MVM Special Edition: #PlatVnyl4 - Pop Video of The Year

Our third category in the #PlatVnyl4 Video Awards is that of Pop Video of The Year. The five nominated videos came from a wide swath of the Pop Genre. In fact, some might make a case that a few of the videos might not qualify as pop. You can catch our first two categories, which were Adult Contemporary and Alternative Video by clicking on the highlighted links.

The nominees, which you can watch at the nomination post, are: Beautiful Love by +ShineBrightBaby ; Love Walked In by +The Sonflowerz ; Loved by +JJHellermusic ; Still Into You by +Paramore ; and Wanted by +Dara Maclean .

Like Alternative, this category actually went into a second round of voting. The judging panel decided to go with the spirit of Pop Music, which is all about having fun. So the second round was between Shine Bright Baby and Paramore, and when it came down to the final vote it was all about which band had the most fun.

And the winner of Pop Video of The Year for #PlatVnyl4 is Still Into You by Paramore.

Three categories have been awarded, and there are 5 more to go. (There are actually a few more then that, but they will be pushed into the regular award show). Up next is the award for the first of the Electronic Categories, that of Dance/Synthpop Video of The Year. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

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 Weekend Edition: On This Mountain

Housecleaning time again at Music Video Monday. As I progress through the genres sometimes a few orphans are left behind that are two few to handle without mixing. These posts mix and match those few into a post.

We begin with The Civil Wars, the true definition of a Folk Supergroup. This is the lyric video from From This Valley.

We go from folk to alternative, and more from Paramore. This is Now.

And we conclude with Modern Worship. This is Bethel Music who is Chasing You.

Monday we will have more housekeeping. Until then I am Awaiting Your Reply.

MVM Weekend Edition: More, More, Paramore.

Welcome to the second edition of Music Video Friday. We've made this concession to the abundance of music videos out there by the bands. I have neglected this up to now, but you can always vote for your best video of the week on the comments and I will tally them in the future to compile the nominees for the Video Awards.

We begin with Paramore, who released a self titled album earlier this year.  This is Still Into You.
Next up we want to Abandon Kansas. It's all about You+Me+The Radio.
Almost doesn't count except in Horseshoes and Hand grenades. And Alternative Music. This is The Almost, and I'm Down.
Finally we have one of the more oddly named bands in Christian Music. This is VOTA. From their latest release this is God of The Universe.
We turn to Pop on Monday, with videos from Hawk Nelson and The Afters among others. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.   

Spring Songs: The 2013 Third Quarter - Alternative

Ten releases made the Alternative Pool this Quarter, making it one of the big winners, so to speak. The genre shared second place honors with Hip Hop and Adult Contemporary. The Big Winner of Course this quarter was Modern Worship by one.

Alternative

• Abandon Kansas - A Midwest Summer
• The Almost - Fear inside our bones
• After Edmund - Art and Commerce
• Eisley - Currents
• Ghost Ship - The Good King
• Golden Youth - Quiet Frame: Wild Light
• House of Heroes - The Knock Down Drag Outs
• Over the Ocean - Be Given to the Soil
• Paramore - Paramore
• Sleeping at Last - Atlas 002: Light EP

Eisley has been a regular here at the Platinum Vinyl Awards. Since we've existed they haven't really failed to qualify an entrant into the pool. Both Deep Space and The Valley made the finals, and Ambulance from the won Alternative Song in the Second Awards. Of the list only Paramore is guaranteed a spot, as it was awarded a Perfect 5 Emeralds.

I will be at The Vespers concert at Nichols College in Dudley tonight, so if you are in the area I would be glad to meet you. Don't forget to enter the giveaway while you are here. Stay with me while the 3rd Quarter is announced, and as always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

The Songs of The Mourning Dove, Part Two

In my last post I discussed the return of the Dove Awards after an eighteen month hiatus. In that post I gave the GMA some suggestions from the recently concluded 3rd Platinum Vinyl Awards. In this post I will make suggestions, without showing all my cards, from the upcoming 4th Platinum Vinyl Awards Pool. The eligibility year for that is now in its fourth quarter.

Because the folks at the Gospel Music Association are terrified of synthesizers (They may have accepted electric guitars, but I think they still believe Mr Moog was an agent of the devil), there are a few possibilities that I don't think they will ever consider. Especially since good Christian boys and girls don't dance.

• III - Shiny Toy Guns
• The Electro Pop: Deluxe - V. Rose
• Glowing Collision, V1 - Andy Hunter
• Har Megiddo Remixed - Har Megiddo
• New Horizons - DJ Magellan (feat Lara Landon)
• Reconstructions - David Thulin

Then there is that pesky "spirituality test" that pops up whenever an artist successfully "takes the cross over" to the mainstream. If there is even a bobble on the Christian tightrope, they join the ranks of "the fallen". Hence, in addition to Shiny Toy Guns (I love that name), I doubt we shall see any of the following among the nominees.

• Almeria - Lifehouse
• Paramore - Paramore
• Vital - Anberlin

This final list I believe should make it though the Dove Committee, though you never can tell with them.

• A Creation Liturgy - Gungor
• O God Save Us All - Disciple
• Kings and Queens - Audio Adrenaline
• Loved - JJ Heller
• Miracle - Third Day
• The Space We Create - Terra, Terra, Terra
• Still Believe - Kim Walker-Smith
• The White Room - Jonathan Thulin

 That finishes my recommendations to the Dove Award nominating committee. We shall see, when the nominees are announced on August 21, 2013. Comment on this post or the previous one about possible ones that I missed, or additions you would like to see. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

A Night Beat Classic: The Christian Fringe

The post below was my second post, and it attempts to define Christian Contemporary Music. On this 3rd Birthday Celebration, I think it best to reintroduce myself.

CCM is short for Christian Contemporary Music. It is an all encompassing label that usually includes the Pop, Rock, Alternative, Hip-Hop, Ska, Big Band/Swing, and Country Genres. Not included in the description are Southern Gospel and Modern Worship. The Latter is a bit troublesome, since the sound is similar. While by no means a white only domain, the title also doesn't usually include Urban or Regular Gospel and R&B. 

The Night Beat Blog will review most of the accepted list, Country excepted (sorry, I can't stand it.)  You can also be assured that no Southern Gospel will pass by this reviewer, for the same reason.

The Fringe Defined

In addition to accepted CCM, I will also attempt to give a fair amount of coverage to the Christian Music Fringe, usually consisting of Hard Music (Red, Demon Hunter); Metalcore (My Children My Bride), Industrial (White Collar Sideshow), Techno/Electronica (Joy Electric, And then there were None) and others.  By fringe I don't mean the edge of Christianity, just Christian Music, though in some industry circles this may be seen as the same thing. Tats and loud music tend to spook a bunch of people.

Part of the fringe is the G.R.A.C. (an acronym meaning Generally Regarded As Christian), and usually consists of mainstream artists which have gained traction among the Christian Audience. Think of U2, Paramore and others. Depending on how the band is received, it may be deemed as Crossover. Think Switchfoot here.

Due to the reviewers personal taste, I may, if the occasion arises, dip into Crossover material that is spiritual in nature but is no longer universally recognized as Christian Music, examples of which are Creed, Evanescence, and more recently Jennifer Knapp.  I will deal with these in a later post.

That is enough to get you thinking. I am Awaiting Your Reply.

I Love The 80's: Firing Up the Night Beat Time Machine

Now that the Christmas Season is over, the cleanup begins. Now for most people that simply means ditching the tree and lights and usually putting the Christmas Music back in storage for another year. Now for me, though I have some Christmas CD's, I have a bigger selection on mp3, and, since I have an ancient and honorable iBook at home, it is time to purge the Christmas Music from the iTunes library (I've got it all on Flash Drives) and put on the regular tunes.

Some of those mp3's are from the "Classic Rock" era, and, despite what some may think, I think the music of that era holds up well over time. Now due to improvements in technology and the like "rock" supergroups of the time now sound like pop groups of today. Trust me though, these guys rocked.

The 80's gave us the pioneers of the Modern CCM industry. Petra, though born in the 70's, didn't come into its own until the 80's, and acts like the FFR pioneer bands Servant and Resurrection Band took the slings and arrows of their fellow Christians so that groups like Eowyn, Fireflight, Flyleaf, Paramore, Evolett and Evanescence would have the success that they have.

Then there was the Coffeehouse scene. I doubt the coffee was great (I hadn't started drinking coffee yet, so I don't know, but it was a long way from Starbucks. Shoutout to my friend Coffee Lovin Mom here. I don't know why, but I thought this would make an excellent name for a bad country song. I repeat myself, I know). There were small acts focused here, and it opened up a whole new method of promotions. This was usually an excellent way to get bootleg music. Bring in the old cassette machine, put it right on the table, nobody cared. I guess the RIAA didn't exist back then.

Heavy Metal was also born in the 80's, and while it bears little resemblance to the Thrash-Metal of the 21st Century, this screaming guitar metal could hold their own against any of them, Even TDWP. One of the best metal acts of the decade was the Swedish metal act Jerusalem. This was the band responsible for the mega metal composition Sodom, which clocks in at over Twelve Minutes Long, OVER HALF of which is instrumental. I dare any of today's bands to try something like that. The labels would be screaming. The only band to come close today is IONA.

I guess it's obvious that I love the eighties. And you know, it works in the mainstream as well. Not just politically (It was the Reagan Revolution) but TV and Music in general just sounded better. This rant is brought to you by the Night Beat. I invite you to visit the website and vote on the poll in the sidebar. What was your favorite musical decade? With all honors to REZ, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

The Second Coming of Amy Lee

"A Sudden Vanishing Away", that is one possible definition of the word EVANESCENCE. A possible synonym is Rapture. And for a moment, the fans of the band by that name may have thought is what happened to the band. Well all except for those in the "official" CCM circles. They kicked Amy out of the Kingdom a long time ago.

A few days ago Christian Music Zine posted a question on their twitter account as to what Album you were looking forward to. Since I heard of it, this was it.

Evanescence came to everyone's attention through the movie Daredevil (2003). Now as a movie, well, it pretty well stunk up the joint, now the soundtrack was pretty good. Evanescence contributed two songs to the movie. Bring Me To Life and My Immortal had me hooked on the new band, and I eagerly awaited the debut album, and put in an pre-order at Christian Book Distributors. In full disclosure, this is the only time I have ever made a pre-order.

Release day arrived and my order didn't. I checked. The album was on back order for weeks and then finally the product was dropped from the website. Wondering what was up, I decided to do some research. As part of their promotion for the album, Amy and band did an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Among the shocking things they said in the interview was that "They weren't a Christian Band". I know, can you believe it. It's not like it was never heard before. I believe DC Talk, Audio Adrenaline, Creed, U2, Skillet, Paramore, Evolett and just about every band not in the modern worship genre has said that they are not a Christian Band at least once. It's all about the restrictiveness and boneheadedness of the CCM Industry at large. I think they also said damn. Once. Such filth could not be tolerated. And the purge from Christian Outlets began. I bought my copy of Fallen from the local Target.

A funny thing happened on the way to the Tar and Feathering. Fallen went platinum, and then double platinum. As is usually the case, Christian Protests usually are a great source of cash for those getting protested. Everybody wants to know what the kerfuffle is about. Fallen is now listed at Septuple-Platinum (7x) in the United States and 17x Platinum in the World. Amy laughed all the way to the bank. Good for her. Their success prompted me to name one of my Platinum Vinyl Awards the Fallen Award.

Fallen was followed up by Anywhere but Home (2004), the bands first live album, and then The Open Door (2006). Neither album was as good, but it is hard to attain those heights on a regular basis. Soon after the Open Door, like their name implies, they vanished. I can hear the industry laughing, "I knew they wouldn't last."

"Hello, Hello, Remember Me. I'm everything you can't control...." So says Amy on What You Want, the opening song on Evanescence, their self titled release. The break has done them good. This is an awesome album. Amy's vocals have never been more haunting or spine chilling. The band has responded to their rush of copycats by upping their game. The use of strings on this album has exploded.



Did I ever tell you I am a sucker for strings. This is no exception. The layers are just gorgeous. As is Amy herself. Some shallow individuals on youtube were commenting that they think she's fat. Well, they're blind. Just watch the video. She's fit as a fiddle. There isn't a bad song on this album, and not a bad word in sight. Note to the mainstream. You can put out awesome music without a parental advisory.

October 1 Started the nominations for the Thrid Platinum Vinyl Awards and we already have our first shoo-in for Best Rock Album. I am giving Evanescence a perfect 5 Emerald Rating. I am not just a fan. This has the potential to go as far as Fallen, though that may be quite a stretch. I have Fallen as #1 on my list of the top CCM Albums of all time, and with songs like What You Want, Lost in Paradise, Sick, Oceans, and Swimming Home, I think this is a fair lock for number two. That's my vote and I'm sticking with it. Agree? Disagree? Comment Below. As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Grooveyard of Grace: Night Beat Classic Edition

In a previous post I briefly discussed the recent trend of retired bands getting back together for reunions. Sometimes it is on a permanent basis, and other times it is a one time deal during the Summer Festival season, which I also discussed in one of my first blog posts. This summer a mass reunion of sorts will occur at the Cornerstone Festival, one of the largest festivals, organized by Jesus People USA and operating every summer around the 4th of July since 1984. To mark the 40th Anniversary since Jesus made the Cover of Time Magazine, some of the "Fathers" of Christian Music will be appearing at the Festival for what is billed as a Jesus Rally. It will be a once in a lifetime event, as some of the bands that are scheduled to appear have not performed for decades, and probably will resume their retirement after the festival. I would hope the powers that be at JPUSA will be recording the event. I think DVDs of the rally would be a hot seller.

Though the rally is of great interest to us at the Night Beat, Illinois is a long way from the Northeast, and I don't know if I'll be able to attend. We have our own Summer Festival up here, Soulfest in New Hampshire, held since '98. To my knowledge only Classic Petra is coming this way. I hope that changes.

My introduction to Christian Music came in the decade of the 1980's, which in my opinion was the Golden Age of Christian Music. Jesus Music bands such as Servant and Petra were coming into their own, though Petra was considered an opening act at the time for an established band like Servant. Most bands used synthesizers to great effect, something that has been lost recently except in the Techno arena, with the exception of groups like Skillet. The Super-groups of the era were Petra, Servant, Fireworks and DeGarmo and Key. Resurrection Band or REZ, as they are known to their legions of fans, is generally regarded as Father of Christian Heavy Metal, just as Petra is regarded as the Father of Christian Rock. Both Sandie Brock (Servant) and Wendy Kaiser (REZ) were pioneers in the field of Female Fronted Rock. Without them taking the heat at first, I think it highly unlikely that three decades later we would be blessed with awesome FFR bands as The Letter Black (Sarah Anthony), Fireflight (Dawn Michele), Flyleaf (Lacey Sturm), Paramore (Hayley Williams), and Evolett (Haden Brightwell). That would be quite a loss.

The only sad thing about the Rally is who will not be there. I would like to see Fireworks again, but I'm not sure if anybody could be rounded up. However there is one band that can't reunite, and that is D&K. With the death of Dana Key in 2010 it would be very awkward at least to have a band with the name of DeGarmo & Key reunite. Another loss.

For those interested in learning about the Roots of Christian Rock, I would recommend you immerse yourself in these bands. Servant made six albums: Shallow Water (1979), Rockin Revival (1981), World of Sand (1982), Caught in the Act of Loving Him (1983), Light Maneuvers (1984) and Swimming in a Human Ocean (1985). Must have songs are innumerable with this band. But two not to miss are Sudden Death and Come Jesus Come from World of Sand, which together form their Rock Opera.

Fireworks music is almost non-existent right now in the market. I would suggest this workaround at the moment. Petra is one of the most prolific bands out there, so you shouldn't have any problem finding stuff from them. To narrow down your hunt, I would recommend a few must haves. Start your journey with Never Say Die (1981), the album which began Petra's transformation from Pop to Rock, and the second with Greg X. Volz, the "voice" of Petra. More Power To Ya (1982) completed the transition, and by the time Not of this World (1983) the reputation of the band as one of the Premier rock bands of our time was chiseled in stone.

DeGarmo and Key released thirteen albums between 1978 and 1994, and while it is almost impossible to pick a favorite here, I would start with Communication (1984) which has the iconic songs Six, Six, Six; Are You Ready, and Alleluia Christ is Coming. Also Commander Sozo and the Charge of the Light Brigade (1985) with the hits Casual Christian, Apathy Alert, and Competition.

Finally, REZ has many albums, but it is best to start at the beginning. I would suggest Awaiting Your Reply as the ideal starting point.

I will return to the grooveyard from time to time, and may eventually spin it off into a blog of its own. The links lead to the mp3  download section of Amazon, though Light Maneuvers and Swimming in a Human Ocean are only available on Vinyl. Please use the links to shop and help support the Night Beat. We will return to the music of the 21st Century with our next post.

We at the Night Beat would like to offer our thoughts and prayers to the people of Japan as they recover from todays 8.9 Magnitude Earthquake and resulting Tsunami. Be assured that help is on the way.