Summer Vacation, Sort of

Things at The WENC Night Beat are slowing down just as the temperature is rising. Our first giveaway just concluded, and though I am joining with Like A Bump On A Blog in promoting the Ultimate Summer Giveaway, I am not a major player in that.

One of Summers victims has been Flashback Friday. We began with the seventies back in the Winter and all the low hanging fruit has already been picked. In order to do research on some of the bands I will be suspending that column until after Labor Day.

Since I still have plenty of Music Video Monday supplies, that will stay on schedule, and I may finally be able to fit in some detailed album reviews, which have suffered lately. The hiatus will also allow me to get in a little time working on my novel, which has also suffered a little.

To those just jumping in now, bear with me, I don't intent for this to be a ghost town for a month. I should be able to maintain 2 to 3 posts a week.

Until next time, I will be doing research to bring you more editions of Flashback Friday.

Night Beat Rewind: July 2012

To all my new readers and fans coming from various places including online sweepstakes, I welcome you to the latest edition of Night Beat Rewind.A little later than I would like, but at least it's within the first ten days. As readership continues to grow, this introductory note becomes more and more important.

Night Beat Rewind is my monthly quick hits rating column for the releases of the Previous Month (the August column is for the July releases, how could it be otherwise since August is in Progress). I split the releases into three categories:

1. Those Releases which failed to make the initial bar for consideration in the annual Platinum Vinyl Awards.
2. Those Releases GUARANTEED to make the final 7 nominees vying for PVA consideration by virtue of being awarded a PERFECT 5 EMERALD RATING
3. The rest of the releases which met the minimum threshold of 4 Emeralds to be included in the PVA Judging Pool.

Now a word regarding category one. As I say every time, this is award worthy releases I am talking about. However, as regarding enjoyable listening is considered, unless those that missed the mark were under 3 Emeralds, you shouldn't be concerned about wasting your money on a bad album. With that being said, we begin with those albums which

Missed The Mark

• Clint Brown - Release 3.75 Emeralds
• Kari Jobe - The Acoustic Sessions [+video] 3.75 Emeralds
• Capital Lights - Rhythm 'N' Moves 3.75 Emeralds
• Your Memorial - Redirect 3.75 Emeralds

As you can tell by the rating of 3.75 Emeralds these releases just missed the mark. You can be secure knowing that these four are all solid albums, just not award worthy.

This month none of the releases blew me away, so NONE of the releases fell into the second category. There were no PURE PLATINUM releases.

Semi-Precious Metal

• A Bullet For Pretty Boy - Symbiosis 4.75 Emeralds
• Anchor & Braille - The Quiet Life 4.75 Emeralds
• Myesha Chaney - Take Him to the World 4.25 Emeralds
• Flatfoot 56 - Toil 4.50 Emeralds
• Future of Forestry - Young Man Follow 4.50 Emeralds
• Gideon - Milestone 4.25 Emeralds
• Hillsong Live - Cornerstone (Live) 4.25 Emeralds
• House of Heroes - Cold Hard Want [+digital booklet] 4.50 Emeralds
• Andy Hunter - Glow 4.50 Emeralds
• KB - Weight & Glory 4.50 Emeralds
• Cheri Keaggy - So I Can Tell 4.50 Emeralds
• P.O.D. - Murdered Love 4.50 Emeralds
• Petra - More Power to Ya: 30th Anniversary Edition 4.50 Emeralds
• Petra - This Means War: 25th Anniversary Edition 4.50 Emeralds
• Rhett Walker Band - Come to the River 4.75 Emeralds
• Je'kob Washington - Faith 4.50 Emeralds
• Wolves at the Gate - Captors 4.75 Emeralds

That concludes this edition of Rewind. You can click on the links and purchase from Amazon. When you do, you will support The Night Beat at the same time. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

 

Back To School With The Night Beat

I have just completed the first ever giveaway on The WENC Night Beat (Congratulations Katie Roch from Wisconsin, your prize was shipped this morning and will be in your hands shortly), and I thought, why stop now.

So, I am teaming up with one of my Triberr associates, Amberr Meadows from Like A Bump On A Blog. This is her Ultimate Summer Giveaway. Looking over the prize list, even I'd like to win.

First prize is $225 into your Paypal Account. Now that's a prize worthy of your efforts. Second prize is an iPod Touch, a $10 Amazon Card, and a 4 pack of artistic blank greeting cards Now it's all dependent on the model of the iPod, but second prize could be worth more than the first, at least money wise.

I checked with the esteemed Night Beat Legal Team of Youppa, Snoopa and Cow. (Hey, it's got to be a step up from Dewey, Cheatem and Howe) and they informed me that all the Night Beat can be considered is an interested party. Sponsors of the Ultimate Summer Giveaway include:

• Toby Neal , probably the best thing to happen to Hawaiian Crime Stories since Hawaii Five O. You can buy her books in The Lei Crime Series through Amazon.
• Rachel Thompson (aka Rachel in the OC) author of The Mancode: Exposed, also available through Amazon.
• Other sponsors include Intricate Knot and The World 4 Realz

Since it's Amber's Contest and rules, she would like to remind you that to be considered to win the prize, you must do ALL the steps on the rafflecopter. So do it. Now, on to the form

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

That's all for today. I will be back with my usual music related post soon. Until then, go and enter.

Music Video Monday: They Like Me

No, this isn't a post on Sally Field. This is the latest edition of Music Video Monday, where we share the best Music Videos in CCM. We've been playing catch up since we started it this year. However, I think we're almost there. Today we do Hip Hop and Rap for the Third Quarter, and we've got two more third quarter posts to go. Since the fourth quarter ends in September (September 30 to be exact), we will definitely be in the fourth quarter when it ends.

First up is KJ-52 (pronounced five-two). He released Dangerous back in April, and the first official music video from the CD is entitled They Like Me (feat. Lecrae).

April also marked a release from Hip Hop Legend Trip Lee. If you don't have it already, go get a copy of Between Two Worlds (click on the title, buy through Amazon, and help support The Night Beat while you are at it). This is an extremely powerful video again featuring Lecrae. This video teams with Voice of The Martyrs to support Persecuted Christians around the world.

We close with Manafest. We also conclude a All April Music Video Monday. Manafest released Fighter in April. This is the video for the title cut.

That concludes this edition of Music Video Monday. Next week we move onto the Hard Rock and Heavy Metal videos. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

The Final Time Around

This is the last This Time Around Giveaway until the announcement. The Giveaway ends at midnight, so enter now and as they say in Montreal bon chance.

The End Is Near

For the first ever This Time Around Giveaway It ends tomorrow and the entries are going nicely. I will be picking the winner and notifying him or her early next week. In the meantime enjoy your weekend, especially if you are at Soulfest (ends today) or Kingdom Bound (begins tomorrow). Watch your email box and this blog for the results.

Flashback Friday: Who Will You Follow

Is a band cool if your parents like it? Usually that question only pops up when a young person discovers a classic band like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, or something like that on iTunes and thinks the music is cool, then they find out that their parents listened to them when they were young. Reality check. Can anything my parents liked be cool?

The subject of this Flashback Friday post was a little different. As I went on from High School to college I was introduced to new things (no, not that). Musically, I mean. Once in college a friend of mine introduced me to Heavy Metal, and I was hooked. Now to a Christian heavy metal meant Stryper, Barren Cross, Rez and some others.

Whitecross was a rare breed among the bands of the time. Not only did it consist of hard driving metal, it was paired with Crystal Clear Lyrical Content. So much so that my dad asked for a copy. He thought the lyrics were spot on. I will always remember that about my dad.

They burst onto the rock scene with their eponymous debut in 1987 and one of their first hits was "Who Will You Follow?" They Pulled no punches. Sorry Billy Graham, but this an amped up altar call par excellence. Here is a video for Who will You Follow done in Germany, the audio isn't great, but they put the lyrics for you to read. It's fun to see these guys with short hair.

Rex Carroll was their guitarist from the outset until he and Lead Vocalist Scott Wenzel split in 1994. Unveiled, Equilibrium and Flytrap, one release a year from 1994-96 were done without Carroll, and the sound is much different. Happily, though they took a brief hiatus from 1996-2000 they reformed and brought Carroll back in 2005, and they have been quietly touring. Here is a video of a Carroll guitar solo including the song Nagasaki.

Rumor has it that they may make a new CD but I can't find anything regarding that. Since the Information came from Wikipedia, I take it with a grain of salt, but I hope it's true.Eight albums and one EP in the course of 9 years. It was an impressive work record and now that they have had a well deserved rest, I hope they are back. The rock scene could use them. Check out their body of work on Amazon and help support The Night Beat at the same time. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.