Music Video Monday: I Will Fail You

Welcome Back to our regularly scheduled edition of Music Video Monday.

We begin with Micah Stampey, and Our God

Next up is Irish Worship Band The Remission Flow. This is Before The Dawn. I apologize for being late, guys but I was celebrating my Birthday this past weekend (it was actually Tuesday). Moving from Gospel to Worship to Metal, this is Demon Hunter, and I Will Fail You Things will be a lot more organized next week. Until Then, I am Awaiting Your Reply

Polar Vortex Polka: The 2014 2nd Quarter - Modern Worship

We conclude our wrap of the 2014 2nd Quarter entries with Modern Worship. They had a whopping nine entries, leading the pack. It seems everyone makes a worship album at some point in their careers, just like the mandatory Christmas album. Unfortunately that makes a lot of sameness in the genre, and we have a lot of work to do to find the best.

Modern Worship

• Elevation Worship - Only King Forever
• iWorship - iWorship Now/next 2014
• Jesus Culture - Jesus Culture Reconstructed, Volume 1
• Kari Jobe - Majestic (Live)
• Maranatha Music - Heart of Worship: 10,000 Reasons
• Planetshakers - Endless Praise
• Rend Collective Experiment - The Art of Celebration
• The Royal Royal - The Return of The King
• Various Artists - Wow Worship (Lime)

That finishes off our 2nd Quarter 2014 Wrap. We are on the 3rd Quarter. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply. 

Polar Vortex Polka: The 2014 2nd Quarter - Rock

We are almost at the end of the road. We move now to Rock. They had eight entries represented. So let's get on to the announcements.

Rock Music

• Carrollton - Breathe In Deep
• Colton Dixon - A Messenger Expanded Edition
• Peter Furler Band - Sun and Shield
• Jake Hamilton - Beautiful Rider 
• Nine Lashes - From Water To War
• Number One Gun - This is all we know
• Sumerlin - Runaways
• Veridia - Inseparable

No real surprises here, though I was very impressed by the strong debut of FFR band Veridia. They are going to be big.

The big genre of the quarter is next, and once again that is Modern Worship. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Polar Vortex Polka: The 2014 2nd Quarter - Alternative

Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Me. Thanks to the magic of scheduling we are doing alternative on automatic, since I am out celebrating my birthday. So let's not waste any more time that could be spent on cake and ice cream.

Alternative Rock

• Michael Boggs - More Like A Lion
• Future of Forestry - Piano and Strings Sessions
• Jars of Clay - Inlandia: The Remix Collection EP
• Jars of Clay - Jars 20 Stage It: Debut Album
• Kings Kaleidoscope - Live In Color
• John Mark MacMillan - Borderland
• Switchfoot - Fading West
• Jonathan Thulin - The White Room Deluxe

Future of Forestry was born for Strings and Piano, their emo style is perfect for it. And I really can't say enough about Kings Kaleidoscope. I have said a lot already.

Regular Rock is next. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Music Video Monday: Grace Upon Grace

Welcome to our Patriots Day edition of Music Video Monday. Here in Massachusetts, the home of The Night Beat (for now) we are giving a belated shout out to the battles of Lexington and Concord which began the American Revolution. I say belated because the day was actually April 19, 1775, so celebrating it on the 21st is a bit crass. We really need to get rid of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

We mix it up this Monday. We begin with Erica Campbell and Lecrae singing Help.

Next up is a new band I'm becoming quite fond of +kingskaleidoscope . Their song Felix Culpa is on auto repeat here in the office. Rock, Strings, Horns, it's got everything. Check out the video.

And finally, we begin the New Empire. To be a part you must Say it Like You Mean It.

That concludes this edition of Music Video Monday. Tomorrow we will continue with our 2nd Quarter wrap. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Polar Vortex Polka: The 2014 2nd Quarter - Gospel

This will be my last post before Easter. The true Gospel genre (that southern hooey is not welcome here) put out a respectable 7 entries, good enough to represent an entire genre if this were the finals.

Gospel/R&B

• Erica Campbell - Help
• Latice Crawford - Latice Crawford
• James Fortune and FIYA -Live Through It
• Christon Gray - School of Roses
• Israel and New Breed - Playlist: The Very Best of Israel
• Canton Jones - Lust, Drugs and Gospel
• J Moss - The Very Best of J Moss

All of the entries except Christon Gray are gospel (Christon's is most definitely R&B), and CJ moved within genres on LDG. A little rap, a little gospel, and a little R&B. A very enjoyable album. On Tuesday we shall move on to Alternative. Until then I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Polar Vortex Polka: The 2014 2nd Quarter - Adult Contemporary

We begin the single genre posts as we continue with our 2nd Quarter of 2014 wrap up. For those new to the Night Beat, I am counting from October 1-September 30, a Platinum Vinyl Award Eligibility Year, not a calendar year. 

Adult Contemporary had 6 entries this quarter. Without further ado.

Adult Contemporary/Inspirational

• Audrey Assad - O Happy Fault
• Dave Barnes - Golden Days
• Dave Barnes - Love Songs
• Jason Gray - Love Will Have The Final Word
• City Harbor - City Harbor
• Red Roots - Triplicity

Of all the entries, the fact that I liked Red Roots is my only sign of concern. They are obviously country, but they have a radio presence that is not to country, and it was enjoyable, so I have put them into the AC category. Gospel is next. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Polar Vortex Polka: The 2014 2nd Quarter - Metal Rap

We have reached the end of the multiple genre posts. From here on it is one genre a post. Heavy Metal and Rap Music had 3 and 4 entries respectively. Without further delay.

Hard Rock/Heavy Metal

• Demon Hunter - Extremist
• For Today - Fight The Silence
• The Overseer - Rest and Let Go

I know I'm going against the tide on Demon Hunter. A lot of people dislike that they have gone almost all ballad on this release. To me, however, it is artistic perfection.

Hip Hop/Rap

• Deraj - Mirrors and Medicine EP
• KB - 100 EP
• Andy Mineo - Neverland EP
• Shonlock - A Night To Remember

Next up in our quarterly  wrap up is Adult Contemporary. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

 

Polar Vortex Polka: The 2014 2nd Quarter - Remix Pop

We move on to our second of three multiple genre posts. This time we have Pop Music and the new genre Remixes. There are enough Remix albums out there now to merit a full genre, though not enough each quarter to have its own post. Both of these genres contributed four entries apiece.

Pop Music

• Anthem Lights - You Have My Heart
• Jamie Grace - Ready To Fly
• Lights of Day - Lights of Day
• Loftland - I Don't Want to Dance

Remixes

• Capital Kings - Remixed EP
• Jars of Clay - Inlandia: The Remix Collection EP
• Jesus Culture - Jesus Culture Reconstructed, Volume 1 
• David Thulin - Reconstruction 2.1

That concludes our second of three multiple genre postings of the second quarter releases that made the pool. Next up is our final installment with Rap and Metal.
 

Polar Vortex Polka: The 2014 2nd Quarter - Electronic Folk Children

I decided to have a little fun announcing the pool entries for the Winter. I really hated this past Winter and am really happy that Spring is here. So I have combined strong dislikes. Next to Country and Southern Gospel, it is a toss up, but the Polka has to be the worst form of music known to mankind. I'm Polish so I know of what I speak. I would consign all three to the pit if I ruled the world, and the world would be greatly improved just by that move.

As always, we begin by combining the orphan genres. Those that don't have enough entries to merit a post of their own. Dance-Synthpop had no entries.

Children's Music

• Shout Praises Kids - We Belong To Jesus

Folk/Folk Rock

• David Ian - Valentine's Day
• Charlie Peacock - Lemonade
• Papa San - One Blood

Electronic-Industrial

• Satellites and Sirens - One Noise

That is it for this post. I know some of you are saying. There is no Folk Music here, just Jazz and Reggae. Folk is my catch all genre where I put Jazz, Reggae, a lot of ethnic sounds except for Gospel, plus folk. At least until I get enough entries to create a genre all its own on a consistent basis.

Music Video Monday: Criminals and Kings

Welcome back to our regularly scheduled edition of Music Video Monday. We are all done with the Video Nominee announcements and will progress to the 2nd Quarter 2014 Pool Announcement.

We begin on a Hard Rocking note, with August Burns Red. This is Provision.

Moving on to Hip Hop. This is Benjah and Blanca formerly of Group 1 Crew. This is the Rainbow Remix.

Finally we hop on our Stellar Kart and Criminals and Kings.

That's it for this edition of Music Video Monday. We will have more videos next week. Enjoy, and I am Awaiting Your Reply.

MVM Special Edition: Rock Video Nominees

We have reached the final genre for the Video of The Year Awards in this years Platinum Vinyl Awards. We will still have Video of The Year and some general field video awards, but we will do that later as they are still being compiled. We conclude this Special Edition block with the nominations for Rock Video of The Year. And the nominees are:

All In (Apologize), +Stellar Kart 
Just Say Jesus (#Save Saeed), +7eventhTimeDownVEVO 
Made to Glow, +ShineBrightBaby 
Not Gonna Die, +skilletband 
Remember Me, +Red Jumpsuit Apparatus 
That finishes this Special Edition run of Music Video Monday. Next Monday we will be back again with new videos that are up for consideration in the 5th Awards next year. Remember to watch them all and vote for the best in each genre in the comments. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

MVM Special Edition: Heavy Metal Video Nominees

The final two are upon us. We are on the final approach for our revelation of the nominees for the video portion of the Platinum Vinyl Awards. Today we cover Heavy Metal, and tomorrow we do rock. There are still some other video nominees, including Video of The Year, but they are yet to be compiled. Some will depend on the voting here.

The nominees for this years Platinum Vinyl Awards in the category of Heavy Metal Video of The Year are:

The Abandoning, Love and Death
Cover Girl, The Ongoing Concept
First Sight, +The Devil Wears Prada 
If You Got It At Five You Got It At Fifty, Norma Jean
Transgressor, +ColossusMusic 
Only Rock Remains. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply (and comments too).

MVM Special Edition: Rap Video Nominees

We are almost through with the video portion of our Nominee Reveal. The next two segments will be much shorter. Today we reveal the nominees for Rap and Hip Hop Video of The Year. And the nominees are:

Goin' Home, +WHOSOEVER SOUTH 
No Sex, Still Trill Christians
Pharao feat +Tragic Hero , +Dre Murray 
Skyfall feat +Eshon Burgundy , Rekonciled
Sunglasses, Rod G Newman and Mr.Del
Just two more categories to go. Heavy Metal and Rock. I am Awaiting Your Comments.

MVM Special Edition: Electronic Industrial Video Nominees

We continue announcing the nominees for the Platinum Vinyl Awards Video Categories. Up now is Electronic-Industrial Video of the Year. A darker feel pervades this category as opposed to the more bouncy Dance-Synthpop, which was done previously.

The nominees for Electronic-Industrial Video of The Year are

Believe, +The Digital Age 
Faith Facing The Dark, Josh White  
Guns for Hands, +twenty one pilots 
Somewhere to Hide, +SHINY TOY GUNS 
Waiting Alone, +SHINY TOY GUNS 
Yeah, I know, Shiny Toy guns doubled up. Life isn't fair, boo hoo. The judging goes on video quality. Both of these videos were excellent. Only one can win, however.

We are halfway through, remember to use the comments to vote for your favorite. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Music Video Monday: Let The Sparks Fly

Carrie Underwood Rocks!! Now there's a statement you never thought you'd hear at Night Beat Central. No I haven't gone over to the dark side, though I did like Red Roots, and that might be a sign of trouble. It turns out that Carrie might come on over to the light. Seems that she is a closet fan of Thousand Foot Krutch, one of the best rock bands out there. While TFK was in Tulsa for a concert she came up on stage and Let The Sparks Fly.
We have some other videos this week. Up next is one of my favorite Metal Bands, and also the one with the coolest name. This is Demon Hunter and Artificial Light.
 

We shall close on an eclectic note. Rend Collective Experiment is one of the hardest to peg. Are They Rock, Folk, Worship, Alternative. Who knows, but they are a joy to listen to. This is My Lighthouse.
That concludes this edition of Music Video Monday. We resume our announcing of the video nominees for this years Platinum Vinyl Awards tomorrow. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Night Beat Rewind: March 2014

Taking A Break from the announcements of the nominees for the Video Award Category of the Platinum Vinyl Awards. We still have four categories to go, and they will be announced next Tuesday through Friday. I intend to have a regularly scheduled Music Video Monday on Monday. No Fooling.

Right now, it's time for some spring cleaning. The March edition of Rewind is upon us. March has been a very good month for releases. We begin, as always, with those releases, which PVA speaking:

Missed The Mark

• Big Daddy Weave - Love Come to Life: The Redeemed Edition 3.75 Emeralds
• Bread of Stone - The Real Life (Deluxe Edition) 3.75 Emeralds
• Hillsong United - The White Album (Remix Project) 3.75 Emeralds
• Samuel Lane - 252 Sessions, iTunes Deluxe Edition 3.50 Emeralds
• Robin Mark - Liberation Praise 3.75 Emeralds
• Scribbling Idiots - Invitation Only 3.75 Emeralds
• Michael W. Smith - Hymns 3.75 Emeralds
• Various Artists - All The Saints: Live from the Centric Worship Retreat, Volume 1 3.75 Emeralds

Most of these just missed the mark. I was a bit more turned off by Samuel Lane, but I was most disappointed by Hillsong United. I gave it a pass for award consideration because it failed as a remix. Actually, I was most disappointed by Smitty. What happened to the big orchestration. This was simplicity pushed to the point of blah.

There is no blah in the next grouping.

Pure Platinum

• Christon Gray - School of Roses 5 Emeralds
• Kari Jobe - Majestic (Live) 5 Emeralds
• Planetshakers - Endless Praise 5 Emeralds
• Rend Collective Experiment - The Art of Celebration 5 Emeralds

I think it is a first to have three Modern Worship releases among the perfect albums. Kari Jobe put together a stellar release around the awesome Forever. Planetshakers Kissed Toward the Throne of God, and Rend. They blend worship, folk, rock, an almost infinite variety of instruments. They continue to amaze.

Finally, we go to the middle group, the

Semi-Precious Metal

• Audrey Assad - O Happy Fault 4.75 Emeralds
• Michael Boggs - More Like A Lion 4.50 Emeralds
• Erica Campbell - Help 4.75 Emeralds
• Capital Kings - Remixed EP 4.75 Emeralds
• Demon Hunter - Extremist 4.75 Emeralds
• Peter Furler Band - Sun and Shield 4.75 Emeralds
• Future of Forestry - Piano and Strings Sessions 4.75 Emeralds
• Jason Gray - Love Will Have The Final Word 4.50 Emeralds
• Jars of Clay - Inlandia: The Remix Collection EP 4.75 Emeralds
• Jesus Culture - Jesus Culture Reconstructed, Volume 1 4 Emeralds
• KB - 100 EP 4.75 Emeralds
• Kings Kaleidoscope - Live In Color 4.75 Emeralds 
• Lights of Day - Lights of Day 4.50 Emeralds
• John Mark McMillan - Borderland 4.50 Emeralds
• Memphis May Fire - Unconditional 4.75 Emeralds
• The Overseer - Rest and Let Go 4.50 Emeralds
• The Royal Royal - The Return of The King 4.75 Emeralds
• Satellites and Sirens - One Noise 4.75 Emeralds
• Shonlock - A Night to Remember 4.75 Emeralds
• Various Artists - God's Not Dead: The Motion Picture Soundtrack 4.25 Emeralds
• Various Artists - WoW Worship (Lime) 4.50 Emeralds
• Various Artists - WoW Worship Deluxe (Lime) 4.50 Emeralds

I'm not holding out much hope for Jesus Culture's chances here, but they were slightly better than Hillsong United in the remix department. Kings Kaleidoscope was the big winner on this list. It might have been a 4.50 Emeralds releases, but Felix Culpa is a 20+ Emeralds song. Still I had to take off that the rest of the album wasn't as jumping, so 4.75 it is.

I am going to forgo links for now, and update it when I have time. I will return with a regular Music Video Monday and finish the announcing of the Video Nominees for this years Platinum Vinyl Awards. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply. 

 

 

MVM Special Edition: Dance-Synthpop Video Nominees

We are approaching the half way point in our announcement of the nominees for the Video Portion of this years Platinum Vinyl Awards. This is the only section I will do in full on the blog. For song, album and the general field I will only hit the high points in blog posts and will refer you all to the announcement page when it is up.

And the nominees for the 4th Platinum Vinyl Awards in the Category Dance-Synthpop Video of The Year are: 

Battery, +V ROSE 

Gold, +Britt NicoleGOLD 
I Don't Deserve You, +Paul van Dyk feat Plumb
Solar System Remix, +Har Megiddo feat Michael Ketterer 
WHTVR, Allistair
Next up is the other half of the synthetic contingent. Electronic-Industrial. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Comments.

MVM Special Edition: Pop Video Nominees

We continue with our announcement of the nominees for this years Video Awards, part of the 4th Annual Platinum Vinyl Awards. We have already announced the nominees for Adult Contemporary and Alternative Video of The Year. Today we move on to Pop Video of The Year. Watch the Videos, enjoy, and then cast your vote for the best one in the comments. All votes will help pick the winner. Once again, all votes are tallied and certified by the law firm of Youppi, Snoopy and Cow, PC. We only hire the best at Night Beat HQ. And the nominees for Pop Video of the Year are:

Beautiful Love, +ShineBrightBaby 
Love Walked In, +The Sonflowerz 
Loved, JJ Heller
Still Into You, +Paramore 
Wanted, +Dara Maclean 
What a list. This category is really showing promise. I really need the help because they are all good. Next up is Dance-Synthpop. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply (and comments). 

MVM Special Edition: Alternative Video Nominees

Yesterday we began our announcements of the Nominees in the 4th Platinum Vinyl Awards, beginning with the Video of The Year Awards. Today we continue that process, and we move on to the nominees for Alternative Video of The Year. And the nominees are:

Believer, Audio Adrenaline
Bombs Away, +Jonathan Thulin 
I am Mountain, Gungor 
K.I.D.S., +Farah Loux 
Unstable, +Anberlin 
Please use the comments to vote for your favorite video in the genre. I want to add a fan vote to the process, and this is the easiest way to do it. You can still vote for AC/Inspirational as well. The next category to be announced will be Pop Video of The Year. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

MVM Special Edition: Adult Contemporary Video Nominees

It's that time again, ladies and gentlemen. The time when we begin our announcement of the NOMINEES for the 4th Platinum Vinyl Awards. This is no joke, despite the day. If we were a big time operation we would have CCM and Fringe and GRAC stars read the nominees on network television in the morning, and everything would be glam and glory. Instead, you have me. We will make the announcements in various ways through this blog, and on the Night Beat Social Media Network which includes, at present Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. You really should follow me on all three.

The easiest nominations for the blog is always the Video Awards, now in its second year. To get a nominee a Video has to be good as a video, not just to have something filmed to music. We begin with the nominees for Adult Contemporary/Inspirational Video of The Year. The votes determining the nominees have been cast and have been certified by the law firm of Youppi, Snoopy and Cow, pc. And the nominees are:

A City On A Hill, +The City Harmonic 
Love Does, +Brandon Heath  
Promises, +Sanctus Real 
Sing of Your Glory, +Bebo Norman 
Swallow The Ocean, Newsong

Our next set of nominees is for Alternative Video of The Year. Stay tuned right here. I would like to make this interactive, so please use the comments to cast your vote on the best one. I am Awaiting Your Reply.