Science Fiction Begins Now

No, I am not going to write about life on other planets. That's just a teaser. This is about music. The trend in music these days is Synthetic, not Organic. Personally, I think that's a good thing. Who needs instruments? All you need is a synthesizer and some vocals. Actually, vocals are optional.

Two brothers lead the pack in synthetic music are two brothers who are too lean. No that's not a comment on their diet, it's their name. David and Jonathan Thulin (the pronunciation is above). David is the EDM king, and Jonathan is the Electronic-Industrial/Alternative half. This is about Jonathan.

Way back in #PlatVnyl4 Jonathan came out with The White Room (Deluxe Edition) . Until then he was unknown to us, as was his brother. So much so that I had his name as Thu-lynne. Bombs Away was the song that caught my attention, and the video is a perfect analogy for redemption. It gathered nominations that year, and the Deluxe edition is in contention again in #PlatVnyl5.

The follow up to The White Room is pure Science Fiction . I've got the album on auto repeat here. It is addicting. Jonathan has a lot of help in this album (featuring credits) from big time artists (Rapture Ruckus, Derek Minor, Kevin Max, Moriah Peters) and some which may not be recognized at first, such as Manwell (Group1Crew), Tauren Wells (Royal Tailor) and Emily Irene (Shine Bright Baby).

One of the highlights of The White Room was the tendency to the spectacular, with musical scores more reminiscent of Epic Motion Pictures. To be fair, he delivered in the song, and especially in the Music Videos, which would be mini-movies. JT does not disappoint here. Cry Wolf,  Mockingbird, and The Ruins should make great videos with this one.

Considering that this has been on auto repeat from the start I have no qualms about giving Science Fiction a perfect 5 Emerald rating. This one has really set the bar for Electronic and Alternative. Like all good sci-fi, you do have to wait. The link is just for a pre-order, the actual album drops March 17. And it's a whole lot better than green beer. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

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.

Swing Season: The 2014 1rst Quarter - Inspirational Electronic Children

We Have Come to the first turn, or something like that. I never did spend enough time watching racing to get the lingo down pat. Suffice it to say that we have come to the end of the first quarter of 2014. I know, I know, it's only January, how can that be. It's all due to the fact that 2014 began in October of 2013 for purposes of the Platinum Vinyl Awards.

As always, we begin with consolidating some of the lesser represented genres. This time around it is Children's Music, Adult Contemporary/Inspirational, and Electronic/Industrial. We do this to cut down on the number of posts that we devote to this quarterly wrap. As always, we will try to have everything linked so that you can click through to Amazon and support The Night Beat.

Children's Music has one entry to represent it this quarter. Nothing is Impossible Featuring Planetshakers Kids by Shout Praises Kids. While it's nice to get this genre off and running at the start, I'm not expecting to be inundated with releases this year.

Adult Contemporary/Inspirational also started off the year on a snails pace. Three entries made the cut, and it was the veterans who came up big early.

• The Glorious Unfolding, Steven Curtis Chapman
• God Of Every Story , Laura Story
• Stand in Awe , Jon Thurlow

And finally, we also had three entries from Electronic/Industrial. There were two perfect 5 in this list, one from an album that was heading up the vaporware charts. 

• Journeys , Salt of The Sound
• Water & Guns , Aaron Sprinkle
• The Wind & the Waves , All The Bright Lights

That kicks off the First Quarter reveal. Stay with us. One way you can is by following me on Google + at +The WENC Night Beat . I intend to make this a bigger part of the Platinum Vinyl Awards this year as Facebook and its Pay To View system is a real downer. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Music Video Monday: Whatever

Welcome back to the regular weekly edition of Music Video Monday, where we play the best Christian Music Videos on the Web. In short, we do what MTV used to when they were cool.

Today we finish up with electronica, and then we have a few more housecleaning posts before moving on to the next genre, which will be rap and hip hop.

We begin with another video from Twenty-One Pilots. This one is called Holding On To You.

V. Rose is next. Between solo albums she is the favorite female vocalist for the rapper Flame. This is Battery.
Allistair is next. The electronic band composed of Zander. Yes, it doesn't get any easier. I guess it's just best to throw your hands in the air and scream WHTVR.

Finally, closing out the genre, we Take You to Har Megiddo (yes, that is the name of Armageddon). This is the Solar System Remix.
Friday and Monday are a few housecleaning posts of various genres. Our next full genre post will be on November 29 after Thanksgiving when Rap Videos begin with Still Trill Christians, among others. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply

MVM Weekend Edition: Guns for Hands

Welcome Back to the new Weekend Edition of Music Video Monday. This weekend we move into the Electronic Arena. Personally, it is one of my very favorites. It was one of God's greatest blessings to man when Mr. Robert Moog created the synthesizer.

We Begin with Pas Neos, and The Joy Set Before Me from their recent album Who Do You Say that I am. This is a live performance at One Thing2012


The Capital Kings are next, with You'll Never Be Alone.



Britt Nicole is pretty good as pop artists go, but on the dance floor, this girl is Gold.



And we wrap things up with Twenty-One Pilots, which makes it pretty difficult to fly a plane, but it is even more difficult when you have Guns For Hands.



That's it for the weekend edition. We continue in the Electronic Arena on Monday, when we shall have Videos from V.Rose and Har Megiddo among others. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.    

Warm Tones: The 2012 4th Quarter - Dance

We continue with the announcement, genre by genre, of those albums which made the cut for the initial pool of the Platinum Vinyl Awards in the 4th Quarter, which is July 1-September 30. The full eligibility year for each PVA is October 1-September 30.

Today we move on to the Dance genre, which includes techno, synthpop, ambient, house, progressive, trance and industrial. Basically everything that revolves around a synthesizer. This was a very good category this quarter, with eleven nominees. Since I hope to narrow the choices in each genre down to seven finalists, you see this means I have work to do. Without further ado, the initial dance pool entrants for the Fourth Quarter are:

• Abandoned Pools - Sublime Currency
• Anchor and Braille - The Quiet Life
• An Epic No Less - Echo of Love
• Capital Kings - I Feel So Alive
• Group 1 Crew - Fearless
• Andy Hunter - Glow
• Mandisa - Get Movin
• Owl City - The Midsummer Station
• Satellites and Sirens - The Covers
• Beckah Shae - Rest
• White Collar Sideshow - The WitcHunt

Like I said, this quarter alone furnished enough entries and more, and there are three other quarters of entries. A lot of work to do on this one. Our next genre, however, is Alternative, and that is the king of the 4th Quarter, with a whopping seventeen possible entries. This genre will cause quite a lot of sour grapes. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Flashback Friday: Special Elpy Edition

It's never good to rush things. While rushing a bit yesterday I hit publish instead of save and my first Platinum Vinyl Award/Elpy (still not sure about the nickname, but since it avoids my post being flagged as promotional, I'll go with it until I find a better one). Needless to say, though I did my best, I'm no Apple when it comes to corporate secrecy, and the cat is out of the bag (will someone please tell me why the cat was in the bag, who put him or her in it in the first place). My regular Flashback Friday will return next week, and I will continue today with Platinum Vinyl Award Coverage.

In the Category of Best Dance/Electronica Song (all song categories are new this year) there were eight nominees

• Hero (The Legion of Doom Remix), Awake and Remixed, Skillet
• Kamikaze, All Things Bright and Beautiful, Owl City
• Let it Out, World Anthem, Press Play
• Music, Destiny, Beckah Shae
• Not Enough (Remix by Paradoxx), Time and Space, Miss Angie
• One Girl, One Girl, Katelynne Cox
• #putyourloveglasseson, Destiny, Beckah Shae
• Sleep to Dream, Water Colours, Swimming With Dolphins

And the Elpy went to: Not Enough (Remix by Paradox) by Miss Angie.

The Best Dance/Electronica Album went to Beckah Shae for Destiny.

The Best Hip Hop/Rap Song had seven nominees this year

• Alive (Remix), The Whole Truth, DA Truth
• Bet Ya House, Neveroddoreven, Shonlock
• Just Like You feat J. Paul, Rehab (Deluxe Edition), Lecrae
• Regenerated feat E.Tizz and Guvna B, The Still Living Mixtape, Jehaziel
• Revolution, My Time, Byron "Mr. Talkbox" Chambers
• Riot, Blacklight, Tedashii
• Surrender feat V. Rose, Captured, Flame

And the Elpy went to: Just like You feat J. Paul by Lecrae

The Best Hip Hop/Rap Album went to: Neveroddoreven by Shonlock

That concludes the second post of the 2nd Annual Elpy's also known as the Platinum Vinyl Awards. I will finish things off with a post on Saturday and Sunday. Keep it tuned here and I am awaiting your comments on the awards.

Siberian Summer: 2012 PVA 1st Qtr - Dance

We always come to Dance Music early. Mainly because it ticks off the traditionalists. As is not having a Hymns, Country, Or Southern Gospel Genre. It works for me.

The big winner this quarter in Dance was Satellites and Sirens with Frequency. They are one of the best synth-pop acts today, and they show it here. Anyone who heard their breakout single Anchor from their self-titled debut knows what I am talking about. They earned a near perfect 4.75 Emeralds. Not to be undone by the young ones, veteran Techno master Barry Blaze (aka Code of Ethics) returned to the Studio for the first time in Three Years (2008's long return after a 9 year hiatus with Lost in Egypt). If you've been with C.O.E. from the beginning then you'll love his latest release, because it harks back to the original sound. It is definitely a Beautiful Thing. I gave the album a very good rating of 4.5 Emeralds.

Considering the title of these posts, a happy coincidence is the newest release by the gorgeous Canadian brunette Valerie Anne Poxleitner (aka Lights). Techno isn't exclusive boys club anymore. Lights rocks the synthesizer to a near perfect 4.75 Emeralds.

Shai Linne The Attributes of God also qualifies as a Dance CD in a lot of cases, so I'm listing it here as well. Rounding out the entries in this genre for this quarter are Dance/Krunk/Whatever group Family Force 5 and III which got 4.25 Emeralds and the latest release by pop/dance band Eleventyseven, Sugarfist, which received 4.5 Emeralds for their effort. We shall see how FF5 holds up over the months but I think that the rest of them are safely in to the finals. One thing is sure, Lights and Satellites and Sirens are a near lock to the finals next year. That's why they got the pictures, courtesy of Amazon of course.

The first Quarter Releases Continue. Keep it Locked here. As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

And The Nominees Are: Dance

We move along in the nominations for the Platinum Vinyl Award Best Album to the Dance genre, which also includes the Techno or Electronica genres.

The Nominees for the First Platinum Vinyl Awards for the Category of Best Dance Album are:

• Love Reality by Charmaine
• Outta Space Love by Group 1 Crew
• Favorites at Play by Joy Electric
• Weakness Makes You Beautiful by Petree
• Beautiful History by Plumb
• NY2LA by Press Play
• Life by Beckah Shae  

Still to be announced, Best Album Nominees for Hip Hop & Rap, Kids, and Modern Worship, and much much more.