New Sixpence None The Richer- My Dear Machine

noisetrade.com

This movie should have never happened...

Pete Peterson has a review of M. Night Shyamalan's newest film The Happening over at the Rabbit Room. He analyzes Night's other films and asks "What has happened to Shyamalan?" Good question. Like Pete, I saw this movie on opening night and was absolutely appalled. It was so bad that I have been contacting people for the sole reason of warning them not to go see this movie. I am with Pete on pretty much every point (except that Signs is my favorite MNS film) and he writes it so much better than I would have.

I should have listened to the Filmspotting guys.

If you'd like to see in detail how bad this movie was, The New Republic has a spoiler (and I use that word loosely, because it insinuates that there was something good to be spoiled) laden review that was way more fun than the movie. See the review here.

Coldplay- Stream their new album for free

Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends

This humble man says that Viva La Vida has X&Y in a choke hold and will soon snuff it out.

coldplay viva la vida

Fleet Foxes- Stream the new album for free

You can stream the new full length Fleet Foxes album over at their Myspace page. Jump for joy, buy this album, and enjoy the best album of the year (so far, but I'm thinking it's going to be right up there at the end of the year).

On a related note, I just found out that Fleet Foxes is going to be the opening band at the Wilco show I already bought tickets for. Yeah...I'm pretty excited.

wilco fleet foxes

Free Hip-Hop Sampler- Lamp Mode Recordings

Though I'm no hip-hop connoisseur, I've really been enjoying this free sampler download from Lamp Mode Records.

From Lamp Mode's website:

We are committed to providing Christ-centered, excellent music that stays true to the authentic, rugged hip-hop aesthetic that we love while bringing glory to God -and at an affordable price. And when we can, we will give it away for free. And that’s the case with “The Grassroots” CD. You are important to us. We are convinced that a loyal few is better than a fickle multitude. Our hope is that you will enjoy our music, pass it along to others, and allow us to serve you again in the future.

Track List
1-Grassroots Inchrow
2-Christ Crucified
3-Let’s Kill Sin
4-worldwideweb
5-A Letter To My Friends
6-From Beginning To End
7-Holiness of God

I've been listening to this sampler this morning and I have really been enjoying it. I'm pretty much the nerdiest white guy ever, but I'm still bouncing in my chair. So far I really like Holiness of God and A Letter To My Friends.

Various Musical Tidbits

Bon Iver interview with Pitchfork. You gotta check this guy out.

Damien Jurado's new album "Caught In The Trees" is coming out September 9th. He's started a blog, which I am assuming will have demos, cool pictures, and the occasional story. Get excited. You can hear a new demo of his song "Vivian Kane" over on the ol' Myspace page.

damien jurado bon iver pitchfork media

Sigur Ros- med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust

And what the heck does that mean?

• One, it means that Sigur Ros is putting out a new album on June 23rd, which is less than a month away.
  
• Two, it means you will be buying an album with naked people running across the freeway (those risky Icelanders! I hope they looked both ways.) on the cover. I'm not sure what's on the back, but I'm hoping it's not a view from the other side of the freeway.
• Three, it means "with a buzz in our ears we play endlessly".
• Four, it means you will should visit this site for more enticing info about the new album, including things like "the album will be available to pre-order on sigurros.com on june 2nd and a live stream of the album will be available on june 9th for those who have pre-ordered.' and "the record also contains some of the most joyous music the band has ever recorded."

THIS JUST IN!!! You can now download the first single Gobbledigook.

sigur ros med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust

Film and Theology- No Country For Old Men

Pastor James Harleman of Mars Hill Church in Seattle did a great job in his Film and Theology review of the excellent movie No Country For Old Men.

This review is posted over on the Cinemagogue blog, which is a valuable place to spend some time, especially if you love movies. Here's a blurb from the "cinemAbout" page:

Cinemagogue believes that we are image-bearers of our Creator. a master storyteller, whose narrative spans all of creation, a story in which we all play a part. Made in the image of our Creator, we have a yearning to both create, and be entertained, by narrative. People immerse themselves in story much like Christians treasure the story of Jesus. It is our hope that people would enjoy and engage cinema and storytelling mediums not just as “diversion” but with discernment, engaging the culture around us and reflecting on how it distorts and reflects the larger narrative of our lives. We place all stories against the controversial gospel of Jesus Christ who claimed not only to be truth incarnate, but in fact the master storyteller who spoke the universe into existence, as well as embodying the central figure and hero of our shared story that is life.

Cinema, meet truth.

no country for old men cormac mccarthy film and theology mars hill church james harleman

The Shack- A Few Critiques

I posted some critiques/reviews of the very popular book The Shack over on the Friday Nights in Ferndale blog. Take a peek and let me know what you think.

the shack william p. young