THE END....Is Where We Begin

The Masquerade is Concluded. Toronto, Ontario Rockers Thousand Foot Krutch finally concluded their immensely popular "Masquerade" series, which spanned three albums and a DVD. After such a successful release, the question is usually posed, "What's Next?. Welcome to the Masquerade begs the question, since it obviously a career defining album. While not in the echelon of Evanescence Fallen, the result will be the same. Trevor McNevan and crew are now firmly etched on the Christian Rock Scene. It's sort of like Skillet after Invincible, when Korey joined and they went to Synth-Industrial and never looked back.

We finally have our answer. The End is Where We Begin comes out Today. It is straight up pure Rock and Roll goodness, with little embellishment. The first Single released was War of Change, and that was all most TFK fans needed. It hearkens back to the Rap-Core of Early Pillar, before they started Chasing Red. The title refers to the Crucifixion. The End (the Crucifixion) is where We (The Church) begin. It has a double meaning, in that it marks the end of TFK's association with Tooth and Nail Records and the beginning of their journey as an independent entity. I hope the separation was amicable. I just can't help wonder if the refrain of "I don't think I need you anymore" on Fly on The Wall refers to Tooth and Nail.

Once the album kicks off with We Are, there are very few places to take a break, and the band kicks it up a notch from time, especially with Light Up The Sky, Let The Sparks Fly and Down. There are a few pauses, most notably Be Somebody, the acoustic All I Need To Know, and Fly on The Wall. Oh, for any astute readers, So Far Gone sounds like another song I've heard. I just don't know where. Skillet? If you know, give me a comment.

I am going to give The End is Where We Begin a near perfect 4.75 Emeralds. Part of me wants just a tad more hardness. That would be perfect. It is a great "Beginning", however. Click on the link to support the night beat when you buy from Amazon. Also, for this week, you can listen to the entire album on the New Release Tuesday homepage, no registration necessary. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Music Video Monday: Siberian Frequencies

Welcome to the Patriots Day edition of Music Video Monday. If you don't know what Patriots Day is don't worry. Just say its Boston Marathon Day. Actually it's really the day that the American Revolution began, but hardly anyone knows that these days.

This week we begin sharing videos for albums which will be in the 2012 Platinum Vinyl Awards. The awarding of the 2011 Awards is just a few weeks away. Stay tuned for that.

We begin with one of my favorite new artists, Lights. This is her new video Banner, from her new release Siberia.

If you ever wondered what the life of a Techno artist was like, the video for Siberia is done as a day in the life. It looks pretty cool to me.

We move on to another electronic band. Satellites and Sirens. Every Friday they release a new video on their Youtube site. This week they did a cover of Poison and Wine by The Civil Wars, using video from the Pixar film UP. It is beautiful, and is a great Civil Wars Homage.

We'll conclude with another Cover. In honor of the much hyped novel series and movie, The Hunger Games, they did a cover of Taylor Swifts Eyes Open. Enjoy

I hope You enjoyed these videos this week. We move a few genres to Alternative next week. Not every genre is comfortable making Music Videos. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Sunday Funnies: How To Speak Northern Irish

With all apologies to my fans in the British Commonwealth, but it is amazing that they say that Americans, Canadian, Aussies, Kiwis (New Zealand) and Brits all speak the same language. Here in the states the Midwesterners who are said to have no accent are sure that us in the Northeast and in the South don't speak English.

The Modern Worship genre is dominated by the Hillsong/Maranatha consortium, and though very good, it does contribute to a sense of "Heard it already" among many albums. It is like a refreshing glass of ice water then when a group arrives that breaks the mold. That group is Rend Collective Experiment. Per my last paragraph, these guys are from Northern Ireland. Their facebook page lists about sixteen members, but I think they rotate them. In the vein of early Caedmon's Call Music, they seem to play just about anything. I still swear I can hear a Xylophone in some of their music.

Being Irish they have a good sense of humor, and nowhere is it more evident in their new Youtube series How To Speak Northern Irish. For the first episode they corralled Bart Millard of Mercy Me to say How Now Brown Cow, sort of.

Not content to rest there, they next corralled Hip Hop artist Lecrae. Lecrae got his revenge by trying to get them to "Keep It Trill" (True and Real). Personally I think this one was better.

Now Rend Collective isn't just fun and games, though it helps. This is the music video for the single off their new album Homemade Worship by Handmade People. This is Second Chance.

I hope you enjoyed the music, and had a good laugh at trying to speak Northern Irish. I know I haven't laughed so hard in a while. Until we next meet, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

High Concept

Once Upon A Time, A long long time ago (1987) in a city far far away (Lynchburg, VA), three friends started a band that took the Christian Music world by storm. Michael Tait, Kevin Max Smith and Toby McKeehan were the friends and the group was DC Talk.


DC Talk broke up in 2001, but the members have continued to make an impact on the CCM world. Michael Tait (the singer) followed up his solo act (TAIT) by becoming lead singer of Newsboys (you may have heard of them). Toby McKeehan (the rapper) dropped his Irish name and went on to Rock success as Toby Mac.

And then there was Kevin (The Poet). Even while a member of DCT he dropped the Smith and was just Kevin Max. His solo debut was Stereotype Be (2001). I guess in my own way I have stereotyped the former DC Talk Members, but that is the way that things worked out. Toby started out in the Rap/Hip Hop arena, though that has blended into Rock for most artists these days, and Michael "wanted to do the Rock thing" (one shot, Newsboys Born Again). Spoken Word poems like there is a treason at sea on Supernatural were Kevin's forte. And now, it seems, so are angels.

Fiefdom of Angels: Side One is Max's latest, and true to form it is beautiful, very middle eastern sounding, and very esoteric. This time around he is exploring the origins of angels and the devil and dragons, and has a Graphic Novel paired with the release. The graphic novel is the idea of Max along with a few collaborators, notably Mike Bullock (The Phantom), Tyler Walpole (World of Warcraft Trading Cards), Peter Mohrbacher (Kabam Games), Josh Aitken (Gladiator), and Rob Schwager. He certainly didn't skimp on the talent. Of course, from the download, it is a teaser. The story goes on only for about 5 pages or so and the rest (23 Pages) is description, maps, bio. I was somewhat disappointed on that front. I would like to have seen more on the Graphic Novel front.

I was more impressed by the EP (Side One). The EP kicks off with Send Me An Angel, which seems to be about love and dating. We don't seem to really switch to the theme of the Angel Wars until End of The Beginning. Thanks to Soundcloud I can embed the player allowing you to listen to Shadowplay and Dragon Attack, cuts three and four on the EP. Sorry, Dragon attack isn't allowed to embed, click on the link for listening on soundcloud.  

I am going to give Fiefdom of Angels: Side One a preliminary rating of 4.5 Emeralds. I don't usually promise to readjust a score, but I am going to do it in this case. I want to hold out for side two if I can. It could be equal to side one or it could be an Impostor. Who knows. It is promising, however. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Flashback Friday: Love Beyond Reason

Welcome to the latest edition of Flashback Friday, where we bring the modern music enthusiast up to speed on some of their history. After all, if you don't know where you've come from, how can you know where you're going.

Round Two of Flashback Friday centers around the Classic Christian Song Love Broke Through. There were four people involved in the song, but we are concentrating only on three of them. Two were involved in the writing, Keith Green and Randy Stonehill. One made the song famous in the singing and performance, Phil Keaggy. Last week we covered Keith Green. This week it's Uncle Randy time.

Sometimes, in the straight laced world of Christian Music, and artist emerges which most people may think is (slightly?) deranged. Of course such non-conventional behavior just assure that the kids will love him. Such is Randy Stonehill, or as he is affectionately known, Uncle Randy. Musically he is stylistically linked to James Tayor, though his fans love him because he acts like Robin Williams. Of course, while he may have a crazy manic persona, he is still relatively down to earth. I mean, to my knowledge, Uncle Randy has never donned a dress and heels for a music video or in concert (Steve Taylor, Lifeboat. But that's another post altogether.

We will begin our musical tour with a live video of Randy performing Your Love Broke Through.

This is a great video if your purpose of showing off Randy's Acoustic Guitar talent, which is beyond question. It does little to show the twisted sense of humor that he has. So from the sublime to the ridiculous, we will go to one of the DJ favorites during my college days (and the bane of the administration. He belches in the song) American Fast Food which was on Equator (1982)


A straight up Christian Song, but the Concept Video shows his sense of humor nicely. This is gods of men from Love Beyond Reason. (the video isn't great, but the song is)

One more humorous video. This is the title cut off Love Beyond Reason. I'm only disappointed that the beginning was edited. It had Randy asking to drive the tour bus ("How Hard Could It Be") and the long and winding road they took until it said, "from our Lost Somewhere in Central America Tour".

Randy Stonehill has quite a body of work. The link is just to mp3 albums alone. Discovered by the great Larry Norman, he released his debut album (and it was an album at the time), Born Twice, way back in 1971, and he is still recording. His latest is Spirit Walk, which was released last September. He's still got it. FYI, this is his 24th Studio Album. Rock On Uncle Randy.

It is probably appropriate to have a post on one of the more unbalanced fathers of Christian Rock be somewhat unbalanced itself, but I still apologize. Next weeks Flashback Friday should be a bit more even as we move on to Phil Keaggy. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

The Frozen Chosen: Modern Worship

This has got to be the most oxymoronic title I have ever put on a post, since Modern Worship is supposed to be the answer to the Church Malady known as being "stiff" (aka Frozen Chosen) but I couldn't resist.

Modern Worship had a very good showing this quarter, with almost two dozen possible entries. Of course such a large pool means a lot of work next spring, but I would rather that than have to count the number of entrants on one hand (Do You Hear Me Children's Music?). Just as an aside, I am typing this post while listening to TFK's The End is the Beginning. I can see a very good recommendation coming for this release. It drops next Tuesday. Let's get on to the list.

Modern Worship

• All Sons and Daughters - Season One
• Jon Bauer - Forevermore
• Bethel Music - The Loft Sessions
• Andy Cherry - Nothing Left To Fear
• Cornerstone Church Worship - The Heart Revolution
• Gateway Next - Look Up
• Aaron Gillespie - Echo Your Song (Live)
• Kari Jobe - Where I Found You
• One Sonic Society - Forever Reign
• Parachute Band - Matins : Vespers
• Passion 2012 - White Flag
• Rend Collective Experiment - Homemade Worship by Handmade People
• Sanctuary - Reveal
• Michael W. Smith - Decades of Worship
• Starfield - The Kingdom
• Various Artists - Awaken My Soul: Songs of Redemption
• Various Artists - Maranatha Music: How Great is our God
• Various Artists - Mission Worship: Come People of the Risen King
• Various Artists - Worship Together: 25 Favorite Worship Songs
• Vineyard Music - I Love Your Presence: Live From Phoenix
• Worship Central - Spirit Break Out
• Worth Dying For - Live Riot

Whew! That was a lot. Like I said previously, too many is better than none. I will continue to dribble these out throughout the week. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

A Bird in the Hand or Love on the Outside

Willet courtesy Amazon

The Willet is a large shorebird of the Sandpiper family that inhabits both coasts of the United States. He is listed as being of least concern as far as rarity. At least that was one of the first things my research turned up. That is not the subject of my post, however.

 Willet is also the name of a band founded by brothers Jeremy, Justin and Jordan Willet of Maryland. Now I just recently found out about this band, but quicker than you can say best new artist, a little research finds that this release is their sixth studio release. Maybe "best artist no one knows," but new is not an option.

Willet burst onto the scene with the unfortunately titled Sometimes a City Needs a Bomb (2007), and have quietly put out six albums or EPs.

• Virus (2008)
• Snow on Christmas, Volume 1 (2009)
• Somewhere In Between (2009)
• Teeth of a Lion, Fangs of a Lioness (2010)

And now comes the sixth Love On The Outside. It is a Rock EP with a few worship songs, and is available to download for FREE from willetonline. It's a Noisetrade download and the widget is right on the homepage. I know that FREE is a powerful pull, and I understand that completely, but I cannot help making a plug at the same time. You see, Amazon is selling the EP as well, and since The Night Beat is an affiliate, you can support us buy buying the EP through them. Clicking on the linked Blog Title will take you to the Willet Page on Amazon, where you can support us by buying any of Willets releases, so I am not holding you to buy a CD you can get for free.

On to the EP itself. It starts out with Love, Love, Love, which is actually just a redone version of the chorus of Love on the Outside, and clocks in at just over a minute in length and under a MB in size. Actually I thought my download was defective when I saw the file. What download is under 1MB these days?

Once the intro is over we start to Rock out. Disaster is the first full song, and it is anything but its title. The chorus reminds us that "Whatever disaster tries to destroy, whatever disease may come, we know that God is Love, God is Love". The title cut is next, and exhorts us

If you have a light let it shine, let it shine, until the whole world sees, the whole world sees. If you have a voice, shout it out until the whole world hears, the whole world hears.

That shouldn't be a problem for these guys. They have committed to give the CD of Love on the Outside free at all their concerts. Oh, did I mention that one of those concerts will be at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London? I guess they'll make it up on volume.

Whether you buy or get free, Love on The Outside gets a Night Beat Approved 4.5 Emeralds. Rock on guys. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.