Instead of copying CDs that end up being used once for burning, and sit on the shelf, I thought for this release I’d put together something a little more unique, and could be used more like a keepsake. So for “Iceland,” I’m only going to be releasing the album on a super-limited run of audio cassettes, which you can see above here. The album is also streaming online at my basecamp, and if you buy the cassette, you’ll also get a download of “Iceland” as well.
As I continue my search for positive, uplifting music, I’ve stumbled across one of the best musical discoveries I’ve made in months: “Scandinavian Metal Praise.” The name is pretty self-explanatory; Christian “Praise and Worship” songs played by Finnish metal musicians, sung in English. Overall, I love it.
I’ve never been a fan of “metal praise” in general: it just seems too forced for me, either too raw or too slick… nothing “just right.” But when I was browsing iTunes for covers of “Take Me In” by Petra, I came across SMP’s version! And guess what? It’s the best cover yet, unlike the one by Kutless, which is just way too slick-metal for me.
When I went to check out the album itself, it got better yet. As you can see, the album cover is simply a church or kingdom, perched upon a tower in the clouds or something. Now THIS is the kind of praise and worship I can get behind. The riffs run the range from fairly poppy to heavier than what I’d expect, and the vocals sound similar to Evanescence. However, the guitars and drums are mixed way up front, so they don’t necessarily drown out the vocals, but they encourage you to crank the whole thing louder, which is probably the perfect experience for listening to the album.
There are a couple songs that I don’t love, like “When the Spirit of the Lord,” which reminds me of that old metal praise standard, “Jehovah Jirah.” But the awesome songs, “Great in Power,” “Praise Adonai,” “Worthy is the Lamb” and “Take Me In,” more than compensate for any of the band’s shortcomings.
In short, give it a listen. Then get it. (Here’s a link on iTunes).
Why do we bother with lists? I think it has to do with taste, as if when we collectively choose the same items, it means we all have highly developed critical faculties. These days, I see “best-of” lists as being pointless. Yes, there are “good” movies and “bad movies,” and “popular” doesn’t always equal good. Instead, I’ve abandoned “best” for “favourite,” because things that make an album or record “good” goes way beyond the aesthetic qualities, and extends to how it interacts and influences life itself. Your life.
In some ways, it’s like the band “The Editors.” They’re not a great band, but there’s something in their spirit I connect with, and find compelling. Critically I can’t defend everything they do, especially their new record, “In This Light and on This Evening,” which at times is downright embarrassing.
Or U2. Sure, some people loved the band when they were good (when they were teens/adults listening to half-decent music in the eighties), but a lot of people love the band now, despite Bono and co. being a dreadful foursome these days.
So here goes my theory: if you are checking out the band on their “Blackberry” tour (or whatever it is), you may go and think it’s the greatest concert in years. I won’t disagree with your feelings (because doing that is pointless and stupid), because odds are it might be the only concert you have been to in years. But like I said, I have no qualms with anyone who enjoys U2 or Nickelback, because your thing is your thing and that’s cool.
And that’s why I like to stick with “Favourite.” Because in the age of the internet, all anyone needs to do is download a best-of list of whatever Pitchfork posts online, and BAM, they have “good taste.” Which is why there are so many frat boys at National concerts.
So anyways, here’s the list of albums I loved and listened to this year that were “new,” in 2009. If you haven’t heard of them, check out their myspace, or hit up a record store like Rotate This, Soundscapes or Sonic Boom in Toronto, and grab any of these albums. I’m kind of curious what I’ll go back and listen to 10 years from now (Hello, “Kid A” and “Things We Lost in the Fire”).
So I hardly ever make New Year’s resolutions and that sort of thing. I perpetually make promises to myself that I often break; I don’t need another day on the calender to do that.
But lately I’ve been thinking about something big. Really big. If you’ve been following along, you may have heard that I’ve been coping with a fairly serious bout of depression this year, one far deeper and serious than any I’ve felt before in my life: it’s destroyed my ability to cope in social situations, riddled my creative life with self-doubt and hampered any sense of motivation for excellence at work.
Now, a big part of this has been multiple “environmental” factors (that’s a fancy term I learned in CBT) that went down this year: the shocking loss of a family member, the long and stressful illness of my partner, and other mounting frustrations elsewhere. It’s not necessarily that I need “cheering up;” if anything, social situations seem to bring me down even further.
In the work I’ve been doing to try and correct this downward spiral, I’ve done a lot of deep thinking about identity and what that means: I’ve been pushing myself to challenge what I’ve allowed my identity to become, and find out what I’m willing to do in order to shatter it. After all, my current identity of being “depressed” has lead me down a lone, narrowing path that I can’t say I’m thrilled to find myself in.
So with that said, one of the things I’m going to challenge myself with is to try and change my own “auditory” landscape: right now it’s littered with downright-depressing music that I absolutely adore. Pedro the Lion. Low. Mountain Goats. Red House Painters. Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Magnetic Fields. Cold War Kids. Michael Knott. Xiu Xiu. Modest Mouse. The Dears. The Smiths. The Cure. Neutral Milk Hotel. Godspeed You Black Emperor! The National. Hayden. I could go on and on and on. What I want to attempt to do is try and fill my music-life with an exclusively positive influence… music that is exuberant, vibrant, joyful and uplifting. (Yeah, I know, that sounds pretty weird to me to).
There’s many “environmental” factors in my life that I can’t control: but one of the things I can control is the music surrounding me (most of the time). If I can make this musical landscape more positive, I hope that tiny change may have an overall effect on my mood/disposition/state.
That’s where you come in: I need your help, and I’m looking for suggestions. I’m going to start with a list of music that I have now that I consider permissible, and if you have anything I could add, please do so. I’m looking for anything: funk, jazz, classical, folk, indie-rock, electro or electro-acoustic.
After a quick glance at my record collection, here’s what I’ve got so far:
You can keep my accountable by keeping up with my listening habits on Last.FM.
This week’s podcast features music by Cold War Kids, the Schomberg Fair, the Editors, the Constantines, Forest City Lovers, Jookabox, Evening Hymns, Postdata, Sufjan Stevens.
Ten years.
Ten years ago, I was halfway through my first year at Queen’s University in Kingston, making some of the best friends of my life and listening to some amazing music. One summer in British Columbia and two in Kingston later, I fell in love and graduated. Then I got engaged. After spending a depressing summer realizing I had no plans beyond university, I enrolled in the e-Journalism program at Loyalist College in Belleville. The instructors were amazing and inspiring, but most of the class were total petty jerks. I wrote for Tinymixtapes.com and interviewed the Arcade Fire in a parking lot outside Clark Hall Pub. I worked at Radioshack. Totally broke, I managed to “win” a trip to Abu Dhabi (with a pitstop in Amersterdam). I did an internship with CTV.ca news (never went back to Loyalist for graduation), got married, and earned a full-on job with the site. Moved into first Toronto apartment at Denison and Queen. Took first trip to Chicago.
Wrote for Wavelengthtoronto.com. Worked lots of afternoons. I put on 25 pounds. I finally settled in Toronto with Grace Toronto Church and again made more life-long friends. “So Wonderful” from the “Silver Speakers EP” gets played on CBCRadio3. I got off the afternoon shift, still working with CTV.ca. Moved to second apartment in Toronto on Danforth East. Record full-length “Streetlights and Stars” album in my bedroom. More tracks played on CBCRadio3. Lots of gigs. Take first trip to New York City. I’m diagnosed with chronic anxiety and put on another 25. Start taking Strattera. I started smoking heavily. Stopped taking Strattera. Buy TFC season tickets. Slowly work on paying off debt (unsuccessfully). Wife goes on sick leave. I put on another 30. Father-in-law passes away suddenly.
New workplace (same job) on Queen Street. Quit smoking. Silver Speakers perform at the Horseshoe Tavern. Begin to suffer most intense depression of my life. Start taking Wellbutrin. Quit drinking. Stop leading worship at Grace Toronto. Get treated for acute sleep apnea. Lost 20 pounds. Wife still sick. Still deep in school debt and wasting money on slick interior design objects. Eventual home ownership still looks unlikely, with baby plans also pushed back.
Overall, my outlook is far less hopeful and optimistic than 10 years ago, but I’m working on that.
And somewhere along the way in the last year I listened to a lot of music. Some of it life-changing, some not. A pile of old stuff (Smiths, Cure, Rolling Stones), and an even larger pile of new music that journeyed with me. Here’s the list of my favourite albums that for better or worse, will always remind me of this decade:
With her record, “Join Us,” being nearly entirely composed of electronic sounds, I was surprised to see Katie Stelmanis perform solo without any backing tracks at the “Make Some Noise” event Friday night. Her voice (sometimes tweaked by chorus) rose and reflected off the new library’s walls and ceilings, creating a vast and powerful sound. Despite being a little awkward in the strange (and bright) space, Stelmanis was gracious and warm, even giving in to the crowd’s demands of an encore (“I Will Always Love You”) despite not knowing any of the words besides the chorus. I wish I had a chance to meet whoever was taping the show… this is one I’d love to get a copy of. I’ll remember this show when she’s headlining Massey Hall in a few years.