heard travelled to Switzerland to study at L'Abri under the influential evangelical Christian philosopher Francis Schaeffer. Singers Larry Norman and Randy Stonehill literally stumbled onto Mark one day playing his guitar. Norman was so impressed by Heard's abilities that he soon signed him to his record label, Solid Rock Records. Heard and his wife Janet moved to Glendale, California in 1977 to begin work on his Appalachian Melody album for the label, but would also maintain a close relationship with the people at the L'Abri for years. Heard would also record and release Fingerprint on a Swiss label in 1980.

In 1981, Heard began a recording contract with Chris Christian's Home Sweet Home Records. Although Mark's sales did not attract attention from the Major Christian Labels, Christian felt Mark's music was unique and fresh and deserved to be heard and funded his projects with no production oversight which Mark wanted. His signing to the label was a departure from the commercial Artist that Chris traditionally signed and produced on the Home Sweet Home label. Heard released five albums for the label; 1981's Stop the Dominoes, 1982's Victims of the Age; 1983's Eye of the Storm; 1984's Ashes and Light; and 1985's Mosaics. The overall experience was not one that Heard enjoyed, partly due to his personal experiences with record company executives, and partly due to compromises he felt under pressure to make in order to make himself and his songs more marketable to Christian audiences.

In 1984, Heard began recording in his home studio, which he dubbed "Fingerprint Recorders," after the title of one of his earlier records. From that point on, his albums were largely made at home, with just a handful of friends and relatives lending a hand. In 1986, Heard decided to try something a little different and recorded the experimental Pop/Rock album for What? Records entitled Tribal Opera, under the name iDEoLA. When asked about the unusual name, Heard replied "It's not supposed to be mysterious or anything; I just put a band together and right now I happen to be the only one in it." Heard also directed a music video for the single of that album, "Is It Any Wonder."

With the formation of Fingerprint Records and his studio, Heard began to produce albums for a number of artists including two albums for Randy Stonehill, Jacob's Trouble, Pierce Pettis and 1992's Vigilantes of Love album, Killing Floor, which he co-produced with R.E.M.'s Peter Buck. Stonehill's Until We Have Wings including a song co-written by Heard, "Faithful," although the CD liner notes credit the song to Heard's pseudonym Giovanni Audiori.

To read more about Mark Heard go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Heard

To view the Official Mark Heard Tribute Site:
http://www.markheard.net/

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Brainstorm Profile: Terry Scott Taylor

2012-03-02T08:11:00.001-06:00

Terry Scott Taylor (born May 24, 1950) is an American songwriter, record producer, writer and founding member of the bands Daniel Amos and The Swirling Eddies (credited as Camarillo Eddy). Taylor is also a member of the roots and alternative music group, Lost Dogs. He is currently based in San Jose, California, USA.

Taylor is highly regarded for his songwriting skills. These often include allusions to and reworkings of material ranging from Elizabethan poets to modern authors. Foremost among Taylor's influences is William Blake. The Daniel Amos album title Fearful Symmetry was drawn from Blake's poem "The Tyger," and numerous songs across The Alarma! Chronicles series of albums have Blake-inspired references. Some other poets who have influenced Taylor's work are T. S. Eliot and Christina Rossetti. Eliot's poetry inspired the song "Hollow Man" from the Doppelgänger album. "Where Dreams Come True" from Taylor's solo LP A Briefing for the Ascent draws heavily from Rosetti's poem "Echo."

The inspiration for many Daniel Amos and Taylor songs from the mid-1980s can be found in the book Behold, This Dreamer: Of Reverie, Night, Sleep, Dream, Love-Dreams, Nightmare, Death. This book, compiled by Walter de la Mare and published in 1939, contains poems and essays that appear in Taylor's songwriting. De la Mare is thanked in the liner notes of the final installment of The Alarma! Chronicles, Fearful Symmetry. References to contemporary authors also appear in Taylor's songs. One example is the song "Shape of Air" from the LP Darn Floor-Big Bite. The song explores the mystical musings of Annie Dillard found in her Pulitzer prize-winning book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. The album is also heavily inspired by the works of Czesław Miłosz. This is especially evident in songs like "The Unattainable Earth" (which was named after one of Miłosz' books), "Safety Net", "Pictures of the Gone World", "Divine Instant", and "Half Light, Epoch, and Phase". On Taylor's 1998 release, John Wayne (album) he credits more influences; Flannery O'Connor, Dennis Prager and Frederick Buechner.

During the 1990s and into the new millennium, Taylor's songwriting for the Lost Dogs and on other projects turned away from more esoteric themes. The songs crafted during this phase of Taylor's career marked a shift toward "Americana" and, in some ways, a return to the country music sound of Daniel Amos in the early 1970s. The primary vehicle for this phase of Taylor's songwriting career is the Lost Dogs, with a number of noteworthy solo projects. The Lost Dogs began in 1991 as a one-time collaboration between vocalists and songwriters from four different bands at the behest of their label at that time. Taylor, Gene Eugene (of Adam Again), Derri Daugherty (of The Choir), and Michael Roe (of The 77s) have released several eclectic albums of traditional American music (country, folk, blues, rock) over the last decade.

Read More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Scott_Taylor

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Chasing Furies - With Abandon - CD

2011-12-12T15:45:00.000-06:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Chasing Furies - With Abandon - CD

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With Abandon CD - Chasing Furies

Chasing Furies was a Christian band from Fort Worth, Texas, USA. The band consisted of three siblings, with Sarah MacIntosh performing lead vocals and playing guitars, Rachel Meeker playing the piano and doing backing vocals, and Joshua Meeker playing lead guitars (often switching lead vocals with Sarah in some songs). Despite its brief active period, the band received good airplay with their single "Thicker" becoming the eighth most requested song of 1999 on the ChristianRock.net online radio broadcasting. Their first album was featured on the Top Ten of 1999 albums sharing the ninth position with Wilco's Summerteeth on the specialized Christian music online magazine The Phantom TollBooth and was nominated for the 2000 Dove Awards in the category of Best Modern Rock/Alternative

Chasing Furies - Throw Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNQG5MaeMEo

Chasing Furies – Enchanted
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyZgpdRTmk0

Chasing Furies - Wait Forever
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haI4wHEAv_c

Seven Day Jesus – Hunger – CD

2011-12-12T15:42:00.000-06:00

Available Now: Seven Day Jesus - The Hunger CD - Collector’s Item

The Hunger is the first album of the band Seven Day Jesus. It was released in 1996.

ONLY: $17.99

To view and order go to:

Track listing

All songs written by Brian McSweeney, except where noted.

   1. "A Time to Heal" - 3:35
   2. "Strength" - 3:46
   3. "Flybye" - 5:02
   4. "Forgive Me" - 4:45
   5. "Forgive You" - 4:16
   6. "Pavement" - 3:59
   7. "The Hunger" - 3:23
   8. "Restrained" - 5:04
   9. "Delightful You" - 4:15
10. "Ashamed" - 4:43

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VHS - Cassette - LP Conversion Service

2011-12-12T14:21:00.009-06:00

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Sixpence None The Richer - CD - 1999

2011-09-18T21:37:00.001-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Sixpence None The Richer - CD

ONLY: $11.99 (CD Released: 1999)

Track listing

1. "We Have Forgotten" (Matt Slocum) – 5:07
2. "Anything" (Matt Slocum) – 4:44
3. "The Waiting Room" (Donohue, Matt Slocum) – 5:15
4. "Kiss Me" (Matt Slocum) – 3:30
5. "Easy to Ignore" (Nash) – 3:52
6. "Puedo Escribir" (Baker, Pablo Neruda, Plasencio, Matt Slocum) – 3:45
7. "I Can't Catch You" (Matt Slocum) – 4:12
8. "The Lines of My Earth" (Matt Slocum) – 4:26
9. "Sister, Mother" (Matt Slocum) – 3:05
10. "I Won't Stay Long" (Ashworth) – 2:15
11. "Love" (Matt Slocum) – 3:56
12. "Moving On" (Donohue, Matt Slocum) – 3:56
13. "There She Goes" (Mavers) – 2:42

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Jan Krist - Outpost of the Counterculture - CD

2011-08-08T16:23:00.000-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Jan Krist - Outpost of the Counterculture

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Track listing

1. Outpost of the Counter-Culture (Hometown)

2. All I Can Change

3. My Love (My Heart Knows)

4. Good Enough

5. Extraordinary

6. Bent and Broken Reeds

7. Thank You

8. Waiting for the Cosmic Shoe to Fall

9. Someone to Watch over Me

10. Try Anyway

11. Parallel Universe

Luxury - Latest and the Greatest - CD

2011-08-08T16:15:00.000-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Luxury - Latest & the Greatest CD

ONLY: $11.99

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Track Listing:

1. The Latest & The Greatest 03:44

2. From the Lion Within 03:16

3. Not So Grand 04:20

4. Metropolitan 04:04

5. The Glory 03:10

6. Red Mascara 05:14

7. King Me 05:04

8. Hell or Highwater 04:20

9. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings 06:32

10. The Pearls 04:30

Lost Dogs – Real Men Cry – CD

2011-08-08T16:06:00.000-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Lost Dogs – Real Men Cry – CD

ONLY: $14.99

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Lost Dogs: Terry Taylor, Derri Daugherty, Mike Roe.

Track listing

1. "A Certain Love" (Taylor)

2. "Gates of Eden" (Taylor)

3. "Real Men Cry" (Taylor)

4. "Three Legged Dog" (Taylor)

5. "When the Judgment Comes" (Taylor)

6. "In the Distance" (Taylor)

7. "The Great Divide" (Taylor)

8. "The Mark of Cain" (Taylor)

9. "Dust on the Bible" (Bailes)

10. "Wild Ride" (Taylor)

11. "Golden Dreams" (Taylor)

12. "No Shadow of Turning" (Taylor)

13. "Lovely Man" (Roe)

Real Men Cry is an album by Roots music band Lost Dogs, released on BEC Records in 2001.

This was the first album by the Lost Dogs after Gene Eugene's death in March 2000 and is a tribute to him.

The song "Lovely Man" is not listed on the back cover of the CD. It was actually meant to go between the songs "Three Legged Dog" and "When The Judgement Comes," but was moved and drastically edited by the label, BEC Records. The label objected to the lyric "right by damn," and completely edited it from the recording on the final album. The song, in its unedited form, has only surfaced on CD once on a Paste Magazine CD sampler.

Lost Dogs – Gift Horse – CD

2011-08-08T16:00:00.000-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Lost Dogs – Gift Horse – CD

ONLY: $14.99

To order, click “Add To Cart” below:

Track listing

1. "Ghost Train (To Nowhere)" (Taylor)

2. "Free Drinks and a Dream (A Vegas Story)" (Taylor)

3. "If You Love Here (You'd Be Home By Now)" (Taylor)

4. "Diamonds to Coal" (Taylor)

5. "Blessing In Disguise" (Taylor)

6. "Loved and Forgiven" (Taylor)

7. "Rebecca Go Home" (Taylor)

8. "Honeysuckle Breeze" (Taylor)

9. "Ditto" (Taylor)

10. "The Wall of Heaven" (Taylor)

11. "Father Along" (Traditional, Arranged by The Lost Dogs)

Lost Dogs: Terry Taylor, Gene Eugene, Derri Daugherty, Mike Roe.

Gift Horse is an album by Roots music band Lost Dogs, released on BEC Records in 1999.

This turned out to be Gene Eugene's last album with the band when he died in The Green Room shortly after its release.

BEC Records retitled one song as "A Vegas Story" for the album's artwork. To this day, fans of the band continue to call it by its real name, "Free Drinks and a Dream." The song also goes by that name during concert introductions and on later live albums and videos.

This is the most consistent of the Lost Dogs albums. Understandably so, as Terry Taylor wrote ten of the 11 tracks. While previous Lost Dogs albums dabbled with blues, country, folk, gospel, and modern rock with varying degrees of continuity, Gift Horse has implemented those ingredients almost exclusively in a jangly, country-rock vein. This is Taylor's finest songwriting to date, at least from a melody standpoint. Lyrically, his themes have always centered around tongue-in-cheek queries into the challenges of righteous living and the foibles of human nature. In the '70s his band Daniel Amos released two dreadful albums with which they tried, in vain, to mimic the popular soft country-rock craze of that era. His work with the Lost Dogs is a true testament to his growth as a songwriter; 20 years later Taylor's country-tinged songwriting is nothing less than superb. He is joined again by singers and guitarists by trade Mike Roe, Derri Daugherty, and Gene Eugene, whose respective home-bands, the 77's, the Choir, and Adam Again are becoming more irrelevant with each passing year. ~ Dave Sleger

The Huntingtons – Plastic Surgery - CD

2011-08-08T11:55:00.000-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: The Huntingtons – Plastic Surgery - CD

ONLY: $11.99

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Track listing

1. "I Wanna Be A Ramone" - 2:30

2. "American War Machine" - 2:45

3. "Heartbreak At The Hardy Holly" - 3:00

4. "I Would Give You Anything" - 3:32

5. "Tell Me Goodnight" - 2:11

6. "Moral Threat" - 1:37

7. "Growing Up Is No Fun" - 3:11

8. "I'll See You Tonite" - 3:43

9. "Girl's Gone Crazy" - 3:06

10. "Don't Clone Me" - 2:16

11. "I Don't Wanna Go Out With Her" - 2:40

12. "Now I'm Alright" - 3:12

13. "I'm Not Dangerous" - 3:24

14. "Mutant Monster Beach Party" - 1:47

The Huntingtons – Live: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

2011-08-08T11:49:00.000-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: The Huntingtons – Live: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly – CD

ONLY: $11.99

To order, Click “Add To Cart” below and Follow the instructions thereafter

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Track listing

1. Pencil Neck

2. I Don't Wanna Sit Around With You

3. Dies Saugt

4. Wimpy Drives Through Harlem

5. We Don't Care

6. FFT

7. Aloha, It's You

8. Don't Beat Me Up

9. Goddess And The Geek

10. JW

11. Alison's The Bomb

12. She's A Brat

13. I Don't Want You

14. I'm No Good

15. All She Knows

16. Bubblegum Girl

17. Veronica

18. She's Alright

19. Jeannie Hates The Ramones

20. Drexel U

21. Crackhead

22. Rock 'N' Roll Girl

The Huntingtons – Fun and Games CD

2011-08-08T11:45:00.002-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: The Huntingtons – Fun and Games CD

ONLY: $11.99

To order, Click “Add To Cart” below and Follow the instructions thereafter

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Track listing

1. Alison's The Bomb

2. Bubblegum Girl

3. Lucy's About To Lose Her Mind

4. The Only One

5. Huntingtons At The Beach

6. All She Knows (Is Breakin' My Heart)

7. Losing Penny

8. She's A Brat

9. Friday Nights At The Rec

10. Goddess And The Geek

11. Don't Beat Me Up

12. Crackhead

13. Leave Home

14. Come On Let's Go

All songs written by The Huntingtons, except track 14 (Ritchie Valens).

The Huntingtons – High School Rock - CD

2011-08-08T11:41:00.002-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: The Huntingtons – High School Rock - CD

ONLY: $11.99

To order, Click “Add To Cart” below and Follow the instructions thereafter

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Track listing

1. High School Rock-N-Roll

2. We Don't Care

3. FFT

4. Aloha, It's You

5. I Don't Wanna Sit Around With You

6. When I Think About Her

7. Jeannie Hates The Ramones

8. I'm No Good

9. Pencil Neck

10. Stinky's All Grown Up

11. 1985

12. How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away?

13. Dies Saugt

14. No Luck Again

15. Jackie Is An Atheist

16. Avi Is A Vampire

All songs written by Huntingtons.

High School Rock is an album by the Huntingtons released in 1998 on Tooth & Nail Records.

The Huntingtons – Get Lost - CD

2011-08-08T11:36:00.000-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: The Huntingtons – Get Lost

ONLY $11.99

To order, Click “Add To Cart” below and Follow the instructions thereafter

Track listing

1. No Pool Party Tonite

2. I'm Not Going Downtown

3. Hooray For You

4. Shutup

5. Joanie's Got Problems

6. Poster Kids

7. What Would Joey Do?

8. I Don't Wanna Save The World

9. Samantha Doesn't Want Me

10. Guilty

11. Annie's Anorexic

12. Somebody's Trying To Kill Me

13. I Don't Want It To End This Way

All songs written by Huntingtons.

Get Lost is an album by the Huntingtons released in 1999 on Tooth & Nail Records.

Terry Scott Taylor – Illustrated Poster

2011-08-08T10:41:00.001-05:00

Available Now: Terry Scott Taylor – Illustrated Poster

Featuring one of the pioneers of Alternative Rock music and lead singer/songwriter of the bands, Daniel Amos, The Swirling Eddies and The Lost Dogs

To order, click “Add To Cart” below:

Terry Scott Taylor – Illustrated - 11x14 Glossy Poster: $12.99

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Terry Scott Taylor – Illustrated 18x24 Poster: $29.99

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Terry Scott Taylor – Illustrated 24x36 Poster: $79.99

Profile: Steve Taylor

2011-07-30T15:56:00.001-05:00

Roland Stephen Taylor (born December 9, 1957), also known as Steve Taylor, is an American Christian singer, songwriter, record producer and film director.

In 1980, Taylor wrote and directed a pop musical comedy titled Nothing To Lose based on the story of the prodigal son from the Bible. It had a short run at a community theater in Denver. He also wrote and starred in a short film, Joe's Distributing, a parody of avant-garde films.

Taylor wrote articles during this time that were published in the Wittenburg Door and Contemporary Christian Music magazine (for which he won an award from the Evangelical Press Association).

After recording a demo of original songs, Taylor began to write for the musical group The Continentals. The Continentals' founder, Cam Floria invited Taylor to join the group on a tour of Poland sponsored by Solidarity.

When he returned to the United States, he was asked to perform at the Christian Artists' 1982 Music Seminar in Denver. Billy Ray Hearn, president of Sparrow Records, was backstage and immediately signed Taylor to a recording contract.

He recorded his debut solo project I Want to Be a Clone in 1982 and released it in January 1983. He quickly gained a reputation for writing songs that satirized beliefs and practices with which he disagreed.

In 1983, Taylor recorded his first full length album. Released in 1984, Meltdown included some of the demo material that was not on Clone along with some new material. His video single of the title track, "Meltdown (at Madame Tussaud's)" was played on MTV, which was unusual for a Christian artist at the time. The video featured an appearance by actress Lisa Whelchel. The album also included "We Don't Need No Colour Code", which was critical of Bob Jones University and its anti-interracial dating policy, a policy that was not abandoned by the university until 2000.

Another track on Meltdown, "Guilty By Association", one of the original demo songs, includes a jab with an impression in the middle eight at televangelist Jimmy Swaggart. The song "On the Fritz", the title track from Taylor's next studio album, was also targeted at Swaggart. Swaggart later struck back by devoting part of a chapter of Religious Rock 'N' Roll, a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (ISBN 0-935113-05-3) to Taylor, whom he saw as playing evil rock music.

During a performance at 1984's Cornerstone Festival, Taylor fractured his ankle while jumping off the stage. He finished the summer's tour in an electric wheelchair.

Taylor followed that release with On the Fritz, produced by Foreigner's Ian McDonald. Fritz was Taylor's first album to use all studio musicians instead of his usual backing group. Some of the musicians who played on this album were George Small, Tony DaVilio, Hugh McCracken, Carmine Rojas, Larry Fast and Allen Childs. Fritz, keeping with Taylor tradition, took aim once again at religious leaders, such as Bill Gothard ("I Manipulate"), greedy TV evangelists (again) ("You Don't Owe Me Nothing"), politicians using religion or avoiding questions of morality in order to get votes ("It's a Personal Thing"), and public schools teaching "values clarification" to children, asking them to determine who should be thrown overboard in an overcrowded lifeboat ("Lifeboat").

In 1985, Steve received his first Grammy nomination in the "Best Male Gospel Performance" category, while also being nominated for Dove Awards as "Gospel Artist of the Year" and for Meltdown as the "Best Contemporary Album of the Year". Taylor and "Some Band" performed at the Dove Awards ceremonies in Nashville in April of that year, where they were introduced by Pat Boone.

Taylor also recorded a duet with Sheila Walsh, "Not Gonna Fall Away", a tune written and recorded in 1981 by David Edwards. This was released as a 12" single titled Transatlantic Remixes. Taylor and Walsh embarked on the "Transatlantic Tour" which included dates in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Taylor and Walsh also participated in the recording of "Do Something Now", a collaborative effort, similar to "We Are The World", to raise money for Compassion International's famine relief programs in Africa. Other artists participating included Amy Grant, Larry Norman, Randy Stonehill, Mylon LeFevre, Steve Camp, Evie, Phil Keaggy, Second Chapter of Acts, Sandi Patti, Bill Gaither, and Rick Cua.

In between performing, recording and touring, Taylor met and married Debbie Butler of Irvine, California. They were married by Taylor's father at a private ceremony in Connecticut. Mrs. Taylor designed the album cover for a compilation on Sparrow, The Best We Could Find (Plus 3 That Never Escaped), as well as some of Taylor's more colorful stage costumes.

In 1987, Taylor once again lived up to his controversial reputation with a song called "I Blew Up The Clinic Real Good". The song criticizes anyone who claims to be a pro-life activist who would blow up abortion clinics or kill doctors. The point of the song was lost on many and resulted in Taylor's album, I Predict 1990, being pulled from the shelves at some Christian record stores. Taylor himself would occasionally call those stores to explain the song to them.[6] With 1990, Taylor's targets included mainstream Universities ("Since I Gave Up Hope I Feel A Lot Better", featuring fiddle work from Papa John Creech of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna). Other tracks included "Jim Morrison's Grave", which once again brought Taylor some MTV exposure, and the Flannery O'Connor inspired "Harder to Believe Than Not To". Some stores also pulled the album as they thought the cover looked like a Tarot Card.

Taylor's tour for "I Predict" was his most ambitious to date, bringing him to Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Sweden and the Philippines.

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VIDEO: Jim Morrison's Grave

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLW-Pr-y8qA

This is the video for Steve Taylor's classic song, "Jim Morrison's Grave." This video landed on MTV's "120 Minutes" back in 1987.

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VIDEO: Drive, He said

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUu-vbhzuuw

Profile: The Call

2011-07-30T15:32:00.000-05:00

The Call was an American rock band from Santa Cruz, California active from 1980 to 2000.

The Call formed in Santa Cruz in 1980 by vocalist/guitarist Michael Been, Scott Musick, and Tom Ferrier. Been and Musick were originally from Oklahoma. Been was previously a member of Chicago band Aorta, and then, between 1969 and 1971, of Lovecraft, the successor band to the psychedelic rock group H.P. Lovecraft.

Beginning with their self-titled debut in 1982, the Call went on to produce a total of 10 albums by 2000. The eponymous premiere album was recorded in England, and Been later recalled that the band was in an exploratory phase at this point. Been noted in a 1988 interview, "The Call was a compassionate album, but it probably came out as anger." Peter Gabriel liked the band so much that he asked them to open for him during his 1982 "Shock the Monkey" tour.

The next album, Modern Romans, was notable for its political content. Been later stated, "There was a great deal happening politically - Grenada, Lebanon, or the government saying the Russians are evil and the Russian government probably saying the same about us. That kind of thinking inspired me to write the last lines of 'Walls Came Down'."

This was followed by Scene Beyond Dreams. Been referred to it as The Call's "metaphysical" album. With a strong poetic sense to the lyrics and a change in instrumentation, the change in sound is notable. Garth Hudson of The Band played keyboards on these first three records.

Reconciled was recorded during the summer of 1985. At this point, the band had not had a recording contract for two years, due to what Been described as "legal bickering" between The Call's former record label and their management company. However, once the deal was signed with Elektra Records, the band resumed playing and produced their most commercially successful album to date. Peter Gabriel, Simple Minds' Jim Kerr, and Hudson and former Band mate Robbie Robertson all guested the album which was released in 1986. Several tracks from the album became hits on the Mainstream Rock Chart, and one of these tracks, "I Still Believe". "I Still Believe" appears on the soundtrack of the 1986 film The Whoopee Boys. The following year, "I Still Believe" was re-recorded by singer/multi-instrumentalist and long-time Tina Turner sideman Tim Cappello for the 1987 movie The Lost Boys, and Russ Taff also recorded a version that appears on his 1988 self-titled album.

Next came the band's 1987 release Into The Woods, which Been referred to as his favorite album.

In 1989 they released Let the Day Begin, whose title track reached #1 on the US Mainstream Rock chart. Red Moon, which included background vocals by U2's Bono, was released in 1990.

Read More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Call_(band)

=======================================

VIDEO: Sanctuary from the album "Let The Day Begin"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98C9izfzgas

========================================

VIDEO: The Walls Came Down from the album “Modern Romans”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kX8lqXAONg

Profile: Vigilantes of Love

2011-07-30T15:14:00.000-05:00

Vigilantes of Love is a rock band fronted by Bill Mallonee with a large number of secondary players drawn from the musician pool in and around Athens, Georgia. In its later manifestations in the later 1990s and early 2000s, Mallonee usually sang, played lead and rhythm guitar and harmonica, although in earlier bands he played drums.

The band takes its name from the New Order song "Love Vigilantes," although their sound tends more to folk, Americana, and country rock than New Wave. Their 2001 album Summershine also showed some movement toward Britpop and R.E.M.-style college rock, which would be more fully explored in Mallonee's solo career.

The band formed in 1990 in Athens, Georgia, where Bill Mallonee attended the University of Georgia. The act developed as a mostly acoustic, side-project of The Cone Ponies, the last in a long series of line-ups beginning in the mid-'80s with Windows and Walls, and Bed of Roses. For their first two recording projects—Jugular, Drivin' the Nails—the band performed as a trio between Mallonee, Mark Hall (accordion), and Jonathan "Dog-Mess Jonny" Evans (harmonica); the Athens, Ga. performance venues in which they were booked regularly included The Flying Buffalo, the 40-Watt Club, Rockfish Palace, Uptown Lounge, and—their musical "home"—The Downstairs Restaurant (now DT's Down Under). For the third and subsequent cd projects, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Billy Holmes played an increasingly important role. Later, when greater local success led increasingly to engagements more widely in the Southeast, and with the departure of Mark Hall and Dog-Mess Jonny, the band then re-formed as a traditional touring four-piece rock band including front man Mallonee, Newton Carter, David LaBruyere, and Travis McNabb (later of Better Than Ezra and Sugarland.).

After many years of successful touring nationally and abroad—England and Holland being particularly fond of Mallonnee's music—the band disbanded in 2001 as Mallonee went solo as a singer-songwriter/guitarist/raconteur playing to the renewed interest in roots-music Americana.

The band has now reformed in November 2008. The band played its first show back together on November 20 at the 40 Watt Club. A new album will be released in 2011.

==========================================

VIDEO: Good Luck Charm (Live) - Vigilantes Of Love play Good Luck Charm at Eddie's Attic in Decatur, GA - sold out show on 1-23-2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqqYhNg7HLk

============================================

VIDEO: Skin from the album Blister Soul (1995)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy15OXC1uls

Brainstorm Profile: The Choir – Alternative Rock Pioneers

2011-05-11T10:48:00.001-05:00

The Choir is an atmospheric Christian alternative rock band, led by Derri Daugherty on guitar and vocals, Steve Hindalong on drums—who also writes most of the band's lyrics—along with Tim Chandler on bass, Dan Michaels on saxophone and lyricon and Marc Byrd on guitar (as of 2005).

Each band member has also worked on numerous projects outside of The Choir: Hindalong produced the successful City On A Hill series of worship albums, co-writing the well-known song "God of Wonders" with fellow band-mate Byrd. Daugherty has been a member of contemporary Christian "supergroup" The Lost Dogs since 1991, with Hindalong recently joining the group. Chandler has been the bass player for Daniel Amos for many years, pre-dating his work with The Choir. Byrd was a member of Common Children, recorded with his wife Christine Glass as Glassbyrd, and is currently half of the post-rock duo Hammock.

The Choir was originally formed as Youth Choir in the early 1980s by Derri Daugherty and Steve Hindalong. The two songwriters had been introduced by mutual friend, bassist Tim Chandler, who was touring with Daniel Amos along with Daugherty, who was the band's roadie and sound man at the time. Hindalong and Daugherty quickly became friends and a songwriting team. Youth Choir became part of the Calvary Chapel Christian punk and alternative music scene, which also included the bands Undercover, Crumbächer, Altar Boys and 4-4-1.

The music of The Choir has been described by the Los Angeles Times as "magical songs that combine strains of murky psychedelia with pure pop." Billboard praised the band for its "dark poetic leanings, effects-laden guitars and strong melodic hooks." In 1984, Youth Choir became the first band ever to play at the Cornerstone Festival, the preeminent Christian arts and music festival in the United States. By 1986, the band dropped the "Youth" from its name and began calling itself simply The Choir. Hindalong began writing most of the lyrics for the band at this point, songs that are known for their vulnerability and honesty, particularly about the challenges inherent in romantic relationships and the simple joys of family life.

Although the band has long had a cult following among listeners of Christian alternative music, that did not translate into financial success within the Contemporary Christian music, or CCM, industry, nor did it lead to a successful mainstream crossover experienced by later groups like Jars of Clay, Switchfoot and Sixpence None the Richer, who have pointed to The Choir as a significant musical influence. As a result, the band nearly called it quits in 1996 after their final U.S. tour, a few years after Daugherty, Hindalong and Michaels moved from their homes in Southern California to Nashville, Tennessee, since much of the CCM industry is now based there. The difficulty of this cross-country move also made its way into the lyrics of the band's songs, primarily Speckled Bird. Nevertheless, the band continued recording, and received a Grammy Award nomination for their 2000 release, Flap Your Wings.

READ MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Choir_(alternative_rock_band)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Choir - Render Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnIyq5nfRQ4

Five Iron Frenzy - Proof That the Youth Are Revolting CD

2011-05-11T07:59:00.000-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Five Iron Frenzy - Proof That the Youth Are Revolting CD - FREE Gift With Purchase

ONLY $17.99

To order your copy, click “Add To Cart” below and follow the instructions thereafter:

======================================

Proof That The Youth Are Revolting is Five Iron Frenzy's first live album, released November, 1999 by Sarabellum Records and Five Minute Walk, with distribution by Warner Bros. Records.

It was recorded at eleven shows hroughout 1998 and 1999, including Cornerstone 1999.
The cover art was made by Douglas TenNapel.

Track listing

1. "Introduction" – 0:54
2. "One Girl Army" – 3:38
3. "Oh, Canada" – 3:02
4. "A Flowery Song" – 4:10
5. "Handbook For the Sellout" – 4:05
6. "Receive Him" – 0:20
7. "All That Is Good" – 3:21
8. "Dandelions" – 3:20
9. "Suckerpunch" – 4:04
10. "It's Not Unusual" – 2:12
11. "Anthem" – 3:27
12. "New Hope" – 3:45
- Ends with the song "Kingdom of the Dinosaurs"
13. "Arnold, Willis & Mr. Drummond" – 2:30
14. "Ugly Day" – 4:39
15. "Where Zero Meets 15" – 4:48
16. "Superpowers" – 3:46
17. "Blue Comb '78" – 4:02
18. "Every New Day" – 4:58

-Hidden Track-

"Messups"

Profile: The 77s - Rock Music Pioneers

2011-05-10T01:43:00.000-05:00

The 77s (alternatively spelled The Seventy Sevens or The 77's) are an American rock band consisting of Michael Roe on vocals/guitar, Mark Harmon on bass, and Bruce Spencer on drums

Unfortunately for The 77s, labelmates U2 found a great deal of success with their Joshua Tree album, thus distracting Island Records' attention from promoting what many fans consider The 77s' best album of their career.

On March 13, 1988, The 77s performed with The Alarm and House of Freaks at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, California, entertaining patrons such as Neil Young. Despite riding a wave of popularity with the critics, Tootle and Volz left the band later that same year. While the band reformed in the early 90s with the addition of former Strawmen members David Leonhardt (guitar) and Harmon, the live album 88 and Sticks and Stones, a collection of previously unreleased recordings and demos, were released. One song from Sticks and Stones ("MT") was later covered by Zoppi (featuring future 77s drummer Bruce Spencer) and featured a number of times on the popular FOX television series "Beverly Hills, 90210".

This new version of the band released a pair of albums for Word Records: 1992's The Seventy Sevens (known by the band and fans as Pray Naked, the album's original title which was dropped by the record label without consulting the band due to Christian vendor pressures not to sell an album titled "Pray Naked") and 1994's critically acclaimed Drowning with Land in Sight. Leonhardt and Smith would leave the band soon afterward. Drummer Bruce Spencer, formerly of Vector, was brought on board to fill Smith's vacancy. Roe chose not to replace Leonhardt, preferring to record and perform as a power trio; however, multi-instrumentalist Scott Reams was occasionally brought in to enhance the band's sound during their live performances.

READ MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_77s

====================================

The 77's – MT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05otChTdox4

=====================================

The 77's - Frames without Photographs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JJiV-9daHI

=========================

The 77's - What Was in That Letter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTDJEz2c6n0

=========================

The 77s - Don't, This Way

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug7l5cYhvf4

=========================

The 77s - Film at 11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-YFUvqwuLk

Vigilantes Of Love - Video Playlist

2011-04-28T02:17:00.001-05:00

VIDEO: Vigilantes Of Love - Parting Shot from the album “Blister Soul” (1995)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQkFb5SM1bI

Brainstorm Profile: Starflyer 59

2011-04-04T01:27:00.006-05:00

Starflyer 59 is an alternative rock band from Riverside, California that was founded in 1993 by Jason Martin, brother of Ronnie Martin of Joy Electric. While Jason Martin has written nearly all of Starflyer 59's songs, the band has included a number of different musicians over the years, including Jeff Cloud, Frank Lenz, and Richard Swift. The band's sound was initially identified as an outgrowth of the shoegazing movement of the early 1990s, but the band's music in the late 2000's bears almost no resemblance to that of its early days.

Starflyer 59 was signed to Tooth & Nail Records, their original and current label, after Jason Martin gave a demo to Brandon Ebel when the two met at a music festival in 1993. Shortly afterwards, Ebel contacted Martin and offered him a record contract. By the end of the year, Starflyer 59's debut album, Silver, was recorded and released.

In mid-1994, Starflyer 59 released a follow-up EP to Silver entitled She's The Queen. Fans who had purchased Silver and new listeners who were beginning to hear more about the band had begun to say that they "liked the second album more than the first." Interestingly, this somewhat angered Jason Martin, as he did not intend for the EP to be considered any sort of album whatsoever. He felt there was no reason to compare the two pieces of work to each other. Either way, the fanbase for Starflyer 59 was beginning to grow.

In 1995, Starflyer 59 released their second album, Gold. The sound was similar to their first release, while Jason Martin continued to add layers of guitar riffs to each song. Original response to the album was generally negative.[1] Many who had enjoyed the band's debut were disappointed with the release, partly because the songs had a somewhat depressive tone and continued on for minutes and minutes on end. Eventually, people began viewing Gold positively. Sales of the album suddenly jumped and it nearly tripled the sales of Silver.

For Starflyer 59's next album which was released in 1997, Americana, several changes to the band were made. Bass player Andrew Larson departed, being replaced by Eric Campuzano (The Prayer Chain). In addition, Wayne Everett, also of The Prayer Chain became the band's studio drummer, a role that had previously been held by Jason Martin himself (although Everett had been the drummer on several tracks on Gold). High tensions in the studio during the recording of the album led Campuzano to leave the band before it began touring to support the new album. Replacing him was Jeff Cloud, who had been Starflyer's touring manager.

The release of The Fashion Focus in 1998 signaled a significant change in the direction of the band's sound, largely due to the influence of producer Gene Eugene. Where previous albums had emphasized guitars and loud rock and roll, The Fashion Focus was a significantly softer album. This album featured the introduction of keyboards in the music, which replaced layered guitars. The new sound was more pop-friendly than earlier albums, while not abandoning the signature Starflyer sound. The song "Too Much Fun" would be the band's last song in the early shoegazing style. Everybody Makes Mistakes, released the next year, continued in the same direction as The Fashion Focus.

READ MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starflyer_59

=========================================

Starflyer 59 - I Drive A Lot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csPEitRRfuM

Starflyer 59 - No New Kinda Story
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qO9F8mtL5o

Starflyer 59 - The Hearttaker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPzhleUuKRE

Starflyer 59 La Vainqueur CD Single

2011-04-02T08:37:00.000-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Starflyer 59 - La Vainqueur CD [Single] - ONLY $4.99

FREE Gift With Purchase

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==========================

Track Listing

1. Vainqueur [Radio Edit]
2. When No One Calls (It Will Be All Right)
3. Starflyer 2000 (Reprise)
4. Le Vainqueur

LSU Cash in Chaos World Tour CD

2011-04-02T08:31:00.004-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: LSU Cash in Chaos/World Tour CD - ONLY $9.99

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===========================

With World Tour, LSU front man Michael Knott announced that he was changing the name of L.S.U. to 'Cash in Chaos' (henced the mixed band name for this release). That name change didn't stick. World Tour is another classic L.S.U. disc, heavily influenced by Echo & The Bunnymen. Dark, swirling, heavy, and moody sounds abound on every song.

Track Listing

01 The Shell
02 Benny
03 Pound of Flesh
04 Confusion
05 Red Swine
06 Radio Satan
07 Yellow Sun
08 There's a Time
09 Spice of Life
10 Everything

VIDEO: L.S. Underground - There's A Time - Cash In Chaos (World Tour) (1993)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zyy69F_7-RI

Julie Miller - Blue Pony CD

2011-04-02T08:25:00.002-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Julie Miller - Blue Pony CD
- ONLY $9.99

FREE Gift With Purchase

To order your copy, click “Add To Cart” below and follow the instructions thereafter:

======================================

Track Listing:

1. A Kiss on the Lips 5:13 - Julie Miller
2. Take Me Back 3:53 - Julie Miller
3. By Way of Sorrow 2:52 - Julie Miller
4. Dancing Girl 4:05 - Julie Miller
5. Give Me an Ocean 3:16 - Julie Miller
6. All the Pieces of Mary 3:43 - Julie Miller
7. The Devil Is an Angel 3:05 - Julie Miller
8. Letters to Emily 4:28 - Julie Miller
9. I Call on You 4:28 - Julie Miller
10. Face of Appalachia 4:17 - John Sebastian [Lovin' Spoonful], Lowell George
11. Forever My Beloved 2:25 - Julie Miller
12. Blue Pony 3:27 - Julie Miller
13. Last Song :58 - Bill Mallonee, Julie Miller

Julie Miller's first secular album, Blue Pony, combines the exquisite Appalachiana of
Gillian Welch with the whispery confessionalism of Lisa Loeb. Julie and her husband
Buddy sing on each other's albums and work with the same pool of musicians. Together
they have released two of the best country discs of the decade. As good as Buddy's album
was, Julie's is even better. She has a high, small soprano that evokes the emotional
transparency of a teenage girl, but she's been through the love wars enough times to
recognize the moment "when the lie comes down like a kiss on the lips." A strain of
spirituality runs through the album that hints at her background in Christian music, and
like Sam Phillips, Julie makes her religious concerns so down-to-earth that it's
empathetic, not preachy. --Geoffrey Himes

BLUE PONY, Miller's debut record on Hightone (her previous effort was on a small,
Christian-oriented label) places her as a kind of quirky alternative-Americana artist.
Think of a rootsy Victoria Williams, whose voice Miller often brings to mind. As if to
purposely move past the "country" label, BLUE PONY starts off strong with a rocker, "A
Kiss On the Lips," with its understated energy and Hammond B-3 backing. The next song
"Take Me Back," is a high lonesome duet with Julie's husband and co-producer, Hightone
recording artist Buddy Miller. It recalls the kind of Appalachian folk songs that lie at
the roots of commercial country music.

While BLUE PONY does feature guest appearances by some big names (both Emmylou Harris
and Steve Earle contribute their talents), the real star here is Miller's voice, a slightly helium-laced affair that you'll either find completely irresistible or somewhat annoying. What makes her singing remarkable, though, is her ability to suggest girlish innocence while singing about a deep kind of evil.

Personnel: Julie Miller (guitar); Buddy Miller (vocals, guitar, melodica); Emmylou
Harris, Karen Peris, Steve Earle (vocals); Larry Campbell (banjo, bouzouki, fiddle);
Tammy Rogers (mandolin, fiddle); Matt Slocum (cello); Bill Mallonee (harmonica); John
Schreiner (piano); Phil Madeira (organ); Paul Griffith (drums, percussion); Donald
Lindley, Alison Prestwood (drums); Steve Hindalong (percussion).

Audio Mixer: Buddy Miller.
Liner Note Author: Julie Miller.
Recording information: Dogtown Studios.
Photographer: Bob Miller .
Unknown Contributor Role: Buddy Miller.
Personnel: Julie Miller (vocals, guitar); Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Karen Peris
(vocals); Buddy Miller (vocals, guitar, mandoguitar, melodica, bass); Tammy Rogers
(fiddle, mandolin); Larry Campbell (fiddle, banjo, bouzouki); Matt Slocum (cello); Bill
Mallonee (harmonica); John Andrew Schreiner (piano); Phil Madiera (Hammond B-3 organ,
pump organ); Allison Prestwood, Byron House (bass); Donald Lindley (drums); Paul
Griffith (drums, percussion); Steve Hindalong (percussion).
Engineers: Buddy Miller, Duane Jarvis, Don Peris

The Call - To Heaven And Back CD

2011-04-02T08:18:00.003-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: The Call - To Heaven And Back CD - ONLY $11.99

FREE Gift With Purchase

To order, Click “Add To Cart” below and Follow the instructions thereafter

======================================

Track Listings

1. Soaring Bird
2. Criminal
3. Love Is Everywhere
4. World On Fire
5. Think It Over
6. Musta Been Outta My Mind
7. All You Hold On To
8. Compromise
9. Become America
10. What Are You Made Of
11. Confession

Peter Gabriel once referred to The Call as the "the future of American music." An empty
prophecy because of the bands imminent break-up, but at the very least, a claim that
advocated the high artistic quality, skillful musical strength and genuine uniqueness of
this beloved band. By those that knew and appreciated them, they have been greatly
missed.

_To Heaven and Back_ finds them doing again what they've always done best: creating
their own special brand of thought-provoking, faith inspiring, and especially
emotionally riveting rock and roll. This new album is a most welcome return to their
form, and conjures the feeling and energy of some of their most appreciated albums like
_Reconciled_ and _Let the Day Begin_.

Some of these new songs, like "Criminal" and "World on Fire" are as gutsy and aggressive
as anything they've done before and feel more like the brash work on Michael Been's 1994
solo album, _On the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough_. "Musta Been Outta My Mind"
conjures the Rolling Stones with The Call's own unique twists. More subdued fare like
"Think It Over" are as poignantly powerful as any of the modern day laments Been's
penned in the past. With all these songs you'll not only hear The Call, you'll clearly
feel The Call as well. Michael Been continues to sing with a sense of passionate urgency
that, coupled with the band's unique take on rock and roll, can either compel or comfort
you.

There is much to inspire you here including this encouragement:
What do you live for What would you die for What do you stand for What are you made of.
Two songs here also appeared on last year's retrospective, _The Best of The Call_. I
prefer the more acoustic versions of both "All You Hold on to" and "Become America"
(which both featured Bruce Cockburn on guitar) than the more rocking versions on the new
album. Additionally, the album is not well paced and would benefit from a re-ordering
that groups some of the more aggressive tracks together thus helping to sustain the
album's overall energy rather than seeming so episodic. These are smalls complaint about
an otherwise consistently substantial album.

You'll find this album is as artistically appealing and lyrically rousing as any of
their previous albums. I'll leave you with an appropriate quote about the band from
Fingerprint Records that captures the spirit of The Call succinctly and accurately:
Since the release of their self-titled debut in 1982, The Call, hailing from
California's Bay area, established themselves as a breed apart. Led by Michael Been's
songwriting and voice, they burst on the scene like they knew everything was up for
grabs - because it was. This is a mainstream band made up of Christians, not a Christian
band for Christians only. They have toured with Peter Gabriel, Simple Minds, Tears for
Fears and many others. Time magazine has picked three of their releases in their "Year
End Top Ten." Rolling Stone magazine says: "Michael Been is one of the best lyricist in
rock today." In Been's clear and jarring baritone voice, you hear the emotional
landscape of the human heart as it shapeshifts its way across different territories
where love was so intense that it threatened to consume itself, to the garden of stark
confusion, to the seemingly endless desert of doubt. With a band that will swirl itself
into a fury or whisper like a southwind, Been walks the tightrope as the group's
frontman; he descends into the shadows willingly because he believes resolutely in the
hope that there is indeed light and grace at the other side."

- Steven Stuart Baldwin

BTW, The Call's last studio album was 1990's "Red Moon" but Michael Been's 1994 solo
album is definitely worthy of your attention.

Poor Old Lu - The Waiting Room CD

2011-04-02T08:08:00.003-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Poor Old Lu - The Waiting Room CD – ONLY: 9.99

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To order, Click “Add To Cart” below and Follow the instructions thereafter

====================================== Track listing

1. "Revolve"
2. "Now"
3. "Sunlight & Shadows"
4. "Crushed"
5. "Today"
6. "Interlude"
7. "A Month Of Moments"
8. "Praying For The Perfect World"
9. "Crowded"
10. "Friday To Sunday"
11. "The Waiting Room"

After a six year hiatus (during which the group had officially disbanded), Poor Old Lu
has returned with a wonderfully cohesive collection of songs that won't fail to satisfy
both the longtime fan as well as the many new listeners sure to be introduced to this
band through "The Waiting Room".

Poor Old Lu formed in 1991 in Seattle, Washington, and "Mindsize", their 1993 label
debut for Alarma Records, immediately set them apart from the rest of the emerging
Seattle scene with a wonderfully unique sound that was impossible to get out of your
head. Over the course of the next three years, Poor Old Lu continued to grew musically
and artistically and recorded two additional full length records (1994's "Sin" and
1996's "A Picture of the Eighth Wonder") and one EP (1995's "Straight Six") for Alarma
Records. Shortly after the release of "A Picture of the Eighth Wonder", the band
officially split up, even going so far as to record and release their "...Final
Performance" (1998, KMG Records).

To the delight of fans, the members of Poor Old Lu have done anything but stagnate over
the past several years. Guitarist Aaron Sprinkle has been actively producing and
engineering many records, not the least of which are the five recordings he's made solo
or with Bassist Nick Barber as Rose Blossom Punch. Drummer Jesse Sprinkle has also been
actively recording, and, in addition to playing drums for Morella's Forest, he has
produced two records and an EP with his own New York-based band, The World Inside. Lead
Singer Scott Hunter hasn't been recording, but his lyrical and vocal contributions
evidence the same maturation as the rest of the band. Musically, this band continues to
shine. Bravely experimenting with new sounds and techniques, Poor Old Lu challenges
listeners to join the band where they're at today, never content to simply pick up where
they left off in 1996.

Thematically, Poor Old Lu seems to have brightened up a bit since their last outing. The
title is a metaphor for Earth as we wait to meet our Saviour in Heaven. "The Waiting
Room" serves alternately as an exploration of broken man and his earnest plea for grace
and a closer relationship with Jesus Christ. This theme is plainly defined at the onset
through Hunter's ever-introspective lyrics in lead track Revolve: "Have the lights gone
dim/in the light of this sin? ... I'm pushing this out and pulling You in/I've been
living in doubt and walking on pins/I'm throwing this out and hoping in (where joy and
peace begin)/I'm sick of the drought and walking on."

Ultimately, this record is not only a welcome return of a wonderfully talented band, but
it is also an exciting preview of things to come. This is a great place to start if
you're not familiar with Poor Old Lu; and, if you are already a fan, you know that "The
Waiting Room" will join the rest of Poor Old Lu's records as an absolutely indispensable
musical component of your life.

Rick Elias And the Confessions 2-Disc Set

2011-03-30T03:33:00.005-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Rick Elias And the Confessions - Ten Stories (2-Disc Set)

ONLY $14.99

FREE Gift With Purchase

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======================================

Track Listings

Disc: 1 Rick Elias And the Confessions

1. Confession Of Love
2. Streets Of Rome
3. Miles And Miles
4. Before The Fall
5. Someday
6. The Word Is Love
7. Riot (Comin' On)
8. Without One Word
9. Stones
10. Stripped

Disc: 2 Ten Stories

1. I Wouldn't Need You (Like I Do)
2. John Doe
3. Don't Rain On Me
4. My Very Own Hero
5. When You Lose Someone You Love
6. Steps
7. Wondering Why
8. Pray For The Day
9. Only Your Love
10. Leave One Light On

Jacob's Trouble - Knock, Breathe, Shine

2011-03-30T03:27:00.002-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Jacob's Trouble - Knock, Breathe, Shine

ONLY $14.99

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======================================

This is an excellent album of Monkees/Beatles/Byrds inspired pop music. Includes the
songs "Islands, buildings and freeways", "Little Red Words", "Is it True" and "These
Thousand Hills"

Tracks Listings:

1. Look At U Now
2. Little Red Words
3. Dreamaker
4. Further Up & Further In
5. Beggars And Kings
6. Is It True?
7. Islands, Buildings, And Freeways
8. I Believe In You
9. There Goes My Heart Again
10. Mr. Hitler
11. I'm A Little World
12. About Sex (Part II)
13. Wounded World
14. These Thousand Hills

Vigilantes of Love - Welcome to Struggleville CD

2011-03-30T03:17:00.002-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Vigilantes of Love - Welcome to Struggleville CD

ONLY $4.99

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Shortly before signing his first major label deal, singer-songwriter Bill Mallonee had
assembled a full rock band, and plugged in the once-folky Vigilantes. This is their
first rock album. Producer Jim Scott (Sting, Mark Heard) aimed for a Gin Blossoms gloss.
There are a few great, radio-friendly songs here (the title track is easily the
highlight). The only Christian in the band, his literate lyrics are at their best when
layered with Biblical references.

Track Listing:

1 Welcome to Struggleville
2 Aftermath
3 Resume
4 Babylon
5 All Messed Up
6 Vet
7 I Can Explain Everything
8 Runaway Train
9 Sympathy
10 Cold Ground
11 Last To Know
12 Bitter Price to Pay
13 Glory and the Dream

Daniel Amos - Live At Cornerstone 2000 - CD

2011-03-30T03:12:00.001-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Daniel Amos - Live At Cornerstone 2000 - ONLY $19.99

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This performance at Cornerstone 2000 was so awesome that Millenium 8 Records released it
in 2001 as a 2 CD Set rather than editing it down to a single disc. Its a one-time
Limited Edition pressing of just 1500 copies. The sonic quality of this show was rated
8.5 out of 10. Disc 1 is TT: 65:15 Disc 2 is TT: 62:45 4-page insert Track listing:
'Ghost Of the Heart,' 'Hell Oh,' 'Prayer Wheel,' 'I Didn't Build It For Me,' 'If You
Want To,' 'Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You,' 'Tracking the Amorous Man,' 'Alarma,!' 'Grace
Is the Smell Of Rain,' 'Glory Road,' 'Virgin Falls,' 'Walls Of Doubt,' 'Broken Ladders
To Glory,' 'Zoom Daddy,' 'The Twist,' 'GoGo the Talking Guitar,' 'Safety Net,' 'Arthur
Fhardi's Yodeling Party,' 'Theos Logic,' 'Big Warm Sweet Interior Glowing,' 'Big Guns,'
'I'll Get Over It,' 'Sanctuary,' 'I Love You #19,' 'Shape Of Air' and 'Through the
Speakers.'

Mark Heard - Fingerprint CD

2011-03-30T03:03:00.001-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Mark Heard - Fingerprint CD - ONLY $14.99

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'Fingerprint' was first released on the label Palmfrond Records in 1980, about a year after Appalachian Melody', which was issued by Larry Norman's Solid Rock Records. On tour through Switzerland, the idea came up to produce a limited quantity of a special low budget recording and to publish it on an unknown label, so to speak as a special treat for fans only. Although most of the recordings were actually made by Mark in the US, but the album's mood still reflects the very creative spirit of those happy times in Switzerland, where the LP was also printed. 'Es tut mir leid' (I'm sorry) reflects Mark's self-critical and smiling reaction to a crowd who's language he didn't understand, and his somewhat black humour expresses itself equally in 'Gimme Mine'. 'Fingerprint' also contains a most personal homage to his beloved wife: 'Brown Eyed Sue'.

TRACK LISTING

1. "I'm In Chains"
2. "Nowadays"
3. "One More Time"
4. "Epistle"
5. "Just the Same"
6. "Well-worn Pages"
7. "Intro"
8. "Gimme Mine"
9. "All the Sleepless Dreamers"
10. "Negative Charge"
11. "Brown-Eyed Sue"
12. "Es Tut Mir Leid"
13. "Remarks To Mr. McLuhan"
14. "Threefold Amen"

Adam Again - Perfecta CD

2011-03-30T02:39:00.004-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Adam Again - Perfecta CD - ONLY $19.99

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Track listing
1. "Stone" – 4:58
2. "Strobe" – 2:31
3. "All You Lucky People" – 4:23
4. "All Right" – 4:33
5. "Harsh" – 6:10
6. "Air" – 3:49
7. "Dogjam" – 5:37
8. "L.C." – 5:06
9. "Relapse" – 6:49
10. "Every Mother's Way" – 3:57
11. "What's Your Name?" – 4:57
12. "Unfunny" – 3:30
13. "Try Not to Try" – 3:55
14. "Don't Cry" – 4:23

Phil Keaggy Glass Harp Live at Carnegie Hall [Live] CD

2011-03-30T02:34:00.002-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Glass Harp Live at Carnegie Hall CD

This is the only way to hear Glass Harp - live! The improv skills of this band are awesome. It sat hidden for a quarter of a century but now it is out for everyone to hear! (Recorded 1971) - ONLY $19.99

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Track Listing

1 Look In The Sky (Keaggy/Sferra/Pecchio) - 10:16
2 Never Is A Long Time (D. Pecchio) - 3:33
3 Do Lord (Keaggy/Sferra/Pecchio) - 3:59
4 Changes (J. Sferra) - 6:27
5 Can You See Me (D. Pecchio/P. Keaggy) - 28:56

Daniel Amos - Preachers From Outer Space CD

2011-03-30T02:23:00.002-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Daniel Amos - Preachers From Outer Space CD – ONLY $19.99

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Track Listing:

1. Shotgun Angel
2. Abidin
3. Happily Married Man
4. Salvation Wings
5. Hound of Heaven
6. Secret Scripts & 3D Glasses
7. Horrendous Disc
8. Posse in the Sky
9. Secret Scripts &3D Glasses
10. Mary baker Eddy
11. I Love You
12. You Always Run Away From Love
13. As Long As I Live
14. I Get Around

Over The Rhine - The Darkest Night of the Year [CD]

2011-03-30T01:49:00.006-05:00

Over The Rhine - The Darkest Night of the Year [CD]

AVAILABLE NOW: Over The Rhine - The Darkest Night of the Year - ONLY $19.99

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======================================

The Darkest Night Of The Year CD, An alternative to jingly, syrupy fare, this after dark collection "conjures some of the real mystery of Christmas, snowy open spaces, frozen stars, warm lamp-lit rooms..."

Track listing

1. The First Noel
2. Silent Night
3. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear
4. Greensleeves
5. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
6. Coal Train
7. Thank You My Angel
8. Mary's Waltz
9. Up North Here Where The Stars...1945
10. Silent Night - (duet)
11. O Come, O Come Emmanuel
12. Amelia's Last
13. A Little Lower Than The Angels

Julie Miller - Invisible Girl CD

2011-03-29T21:22:00.003-05:00

AVAILABLE NOW: Julie Miller - Invisible Girl CD – ONLY $29.99

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Julie Miller, the singer and songwriter with the little girl voice, released her project Invisible Girl in 1994. A blend of CCM, Christian folk, blues, and Christian
alternative, the album is an incredibly vulnerable and emotionally revealing release
from the artist. The down to earth and humble recording has the potential to comfort the
broken and offer hope to those who have none. Songs include the tender ballad "In My
Eyes," which presents an individual's worth in the eyes of God, and the rhythmic,
folk-flavored "When You Come Home." Also featured is the blues and gospel influenced,
"Too Many Troubles," plus the gentle piano melody of "I Will Be With You." - All Music
Guide

1994 Street Level Music, distributed by REX MUSIC.

Track Listing

1. Nobody's Child
2. Runaway Heart
3. In My Eyes
4. When You Come Home
5. Too Many Troubles
6. I Will Be With You
7. Weapon of the Spirit
8. Can't Cry Hard Enough
9. End of the Road
10. Back of Your Head
11. I Like You
12. Untitled ( 9 second 'sound clip')

Brainstorm Radio: Latter Days - Over The Rhine

2011-03-20T14:20:00.000-05:00

VIDEO: Latter Days - Over the Rhine

To view original video post, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPlOF6R1KWI

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Latter Days
words and music: Linford Detweiler
From the CD: Good Dog Bad Dog

Lyrics:

What a beautiful piece of heartache this has all turned out to be.
Lord knows we've learned the hard way all about healthy apathy.
And I use these words pretty loosely.
There's so much more to life than words.

There is a me you would not recognize, dear. Call it the shadow of myself.
And if the music starts before I get there dance without me. You dance so gracefully.
I really think I'll be o.k. They've taken their toll these latter days.

Nothin' like sleepin' on a bed of nails. Nothin' much here but our broken dreams.
Ah, but baby if all else fails, nothin' is ever quite what it seems.
And I'm dyin' inside to leave you with more than just cliches.

There is a me you would not recognize, dear. Call it the shadow of myself.
And if the music starts before I get there dance without me. You dance so gracefully.
I really think I'll be o.k. They've taken their toll these latter days.

But tell them it's real. Tell them it's really real.
I just don't have much left to say.
They've taken their toll these latter days.
They've taken their toll these latter days.

Brainstorm Radio: Latter Days - Over The Rhine

2011-03-20T14:02:00.003-05:00

VIDEO: Latter Days - Over the Rhine

To view original video post, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPlOF6R1KWI

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Latter Days
words and music: Linford Detweiler
From the CD: Good Dog Bad Dog

Lyrics:

What a beautiful piece of heartache this has all turned out to be.
Lord knows we've learned the hard way all about healthy apathy.
And I use these words pretty loosely.
There's so much more to life than words.

There is a me you would not recognize, dear. Call it the shadow of myself.
And if the music starts before I get there dance without me. You dance so gracefully.
I really think I'll be o.k. They've taken their toll these latter days.

Nothin' like sleepin' on a bed of nails. Nothin' much here but our broken dreams.
Ah, but baby if all else fails, nothin' is ever quite what it seems.
And I'm dyin' inside to leave you with more than just cliches.

There is a me you would not recognize, dear. Call it the shadow of myself.
And if the music starts before I get there dance without me. You dance so gracefully.
I really think I'll be o.k. They've taken their toll these latter days.

But tell them it's real. Tell them it's really real.
I just don't have much left to say.
They've taken their toll these latter days.
They've taken their toll these latter days.

Brainstorm Profile: Daniel Amos - Retrospective and Videos

2011-03-17T19:59:00.008-05:00

One of Contemporary Christian music's most enduring cult bands, Daniel Amos have taken their own idiosyncratic musical path since their mid-1970s beginnings. Singer/guitarist Terry Scott Taylor has led the group through a host of membership changes and artistic shifts, creating an impressively diverse body of work in the process.

Over the decades, the lyrical focus of the group has moved away from an explicit evangelical stance toward more personal commentaries on theological and cultural themes. Although Daniel Amos rarely play live, they returned to record-making after a five-year absence with Mr. Buechner's Dream in 2001. Named for two Old Testament prophets, Daniel Amos trace their beginnings to the San Jose, California, area. Taylor began writing songs at a young age; by his mid-teens, he was playing in a series of local rock combos, including the Scarlet Staircase and the Cardboard Scheme. The latter band was heavily influenced by the 1960s British Invasion, foreshadowing Taylor's Beatles-influenced songs of a decade later. The Cardboard Scheme opened for Van Morrison at a July of 1966 concert before breaking up shortly thereafter.

After dabbling in drugs and exploring various religions, Taylor became a Christian in 1971. That same year, he joined forces with guitarist Timothy Warner and singer/percussionist Doug Montgomery to form Good Shepherd, a Christian-oriented country/rock group. His shift toward spiritual themes in his songwriting was natural and unpremeditated. "When I started writing songs about my newfound faith, I didn't think of it as being Christian music," he told Contemporary Musicians. "I wanted to say something about my discovery--I was excited about life and turning over a new leaf.... So I just sort of incorporated Christian lyrics into songs I was already writing at the time." In 1972 Warner left Good Shepherd, prompting Taylor to form another Christian country/rock combo, Jubal's Last Band. Shortly thereafter, the group moved from San Jose to Costa Mesa, California, where it became part of the thriving Christian music scene associated with Calvary Chapel. In 1974 Taylor and fellow Jubal guitarist Steve Baxter combined their talents with guitarist Jerry Chamberlain and bassist Marty Dieckmeyer to form Daniel Amos. A lineup change the following year resulted in Baxter leaving the fold and keyboardist Mark Cook and drummer Ed McTaggert joining the group.

Maranatha Records (a Christian record label affiliated with Calvary Chapel) released Daniel Amos's self-titled debut album in 1976. Acoustic-oriented in sound, the band's initial effort displayed an upbeat, almost naïve sweetness. Such tunes as "Ain't Gonna Fight It" captured the starry-eyed glow of a newly converted believer. The songs on Daniel Amos preached the gospel in unambiguous terms. "In the beginning, because I was young, there was a real emphasis on evangelism," Taylor told Contemporary Musicians. "At one time, I thought that was primarily my calling, to evangelize through what I was doing musically.... And so, the sorts of songs that I wrote ... were insensitive to an audience at large. A lot of it was preaching to the choir." From Country Rock to New Wave Shotgun Angel, Daniel Amos' sophomore album, was issued by Maranatha in 1977. This song collection shows definite artistic growth, both lyrically and musically. Its tracks draw upon a potpourri of Southern California rock influences, from the Beach Boys and the Eagles to Steely Dan. Taylor's knack for mixing the divine and the ridiculous comes through in "Black Gold Fever" and "Meal," a pair of good-humored country/gospel tunes. "Father's Arms" expresses a strong message of faith in a sleek jazz/rock setting. Shotgun Angel's second side is devoted to a suite of songs based upon the Christian Bible's Book of Revelation; these include the giddily operatic "Better," mocking materialism, and "Lady Goodbye," a bittersweet farewell to the world. Daniel Amos grew to a sextet with the addition of percussionist Alex MacDougall shortly after Shotgun Angel's release. Hitting their stride creatively, they began to arouse interest beyond the confines of the Christian music world.

The band was offered a contract by Warner-Curb Records, a mainstream label, in the late 1970s. Unfortunately, the deal fell through, largely due to a contractual battle between Daniel Amos and Solid Rock Records (founded by Christian rock pioneer Larry Norman). As a result, their album Horrendous Disc wasn't released for three years. When it finally appeared on the Solid Rock label in 1981, Horrendous Disc was hailed by many Christian music critics as a major breakthrough. Leaving its country leanings far beyond, the band fully emerged as a modern rock unit. "I Love You #19" is built around a ferocious lead guitar line, while "Sky King" and "Man in the Moon" feature elegantly atmospheric strings and harmonies. Many of the album's lyrics (written mostly by Taylor) comment on the fragility of the material world and the boundless power of God in sardonically humorous terms.

By the time Horrendous Disc was released, Daniel Amos had slimmed down to a quartet consisting of Taylor, Chamberlain, Dieckmeyer, and McTaggert. Signing with the Benson Company-distributed Newpax label, this lineup recorded Alarma!, the first of four inter-related albums collectively called the Alarma Chronicles. Intentionally jagged and jarring, Alarma! comments on the alienation and materialism of the modern world in tunes like "Faces to the Window" and "Colored By." Its treatment of spiritual topics is often subtle and tinged with satire, unusual for Christian music of the time.

Replacing Dieckmeyer with Tim Chandler on bass, the group released Doppelganger in 1983, a further indictment of mankind's sorry state. Such cuts as "New Car," "Real Girls," and "Mall (All Over the World)" overlay portraits of soulless thrill-seekers and consumers on top of cleanly rendered pop/rock tracks. "Hollow Men" invokes the bleak poetic visions of T.S. Eliot to convincing effect. Touring in support of Doppelganger, Daniel Amos created an elaborate stage show, featuring Taylor and his bandmates wearing masks with battery-operated lightbulbs in their mouths. Some fans were disturbed by the dark tinge of these concerts, and the band was heckled as well as cheered. Chamberlain left Daniel Amos prior to the recording of 1984's Vox Humana, which features a more prominent keyboard sound courtesy of new member Rob Watson. If anything, the satiric content became even sharper this time out, with "Home Permanent" and "The Incredible Shrinking Man" skewering '80s-style conformity.

Reminiscent at times of the jittery New Wave sounds of Devo and Wall of Voodoo, Vox Humana lacks some of the graceful melodicism heard on previous Daniel Amos offerings. This lack is offset somewhat by "Sanctuary," the album's hymn-like closing number. The Alarma Chronicles series concluded with Fearful Symmetry, released by Frontline (a Benson-associated label) in 1986. Taking its title from a line in a William Blake poem, the album features the guitar/keyboard contributions of new member Greg Flesch. By turns brooding and ethereal, this song collection tempers its caustic ironies with such serene moments as "Beautiful One." As ever, the band had a knack for odd genre combinations, as evidenced by the New Wave country stomp "Sudden Heaven."

On Christian Music's Far Edge Taken in sum, the Alarma Chronicles were a bold step artistically, far more adventuresome than most Christian pop music of the time. Commenting on the Alarma albums after their rerelease as a CD boxed set in 2000, Phantom Tollbooth reviewer Terry Wandke noted that Daniel Amos "used biting wit and social critique and set it to music that pushed the envelope of Christian music in the eighties." Unfortunately, such creativity didn't lead to wide exposure or popularity. Looking back over the band's career since the 1980s, Taylor told Contemporary Musicians that "Christian radio left us long ago.... I think we don't compose feel-good music--I think it's honest music, and I think sometimes honesty is a threat to our lives and it's something we'd rather not hear. It doesn't fit into the format." Undaunted, Taylor led his band through a period of creative change, losing Watson and moving away from synthesizers toward a more basic guitar-centered sound.

For a number of albums, Daniel Amos shortened their name to DA, then returned to their original moniker in the mid-1990s. The group released much of its 1980s output on various self-launched custom labels--including Alarma and Refuge--distributed by the Benson Company. A number of releases on Frontline (another Benson-backed label) followed. For much of the 1990s, the group distributed albums on its Stunt label through Brainstorm Records before signing with Word for several releases.

READ MORE: http://robertigno-christianblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2009/02/blog-post_07.html

To view the Daniel Amos and related bands song list and lyrics go to: http://www.danielamos.com/lyrics.html

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VIDEO: "Sanctuary" from the album "Vox Humana: The Alarma! Chronicles Volume 3" (1984)
If you cannot view video, click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTDMaAr14yU

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VIDEO: "If You Want To" from the album "Kalhoun"

If you cannot view video, click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb42mk2xgKA

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VIDEO: Mall All Over the World from the album "Doppleganger: The Alarma! Chronicles Volume 2" (1983)

If you cannot view video, click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcSXit0LAAo

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VIDEO: "My Frontier" from the album "Motorcycle" (1993)

If you cannot view video, click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vIzOXVSPHM

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VIDEO: "William Blake" from the album "Vox Humana: The Alarma! Chronicles Volume 3" (1984)

If you cannot view video, click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkt3lSsc-hk

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VIDEO: "What a World, What a World" from the album "The Berry Vest", Swirling Eddies (1995)

If you cannot view video, click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYojcwUDqRc

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VIDEO: An interview with Terry Taylor (from Daniel Amos) sometime back in the '80s. Live footage, but overdubbed with studio tracks.

If you cannot view video, click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUSZfF8v1Qg

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February. Take ink and weep, by Boris Pasternak

2011-02-10T12:11:00.003-06:00

February. Take ink and weep,

February. Take ink and weep,
write February as you’re sobbing,
while black Spring burns deep
through the slush and throbbing.

Take a cab. For a clutch of copecks,
through bell-towers’ and wheel noise,
go where the rain-storm’s din breaks,
greater than crying or ink employs.

Where rooks in thousands falling,
like charred pears from the skies,
drop down into puddles, bringing
cold grief to the depths of eyes.

Below, the black shows through,
and the wind’s furrowed with cries:
the more freely, the more truly
then, sobbing verse is realised.

- Boris Pasternak

Live On My Mind by Bruce Cockburn

2010-07-12T22:18:00.001-05:00

"Quite possibly one of the greatest love songs ever written that most people have never heard. The rich tapestry of lyrics to describe the love of a significant other is only matched by the reality that everything about it rings true." - The Brainstorm Digest

==========================

LIVE ON MY MIND

See you standing in the door against the dark
Fireflies around you like a crown of sparks
You blow me a kiss that blurs my vision
Blurs the human condition

You're the ocean ringing in my brain
You are my island ripe with cane
Catch the scent of strange flowers when you pass
Fluid motion like the wind in grass

It's your eyes I want to see
Looking into mine
Got you live on my mind
All the time

Light me like incense in the night
Light me like a candle burning bright
Light me like a searchlight in the sky
Time means nothing when I look in your eyes

It's your eyes I want to see
Looking into mine
Got you live on my mind
All the time

Music Review: Natalie Merchant - Leave Your Sleep (2010)

2010-05-08T13:32:00.000-05:00

Music Review: Natalie Merchant - Leave Your Sleep

Author: Mark Saleski

On paper it looks like a mess. A mess that has been done before. For lyrical source material, take a bunch of words written by a cast of poets both famous and not. Set the poetry to music. Then, record the songs with a huge assortment of musicians, again both famous and not. We're talking over one hundred players here...a year in the making. Though there have been a few counterexamples, pop music history is littered with failures of this sort. It sounds like another train wreck in the making.

I'm glad to report that my skeptical side was completely wrong. Not only does Leave Your Sleep work, it just might be the best thing that Natalie Merchant has ever done as a solo artist.

Ms. Merchant says that the words and stories of the poets evoked their own musical themes. What again seems like a potential problem — a batch wide-ranging styles, tending to work against a cohesive statement — is spun into a glorious victory. Yes, there are tunes with Celtic flair alongside orchestra-draped waltzes, country & bluegrass, jazz, reggae, klezmer, R&B, Cajun, Balkan, and Chinese folk. In the end, Merchant's musical ideas and their inspired realizations draw it all together. She does this with help from the likes of the Ditty Bops, Hazmat Modine, the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, members of the New York Philharmonic, Wynton Marsalis, Medeski, Martin & Wood, and many others.

The poetry employed here originates from the famous (Ogden Nash, e.e. cummings, Robert Louis Stevenson) to the fairly obscure (William Brighty Rands...though hey, this is the United States. Aren't all poets obscure?). Unknown poets are even represented here by a handful of lullabies.

It's quite obvious that Merchant's great love of both words and various musics drove her to make this statement. This isn't to say that it's all straight-backed-chair serious. Not at all. Waltz's such as the (beautifully orchestrated) "Equestrienne" are counterbalanced by the jaunt of tunes like "Calico Pie" and the klezmer strut of "The Dancing Bear." What's so great about this recording is that Merchant makes it all sound very natural. She may be visiting genres that are new to her catalog (Merchant has said her musical interests go far beyond what we've heard from her so far), but there's not a hint of discomfort in her new surroundings.

Brainstorm Profile: Mark Heard (1951-1992)

2010-05-08T13:16:00.002-05:00

John Mark Heard (December 16, 1951 - August 16, 1992) was a record producer, folk-rock singer, and songwriter originally from Macon, Georgia, USA. Mark Heard released 16 records in his lifetime, and produced and performed with many other artists as well, such as Sam Phillips (aka Leslie Phillips), Pierce Pettis, Phil Keaggy, Vigilantes of Love, Peter Buck of R.E.M. (who co-produced VOL's album Killing Floor with Heard), John Austin, The Choir, Randy Stonehill and Michael Been of The Call. Heard produced part of Olivia Newton-John's The Rumor, which also included a cover of Heard's own "Big and Strong" (originally called "How To Grow Up Big And Strong").

After graduating from the University of Georgia in 1974 with an ABJ (bachelor of arts in journalism) degree in television, Heard travelled to Switzerland to study at L'Abri under the influential evangelical Christian philosopher Francis Schaeffer. Singers Larry Norman and Randy Stonehill literally stumbled onto Mark one day playing his guitar. Norman was so impressed by Heard's abilities that he soon signed him to his record label, Solid Rock Records. Heard and his wife Janet moved to Glendale, California in 1977 to begin work on his Appalachian Melody album for the label, but would also maintain a close relationship with the people at the L'Abri for years. Heard would also record and release Fingerprint on a Swiss label in 1980.
In 1981, Heard began a recording contract with Chris Christian's Home Sweet Home Records. Although Mark's sales did not attract attention from the Major Christian Labels, Christian felt Mark's music was unique and fresh and deserved to be heard and funded his projects with no production oversight which Mark wanted. His signing to the label was a departure from the commercial Artist that Chris traditionally signed and produced on the Home Sweet Home label. Heard released five albums for the label; 1981's Stop the Dominoes, 1982's Victims of the Age; 1983's Eye of the Storm; 1984's Ashes and Light; and 1985's Mosaics. The overall experience was not one that Heard enjoyed, partly due to his personal experiences with record company executives, and partly due to compromises he felt under pressure to make in order to make himself and his songs more marketable to Christian audiences.

In 1984, Heard began recording in his home studio, which he dubbed "Fingerprint Recorders," after the title of one of his earlier records. From that point on, his albums were largely made at home, with just a handful of friends and relatives lending a hand. In 1986, Heard decided to try something a little different and recorded the experimental Pop/Rock album for What? Records entitled Tribal Opera, under the name iDEoLA. When asked about the unusual name, Heard replied "It's not supposed to be mysterious or anything; I just put a band together and right now I happen to be the only one in it." Heard also directed a music video for the single of that album, "Is It Any Wonder."
With the formation of Fingerprint Records and his studio, Heard began to produce albums for a number of artists including two albums for Randy Stonehill, Jacob's Trouble, Pierce Pettis and 1992's Vigilantes of Love album, Killing Floor, which he co-produced with R.E.M.'s Peter Buck. Stonehill's Until We Have Wings including a song co-written by Heard, "Faithful," although the CD liner notes credit the song to Heard's pseudonym Giovanni Audiori.

To read more about Mark Heard go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Heard
To view the Official Mark Heard Tribute Site:
http://www.markheard.net/

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Profile: Terry Scott Taylor

2010-01-31T09:59:00.002-06:00