MVM Special Edition: #PlatVnyl7 AC Video Nominees

We are continuing to roll out the announcements of the #PlatVnyl7 genre based Video Of The Year Nominees. We move from Folk to Adult Contemporary. The #PlatVnyl7 nominees are: Memories by Phillip LaRue; Be Thou My Vision by Audrey Assad; See You Again by Charles Billingsley and Meredith Andrews; This Is Love by Sanctus Real; and Sail On by Meredith Kinleigh. The nominees in a playlist.
That does it for Adult Contemporary Video of The Year. We Will Head To Modern Worship Video Next. Until then, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

MVM Special Edition: #PlatVnyl7 Folk Video Nominees

We are trying to pull ourselves up out of a hole here at Night Beat HQ. One of the best ways to do that is to get going on the Platinum Vinyl Awards. This year (we are behind schedule) is #PlatVnyl7. We always use the Music Video Monday format to announce the Video Awards Nominees. Since we have narrowed a few of the categories to the final 5 nominees, I think it is high time to begin the announcement process.

We begin with Folk/Folk Rock Video of The Year. The nominees for #PlatVnly7 are Signal by Sara Groves; Beloved One by Jenny and Tyler; The Dream Alive by Vocal Few; What Do You See? by Mr and Mrs Something; and Band of Gold by The Grey Havens. Here is the video playlist.
That does it for this edition of Music Video Monday. We will try to keep this up daily. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply

Night Beat Rewind: February 2017

The Groundhog was wrong. Things are heating up here at Night Beat HQ, and it's not all due to the Spring weather. We begin our monthly roundup with the Songs released during the month, or as we call it here

The Singles Scene

• Cody Carnes - The Cross Has The Final Word 4.50 Emeralds
• Hands - New Heaven 4.75 Emeralds
• Hands - New Earth 5 Emeralds 
• Carmen Justice - Flaming Arrows (David Thulin Remix) 5 Emeralds
• Holly Starr - Run The Race 4.75 Emeralds

Now onto the albums. We begin with those releases which will not make the cut into the #PlatVnyl8 Pool. A small nitpick. I come up from the Vinyl era. Back in the day we had these things called 45s, which contained 2 songs, one on each side. They were the singles. That is what Hands has released, a single and a B-Side. You need at least 3 songs to make an EP, which is how they market it.

Missing The Mark

• Cristabelle Braden - Hope Springs 3.75 Emeralds
• East Hill Worship - Yesterday, Today, Forever 3.75 Emeralds
• Dan Ferrari - Unrepeatable 3.75 Emeralds
• Taelor Gray - In The Way Of Me 3.75 Emeralds
• Kat & Jared - Kat & Jared EP 3.75 Emeralds
• KRUM - Blue Eyed Devil 3.50 Emeralds
• Nobigdyl. - Canopy 3.50 Emeralds
• Royal Ruckus - The Summer of The Cicadias 3.75 Emeralds

KRUM is the artist formerly known as Playdough, but even a name change doesn't change my opinion of the music. And Kat & Jared? Must be a Flyleaf curse, but the only success from the former band seems to be Lacey. Maybe that's the way it is supposed to be. Now on to the albums from which nothing bad can be found.

Pure Platinum Perfection

• Acceptance - Colliding By Design 5 Emeralds
• Eisley - I'm Only Dreaming 5 Emeralds
• Anthony Evans - Back To Life 5 Emeralds
• Fearless BND - We Are Fearless 5 Emeralds
• For King and Country - Priceless: The Movie 5 Emeralds
• Hollyn - One Way Conversations 5 Emeralds

6 Perfect 5's, and each one from 5 different genres (Alternative, Gospel, Modern Worship, and Hip Hop, and Instrumental). It's good to spread it around.

Semi-Precious Metal

• Archroyal - Anchor EP 4.50 Emeralds
• Bethany (Dillon) Barnard - A Better Word 4.50 Emeralds
• Death Therapy - The Storm Before The Calm 4.75 Emeralds
• Tim Drisdelle - Depths EP 4.75 Emeralds
• David Dunn - Yellow Balloons 4.75 Emeralds
• Hearts Like Lions - If I Never Speak Again 4.50 Emeralds
• Hillsong Young And Free - Youth Revival Acoustic 4.50 Emeralds
• Hope Chapel - Hear My Cry 4.50 Emeralds
• Kari Jobe - The Garden 4.75 Emeralds
• Steven Malcolm - Steven Malcolm 4.75 Emeralds
• Passion - Worthy of Your Name (Live) 4.75 Emeralds
• Jetty Rae - Can't Curse The Free 4.75 Emeralds 
• Relient K - Truly, Madly, Deeply EP 4.50 Emeralds
• Vineyard Worship - Through It All (Kaleo Worship) 4.50 Emeralds
• CeCe Winans - Let Them Fall In Love 4.50 Emeralds
• Ayiesha Woods - The Runway Project EP 4.75 Emeralds

That does it for February. Death Therapy threw me for a while. It was the weirdest metal band I ever heard until it finally dawned on me "It's not metal, it is industrial".   Once the adjustment was made the album was near perfect. Genres are important. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.    

Night Beat Rewind: January 2017

Welcome to the First Rewind of 2017. It is starting out to be quite an interesting year both musically and politically. Let's not waste any time. We begin with the song releases.

The Singles Scene

• Colton Dixon - All That Matters 4.75 Emeralds
• Matt Hammitt - Tears 4.75 Emeralds
• Matt Hammitt - United Again 5 Emeralds
• Carmen Justice - Flaming Arrows 4.75 Emeralds

From the singles to the full albums. We begin with the ones that will not make the pool for #PlatVnyl8.

Missing The Mark

• Advent - Pain and Suffering 3.75 Emeralds
• Mark Bishop - Seasons 3.50 Emeralds 
• Colony House - Only The Lonely 3.75 Emeralds
• Jimi Cravity - Heaven EP 3.75 Emeralds
• Yonetta Odessa - The Climb 3.50 Emeralds
• Jered Sanders - Nobody Famous 3.75 Emeralds
• Social Club Misfits - The Misadventures of Fern and Marty 3.75 Emeralds
• Strengthen What Remains - 2017 Promo 3.75 Emeralds
• Theory Hazit - It's Whatever 3.50 Emeralds 
• Watoto - Signs and Wonders 3.75 Emeralds 

Nothing bad can be said about our next release.

Pure Platinum Perfection

• Danny Gokey - Rise 5 Emeralds 

A 10:1 ratio Missing The Mark to Pure Platinum to start 2017 gives me good feelings. I always need reassurance that my critical skills are not going soft. Of course we all know that most of the releases fall somewhere in between.

Semi-Precious Metal

• AMP - Futuregen 4.50 Emeralds
• The Brilliance - All Is Not Lost 4.75 Emeralds
• The Fast Feeling - Pulses 4.50 Emeralds
• Go Fish - Victory VBS 4.75 Emeralds
• Grayson/Reed - Walk EP 4.75 Emeralds
• Ellie Holcomb - Red Sea Road 4.75 Emeralds
• KJ-52 - Jonah 4.75 Emeralds
• Rivers and Robots - Still, Volume 1 4.75 Emeralds
• Devin Shelton - Sensation 4.50 Emeralds
• Joel Vaughn - Surrender EP 4.75 Emeralds

That does it for this January edition of Rewind. It's finally out. Thankfully it is only March 1. On to February. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

MVM Special Edition: AC Video Pool

Welcome to a Very Special Edition of Music Video Monday. We are taking a break from the usual, due to a dearth of New Music Videos. We have to reload. Not to worry, there is still videos to share.

What we are going to do is share the Video Pool for the various genres in the Platinum Vinyl Awards. This is not the final nominees. This is the pool from which the nominees will be taken. We begin with Adult Contemporary/Inspirational. Currently there are 13 Videos in the pool, and we are always searching for additional videos. Either way, we will be voting on these to narrow them to 5. Here is the playlist for your enjoyment.

Watch, Listen, and vote. Yes, Vote. You can help us here at The Night Beat by commenting on which videos are your favorites. It will have weight as we narrow thing down. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.

Frankly, My Dear....You Can't Kill Us

There's a double reference to the title, and I will get to that shortly. One of the drawbacks to being a small time operation is that you miss things, even those things you though you were watching carefully for.

What I was waiting for was the new release by Icon For Hire, the first since their breakup with Tooth and Nail Records. Now if you've been with us for any length of time, you have probably heard me express admiration for the label, and calling founder Brandon Ebel Midas or The Kingmaker. Now his penchant for finding gems among the unsigned masses and creating stars is one thing, but that drive sometimes drives the stars away in frustration. They want to be coddled a bit more. And they go indie again. And sometimes they strike gold, but toward the end they more likely than not will come back to a label for security. It's a rough world out there.

Which brings us to You Can't Kill Us, which was released last November (I told you I missed things. It was November 25 to be exact). It's an interesting album, and I almost panned it thanks to Amazon. Now I love Amazon, The Night Beat is an Amazon Affiliate, but I think they're shell-shocked with the Music Department. I was almost driven away by their "Explicit" Tag, but getting the opportunity to listen to complete songs on YouTube convinced me that Amazon was overreacting. The hoopla centered on the song "Under The Knife" which is about cutting. It's a powerful song. There are two "problem" lines in the song, as I try to channel Amazon. "You knew the deal, nobody gives a damn" (earth to Amazon, Have You Ever Heard of Gone With The Wind. That was in 1939). And the other line contains an euphemism for Manure that has an S, an H, an I, and a T in it, in that order. Explicit? Puh-leeze. Here's the thing. There's a reason for the explicit label, and it was to protect "The Children" from shocking and obscene language. What really happened, however, was that human nature took over and the "rebellious" kids sought out anything that had the label and wouldn't listen to anything else. Still, where "F-bombs", "N-Words", and many other obscenities fill the music landscape. This? No. Not even close. Here's the lyric video, you be the judge.

On to my actual review. Like I said previously, it is an interesting album. The title would seem to imply a rebellious, angry Icon, but I don't get that vibe. It's not as skillet-esque as the debut, and a little poppy, but they are stretching their wings. 

One thing in abundance are the REL Ballads. Honestly, Ariel has one of the most beautiful ballad voices in Rock. In a lot of ways she would be perfect in a Worship setting. My favorites are War and the before mentioned Under The Knife, with Here We Are and Happy Hurts next. 

When all is said and done, I am giving You Can't Kill Us a near perfect score of 4.75 Emeralds. They are definitely stronger for the struggle. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply. 

Music Video Monday: Machines of Fear

Welcome back to our regularly scheduled edition of Music Video Monday. We have recently come into possession of a large amount of new music (some of which is #PlatVnyl7 eligible), and along with it usually comes some Music Videos. 

We will start with the volume somewhat muted. This is Rock/Worship band Army of Three and Wonder of Your Greatness. 
Next up we go to the air with Bird Passengers. This is Mountain to Cover.
And finally we crank it up. Expanding our Commonwealth of CCM with Innerwish, which hail from Greece (previously all that came from here, as far as I knew was the late Chaos on The Rise, which had an Evanescence vibe going. These guys sound a bit like Bloodgood. This is Machines of Fear.
That does it for this edition of Music Video Monday. Until next time, I am Awaiting Your Reply.