April 18, 2005

New Coldplay Single

The highly anticipated new album from Coldplay, X&Y, comes out June 7. You can listen to the first single, "Speed of Sound" on their web site today (free registration required: go to the members area and register, then click on the "Coldplayer" and enter your e-mail address). The single will be available on iTunes tomorrow.

MTV.com gives a track by track description of the album, for those Coldplay fanatics willing to read about music.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 04:17 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

April 14, 2005

Relient K's Matthew Thiessen and his Side Project

Relient K fans should check out lead singer Matthew Thiessen's side project, Matthew Thiessen and the Earthquakes (which according to one blog is just Thiessen). You can hear the subdued pop number "The Calendar, the Energy" on purevolume (it's also available on the $5 The Revolution Will Begin in the Blink of an Eye sampler).

It's not the pop-punk of Relient K (hence its appearance in a side project), but Thiessen's witty writing is still there. It's heavy on the piano with a rising, up-tempo swing before the climax.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 07:59 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack

April 12, 2005

Rock Band Pillar Subtle About Faith

For the Christian hard rock band Pillar the question of how up-front to be about their faith has had different answers. Lately they've been toning down their faith to reach the masses, but it doesn't mean they're losing faith. It's been a changing approach according to bassist Michael Wittig (aka Kalel):

"I don't think that it's ever really settled. It's ongoing. It just kind of happens. There was a time in our career when we wanted to be really upfront. Over the years, we felt God wanted us to tone it down a bit. ... There are a lot of young people who listen to hard-rock music and don't go to church. To reach more people, you have to be more subtle."

Pillar released Where Do We Go From Here last summer and plans to release a DVD in May (available to preorder now). (link via CT's weblog)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 12:40 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Free Pop-Punk Music: Relient K on iTunes

Snag a free copy of "Be My Escape" from the Ohio pop-punk outfit Relient K off their latest release Mmhmm (read our review). The track is available free for all you iTunes junkies thanks to Carson Daly picking it as his free catch of the week.

You can also score a free track and listen to three more on purevolume. And if you're a real Relient K freak, you an check out our book review of The Complex Infrastructure Known as the Female Mind.

(Of course as I'm writing this the track is still listed at 99 cents. But it's early out in Cupertino. Those Apple boys will get to it soon.)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 08:22 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 11, 2005

4th Grader Scores Britney Exclusive

10-year-old Veronic You landed an exlusive interview with perky pop star Britney Spears (something few real journalists have been able to do). The fourth grader heard Spears was in town and slipped an interview request under her door and Spears called back to give the inside scoop. The interview should be appearing in Hancock Park Elementary's school paper.

You do realize what this means, don't you? Britney Spears currently has at least one fan. And I thought we were finally moving past skinny blondes with record deals. (And is it just me, or does the way that photo's cropped make it look incredibly fake? A little too much Photoshop work on that one.)

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 07:50 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 06, 2005

Tool's Maynard James Keenan Finds Jesus

Maybe. MTV reports that Maynard James Keenan, frontman for the heavy-metal band Tool, has found Jesus. According to posts on the band's web site and an e-mail from Keenan himself, he's turned to Christ and seems to be opting out of his band, similar to the departure of Brian "Head" Welch from Korn in February.

Or it's an April Fool's joke. The band is known for posting jokes on their site for April Fool's, and the initial announcement on the site appeared on March 31. MTV News' Kurt Loder e-mailed Keenan for confirmation yesterday afternoon, and Keenan e-mailed back: "I did, in fact, find Jesus. More news to follow. God bless ya."

If it is a joke, which seems likely, it's sad to see mainstream rockers ridiculing conversion. But quite frankly, they're ridiculing something they don't understand. If they were that secure with their own beliefs they wouldn't need to poke fun at others.

If it's true, if Keenan has become a Christian, then perhaps we're seeing a revival of sorts sweeping through the most unlikely of places. Which, if you think about it, is exactly where a revival should happen.

Update: MTV updates their story by checking with Keenan again and asking if he was joking. His response? "Heh heh."

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 12:08 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

March 29, 2005

Online Christian Music Explosion

The world's largest Christian music company has released more than 300 Christian albums to be available for download at popular services like iTunes. The catalog of music goes all the way back to 1983 and includes artists like Audio Adrenaline, Newsboys, Rebecca St. James and my personal favorite, Petra.

This means you can now download many of the songs I listened to an somehow loved when I was in high school, including Degarmo & Key's "Boycott Hell" (all song links go to iTunes because that's what I use, and well, you gotta love it) and Petra's--where do even I start? How about "He Came, He Saw, He Conquered"? Or "Somebody's Gonna Praise His Name"? I should point out that those songs were released long before I was in high school. Back then my musical tastes were in left field.

Some other quality tracks that aren't so far out there include Chasing Furies' "Thicker," Audio Adrenaline's live version of "Happy and You Know It," and the Untitled Studio Rough cut from the Newsboys' Entertaining Angels EP (which went on to become "Truth Be Known--Everybody Gets a Shot", but the rough cut lacks vocals and makes for a great backing track.) See the complete list of music now available.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 05:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 28, 2005

Rock Stars on God by Doug Van Pelt

Rock Stars on God
by Doug Van Pelt
Nonfiction
2004

Ever wondered what Rage Against the Machine thinks about God? Now you can find out. This book collects interviews with 20 mainstream rock stars asking tough questions about God and spirituality. Don’t expect many Sunday school answers, but you will get a glimpse into the minds behind the songs you hear on the radio.

Includes Metallica, Green Day, The Get Up Kids, Bad Religion, Alice Cooper, Sunny Day Real Estate and more.

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks at 04:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack