Mistletunes: The 2016 1st Quarter - Live Recorded Album

We begin our single genre postings with a four way tie. Live Recorded Album, Folk/Folk Rock, Gospel/R&B , and Dance/Synthpop all had five entrants into the pool this quarter. We will start with Live Recorded Album. I know, it is not technically a genre, but it really seems silly to relegate these to the general field. Live vs Studio.

Live Recorded Album

• Casting Crowns - A Live Worship Experience
• Adam Layne Fisher - Live at Barnet Park
• Generation Unleashed - Come Alive (Live)
• John Mark McMillan - Live At The Knight
• Cindy Cruse Ratcliff - Edge Of The Universe (Live At Lakewood Church)  

Next up is Folk and Folk Rock. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Mistletunes: The 2016 1st Quarter - Industrial Metal Remix

We are back. Sometimes it is harder to get back into a routine than you expected. I know you have been waiting with baited breath, and here it is. The second and last multiple genre post. We cover three more genres: Electronic-Industrial, Remix, and Hard Rock/Heavy Metal. Let's get to it. 

Remix Album

• Family Force Five - Time Still Stands
• Hillsong Young and Free - We Are Young & Free - EP (The Remixes)

Electronic - Industrial

• Mutemath - Vitals
• Salt of The Sound - Echoes Of Wonder
• Seeker and Servant - You Alone Forever

Hard Rock/Heavy Metal

• Demon Hunter - Extremist (Deluxe Edition)
• For Today - Wake
• Stryper - Fallen
• Withered Bones - For the Ones I Love

That's it for this quarter for these genres. One big note here. Between these three genres we had Three Perfect Albums this quarter. Two of them came from Heavy Metal. Demon Hunter upped the ante with the release of their deluxe edition of Extremist. And Stryper continues to show the young ones how to do Metal. The third perfect album also comes from a group which is making excellence look easy, and that is Sweden's Salt of The Sound. Until next time, when we begin the Single genre posts with a four way tie, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Mistletunes: The 2016 1st Quarter - Children's Rock Compilation

Welcome to the First Quarter Wrap-up of 2016. Yes, I know, it is only January, but our year begins in October. We are going to continue some new trends. One of those trends we started last year was to only link the albums when they are in these quarterly wraps. Not that I don't want you to buy, buy, buy. I do. It's just that the releases are in nice bite sized pieces here. None missed the mark. And linking up 45 or so releases can be arduous all at one time.

As is the custom here, we begin with multiple-genre posts where we combine genres which failed to make a minimum threshold of entries. (Our bar is 5). There will be two such posts this quarter. One surprise this quarter is that every genre was represented. Usually we have one or two with no entries. For this post we will be covering Children's Music, Rock Music, and Compilation Album of The Year. Let's get to it.

Children's Music

• Bethel Music Kids - Come Alive

Compilation Album

• Various - Blessed Assurance: The New Hymns of Fanny Crosby
• Various - Holy Hip Hop (Vol. 20)

Rock Music

• Five Iron Frenzy - Between Pavement and Stars
• Foreveratlast - Ghosts Again
• Seventh Day Slumber - Redline EP 
• Spoken - Breathe Again

That does it. We are underway. We will have our final multiple genre post next time, and then on to the single genre posts. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

New Year, New #NightBeatniks

2016 (aka #PlatVnyl7) is underway. As is customary things take a little while to get up to speed after the Christmas Music Rush. Fine with us, as it gives us time to get our end of year posts and 1rst Quarter wrap finished. For those of you who are new here who are asking "First Quarter 2016 Wrap? But This is The First Quarter of 2016." Maybe on your calendar, but we are operating here on the Platinum Vinyl Award Calendar.  That calendar began on October 1 of 2015 and will continue until September 30 of this year.

Back in College in the Mid 1980's I was a Disc Jockey or DJ. We played Vinyl Records on Turntables. The 45 (a vinyl disc about the size of a CD that had 2 songs on it, one on each side) was slowly disappearing and the 33 or Album would soon be replaced by the CD. An uninformed person once said that the 8 Track Tape Replaced the Vinyl Album. No. I was there. The 8 track was a blip on the Musical Timeline. While the Cassette Tape and the 8-Track Were Prone to the same malady ("eating of the tapes"), the cassette could simply, in most cases, be rewound into the casing and played without effort many more times. The 8-Track, however, no. Probably because of the "eating malady" the Cassette never replaced the 33RPM Vinyl but coexisted alongside it. It did have the benefit of portability however,especially after the introduction of the Sony Walkman in 1980. By the end of the Decade the CD was on its way to prominence. It had portability with the size of a 45, and Durability, and could not be eaten. It still has not been overtaken. What about the mp3, you ask. Yes it has portability, but it can be accidentally or otherwise deleted. The CD is permanent.

Musically speaking the 80's were the Golden Age of Music, Christian or Otherwise. There was this little group out of Ireland released an album entitled Boy in 1980. You might have heard of them. U2 anyone? Bono and several other members of the band are Born Again Christians so the band was among the first Crossover acts to become popular in the Christian College Radio crowd. And that really began a crossover trend both ways. We gave the mainstream the likes of Amy Grant and Switchfoot, and you gave us U2, Evanescence and Creed. U2 and Creed managed to stay in the good graces of CCM throughout their careers, and Evanescence got kicked out of the kingdom for swearing during an interview. Still, both Creed and Evanescence managed to latch on to the "Hillsong Effect". By that I mean that they have birthed a horde of imitators, much like Hillsong Church created a horde of "Zschechies" with all these blonde female worship leaders adopting the dress and hairstyle of Darlene Zschech. Modern Worship itself as a genre is still trying to break free from a Hillsong Sound where they all sound alike. Creed gave us Jeremy Camp and Kutless, among others, and Evanescence gave us Eowyn to start.

Oh, one final thing. My radio show in college was called The Night Beat. When looking for a nickname for my fans I coined Night Beatniks. Now the stereotypical Beatnik loved Poetry and Jazz. Now I like my poetry classical (Iambic Pentameter and Rhyme) but I would be very happy in a Jazz Club. As we move into the year and the nominations for #PlatVnyl6 are announced you shouldn't be surprised if you see a few artists that most folks wouldn't consider "Christian". We honor a lot of good music that a Christian (and anyone else) should like. Stay tuned. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Night Beat Rewind: December 2015

2015 is just about history, but first we have one final edition of Rewind. It's rare to get one done in the month it covers, but there were only 14 entries. Let's get to it.

The Singles Scene was very appropriate, with only a single entry. Fearless BND, the former Worth Dying For, is in the process of releasing a song a month. December's release has a somewhat appropriate title.

• Fearless BND - The Anticipation 4.50 Emeralds

It is not a song about Santa and Presents. On to the Album Reviews. We begin with the albums which will not make the #PlatVnyl7 Eligibility Pool.

Missing The Mark

• Fern - 68 and Douglas 3.75 Emeralds
• Corey Paul - Today, Tomorrow, and Forever 3.75 Emeralds
• Joe Pots - Shout It Out 3.75 Emeralds

There was also one Pure Platinum Release. Sometimes they sneak up on you at the last minute, when you are trying to finalize the Best of The Year List.

Pure Platinum Perfection

• The Ember Days - Valitus 5 Emeralds

The rest of the releases fall in between the two extremes, as usual.

Semi-Precious Metal

• Bethel Music Kids - Come Alive 4.75 Emeralds
• Hillsong Young and Free - We Are Young and Free The Remixes 4.75 Emeralds
• Skrip - Show and Tell EP 4.75 Emeralds
• Mr and Mrs Something - Setting Sail 4.75 Emeralds
• Spoken - Breathe Again 4.75 Emeralds
• Duawne Starling - Deeper Faith 4.50 Emeralds
• Stu G - Have You Heard 4.50 Emeralds
• Various - Small Group Worship, Volume 2 4.75 Emeralds
• Withered Bones - For The Ones I Love 4.50 Emeralds

That does it for 2015. And we still have a few days in the year. I don't think I can get the first quarter in the bag before then, but that is the next thing on the agenda. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

The 10 Best Albums of 2015

This is a very special Christmas Season here at Night Beat HQ. Not because we love Christmas, but because, for the first time in a while we have actually managed to put out a Top 10 List at the end of the year. That's what happens when you hand out roughly 50 perfect albums per year. It gets a bit crowded. (Full Disclosure: 2015 had 49). Looking for the "WOW" that struck me the first time got me down to 18. I gave it one more listen and came up with some sort of ranking. I ranked 1-10. 11-18 will be in an honorable mention with no emphasis on rank.

• #10 - Falling Up, Falling Up - I grew up in the 80's, which happens to be the Best Decade of Music Ever, for both the Mainstream and Christian Music Scenes. A Band which I say is "my band" is The Choir, with its Chiming Guitars. Everything has an "ethereal sound". Falling up has always reminded me of them. Unfortunately, one of their best ever is also their last. I guess I will have to stay with The Choir.
• #9 - One Love Revolution, Pillar - Personally tied for "Best Pillar Album Ever" with Fireproof. Yes the recording was sub par on that one, but the in your face rap core was refreshing. It is telling that the original lineup, which was on Fireproof, was on this album.
• #8 - Come In, Children 18:3 - Another swan song. No you don't get a free pass when you break up. There were rumors that On The Run was going to be the final album, and while it was okay, it was bordering Pop, and that isn't what we look to this band for. This is one of the loudest album ever by the band.
• #7 - Valitus, The Ember Days - I have been a fan since they were still doing Finger Painting. They have always been an Alternative Band which swerves into Modern Worship from time to time. It's Better than the other way around. The name means "A Wailing" , though It didn't seem depressed. It was my last perfect album of the year and one of the most satisfying.
• #6 - II, Capital Kings - Our first representative from The Dance/Synthpop arena, or is it Electronic/Industrial. It is really hard to figure this time around. Once one of the pack of Synthpop bands, they moved into the front through both their remix album, and this their second album, which moved into a harder edged sound
• #5 - This Is Not A Test, Toby Mac - Toby Mac is Back. His music has never been bad, it's just that for a while now he has simply fulfilled expectations. This is not a test Smashes them, with a little help from Capital Kings, I might Throw in.
• #4 - Empire, Derek Minor - The Only Rap Album to Make the list, but only because I did my best to get down to ten. 4 Rap Albums made a Perfect 5 (6 if you include TobyMac and Rapture Ruckus). All hail the king and the Title cut get things on to an explosive start
• #3 - Invader (Deluxe), Rapture Ruckus - This is one of those cases where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I was not exactly impressed by the two invader EP's, but when he put it all together into an album, it was an entirely different matter.
• #2 - Science Fiction, Jonathan Thulin - The Too Lean Brothers (that's the pronunciation) continue to mine Platinum). While EDM brother David takes to the Reconstruction of Radio, Jonathan has taken the Alternative Path, though he does simply Press Play and dance from time to time. Enough of the name drops. We Start out as a Time Traveler, dance with Jekyll and Hyde, and even go dark with Cry Wolf. The Picture is complete.
• #1 - Of Beauty and Rage, RED - EPIC. Red has always been the master of the Symphonic. The Darkest Part is definitely Song of The Year Material. They say repentance is a sincere Change of Mind. They have definitely repented for Release The Panic, which only threw their fans into a Panic. If you love EPIC, soaring orchestration, ballads, and hard driving rock and can only afford to get one album, this is it.

That's the Top 10 of The Year 2015.  You can see that this was a great year. Here are the Albums that failed to make the top 10. But They Were Still Perfect. 

• We Are, The City Harmonic
• Floodplain, Sara Groves
• Broken Temples (Deluxe), Kevin Max
• Anxiety, NYVES
• Exhale, Plumb
• Renegades Never Die, Skrip
• Echoes of Wonder, Salt of The Sound
• Fallen, Stryper

I think you would agree that this would make an excellent list on its own. My List is up, now it is time for you all to take your shots. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply. Merry Christmas to All. 

#PlatVnyl6 v. #WLCMA4 - The Album Awards, Part Three

We're Back with the Nominee Breakdowns. I had thought of abandoning this post and moving on to the general field since I had not narrowed down my Perfect 5's from which the Album of The Year would be awarded. I have since gotten things down to a reasonable number to extract a sampling. Not to say that these will be THE NOMINEES. Not yet anyway. 

Due to the differences in how we perceive genre, 2 genres and Album of The Year make 5 genres and Album of The Year at the Platinum Vinyl Awards.

The BPM Awards (Electronic/Dance Album of The Year) correspond to Dance/Synthpop Album of The Year and Electronic-Industrial Album of The Year. Their nominees:

• Capital Kings - II 5 Emeralds (#PlatVnyl7)
• Fireflight - Innova 4.75 Emeralds
• Levi Whalen - Timelines 4.50 Emeralds
• Rapture Ruckus - Invader 5 Emeralds
• Transform DJ's - Never Alone   4.75 Emeralds (#PlatVnyl7)

Capital Kings and Transform DJ's are in the #PlatVnyl7 Pool and Fireflight was in the Rock Pool, though I may give them a nod here since entries in these genres were low this year. Same with Levi Whalen, whose album I just learned about recently. As far as Automatic Qualifiers go, for Dance-Synthpop, we have just one, the compilation WoW Hits Party Mix, and Electronic-Industrial had two

• NYVES - Anxiety 5 Emeralds
• Rapture Ruckus - Invader Deluxe 5 Emeralds

The AMP Award (Rock/Alternative Album of The Year) actually corresponds to three categories here at the Platinum Vinyl Awards. Alternative Album of The Year, Rock Album of The Year, and Hard Rock/Metal Album of The Year. Their nominees:

• P.O.D. - The Awakening 5 Emeralds
• Red - Of Beauty and Rage 5 Emeralds
• Seventh Day Slumber - Redline EP 4.75 Emeralds
• Tree 63 - Land 4.75 Emeralds
• XXI - Inside Out 4.75 Emeralds

This is a fluid area for #PlatVnyl6 even now, as Auto Qualifiers for alternative number 10, Rock 7 and Hard Rock 3. All are very good choices and I have no other comments except that P.O.D. is Hard Rock and Seventh Day Slumber is in #PlatVnyl7. As to our automatic qualifiers: 

Alternative Album of The Year

• Anberlin - Cities: Live In New York
• Anberlin - Never Take Friendship Personal: Live In New York
• Foreverlin - Still After
• Kings Kaleidoscope - Becoming Who We Are
• Kings Kaleidoscope - Becoming Who We Are (Instrumental)
• Lifehouse - Out of The Wasteland
• Kevin Max - Broken Temples: Deluxe
• Steve Taylor and The Perfect Foil - Goliath
• Tenth Avenue North - Cathedrals
• Jonathan Thulin - Science Fiction

Rock Album of The Year

• Altar Boys - Gut Level Music (Re-Release)
• Children 18:3 - Come In
• Pillar - One Love Revolution
• Red - Of Beauty and Rage
• Sidewalk Prophets - Something Different
• Sumerlin - Runaways Deluxe
• Toby Mac - This Is Not A Test

Hard Rock/Metal Album of The Year

• P.O.D. - The Awakening
• Project 86 - Knives to the Future
• Saint - Broad Is The Gate

I made a pronouncement that no Perfect 5 would be left out of the Finals. I intend to still keep that promise, even though it appears quite difficult this year. Not every release may get into a genre category. I may have to do some "creative shuffling" and there will be many who will feel snubbed.

Album of The Year is the Big Prize everyone wants, which is surprising since the Dove Awards no longer wants to award it. The five nominees for the WLCMA's, for the most part don't really seem to fill the expectations for such a prestigious award. Their Nominees:

• Amanda Cook - Brave New World
• Hawk Nelson - Diamond
• Hillsong United - Empire
• Jonathan Thulin - Science Fiction
• Lauren Daigle - How Can It Be

The first requirement for an album of the year according to the rules of the Platinum Vinyl Awards is that the album in question MUST come from the Perfect 5 Pool. By that standard only Science Fiction by Jonathan Thulin makes the cut.  Hillsong United wouldn't even make the initial pool at 3.75 Emeralds.

For this comparison I will keep to my best of 2015 list. The nominees for #PlatVnyl6 will most likely include some albums from October to December of 2014, and nothing after September 30, 2015. Calendar Year 2015 had 49 Perfect 5's. This was whittled to 18 for a best of list. A random selection from that list is as follows. 

• The City Harmonic - We Are
• Toby Mac - This Is Not A Test
• Plumb - Exhale
• Red - Of Beauty and Rage
• Jonathan Thulin - Science Fiction

All Perfect 5's from The Night Beat. A formidable judging job if you ask me. That does it for the album awards. I will skip the song awards because I am not ready in the least. We will go to the General field, which I can hobble together. Until Next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.