A Perfect Scale: The 2016 Platinum Vinyl Awards 4th Quarter: Electronic-Industrial

We return to our rollout of the 4th Quarter Pool entries for 2016. These are the eligible releases for the months of July-September. We are going on to Electronic-Industrial, the darker side of synthpop. There were five entries here as well.

Electronic-Industrial

• K Gautier - The Prevailing
• Andy Hunter - Presence
• NYVES - Pressure
• Salt of The Sound - Meditations, Volume 2
• Jeremy James Whitaker - Broken Hearts

This is a stacked genre this quarter. Gautier, Hunter, NYVES, and Salt of The Sound all struck perfect 5's and they will be in the finals. That's 5 of Seven Slots, so this will probably be a genre buster. Whitaker fell just short at 4.75, so a good chance exists that it may make the finals as well. Up next is Hard Rock and Metal. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Night Beat Rewind: August 2016

The Penultimate Month of #PlatVnyl7 is over. There is only one month remaining until we close the lid on the pool of eligible entries for the Platinum Vinyl Rewards, 2016 Edition. I guess musical instruments melt in the heat, because this was a sparse month. Hopefully now that September is upon us we go out with a bang and not a whimper.

The Singles Scene

• Color Theory - I Should Have Kissed You (Beyolie Remix) 4.75 Emeralds
• Abigail Duhon - Rise (Katy Perry Cover) 5 Emeralds
• Paper Route - Chariots 5 Emeralds 
• Jamie Rose - I Do 4.50 Emeralds
• Tunde - Never The Same 4.50 Emeralds

The wonders of the Remix. Color Theory came out with this song in 2008, yet Beyolie is able to take the track, Remix it, and make it eligible anew. No arguments regarding Abigail Duhon or the appropriateness of recognizing Katy Perry's Music in a Christian Blog please. On to the albums.

Missing The Mark

• Aaron Gillespie - Out of The Badlands (Covers Album) 3.50 Emeralds

So why did I give Abigail Duhon's Katy Perry Cover a Perfect 5 Emeralds and Poo-poo Aaron Gilliespie's album. Simply this: it takes more than singing a song to cover it. You have to make it yours. Abigail Makes you say "Katy Who?". Aaron makes you ask Why?

Pure Platinum Perfection

• NYVES - Pressure 5 Emeralds
• Michael Sweet - One Sided War 5 Emeralds

Leave it to Stryper to make things difficult. When You have two Perfect Albums (Band and Frontman's Solo Effort) in the Same Genre in The Same Eligibility Year, hard decisions will have to be made.

Semi-Precious Metal

• Housefires - Housefires III 4.50 Emeralds
• Lion of Judah - Buried at Sea EP 4.75 Emeralds
• Andrew Marcus - Constant 4.50 Emeralds
• Donnie McClurkin - The Journey (Live) 4.75 Emeralds
• Selah - Greatest Hymns Volume 2 4.25 Emeralds
• Skillet - Unleashed 4.75 Emeralds
• Unspoken - Follow Through 4.75 Emeralds
• Candy West - Candy West Live 4.50 Emeralds

That does it for August. Only a few weeks left in the eligibility pool and we close the lid on #PlatVnyl7 and move on to #PlatVnyl8. Never a dull moment here at Night Beat HQ. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Music Video Monday: Rise

We are back. The sixth Platinum Vinyl Awards caused havoc with a regular posting schedule, but that is over. However, personal issues laid me low for a week, creating further scheduling problems. We are back starting today. And due to notes I will pick up where I intended to last Monday. 

One of the biggest challenges for #PlatVnyl7 will be duplication. An example. Stryper has the Perfect Fallen album out in Hard Rock. And now Michael Sweet, Stryper's lead singer, puts out a solo perfect album in the same eligibility year, in the same genre. It makes it tough for us raised on the Radio. Making fun of Country. Love It.

One of the big hits from the past awards, which has yet to be updated on the blog, is the Demon Hunter/Project 86 Side Project (Now That sounds awesome right there) NYVES. Though they have recently released a new EP, this is from their #PlatVnyl6 nominated Anxiety. This is Just Give Up, something most assuredly that we will not do.

Finally, another of the #PlatVnyl6 nominees was Dance/Pop Star Abigail Duhon with the Dance Video Dance Up with Spencer Kane. This time out she does a Cover from Katy Perry entitled Rise that shows she really has some vocal chops to be a serious singer. Not perhaps a Lara Landon, but close. Check it out.
That does it for this edition of Music Video Monday. We should be back to our regular weekly posting schedule now, so keep it tuned here. Until next time don't give up. I am Awaiting Your Reply.

#PlatVnyl6 The Nominations Begin: Video by a New Artist

The penultimate video post for #PlatVnyl6 Nominations. Video by A New Artist. Since not all artists make music videos, it only imperfectly matches New Artist of The Year. The nominees are: Good, Good Father by +Zealand Worship ; Greater is He by +BLANCA CALLAHAN ; I'm Not Running Away From This by Hearts Like Lions; Return by +NYVES ; and Where The Light Is by +Dan Bremnes 

The Playlist of the nominees for your viewing enjoyment.

The Last Post. Video of The Year comes out on Monday. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

#PlatVnyl6 The Nominations Begin: Electronic-Industrial Video of The Year

No Joke. We are underway with the nominations for #PlatVnyl6. We are in the middle of The Video of The Year Nominees. Electronic-Industrial is up next, the harder sibling of Dance-Sythpop. We are loaded for bear as they say. The nominees are: Can't Live Like This by +Hardie Avenue ; Mr. Roboto by +Rapture Ruckus ; Return by +NYVES ; Stressed Out by +twenty one pilots and Volcano ft Jonathan Thulin by +Rapture Ruckus 

The nominated videos in one convenient playlist.

Hip Hop and Rap Video are next. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Night Beat Rewind: June 2015

We have completed three quarters of the #PlatVnyl6 Eligibility Year. Soon we will be rolling out the announcements of the final nominees. But let's not rush things just yet. We still have one quarter to go. But first up we close out the third quarter of 2015 with the June edition of Night Beat Rewind.

There were no singles released in June, so we move on to our second section, those EP's and full albums which

Missed The Mark

• Various Artists - Oceans: A Worship Experience 3.75 Emeralds

With only a single entry deemed to fall outside the pool this month it would seem that we are softening. Of course, we shall always see how many releases from the semi-precious metal section make it into the finals. We move on to the cream of the crop, or what we call

Pure Platinum Perfection

• Lifehouse - Out of The Wasteland 5 Emeralds
• NYVES - Anxiety 5 Emeralds

Another good sign is the presence of only two perfect albums this month. Things appear normal. Now we go to those releases in the middle, or as we call them here:

Semi Precious Metal

• As One - As One 4.50 Emeralds
• Attalus - Into The Sea 4.50 Emeralds
• August Burns Red - Found In Far Away Places 4.75 Emeralds
• Brad and Rebekah - All You'v Done 4.75 Emeralds
• Dan Bremnes - Where The Light Is 4.75 Emeralds
• David Dunn - Crystal Clear 4.75 Emeralds
• Finding Favor - Reborn 4.75 Emeralds
• Ghost Ship - Costly 4.50 Emeralds
• Jonathan David and Melissa Helger - On The Shores 4.75 Emeralds
• House of Peace - Into The Great Unknown 4.50 Emeralds
• Kings Kaleidoscope - Live In Focus EP 4.75 Emeralds
• Chris McClarney - Everything and Nothing Less (Live) 4.50 Emeralds
• John Mark and Sarah McMillan - You Are The Avalanche 4.75 Emeralds
• Onething Live - Shout Your Name 4.50 Emeralds
• The Ongoing Concept - Handmade 4.50 Emeralds
• Populis - EP 4.75 Emeralds
• Matt Redman - Unbroken Praise 4.75 Emeralds
• Marvin Sapp - You Shall Live 4.75 Emeralds
• See The Rise - Exposures 4.75 Emeralds
• Richard Smallwood - Anthology Live 4.50 Emeralds
• Roy Tosh - Death Before Love 4.50 Emeralds
• Various Artists - Four Blood Moons Original Motion Picture Soundtrack 4.50 Emeralds
• Various Artists - Holy Hip Hop, Volume 19 4.75 Emeralds
• Joy Williams - Venus 4.50 Emeralds

That finishes off June. Some of these releases I would have loved to rate higher, but they just didn't do it. Especially Joy Williams coming off the Civil Wars breakup. I will forgo links for now, but they will be updated soon. Until next time, I Am Awaiting Your Reply.

Music Video Monday: Bringing NYVES to a Gunfight

Welcome to an all new edition of Music Video Monday, where we play the best Music Videos from the best in CCM and the Fringe and GRAC. If it's great, you'll see and hear it here.

We begin with a "new" artist. Actually, they have been around for a year or so. The name is +ILIA Music . They are a hot new sound out of Little Rock, Arkansas. Before you say "Can anything good come out of Little Rock?" I would remind you that it is the same city that produced Evanescence, so there is a good musical heritage. This is Young Diaries, off their album Reborn.
They say to never bring a knife to a gunfight. Well, they must never have heard of NYVES. They can be forgiven, because they are new. Again, sort of. It is an electronic side project from Ryan Clark, lead vocalist of Demon Hunter. This is Return

Finally, a video from the ongoing concept. They are still not ready for prime time in my opinion, but they are growing on me as they progress. This is Handmade.

That does it for this week. Next week is a special edition of Music Video Monday. How special?, you ask. Next Monday at 7pm Eastern Time the #PlatVnyl5 Award Ceremony will take place, and you can finally find out who was named the best of the year. We will be sharing the winners on the blog all next week, so stay tuned. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.