Music Appreciation Week #2

I posted a couple of weeks ago about the Music Appreciation going on here at our home academy.  I can agree with Roling Stone’s assessment of Sgt. Pepper’s being the number one album……EVER.  But, I don’t quite see their number 2 pick.  The Beach Boys Pet Sounds earns the prestigious title. 

Rolling Stone says the following in their review:

With its vivid orchestration, lyrical ambition, elegant pacing and thematic coherence, Pet Sounds invented – and in some sense perfected – the idea that an album could be more than the sum of its parts. When Wilson sang, "Wouldn't it be nice if we were older?" on the magnificent opener, he wasn't just imagining a love that could evolve past high school; he was suggesting a new grown-up identity for rock & roll music itself.

Vivid orchestration??  Thematic coherence?  Wow….some serious praise.  We listened and quite honestly, I don’t get it.  Yes, it did break them out of the very narrow category of surf music that they were in, but second best album of ALL TIME???  I do really like the iconic “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and who hasn’t heard “Sloop John B” about a zillion times?  No one here was too impressed – they all lost interest quickly.  However, I am hearing Sgt. Pepper’s pop up on people’s playlists. 

Favorites Addendum

I knew I'd forget someone.....Samestate.  Another Skull Church offering.  We bought their album and even though we started out really liking them, they have even grown on us more.  They are in the CD tray rotation a lot lately.  I was feeling very un-loyal leaving them out, so now I feel better.  Thank you for listening.

New Pianist

We have a new pianist in the family. She just started two weeks ago. She is so excited you wouldn't believe it. We HAD to start her - she played the piano all the time and she only knew one song, "Heart and Soul". After hearing it played 400,298 times in 98,434 variations we said ENOUGH. The girl needed to add to her repertoire. We never have to ask her to practice - she is all over it again and again and again....... So, after the first week I asked Rachel (ye olde fabulous piano teacher), in order to help us hang onto the small amount of remaining sanity we have, if she could please give Micah more than 1 song per week. At least now she had TWO songs to play 36,002 times that week. ;)

Merry Christmas, Elias!

After a very long and tiring mishap with Elias' Christmas present which involved the sending of it to a wrong address on the other end of the country (my brother and sister-in-law housed it for a few days until UPS came back to get it - twice!) and then being back-ordered, it finally arrived yesterday.

After a bunch of unpacking and set up, this is what we ended up with:

So, raise your hand if you think this was a good idea........Kelly's hand is raised ...........and..............and..............over there in the corner - is your hand up? No? Hm. Anyone else?? Anyone?

I think The Edge is in my Basement!!

For Christmas, Josiah got an effects pedal for his guitar from my folks. We haven't seen him for about two days unless we venture to the basement. He comes up for air and food.

Go Fish Revival

Three Christmases ago, my brother and sister-in-law sent this great CD by Go Fish. It is fun, catchy and intelligent (for the most part) kid music, by these three Christian dads. WE liked it, listened for a few days, but then it went into the pile of the zillion CDs we have and sat.....until lately. We are having a Go Fish Revival at our house. My kids must have listened to our Snazzy CD three thousand times in the past two weeks. I think it was sparked when the Super Hero song was used in a slide show at our friend's wedding in San Diego this November. Just this morning, I was getting dressed and had to succomb to the "Mom Song" ("If you work all day and you never get paid you're a mom") 8 times in a row- full blast - until I went out and told Isaiah to turn it down and play another song.... PLEASE! I really love the song, but....5 times in a row?? The kids want the Christmas CD "Snow" (great CD) and since they don't have it, they decided to listen to the next best thing - Snazzy. If you haven't heard these guys, you ought to. Some of their songs include The Jammy Song, It's Hard to Look Cool in a Mini Van, and the more serious Saved my Faith. Go here to sample and then buy one!

Remedy Drive

When we heard that Remedy Drive - no, when we heard that A Christian band, any Christian band, was actually coming to Kalispell, we fell out of our seats. Then, we got up and bought tickets. I had never heard of Remedy Drive, but Josiah had read about them and by the time we went to the show at a local church, we had heard their newest album a few times. When the bass player started jumping off speakers and they all started head banging, I was okay, but when the lead singer started standing on his head/shoulders on top of his keyboard with his feet in the air, I started getting a little worried! It so happened that, other than the few strange antics, the concert was really good. The sound left a little to be desired, but I enjoyed their music. It was really fun and I felt really old. After the show, Josiah went up front to check out the guitarist's effects pedals. It struck me as funny that everyone was crowding around the door waiting for the band to come out and he was at the stage checking out their equipment. We hung out until things died down and talked to each of them. Since then, we have followed their website and Josiah keeps up with what they are doing. A couple of them mentioned really enjoying CS Lewis and Tim Keller on their blogs. I was impressed with the Tim Keller part - not your typical rock band. It was an exciting night for Josiah and I. I miss that part of my life - the music part. It is especially fun sharing it with my own kid who loves it too.

Written In Chalk

Written in Chalk - the new CD by Buddy and Julie Miller (my VERY favorites) was released on March 3rd. We saw a write-up in World Magazine listing it as a new notable CD saying:

Written in Chalk Buddy & Julie Miller
Style: The latest stretch of the Americana highway along which the Millers, solo and together, have been hiking for over 20 years.
Worldview: "If all our heartaches were in a stack, they'd go all the way up to heaven and back. / We don't know all the trouble we're in. [. . .] Jesus, save us from our sin" ("Chalk").
Overall quality: Backwoods country blues (Buddy) and late-night heartbreak (Julie) battered by bare-knuckled grace (Buddy with Julie); the difference this time: the cameos (Robert Plant, Emmylou Harris, Regina McCrary, Patty Griffin).

The Millers have been putting out music together for years and whether it is a solo album for either or an official joint effort, they each have both Buddy and Julie's handprints all over them. I had the extreme privilege of working with and getting to know the Millers a number of years back. Talent that shows no end and lovely humility go hand in hand with them. Isn't that a nice thing to see? I'm excited for this new musical release by them. Can't wait to hear the whole thing. http://www.buddyandjulie.com/