A concert a day keeps the boredom away...

[kimana83]

Friday night Isaac and I both left work a few hours early because we had to get downtown to be trained for working the Holt International Child Sponsorship table during Winter Jam. It was fun to cut the line (we had to be there an hour before the doors opened) and get right in for free. We went up to a Holt table near the Newsboys merchandise table

Comments

[katharhino]

WOOOHOOOOOOOOO OOOOOO HOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

There that was me singing along to "Woo Hoo" with you.

Sounds like a blast! I know SO little about any Christian groups. Ryan used to, back in the day. (He has lots of Smalltown Poets CDs, so that reference made me laugh.) But neither us are cool anymore. Maybe I should try listening to some of the ones you linked.

[kimana83]

Thank you! I actually made that song into a ringtone and have used it. =oD It is far less popular than it deserves to be.

Has it ever been cool to know about Christian groups? LOL. Not that that's ever stopped me. I will love Michael W. Smith till the day I die, even though I haven't bought any of his CDs for years. It has never been remotely cool to like MWS. If you want some recommendations, just ask. Tell me what you like, and I'll try to think of something. I have always loved Christian music, even when it was mostly just less-good copies of secular artists. I think I even remember defending it to you a time or two. =o)

[katharhino]

See, I am not even youth group cool. That is a whole new level of uncoolness. I actually kind of like the samples from Fireflight on their MySpace. That's a little harder sound that normally appeals to me, but I apparently also have a thing for girl-fronted bands. (Some of the girl-singer Latin groups I like have a similar sound.) Most of what I hate about Christian music (and you're right, we've discussed it many a time before, heh) is the uber-bland, upbeat, cheesy, soft sound with lame, Jesus-is-my-boyfriend lyrics. Which you have to admit, IS out there. What sucked me in to liking the Newsboys, way back when I thought rock music was devil music, was their crazy creative lyrics and singable tunes. So it's not really that I like one genre, even, I just want it to sound creative and musically excellent and have lyrics with some thought put into them. I don't mind praise even but so many of the contemporary praise songs start to sound exactly the same too. I'll start out liking a praise song (on the rare occasions I hear one, anymore

[kimana83]

I used to dislike most girl-fronted groups. Something about male voices appealed to me so much more. (And still does, actually.) But then I liked some of Evanescence's songs, then Barlow Girl, then Paramore, and also some jazzy/folk girls. So when Fireflight's songs started playing on Air1 I was really excited. I liked them a bit, but after the concert I really like them and want to get their CDs. That girl can belt it out.

Most of what I hate about Christian music is the uber-bland, upbeat, cheesy, soft sound with lame, Jesus-is-my-boyfriend lyrics. Which you have to admit, IS out there.Oh, totally. I don't deny it. I even like some of it. But that's not the norm anymore, unless you're listening to a bland CCM station. In the '80s it was the norm (although, a lot of '80s music was like that... which is why I tend to dislike '80s music. Hehe.), but starting in the '90s it declined. It still exists in large numbers, but there are a lot of stations who play more interesting stuff

[katharhino]

I'd put a lot more current songs in the "boring and bland" category than you would, I suspect. But that's okay. As you point out in your other reply, that's probably because I think everything pop-y is bland and boring, Christian or not.

I know it used to be worse - Ryan went to a church for a while that preached you should only listen to Christian music or you're headed for TEH BAD PLACE. So poor teenage Ryan, doing his best, hunted out a lot of the alt/indy Christian groups at the time. I still don't care for some of them, but he has some really outstanding CDs. He's super picky about music too. It's good that there are more genres in Christian music now, and I could probably find plenty of stuff I'd like. I just tend to stick to my comfort zone. Which is my own fault, I know.

Yeah, I exaggerate slightly perhaps, but I grew up with only classical or traditional. And "the rock beat" was bad, symbolized death and rebellion, killed plants, etc etc etc. I didn't grow out of that until I went to college.

[kimana83]

Yeah, most people do. My musical tastes are wide and varied. I have been told more than once that my CD collection makes me look schizophrenic... and that was before Isaac got me really into blues and classic rock

[katharhino]

Okay let's see. This will be a LONG comment. Well he has some of the golden age late 90s Newsboys stuff which of course I like - I love the Love Liberty Disco album, also of course Step Up to the Microphone. I also really like Sixpence None the Richer which may be inconsistent because they're pretty pop but... I dunno... I like their sound. The lead singer's voice is weird enough to make them stand out for me. Jars of Clay is okay but I don't like them as much as the Newsboys. I don't think their lyrics are nearly as thoughtful or creative.

My favorite weird indy one is an album called Five Wise Virgins by 100 Portraits, a husband-wife team. They also did a series of really interesting, possibly strange-sounding praise stuff called "Enter the Worship Circle" of which Ryan has the first and second albums. I don't know how to describe their sound, it's really low-key acoustic and really repetitive which I don't normally like. I probably just like them because Ryan does, haha.

Five O'Clock People is an okay group. The CD Ryan has is

[katharhino]

Example: the Tenth Avenue North sample on MySpace caused me to instantly hit the pause button. Way too boring, pop-y, and bland for me. They may have good lyrics, I didn't listen long enough to find out. The really mainstream pop-sounding stuff turns me off, I guess.

[kimana83]

Yeah, I think your issue is general dislike of the pop music genre. It has nothing to do with being Christian or not, just personal preference. But for the record, 10AN have very good lyrics. They don't sound that poppy to me though. They're more The Fray-ish. Ooh! I think that's who they remind me of: The Fray. The Fray mixed with Foolish Things. And The Fray are considered alt. rock/pop, I believe. (So I guess there is a little bit of pop in there. =o) )

[modernelegance]

Yes, they actually seem to have a genuine faith as well instead of using a Christian label to get their foot into the music biz...I'm looking at you Stacie Orrico. :P

[kimana83]

And Evanescence, and Metallica, and The Fray, and the list goes on.

[modernelegance]

I am a MWS STAN! OH MY WORD!!! I wish he would stop with this "Worship CD" stuff and get back to writing songs. Don't get me wrong I love that he loves Jesus but his other music was *so* much better. I always wanted to marry his oldest son too since we're around the same age.

[kimana83]

First: what does stan mean? I've seen that other places (on ONTD I think?), and I know it's a derivative of "fan", but I can't figure out what the st means.

Second: I agree! Live the Life is a fantastic CD that I listen to quite a bit even now. I was also a big fan of Change Your World and I'll Lead You Home. (Both of which I still have only on cassette. LOL!) His instrumental CD was very good too. I'm so over his worship stuff. I tend to dislike live worship stuff no matter who it's by because they repeat the choruses 20 times on every song. He needs to get back to real studio CDs. And his son is very cute. If he has half the talent of his dad, I hate him. ;o)

[modernelegance]

According to urbandictionary.com it means:
an overobsessed fan to the point of following a star around. It is formed from the words stalker and fan. Stalker + fan = stan.

I'm fine with the first or second worship CD but after that I'm like STOP! I know you love Jesus but I am bored and want your old stuff back! :P

I just want to be introduced to said son so I could be related to MWS and have him sing at our wedding where I would then scream like a silly fangirl LOL.