Music Video Monday: Lie to Me

Welcome to the latest edition of Music Video Monday, where since we began we have been sharing the Best Video's among the albums picked for this years Platinum Vinyl Awards. Rock is quite abundant, so we shall split this up among two weeks, and even then these will be packed posts. We will go loud and hard this monday. We will turn down the volume next week for our ears to recover.

We begin with a trip into The Cheval Glass by Emery from their latest album We Do What We Want.

We continue with Underoath and Illuminator

I don't know why, but I thought of my friends Rhiannon Paille when I picked this one. This is Magnetic Sky by Becoming the Archetype.

Next up is The Devil Wears Prada and Born to Lose.

And closing it out is Red and Lie To Me form Until we have faces.

That's a lot for one day, and we are still only halfway through the list. Sorry about the bleeding ears, but that's the price for the Rock. Next week we will have videos from Third Day, Eowyn, Worth Dying For, Icon For Hire and Switchfoot. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

PVA 2011 Nominees: Song of The Year

My final post on the 2011 Platinum Vinyl Award Nominees. Once again I wish to remind all of you to check out the full list of nominees by clicking on the link.


For the sake of brevity we will only cover Song of The Year, Modern Worship Song, Gospel Song, and Alternative Song.

Modern Worship Song of The Year

• Adore, Emergency, The Ember Days
• As For Me and My House, As For Me and My House, John Waller
• Great I Am, You Hold It All, New Life Worship
• Higher, Love Riot, Worth Dying For
• How Great Thou Art, Emergency, The Ember Days
• Saving Power, Saving Power, Generation Unleashed
• Yahweh, Yahweh (Live), Hillsong Chapel

Gospel/R&B Song of The Year

• Forgiven, Church on The Moon, Deitrick Haddon
• Heaven Hear My Heart, Angel & Chanelle, Trinitee 5:7
• Jesus, The Awakening of Le'Andria Johnson, Le'Andria Johnson
• Sitting With Me, Something Big, Mary Mary
• Stronger, What if We Were Real, Mandisa
• Window, Dominionaire, Canton Jones
• YRM: (Your Righteous Mind), YRM: Your Righteous Mind, Donald Lawrence & Company feat. Dorinda Clark-Cole

Alternative Song of The Year

• Ambulance, The Valley, Eisley
• Black Cloud, de-plumed, The Choir
• Church Bells, Ghosts Upon The Earth, Gungor
• Dwell, Dwell, Aaron Keyes
• Jumping The Gun, Weights and Measures, Hyland
• Offering, The Sounds of Daniel Bashta, Daniel Bashta
• The War Inside, Vice Verses, Switchfoot
• You're Like A Taxi, Who Can Know It?, Showbread

Song of The Year

• Are You Ready?, Destiny, Beckah Shae
• As For Me and My House, As For Me and My House, John Waller
• Children of God, Move, Third Day
• Hymn For The Missing, Until We Have Faces, Red
• Manifesto, Introducing The City Harmonic, The City Harmonic
• This Love is Free, Weights and Measures, Hyland
• Poison and Wine, Barton Hollow, The Civil Wars
• Who But You, Music Inspired by The Story, Mark Hall & Megan Garrett
• Window, Dominionaire, Canton Jones

Maybe one final note is in order. I picked Song of the Year based on its Epic Anthem sound, or its sheer beauty. These should all be fan favorites to sing.

That does it for my edited announcements of the 2011 Platinum Vinyl Awards Nominees. I encourage all my readers to Check out The Full List of Nominees and to also see the the 2010 Winners. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

PVA 2011 Nominees: General Field

We move on from Album of The Year to The General Field (Male Vocalist, Group, etc), mainly because I am not done with going through the song of the year candidates. Go with what's done.

I'm going to leave my exclusive General Field nominations (Comeback Artist, Lifetime Achievement, TNB DJ's Choice and CROSS/over) and go with the big ones. Once again I encourage you to check out the full list of nominees on my blog

Male Vocalist of The Year

• Dominic Balli
• Canton Jones
• Lecrae
• Andrew Peterson
• Tedashii
• Chris Tomlin
• Matthew West

I know, not a Chris August or Brandon Heath in the mix. August's Deluxe edition wasn't all that better and Heath never impressed at all, CJ had an outstanding album (5 Emeralds) and all the others were solid.

Female Vocalist of The Year

• Jackie Evancho
• JJ Heller
• Dara Maclean
• Mandisa
• Ginny Owens
• Beckah Shae
• Heather Williams

Four of the seven on this list (Evancho, Mandisa, Shae, Williams) had 5 Emerald releases. Dara Maclean leads the newcomers. The biggest surprise still continues to be Evancho. To be so good at so young an age. This is a loaded field.

Artist of The Year

• Burlap to Cashmere
• The City Harmonic
• The Civil Wars
• Canton Jones
• Lecrae
• Mandisa
• Beckah Shae

Folk-Rock Burlap to Cashmere returns after many years without missing a beat, and newcomers The City Harmonic have grabbed the spotlight with a refreshing sound. Not to be outdone is Folk Duo The Civil Wars. Another loaded field that is very close to call.

That concludes my partial look at the General Field Nominees. For the full list of General Field Nominees, including Group of The Year and Best New Artist, plus all the rest, please click on the link. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

PVA 2011 Nominees - Album Of The Year

The Second Annual Platinum Vinyl Awards now officially begins with the announcing of the Nominees in each category. This year I will only be revealing an abridged list of the nominees in my post. I encourage you to check out the Full List of Nominees by clicking on the link.


We begin with the Best Album/Album of the Year nominees. I am hitting the rewind button on the announcement posts. I am putting up the full list of nominees on my blog, and I encourage you to check out the list there. If the page is down at the time, check later. I am still working on the Song Category, but I will be putting it up live.

Gospel/R&B Album of The Year

• Angel & Chanelle - Trinitee 5:7
• The Awakening of Le'Andria Johnson - Le'Andria Johnson
• Church on The Moon - Deitrick Haddon
• Dominionaire - Canton Jones
• Something Big - Mary Mary
• What if We Were Real- Mandisa
• YRM: Your Righteous Mind - Donald Lawrence

Pop Album of The Year

• Bryce Avery: His Instruments, Your Voices - The Rocket Summer
• Get In, I'm Driving - Ginny Owens
• The Mission Field - Blessid Union of Souls
• My Brain Says Stop But My Heart Says Go - FM Static
• Time and Space - Miss Angie
• The Valley - Eisley
• You Got My Attention - Dara Maclean

Rock Album of The Year

• Beautiful Ashes - Eowyn
• Love Riot - Worth Dying For
• Move - Third Day
• Scripted - Icon For Hire
• This Time Around - Heather Williams
• Vice Verses - Switchfoot
• We Do What We Want - Emery

Album of The Year

• Barton Hollow - The Civil Wars
• Destiny - Beckah Shae
• Dream With Me - Jackie Evancho
• Music Inspired by The Story - Various Artists
• This Time Around - Heather Williams
• Until We have Faces - Red
• Vice Verses - Switchfoot
• What if We Were Real - Mandisa

That concludes the look at the Album of the Year. Again, for the full list of nominees click the highlighted link. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Dove Album Nominations Part Two

Letting the Dove Nominations go first has had an unexpected benefit. Clarity and focus. While trying to rush the nomination process I blew up the field of nominees, with the result that some genres doubled. Now, seeing the competition, I refocused and all the categories, except those which lacked a full slate, now are at the seven nominees.

We continue with the Album of the Year Categories. For this year I think I will stick to "major awards", so I will not mention them all, at least to keep the number of posts down. I have my own awards to promote, after all.

Urban Album of The Year

• Angel & Chanelle - Trinitee 5:7
• Church on the Moon - Deitrick Haddon
• From Now On - Dawkins & Dawkins
• Something Big - Mary Mary
• The Next Dimension - GI
• How I Got Over - Smokie Norful

I had 3 of the 6 on this list (Trinitee 5:7, Deitrick Haddon and Marry Mary). Of course I put them all into Gospel/R&B. Sometimes things can be a bit too nuanced at awards shows. "Urban?" wouldn't that apply to any band located in a city as opposed to out in the sticks?

Traditional Gospel Album of The Year

• If You Didn't Know - Norman Hutchins
• Promises - Richard Smallwood
• The Legacy Project - John P. Kee
• XV Live - Chicago Mass Choir

A very short section, and I had none of them, though I had Kee and Smallwood among the early contenders among the Gospel Crowd.

Contemporary Gospel

• Becoming - Yolanda Adams
• Change the Atmosphere - Christ Tabernacle Choir
• Committed - Committed
• Hello Fear - Kirk Franklin
• Make It Loud - Martha Munizzi

Though I didn't think Franklin shone strongly enough this time around, I thought Committed was more R&B than gospel. (Most of the songs were secular covers). My only gripe here is with the inclusion of Munizzi, she's whiter than white bread, and while she went for the Gospel sound (instead of her usual Modern Worship) on her latest album, in my opinion she ran out of steam midway through.

Praise and Worship Album

• 10,000 Reasons - Matt Redman
• Aftermath - Hillsong United
• And if Our God is For Us - Chris Tomlin
• Ghosts Upon the Earth - Gungor
• Make It Loud - Martha Munizzi

Wrapping up Album of The Year with this category, mostly it is also a matter of pigeonholing. I had Gungor as Alternative and Tomlin In Modern Worship. I guess the GMA decided to award each half of Munizzi's album separately.

That concludes my coverage of the Album of the Year Dove Nominations for this year. I will return to them in April for my predictions. I am going to try to handle the General Field and Song of The Year with a post for each. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply,

The 43rd Annual GMA Dove Nominees

I had hoped to have my list of nominees for the 2nd Annual Platinum Vinyl Awards out before the Dove Awards were announced, but it soon became obvious that that would not be the case. No big problem when you are only a one man job. Apart from their being two categories for Inspirational Album of the Year (a complete mystery) they seemed to do a lot better picking nominees this time. Not enough to cede them the playing field, however. Competition keeps one sharp.

It would stand to reason that the Dove's would improve greatly if they would just add a dance category. Or at least something called Electronic. Right now some of the contortions they pull off in putting people in some categories would astound a Cirque du Soleil gymnast.

We will begin with the album of the year categories, since that is where I am strongest (I am starting to get a handle on Song of The Year this time around).

Rap/Hip Hop Album

• Blacklight - Tedashii
• Captured - Flame
• Culture Shock - Jai
• Rehab: The Overdose - Lecrae
• The Whole Truth - DA T.R.U.T.H.

The GMA hit this one out of the park. With the exception of Lecrae's choice of album (I went with Rehab: Deluxe Edition over Rehab: The Overdose) It was Five for Five with my picks, at least artist wise. Oh, one minor tweak. Jai is Dance not Hip Hop and I have rewarded her accordingly.

Rock Album

• Control - Abandon
• Until We Have Faces - Red
• Vice Verses - Switchfoot
• What I've Become - Ashes Remain
• With Shivering Hearts We Wait - Blindside

Red and Switchfoot are no brainers, though having no hard rock category really means some deserving artists are left out in the cold. While Abandon, Ashes Remain and Blindside had good albums, I thought some others were better. Sorry folks, no spoilers here.

Pop/Contemporary Album

• A Beautiful Life - Mikeschair
• Blessings - Laura Story
• Hundred More Years - Francesca Battistelli
• One Song at a Time - Jamie Grace
• What if We Were Real - Mandisa

This is where the GMA's and I part ways. While I had Mandisa among my picks, I thought that What if We Were Real fit squarely in the Gospel/R&B genre, at least to this DJ's ears. Francesca, Laura and Jamie, at least in my opinion, were good, but just edged out by better material.

Rock/Contemporary Album

• Ad Astra Oer Aspera - Abandon Kansas
• Come Home - Luminate
• Crazy Love - Hawk Nelson
• Mountains Move - Kristian Stanfill
• The Reckoning - Needtobreathe

This will be the last category for this post. Luminate was the only one nominated for a Platinum Vinyl Award among this bunch, and they went into Modern Worship. Even busting the limits in nominees couldn't get the others in. Someone will always be robbed, that's just the way it is.

That concludes the first post of the Night Beat Dove Awards Nominations Coverage. Predictions will be made at a later time, closer to the April Awards. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

A Platinum Sneak Peak: Children's Music

It's November, the green leaves have fallen from the trees. (We never had foliage season this year. Between an unusually cold spring and summer combined with Irene and the Hallowsnow event, the leaves were stripped before they turned. One thing has gone according to schedule, and that is that the possible entries for the 2nd Platinum Vinyl Awards have all come in and the process of whittling them down has begun. This years entry pool was much better than last year. However, some entries still lag. Last year the Children's Music genre only had two total entries and Folk Music had only five, and we try to have seven final nominees. This year Folk has Nine entries and Children's five. Both may be final with no further cut downs.

In that spirit I am giving a special:

Platinum Sneak Peak

Today I will be posting the Five Children's Music Nominees. Don't worry, you wont have to memorize them. We'll reveal them again once we have the Final Ceremony. Basically my thoughts on this category are, songs for a young-un audience that will not drive an adult bonkers with repeated listening.

Children's Music

• Denver and The Mile High Orchestra - Groovy
• K5 - K5 Kids Sing the Songs of Toby Mac
• Maranatha Kids - Top 25 kids Praise Songs
• Veggie Tales (feat Moriah Peters) - Songs for a Princess
• Worship Together Kids - From the Inside Out

This will be the list I announce when the "Awards" are handed out, most likely in April of 2012. Previous Emerald Ratings are erased and we start from scratch, but in the interest of full disclosure I will reveal that both Denver and K5 received full 5 Emerald Ratings from me. That is all I will say. Feel free to comment with your votes, though I may open things up officially to a fan voting process next year. If you think my keen eye missed an eligible entry, please use the comments to tell me. Until next time I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Heating It Up: Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter Nominees - Rock

We finally come to the end of the genre based nominees for this quarter with Rock. Again, we were well represented. Eleven entries for this one too.

Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter Nominees

Like I Said, nearly a dozen entries. This is good. Even though it makes my job a lot more difficult, I like it when the genre's are well represented.

Rock

• Ashes Remain - What I've Become
• Downhere - On the Altar of Love
• For King and Country - For King and Country EP (D)
• Icon For Hire - Scripted
• Manic Drive - Epic
• Maylene & The Sons of Disaster - IV
• Needtobreathe - The Reckoning
• Rapture Ruckus - Open Your Eyes
• Rush of Fools - We Once Were
• Switchfoot - Vice Verses (5)
• Heather Williams - This Time Around (5)

We had Two Perfect 5's this time around with Switchfoot and Heather Williams. Now that things are finished it's time to put every entry in the pool and start whittling them down. I know I am only in my second year but I'm already thinking of mixing things up, maybe making up a fan survey to see who you think makes the grade. But that can wait. Please feel free to make your thoughts known in the comments. As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Heating It Up: Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter Nominees - Hard Rock

Hard Rock, Metal, Metal-core, Thrash. The Devil Wears Prada. You get the idea. This is the hard stuff, cranked up to a billion. These are the best of the Summer.

Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter Nominees

This quarter we had eleven nominees in this genre. This is a very good showing. I will have to some serious slashing in this genre this year. Fans will be crushed.

Hard Rock

• Call to Preserve - Validation
• The Devil Wears Prada - Dead Throne
• The Great Commission - Heavy Worship
• Hands - Give Me Rest
• Haste The Day - Haste The Day vs Haste The Day (Live)
• Nothing Til Blood - When Lambs Become Lions
• Oh Sleeper - Children of Fire
• A Past Unknown - To Those Perishing
• Phinehas - The God Machine
• We Came as Romans - Understanding What We've Grown to Be
• Your Chance to Die - Suscitatio Somnus

That's a lot of entries. A lot of tough choices. I know my friend Melissa will be crushed if Dead Throne doesn't make it, but I think it has a lot in its favor. The links go to my reviews of the albums. Only Rock to Go. As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Heating It Up: Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter Nominees - Hip Hop/Rap

We're Back. Things got a little crazy with the Hallowsnow Event. Amazing how nineteenth century the electrical grid is around here. Continuing with the 4th Quarter Nominees, we move onto Hip Hop and Rap. As usual, this is a pretty well represented genre.

Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter Nominees

The Fourth Quarter of Hip Hop gave us Eight Nominees. Since the genre will be eventually be whittled down to seven, this is what we call a good showing. Without further ado we present.

Hip Hop & Rap

• Ambassador - Stop the Funeral
• Benjah - The Break Up (D)
• Braille - Native Lungs
• DA T.R.U.T.H. - The Whole Truth
• Lecrae - Rehab (Deluxe Edition)
• Rapture Ruckus - Open Your Eyes
• Thi'sl - Beautiful Monster
• Various Artists - Holy Hip Hop, Volume 11

Only Two Genre's are yet to be revealed, Hard Rock and Rock. It's good to get back into the swing of things. As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Heating It Up: Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter Nominees- Pop

We come to Pop Music. Now this is an overloaded category if there ever was one. Just about everything, if it is not obviously Rock & Roll, could be categorized as Pop Music. If you use a true definition, as popular music, then just about anything people like fit here. For sanity's sake, of course, I use the more restrictive, non rock definition.

Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter Nominees

So Basically, the definition is, if it's not Rock (loud), but still bouncy, it's Pop. But if it's too bouncy, it's dance, and if there are heavy use of Synthesizers, it's not only dance but Techno. You Can see how this can get confusing.

Pop Music

• Jessa Anderson - Not Myself Anymore
• Big Daddy Weave - The Ultimate Collection
• Steven Curtis Chapman - Re: Creation
• Jason Gray - A Way to See In the Dark
• Shaun Groves - Third World Symphony
• Matt Hammitt - Every Falling Tear
• Mat Kearney - Young Love
• Dara Maclean - You Got My Attention
• Matt Maher - The Love In Between
• Jon McLaughlin - Forever If Ever
• Manic Drive - Epic
• Geoff Moore - Saying Grace
• Ginny Owens - Get In I'm Driving
• Andrew Peterson - Above These City Lights (Live)
• Robert Pierre - I'm All In
• V.Rose - V.Rose
• Selah - Hope For the Broken World

Eight down and only three to go. Whew. Stay with me as I complete the fourth quarter roll out of the initial nomination pool of the Platinum Vinyl Awards. As always. I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Heating It Up: Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter Nominees - Modern Worship

Moving On to Modern Worship. And there's only one Hillsong Entrant. I guess it is possible to have a best of Modern Worship not dominated by the Australian Megachurch.

Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter Nominees

Like I said, this is Modern Worship. Now for anyone not clear on the concept, basically it is worship music with a rock beat. Now I have a problem with most modern worship music, but it's not the same problem that most have. Sure, there is the standard gripe that Hillsong Church seems to dominate the genre, but my biggest gripe is it's too tame. I Prefer Skillet and Worth Dying For. Let's crank this up to 25. Who do we think we are, the Talley Trio?

Modern Worship

• Jeff Anderson - A Thousand Tongues
• Daniel Bashta - The Sounds of Daniel Bashta
• The Ember Days - Emergency
• My Epic - Broken Voice
• Hillsong Live - God Is Able (Live)
• Leeland - The Great Awakening
• Planetshakers - Nothing Is Impossible
• Pocket Full of Rocks - Let it Rain: The Best of Pocket Full of Rocks
• Cindy Cruse Ratcliff - Twenty Three
• Matt Redman - 10,000 Reasons
• Jeremy Riddle - Furious
• Vineyard Worship UK - My Soul Yearns 

Scroll down to the bottom of the Darlene Zschech review for my bonus on C.C.R. Now while The Ember Days doesn't exactly crank thinks up as high as I would like, no one can doubt that they set themselves apart with an Alternative/Trance Sound. They definitely are the Anti-Hillsong. There is still more to come, so stay with me. As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Heating It Up: Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter Nominees - Gospel

Listen...We Come to Gospel (and its kin R&B). And we also come to categories which will require significant cutdowns (we're talking over 50% of the initial pool will get a "thanks for playing" parting gift). Dispensing with pleasantries, let us get to the business of announcing

2011 Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter Nominees

Gospel Music (including R&B)

• Dorinda Clark Cole - I Survived
• Committed - Committed
• Ricky Dillard and New G - The Best of
• Deitrick Haddon - Anthology
• Le'Andria Johnson - The Awakening
• Forever Jones - Get Ready (Deluxe Edition)
• Donald Lawrence - YRM: Your Righteous Mind
• Jawn Murray Presents - Untapped
• Richard Smallwood - Promises
• 21:03 - Evolved....From Boys to Men

No Perfect albums this time around, but all of these selections could win. First they have to make the cut.

We still have much more to announce so stay here. As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Heating It Up: Platinum Vinyl Award 4th Quarter Nominees - Dance

Continuing with our final roll out of the:

2011 Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter Nominees

We move onto the Dance Genre. The Nominations have improved in the second year. Already we have doubled the entries for folk and children's music. This quarter alone we have nine dance nominations, and the final nominee count is only seven. There will be some favorites left behind.

Dance Music

• Miss Angie - Time And Space
• Brittany Hargest - Love all the Way
• Jai - Culture Shock
• Cory Lamb - Break The Cycle
• Manic Drive - Epic
• Press Play - World Anthem
• Rapture Ruckus - Open Your Eyes
• Beckah Shae - Destiny (5)
• Warr Acres - Warr Acres

Remember a (5) indicates a perfect emerald rating. Stay with me as we continue to roll out the final nominees for the Platinum Vinyl Awards. There are additional categories this year and we have only just begun, so stay with me. As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Heating It Up: Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter Nominees

We have finally come to the end of the Second Nominating Year for the Platinum Vinyl Awards. Wow. Who would have thought I would have been able to make this work once much less as a regular occurrence. In the course of the second year a few changes have come about which may make the blogging of the second year slightly more challenging. One of those things is that I am now part of a group called Triberr, which agrees to tweet each others posts. Inherit in that agreement is an agreement not to overload the system with posts, and therein lies the rub. Last Year's awards were held as a series of blog posts spaced 15 minutes apart. There were 16 posts in all over a space of 4 hours. I tried to replicate an awards ceremony. So, to my Tribe mates in Blog Boldly, any suggestions. How should I handle this. I really don't want to spread it out over multiple weeks. It's not like you have to answer right now. The Awards wont be handed out until next year. The First was in April. Now to the nominees.

The 2011 Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter Nominees

Children's Music

• Denver and The Mile High Orchestra - Groovy (5)
• Veggie Tales (feat Moriah Peters) - Songs for a Princess
• Worship Together Kids - From The Inside Out

Traditional Folk/Folk Rock

• All Sons and Daughters - Brokenness Aside
• Dominic Balli - American Dreams
• Burlap to Cashmere - Burlap to Cashmere
• Andrew Peterson - Above These City Lights (Live)

Inspirational

• Matt Hammitt - Every Falling Tear
• Geoff Moore - Saying Grace
• Fernando Ortega B - Come Down O Love Divine
• Matt Papa - This Changes Everything
• Selah - Hope for the Broken World

Just a few additional notes before closing things out. First of all, if you see a (5) next to an entry, that is a 5 Emerald Rating Entry. It will definitely be among the final group of entries that may win an award. The others have to go past judging to get in.

The Inspirational Music Genre had to be created this year in order to find a place for Jackie Evancho, then I had to find some more entries to justify the category. I still can't bear to call it Adult Contemporary or Contemporary Gospel. Such is the case.

That starts the final group of genre-based nominees. Once we get through this the fun part starts. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.