Siberian Siren: The 2017 Platinum Vinyl Awards 1st Qtr - Rap

We begin our second grouping with rap. This grouping consisted of a full finals, that would be 7 entries, but even that wasn't good enough for number one. We continue.

Rap/Hip-Hop

• Sho Baraka - The Narrative
• Canon - Loose Canon, Volume 3
• Dead Heroes - Dead Heroes
• Heesun Lee - Beauty For Ashes
• Trip Lee - The Waiting Room
• S.O. - These Things Take Time
• Toby Mac - Hits Deep Live

That does it for rap. Really not much to say here as they are all solid releases from dependable artists. Rock is next. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.    

Music Video Monday: Resurrection

That is definitely the feeling here at Night Beat HQ. After all it has been months since we last met. You would feel right if you felt abandoned. But we are still here. We are going to crank things up as the year gets started. We begin with a confession. As a music blogger I occasionally get "Hey, Check me out" notices on social media from bands. As a (mostly) Christian Music Blogger I have to be careful who I endorse (though there is a lot of wiggle room in the fringe). When a band called +Death Requisite contacted me, I admit, I wimped out. I figured with a name like that they can't be Christian. I was wrong. I found this lyric video for Redemptio Per Deicide. Thank God for Lyric Videos with Growl Lyrics. Anyway, the Theology is A+. A band I highly recommend. Revisitation is in the Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Pool for #PlatVnyl8 (we are in the judging for #PlatVnyl7. Patience is required).
Part of Resurrection now follows. I have always been somewhat unconventional with my take on the CCM scene. Having started off in the Jesus Music/Coffeehouse Era in the Northeast I have aged into Hard Music. Plus I have always had a soft spot for the music of the 1980's. Personally it produced the Best Music Ever. One of those songs was Shout by Tears for Fears. It came out in 1985, during my tenure as a DJ at WENC. Now it is covered by +Scandroidofficial . Personally, I think it is note perfect to the original.
Scandroid is a synthpop project by Klayton of Celldweller, Argyle Park, and Circle of Dust. The Latter has made a comeback after 20 years, and the new album is called Machines of Our Disgrace. This is the video for the title cut.
That does it for this edition of Music Video Monday.  Tomorrow we will return with our announcements of the 1rst Quarter of 2017. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Siberian Siren: The 2017 Platinum Vinyl Awards 1st Qtr - Modern Worship

This is by far the biggest surprise of the quarter. Modern Worship is among the most popular (the cynic would say bloated) genres out there, and despite my best attempts to weed out the copycats it usually wins the quarter hands down. Could there be a shaking out of the dross in the genre? I doubt it. Probably just too busy with the Christmas Season. Let's get to it.

Modern Worship

• Chapel Band - The Gathering
• Hillsong - Let There Be Light (Live)
• Chris Quilala - Split The Sky
• Rend Collective - Campfire II: Simplicity 
• Chris Sligh - Mighty Roar/Healing Flood
• Chris Tomlin - Never Lose Sight

A few comments here. Hillsong is, in my opinion, starting to return to a sound which made them the leader of the genre. Maybe it was the abundance of copycats, but they really weren't trying to stand out for a while. Rend Collective started to slip as well, but Campfire II seems to have righted the ship. And then there is Chris Sligh. He started out one of the American Idol castoffs that the Christian Music Industry picked up. Unfortunately they kept up with the pop mode. I savaged those albums. After dropping from the radar for a while he re-emerged in modern worship. A style more suitable for his vocals. Second chances are good. Hip Hop is next. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Siberian Siren: The 2017 Platinum Vinyl Awards 1st Qtr - Pop

We begin our single post genres with a tie, and the first up with 6 entries into the pool, is Pop Music. You wouldn't believe who they are tied with. They don't usually scrape the bottom of the barrel. They usually win the quarter hands down. Let's get to it.

Pop Music

• Dez Childs - Work of Art
• Consumed by Fire - Giving Over
• Meleana - White Walls
• Britt Nicole - Britt Nicole
• Ginny Owens - Love Be The Loudest
• B. Reith - Heart on my Sleeve

A nice mix of new and old. B. Reith went pop after a long residence at Rap. I think it was an inspired choice. Modern Worship is next. (I told you that you wouldn't believe). Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Siberian Siren: The 2017 Platinum Vinyl Awards 1st Qtr - Megapost 2

Welcome to our second and final megapost in this 1st Quarter 2017 Wrap. For those of you new to the process, a megapost is a post which combines the entrants of a genre when that genre has fewer than 5 entrants. 5 is my minimum bar for a genre to have its own post. This time around three genres; Instrumental, Electronic-Industrial, and Dance-Synthpop, failed to meet that bar. From this point they all cleared it. Let's get to it.

Instrumental

• Scandroid - Scandroid Instrumentals

Electronic-Industrial

• Circle of Dust - Machines of our Disgrace
• The Digital Age - Galaxies
• Future of Forestry - Awakened to the Sound

Dance-Synthpop

• Ocean Calling - Quiet Magic
• Matthew Parker - Adventure
• Satellites and Sirens - Tanks
• Scandroid - Scandroid

Future of Forestry, Ocean Calling, The Digital Age and Satellites and Sirens all mined Perfect Platinum. The others fell just short. Let that sink in. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Siberian Siren: The 2017 Platinum Vinyl Awards 1st Qtr - The Megapost

We have come to the end of the first quarter for #PlatVnyl8. Things are really moving fast. It was a pretty lightweight quarter this year, which was propped up by a heavy number of Christmas Releases. As is our custom here at The Night Beat, we begin by grouping the genres that had less than 5 entrants in a quarter into a single or multiple posts. There were 7 such groupings and we will put them into two megaposts. Let us begin.

Folk/Folk Rock

• Rend Collective - Campfire II: Simplicity

Gospel/R&B

• VaShawn Mitchell - Secret Place: Live In South Africa

Alternative

• Tenth Avenue North - Followers 

Live Recorded Album

• Hillsong -Let There Be Light (Live)
• VaShawn Mitchell - Secret Place: Live In South Africa
• Toby Mac - Hits Deep Live

And so it begins. Only one comment here in introduction to this quarter's "cutesy" title. I don't mean siren as in police, but in female singers who lured mariners to their destruction with their enchanting voices. So this quarter is dedicated to Natalya Rose Piette, Georgia Napolitano, Lisa LaVie, Autumn Guzzardi, and Kayla Reeves. They are the lovely "sirens" of Trans-Siberian Orchestra. What voices. But no, I don't expect they are leading anyone down to perdition. One more thing. Since VaShawn Mitchell appears twice in this post alone, I have put the regular album link on Gospel and the Deluxe one on Live. One more megapost to go. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Night Beat Rewind: December 2016

A Whole Year is in the bag. Well, really it is only the first quarter of the #PlatVnyl8 eligibility year. It also marks the end of 2016. So there will be a lot to catch up with on the days ahead. We begin with the Christmas Music, but as it is after the Holiday I will not be linking them as the other months.

Christmas Music (Non-Eligible)

• New Hope Oahu - Hope of All Hopes 4.25 Emeralds
• Ginny Owens - The Greatest Gift 4.50 Emeralds
• 7eventh Time Down - Christmas Is The Time 4.75 Emeralds
• Beckah Shae - Let It Snow 4.50 Emeralds
• TobyMac - Bring on The Holidays (Single) 4.50 Emeralds

For the last month of 2016 there were also no single releases, if you don't count TobyMac. We move on to the albums which will not make the cut.

Missing The Mark

• Joyce IM Bartholomew - Songs For The Deep 3.25 Emeralds
• Free Daps - Wild Card EP 3.75 Emeralds
• Jerry Manna - Holy Weapon, Volume 2 3.25 Emeralds
• Midcentury Modern - The Goodness 3.50 Emeralds
• Rob Reed - Greatest of These 3.75 Emeralds
• Tristin Roberts - Reassembled 3.75 Emeralds

6 releases in December that missed the mark give me hope that my critical skills are still as sharp as ever. There were also no Perfect albums this time around, so we move on to 

Semi-Precious Metal

• Circle of Dust - Machines of Our Disgrace 4.75 Emeralds
• In The Verse - Transformer 4.50 Emeralds
• Trip Lee - The Waiting Room 4.75 Emeralds
• The Rock Music - Awakened By Hope 4.75 Emeralds
• Chris Sligh - Mighty Roar/Healing Flood 4.75 Emeralds
• Those Who Fear - State of Mind 4.75 Emeralds
• Carissa Vann - Changing Still 4.50 Emeralds
• Zach Williams - Chainbreaker 4.75 Emeralds
• Zao - The Well Intentioned Virus 4.50 Emeralds

That does it for 2016. As a resident of the fringe, I am psyched with the return of Circle of Dust, despite some purists saying "But he's an apostate". Welcome back Klayton. Coming up quickly is our 1st Quarter Wrap, on which all these will be grouped by genre, and given the appropriate Amazon linking to help support The Night Beat. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.