And the bells were ringing out...

Now that....
... is blogging commitment (part 2).

Hi-di-hi, chapfaces

It's Kristams! Wonderful.

Ok yes I am the world's worstest blogger ever.

Merry Kirstarms, everyone!

SF

On Stats, or, What the Jeff is Happening, Help Me

I am rather puzzled.

I just looked at my blog stats, and this is what I found: 

Blog visits by country since May of this year.
United Kingdom: 177
United States: 148
UAE: 20
Canada: 5
Latvia: 4
Germany: 2
Argentina, Australia, France, Croatia, Singapore, South Africa, and Poland: 1

If anyone can explain why people from foreign parts are interested in lil' ol' me, that would be much appreciated.

I also found this:


Top keyword searches since May of this year:
Tales of a Samfish: 3
"a softer world": 2
samfish: 2
"bad machinery":
"bad machinery" scary go round:
gorillaz talez:
inevitable plastic:
meaning of the on melancholy hill lyrics-gorillaz:
sam grover:
something positive crazed catgirl: { 1

FASCINATING

From,
a SamfiSh

Revoo Taimz

Hello there, you lovely people!
Bonjour, vous les gens charmants!

Today, I review the latest Jesus Culture Album, "Come Away"
Aujourd'hui, je passe en revue le dernier album de Jésus Culture, "Come Away"

TRANSLATION ENDS

Yes, the perennial thought has encroppéd 'pon my mind: "yeah, of course I can do a music review! It's well easy." Oh dear.
Run, save yourselves.
......

Still here? Well then! Pull up a chair, get comfy, chill out, max, relax all cool, shoot some b-ball outside of the school. Prepare yourselves for half-formed opinions on an album I've listened to like twice - opinions that will have changed in a few weeks, causing me to look back and think, "what? what the jeff? What am I on about?"
Right, let's crack on.

Album: Come Away
Artist: Jesus Culture (Chris Quilala, Kim Walker-Smith et al.)
Genre: "Worship", Rock
Year: 2010
Tracks: 10
Rating: ***** (But I only review albums I really like, so that's a bit arbitrary)
 

Well well well well well well well.

Well.

I do rather like this album.

It's the latest addition to the Jesus Culture catalogue - with they as a ministry (as opposed to the individual members) having released 5 full albums and one EP - and the continuation of what I now realise, thanks largely to this record (explanation in a bit), is an epic tale of love told through music. The Jesus Culture band pour out their love for and from God on this record, and, having attended one of their conferences, I can attest that the same is true whenever they play in worship.

For that is significant: you can hear in this album the aching, the longing, the pull two lovers feel (um, I assume....). Chris and Kim pour out the heart to God here in an astounding way, leading the way for those in the meetings in which these tracks were recorded (judging by the sounds the crowds make) and for me as a listener.

"The tale of epic love..." - here is where it gets good. In the titular album opener (written by Brock Human), Chris Quilala has the audacity to sing, for just shy of 8 minutes, a song straight from the Heart of God, filled with His passion for us, filled with His desire for companionship with His kids. And blimey, what a bloody tune it is too! My goodness, it is absolutely fantastic. Cor. Wowzers. Bazinga. The song invites the listener on a mad and amazing journey with their Dad, and gracious if it doesn't make you want to run after Him! Gosh.

In the album closer, One Thing Remains, the powerful reciprocation comes - not only does God want us to run away with Him, but the love that motivates this desire "never fails, never gives up, never runs out on me"! This track is filled to the point of overflowing with gratefulness, love, and trust; with knowledge of what God is, what He has done, and who He is.

On a purely technical note, the band sounds musically amazing on this record, and both Chris' and Kim's voices have unbelievably improved - yes, somehow Kim Walker-Smith's voice is now even better!

This album is such a fantastic worship album because that is what it does. It worships. It is full of worship. I've only mentioned a couple of tracks here, but the theme for the rest is the same - it is, in a phrase, jeff-arseing brilliant.

SF

"Come Away" is © 2010 Jesus Culture Music, and can be found on iTunes and on the Bethel website at http://tiny.cc/p5ktp

Worship Music and Musings Thereupon (or, The Blog Format of What I Said on My Status)

I got opinions too, T-Rex

The feeling seems to be with most worship musicians is that worship music doesn't need to be as interesting as other music.


As someone who loves music, and listens across a relatively broad range, I take issue with this. Boring music is boring music, regardless of context. Now, don't misunderstand me, I'm not talking about live and congregational music here - a worship leader's job is to lead a congregation in giving praise to God, which is a gifting in and of itself (one can be a gifted singer without being a gifted worship leader, and I've known the reverse to be true) - but when an album is produced, then the lead singer or guitarist or pianist is no longer leading worship, as a worship leader will often be lead by the Spirit or the mood or atmosphere of a room (the three often being intermingled or even the same thing). The lead musician on a CD is making music - music that serves a purpose (to assist worship), yes, but is music at its core (as opposed to live worship music, which is worship at its core).
 

Musicians (and I'd count myself in this, without boast) have almost a duty or a responsibility to be the best we can be. I intend not only to (at some point) progress my (currently rather lacking) drumming ability to a point where I can play sufficiently for a Sunday morning, but to progress to a point where I can no longer improve (and peaking is something very few people of any talent do).
Gifts should be used - so many worship musicians are very talented, but don't, as far as I can see, utilise their talents fully. This is often, it would appear, due not to lack of desire, but to lack of opportunity, due to lack of worship songs allowing them to do this.

No, I am not (as I have said) a master at anything musical; I have never released a worship album; I have never even finished a song (and those I have started I only wrote); I have never properly learned an instrument. I see no problem, however, with this in regards to criticism - after all, one can label a book as badly written without being a bestseller, one can see a poor painting for what it is without having one's own masterpiece, one can tell a film is blandly shot without first developing as an auteur. What one cannot do is develop as an author by mostly reading bad books, as a painter by mostly studying poor painters, or as a filmmaker by mostly watching bland films. I'm not saying that all worship music is samey, but the majority seems to be.
 

Worship music needs more greats; where literature has those like Dickens and Gaiman, where art has Warhol and da Vinci, and film Tarantino and Hitchcock, so too does worship music need its masters, prodigies, and pioneers.
 

Voicing opinions he'll later regret with little expertise, knowledge, or experience in the field he's commenting on (and using too many brackets),

SamfiSh