New Music Discovery: James Blake

Tag Archive - Culture

New Music Discovery: James Blake

March 9, 2011 in Culture, Music with 10 Comments

Of the 3 primary topics I chose for this blog: faith, life and culture, the one I write about the least is culture. I’m trying to change that.

I’m somewhat of a pop culture freak, love music and movies and am always on the hunt for the latest and greatest sounds that are bubbling just under the surface of the mainstream. I don’t yet know how much it will translate to mass audiences, but my latest musical discovery definitely has my ear.

I just stumbled across James Blake and I’ve got his album on repeat. His sound is like Bon Iver meets Imogen Heap meets… something other-worldly. In short, it’s pure, chilled-out bliss.

Check out the video for his cover of Feist’s “Limit To Your Love”.

Dig it? His self-titled album is chock full of more of the same soulful, quirky and dramatic electronic pop goodness.

What’s one of your latest musical discoveries?

Got Hip-Hop?

July 31, 2010 in Culture, Humor with 4 Comments

Much like her sista in the struggle Diane Horner, Dena appears to have masterfully unlocked the mysteries of Hip-Hop dance and culture.

Soul Sista Dena’s Supa-Fly Hip-Hop Quotables:

“I think the first thing you need to know about Hip-Hop, is that its all about your posture.”

“I went to this club, right. And they had no baggy pants and no sneakers. That was wild. I didn’t know what to think about that.”

“People ask me all the time, ‘what are you gonna do when Hip-Hop goes out?’ Hip-Hop is an attitude. It’s right here [in my heart].”

“I do this at the end of every class. I hit here, then I hit here and I hit here. I’ll give ‘em a BAH! Then I give ‘em the “peace”, I’m out!”

“I’m into points a lot, but they’re not your average points.”

“This is me. This is how I am. This is a lifestyle. This is it.”

Dena. My sista. Home GIRL. Let me keep this supa-dupa 100 wit’chu…

#popculturefail

Signs Of Life: Natasha Bedingfield

May 27, 2010 in Culture, Music with 4 Comments

I’ve been working this week to move my blog to a new host. That, combined with a ridiculous pace I’ve been keeping for the past week or so, has resulted in no new posts for several days. Sorry about that. I’m about to kick it back in gear with lots of new thoughts, observations and life commentary. In the meantime, I wanted to share some new music with you.

I’ve enjoyed Natasha Bedingfield’s music ever since I first heard “Unwritten” about 5 years ago. I dig her voice, her soul-meets-Brit Pop sound and the fact that her music always has signs of life, truth and purpose woven throughout. While the latter certainly sets her apart, it isn’t as surprising once you know Natasha is a member of Hillsong London church and is a frequent contributor to their worship material, most notably “Shout Your Fame”.

Natasha has been working on her upcoming 3rd album, due out later this year, but the first song has surfaced, called “Touch” and I LOVE IT! Check it out!

Natasha Bedingfield - Touch

Always one to bring substance and significance to her lyrics, with “Touch” Natasha tells a story of how the seemingly insignificant details and mundane happenings of our daily lives aren’t really insignificant or mundane at all, but rather part of an intricately woven life tapestry where our lives and stories collide with one another and result in purpose. In other words, we stumble upon purpose “when we dance, we we laugh, when we touch.”

Every choice we make, and every road we take
Every interaction starts a chain reaction
We’re both affected when we least expect it
And then when we touched
And it all connected

– lyrics from “Touch”

I don’t know when the album comes out yet, but if you dig “Touch” you can buy it here.

What do you think about the song?

Weekly Recapitulation

March 29, 2010 in Culture, Faith, Life, Music with 2 Comments

Each week I read a lot of blogs and consume a lot of media, and I want to centralize some of my favorite finds of the week and share them. So I’m going to start doing a week in review, or a “weekly recapitulation” rather, of some cool stuff I’ve found online in the previous 7 days that fall under my primary blog topics of faith, life and culture. This will all be stuff that has inspired, challenged, encouraged or in some cases flat out entertained me this week, that i want to share with you. The goal is to do this over the weekend, but this one fell on Monday morning. Should be fun times. Here goes.

Faith

Proverbs: A Mini-Guide To Life by Timothy Keller

“In my regular, daily Bible reading over the past year I read through Proverbs 3, a passage I’ve studied and preached through many times. But during this reading, I realized that in verses 3 through 12 we have all the themes of the rest of the book, and therefore a kind of mini-guide to faithful living. There are five things that comprise a wise, godly life. They function both as means to becoming wise and godly as well as signs that you are growing into such a life.” – Timothy Keller

Motivated By Rank by Pete Wilson

“At some point I’ve got to come to grips with the fact that my identity is not based on what I earn, what I have, or where I rank. At some point I have to realize this game is doing immense damage to my ultimate goal of Christ being formed in me.” – Pete Wilson

Life

Do You Need A Personal Board Of Advisors? by Jason Young

I loved this post and concept. I’ve been thinking a lot about personal goals and being much more intentional in my life, and this concept speaks directly to intentionally surrounding yourself with the right people to help you do life wisely. Love that.

Is It Worth It? by Kevin Deshazo

“I didn’t realize the how significant of an impact my job satisfaction had on my family. Had no clue. I want my son to understand that your job matters. Not in the ways that the world thinks, but in terms of your impact. I want him to find what he’s passionate about and do it. He will be better for it. His family will be better for it. The world will be better for it. If that means lower pay, fewer benefits and fewer job security, so be it. Let everybody else be safe and miserable.” – Kevin Deshazo

Letters From A Devastated Artist part 3 by Randy Elrod

In part 3 of his series, Randy shares, with great emotion, his gratitude to a few friends who have been very instrumental in shaping his life and who he has become. This is powerful and makes me think of the friends in my life who have played key roles in shaping who I have, and continue to, become.

Culture

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution

I watched this show Friday night and loved it! The show was incredible and I hope it serves as a wake up call to people about what we’re putting in our bodies. The whole health/fitness/nutrition thing has become a big focus for me this year, and I’m excited to see this show develop.

Robbie Seay Band – Miracle

These guys released their new album “Miracle” this past week and it is instantly one of my favorite albums of the year. The song “Awaken My Soul” makes me want to run a marathon, go skydiving or something! I love this album and will be doing a blog about it very soon. You can listen to it here, then buy it here.

Jonsi

The lead singer of Sigur Rós, Jónsi, is releasing his solo debut album April 6. In the meantime, he has released four videos of him and Nico Muhly doing undressed versions of songs from the upcoming album. Jónsi’s voice sounds particularly delicate on its own, so he and Muhly stick to just piano, guitar, or ukulele for each song. The sessions were filmed at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club in London. AMAZING! Props to Stereogum for this!