Night Beat Rewind: February 2013

It always happens this time of year. I know, for a Word of Faith person this sure is a bad confession. Good or bad, it's a fact. When you're a one person operation, trying to keep up with new releases while doing an awards ceremony for the past year is pretty daunting. As long as I don't get two months behind during these months, I'm doing okay.

As always, we begin with those albums which will not make the next nominating pool. Those in effect which are

Missing The Mark

• Christine D'Clario - Deeper 3.75 Emeralds
• Kutless - The Worship Collection 3.75 Emeralds
• Red - Release The Panic 3.75 Emeralds
• Those Who Fear - Unholy Anger 3.75 Emeralds

As always, these are all near misses. Not too many turkeys out there. The industry does a pretty good job keeping the pretenders (not the British Band featuring Chrissie Hynde) out. On the other hand, there are the wow moments, or those releases that are 

Pure Platinum

• V. Rose - The Electro-Pop Deluxe  5 Emeralds

This is the perfect example of a great dance album. Featured appearances by everyone under the sun, including +Beckah Shae. Of course, most albums fall somewhere in the middle, an area we refer to at The Night Beat as:

Semi-Precious Metal

And this month did not disappoint, as we had nineteen releases pop up here, most in the very high range, which is a very good thing.

• Arrows and Sound - Arrows and Sound 4.75 Emeralds
• Daniel Bashta - The Invisible 4.50 Emeralds
• Jeremy Camp - Reckless 4.50 Emeralds
• Steven Curtis Chapman - #1's Volume 2 4.50 Emeralds
• Hillsong United - Zion 4.50 Emeralds
• Je'kob - Faith, Hope, Love 4.75 Emeralds
• Canton Jones - CJ Talks 4.75 Emeralds
• William Murphy - God Chaser 4.75 Emeralds
• Newsong - Swallow The Ocean - 4.50 Emeralds
• Britt Nicole - Gold 4.50 Emeralds
• Plumb - Need You Now 4.75 Emeralds
• Salvador - Make Some Noise 4.75 Emeralds
• Sanctus Real - Run 4.50 Emeralds
• Jenny Simmons - The Becoming 4.75 Emeralds
• Spoken - Illusion 4.50 Emeralds
• Tal and Acacia - Black and White 4.75 Emeralds
• Various Artists - Mars Hill Music Worship Sampler 4.75 Emeralds
• Various Artists - Love Never Fails 4.50 Emeralds
• Paul Wilbur - Your Great Name 4.50 Emeralds

That concludes this edition of Night Beat Rewind. I'm glad that this is going out before April. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

The Nominations Begin: Rap Video of The Year

Now that the electronic categories are completed, we move on to Rap Music, and its more rock like (and Dance Like) sibling, Hip Hop. The Nominations for Video of The Year in the genre of Hip Hop and Rap are:

Fighter by +Manafest 

Goodbye by +JSon

I'm Good by +trip lee 

Lord Have Mercy (Feat Tedashii) by +Lecrae Moore 

They like Me by KJ-52


That concludes this category. Next up is more hard stuff, as the nominations for Hard Rock or Metal Video are next. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

The Nominations Begin: Electronic/Industrial Video of The Year

Just because something is created on a synthesizer doesn't mean that it's dance music. It usually is but sometimes it is Trance (which just puts you into one), or Ambient (mood music), darkwave and Industrial (hard and loud). This is to honor those pioneers in music.

The nominees for the 3rd Annual Platinum Vinyl Award for Electronic/Industrial Video of The Year are:

Black Heart Hearse by White Collar Sideshow

Find Me by Anchor and Braille

Poison and Wine (Civil Wars Cover) by Satellites and Sirens

Spiral (feat Beth Bullock) by Andy Hunter

Sublime Currency by Abandoned Pools

That concludes the Electronic/Industrial Video Nominations. Hip Hop and Rap is next. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

The Nominations Begin: Dance/Synthpop Video of The Year

Nominations for the Electronic/Dance category this year were so large, and the field not just in Dance, that it necessitated splitting the category in two. We begin with Dance/Synthpop. Of course we are in the Video Awards at present here on the blog.

The Nominations for Dance/Synthpop Video of the Year are:

He Said by Group 1 Crew

Let it Go by Satellites and Sirens

Time (Spiral Galaxy Mix) by The Washington Projects

Toes by Lights

Zombie by Family Force Five

That concludes part one of the new electronic music genres. Next up is Electronic/Industrial. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

The Nominations Begin: Pop Video of The Year

We continue with the Video Nominations, moving on to Pop Music. Once again, after watching, please use the comments below to cast a vote. I am trying to put an audience participation element in this years awards. And the nominees are:

Courageous by Casting Crowns

The Rescue by Adam Cappa

Scientists in Japan by Sara Groves

Secrets Don't Make Friends by Rocky Loves Emily

Watch over me by Holly Spears

Those are the five nominees. Right now I want you to vote for your favorite by making a comment below. Your vote will help pick the winner this year. Until the next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

The Nominations Begin: Alternative Video of The Year

We always try to mix things up at the WENC Night Beat, and what better time then at Award Season. The third Platinum Vinyl Award is almost upon us, and the nominations are in. This year we begin the Music Video Awards, and there are genre based awards for Alternative, Pop, Dance/Synthpop, Electronic/Industrial, Hip-Hop/Rap, Hard Rock/Metal, and Rock, as well as General Field Video Awards in Video by a Male Artist, Video by a Female Artist, Video by a New Artist, and Video of The Year.

I would really like to encourage an audience vote this year, and this is one of the best ways I can figure on doing it. I am going to check on the possibilities of using +SoundCloud as a possibility of bringing in Song of The Year participation. I would suggest using the comments as your vote.

We begin with Alternative Video of The Year. By alternative, we mean Alternative Rock, not some strange new way of shooting video. There are only Five nominees per category, if we can make it, not the usual seven we try for. Here we go, in no particular order of odds. (Actually, I was trying to go alphabetical by song).

And the nominations for Alternative Video of The Year for the 3rd Platinum Vinyl Award are:

Daylight by Run, Kid, Run.



Find Me by Anchor and Braille


My Name is Eustace by Benjamin Dunn and the Animal Orchestra

The Proof of Your Love by For King and Country

Summer Forgets Me by Deas Vail

That gets things started here on the Blog. The Awards, as well as the nominations, will have a multiple pronged announcement. I am currently going through them all on Facebook, Google + and soon, on Twitter as well. Along with right here for Video announcement and voting and the complete list on the nomination page. Let the voting begin, and, as always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

We Need Now to be faster than a bullet

Bands, as well as musical styles, tend to go through phases. No better example exists in the Christian Music world is Petra. You can build a musical biography by studying their albums. At 40 years they have experienced it all.

The subject of today's post has gone through a few phases. The name of the artist is Tiffany Arbuckle Lee, but she is popularly known by her stage name, Plumb.

Need You Now (How Many Times) marks the beginning of Plumb's Third Act, so to speak. The First Act began in 1997 With the eponymous release. Plumb was a band at the time, and Tiffany was the vocalist. It was sort of an alt-rock band, with Tiffany going into talk box sound from time to time. It was followed up with Candycoatedwaterdrops (1999). From the opening notes of Late Great Planet Earth, you knew we were in different territory. It was a career maker. 

But then there was a falling out, and Plumb disappeared from the CCM scene, but re-emerged in 2003 as the queen of the dance floor. Now married, and recording on Curb Records, she came out with two synthpop dance classics Beautiful Lumps Of Coal (2003) and Chaotic Resolve (2006), along with Blink (2007), most likely the only Children's Music Album that received significant radio play thanks to hits like "In My Arms". Children's Dance Music in a lot of cases.

Now comes Need You Now. Originally the album was to be entitled Faster Than a Bullet, but the Sandy Hook Massacre changed all that, and Mama Tiffany thought it best to remove the bullet reference, even though it refers back to Superman, and he was a good guy. Need You Now sounds so bland.

Thankfully it is only a title, and the album is anything but bland. Plum has left the dance floor. The new album is a mix of Adult Contemporary, Pop, and alternative, with only two of the 13 cuts dance. Even so, it marks the stretching of Plumb's talents, because you get to see everything she is capable of.

In the final analyses, I am going to give Need You Now a near perfect 4.75 Emeralds. The album grew on me, and I liked it more with each listen. It would be perfect if it was Faster Than a Bullet, but that's just my opinion. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

P.S. - I would like to Welcome back all my +Triberr peeps back to the Night Beat Fold. I thought I had been abandoned, but the fault was mine. I just discovered a 1 blog per tribe rule. Since I now have two blogs, things can't go auto. I am back in business.