Short Bits

Laughter, Blood, And Spit
Artist: Cannonhands
©2009 Future Destination Records
www.fdrecords.com
I always wondered what would happen if hipster rock artists like Dave Bazan, Damien Jurado, and Jeremy Enigk met with their axes in a field of flowers and started tapping into their creative juices. What would come of it? Generally introspective and somewhat sparse, they might put their tendencies toward the negative aside and embrace the beauty around them. My first inclination upon hearing Cannonhands was to jump around and frolic in the flowers. Goofy as though it may sound, there is a happy vibe to these guys that beckons having some fun, and I don’t mean that simplistic new punk sound! As I’m writing this, I’m laughing because  “All Bets Are Off” is fairly punkish. Up against the remaining songs on the disc, it stands apart from the norm. They have a gutsy, blues-ish sound very akin to Gasoline Heart, but a sound all their own. This is a good “cruising” disc or one to bounce around the house and just enjoy the day. I do see that field of blowing flowers off in the distance. (thecannyshark)

Scandinavian Metal Praise 
Artist: Anonymous
www.myspace.com/scandinavianmetalpraise
Label: Youngside Records
A group of anonymous musicians in Finland perform Praise songs in a metal style with female vocals.  Anonymous?  The group says that they want “all glory to be focused on Godâ€? and not themselves.  Ah, but do they deliver?  The songs are indeed bathed in lyrics praising the Father, and the music is delivered in a very technically sharp, melodic Metal way.  The only detraction is that the production leaves the sound a little murky, when you can tell the performances were very crisp.   A worthy addition to the music library of any metalhead who loves to worship in that style. (Jonathan Nelson)

Codigo Eterno
Artist: Codigo Eterno
www.myspace.com/codigoeterno
Label: Youngside Records
Raise your arms!  Pump your fists!! Light your lighter (or cell phone face)!!!  Scream
?!!!!!  Codigo Eterno perform some great arena-ready rock and roll.  All you have to do is understand the language (Spanish) or give yourself up to the worshipful spirit anyway.  This female-fronted rock outfit delivers a fine disc of choice, guitar-driven cuts with a clean, pop sheen on top of these rock tunes.  Think Journey, Foreigner, or Survivor. (Jonathan Nelson)

Nothing More Than Light
Artist:  Conspiracy of Thought
Label:  Self-released
Time: 17 tracks / 49.4 minutes
This band has tremendous potential.  Conspiracy of Thought incorporates a lot of the familiar sounds of Linkin Park and Project 86 in creating a very enjoyable album.  They do not shy away from tackling controversial issues in politics and religion in their lyrics.  Nonetheless, their first album is mediocre when compared to others in this genre.  We just have to wait and see if they step it up in albums to come.  And by step it up I mean a maturing of not only their sound and lyrics but production, as well.  I believe they can and I hope they do.  They are definitely off to a very fine start.  (David Renovitch)

Slide to Freedom II 
Artist: Doug Cox & Salil Bhatt 
Label: Northern Blues Music
This mix-of-cultures adventure unites Canadian bottleneck/dobro master Cox with Bhatt, who has inherited an inventive approach to sitar and classical Indian music from his father, who was a friend of George Harrison and learned under Ravi Shankar. Cox and Bhatt both love developing their instruments to take on a wider range of sounds, as well as combining their cultures. They use largely lap instruments, so the inclusion of George Harrison’s “For You Blue,” which originally featured John Lennon on lap steel, is an apposite choice. These slide instruments sit together fairly well, although these Western ears prefer the more familiar tracks laced with Indian sounds than the more rambling approach of the ten-minute instrumentals “A Letter Home” and “The Moods of Madhuvanti," which are based on Indian structures. So among the most satisfying pieces here are a deeply resonant “Amazing Grace” and ­ how good to hear it again ­ Thomas Dolby’s “I Scare Myself.” New Orleans gospel tenor John Boutté appears, particularly adding to “Amazing Grace,” but Slide to Freedom II is largely an enjoyable ­ if slightly patchy ­ celebration of slide and strings.(Derek Walker)

Blue
Artist:  Manic Drive
Label:  Whiplash Records
Time: 12 tracks / 45.6 minutes
Move over Family Force 5 as the official dance-party band for Christians.  Manic Drive is making a serious challenge to your throne. Ok, that's not really true in that I don't think either band sees themself as in a competition with other bands but, rather, as a desire to bring glory to God and help all children of God have a little fun here on Earth to prepare us for the overwhelming joy and partying we will experience in Heaven.  And to that end, Manic Drive's album "Blue" is a success.  Their sound is diverse and electic and really makes you want to move.  Lyrically, there is enough subtlety that you don't feel like their trying to bang you over the head with some message.  Production is very good.  I'd love to see these guys play Main Stage (or any stage for that matter) at Cornerstone in Twenty10. 
(David Renovitch)

No Place Left to Hide
Artist: Matt Moore
Indie (www.myspace.com/mattmoore)
While there is not a huge amount of variety on this 28-minute seven-tracker, the sound is well worth having. On the superb opener, the too-short “Change in Me,” Moore sends lighthouse pulses of shimmering guitar to the skies while crashing out ground-up power chords that propel the song along. Follow-up “Tear Me Down,” the first of a couple of songs of submission to God, is more intense version of the pattern. The rest majors on moody, mid-tempo pieces and more acoustic-tasting fare in a Bryan-Adams-meets-Pillar mélange, but there is often a sense that much of the disc would sit happily on a stadium stage.If you find a church where they use air guitar, Matt Moore’s music should be playing in the worship slot.Not only does the music quality alone make it worth checking out, but his site has a pay-what-it’s-worth offer that should make him some serious dollars if listeners are honest. (Derek Walker)

How to Touch the Moon
Artist: Nite Nite
www.myspace.com/niteniteband
Label: Crash Avenue
How to Touch the Moon is a Goth album that heavily leans to the brighter side of that genre.  Wait; there is a brighter side to Goth?  Yes, think of the more upbeat Cure songs, add a female vocalist, throw a little bit of Dance Fever in, and hit puree. The pleasant result is what Nite Nite delivers.  Nothing here is earth-shaking, but it IS fun. (Jonathan Nelson)

Sex, Drugs and Self-Control
Artist: John Reuben
Label: Gotee Records
Those whose only introduction to Reuben has been via his quirky, light-hearted pop-rap hits such as " Nuisance " and "Do Not" should be forewarned: the lion's share of his latest effort is ... well ... pretty much nothing like them. Cuts like "Jamboree" and "No Be Nah" make minor to modest concessions to that which has gone before. The better portion of Self-Control, though, finds Pataskala's favorite musical son turning in material far more sober-minded ("Joyful Noise"), dissonant ("Confident") and outright trippier ("Paranoid Schizophrenic Apocalyptic Whisper Kitten") than his former, more radio-ready, fare. In the pre-iTunes era, this may well have been the sort of album that sent a large portion of the existing fan base scurrying to record stores to demand their money back. That said, history holds no shortage of artists whose stylistic left turns were panned mercilessly at the time of their initial release, only to be later hailed as masterpieces. Has Reuben finally created his Exile on Main St.? Only time and plenty of repeat listens will tell for sure. (Bert Gangl)

The Night Belongs To Us 
After Hours (various artists)
©2009 Independent
www.tastyfresh.com
I’m starting to wonder if the whole dance/electronica scene hasn’t just become a cottage industry with people cranking out mixes on their PC/Mac and hoping there’s an audience. Dance music in general is an odd duck. You’ve put an action to take place (people dancing) at the center of the construction of your “music.” The purpose is no longer to create music for the art of music but to get people to dance. Therefore, you’ve slipped out of art into formula. Oh sure, you can do things like look for obscure or interesting samples (Moby’s “Play” stills stands as a monument to this) or jump across musical genres/styles to raid some pan cultural beats but in the end you’re filling a prescription. Technology has made all of this rather easy as well as, frankly, all a bit homogenized. If this whole thing is a global as I’m lead to believe I guess that’s cool. Christians putting out stuff that people dance to, maybe not just at Cornerstone, but around the world. Some consolation I guess, but not enough to make me give it another spin. I’ll trade you a Roland TB-303 for a Les Paul and a Marshall stack any time. (DAA) 

Wells For Zoe: Water For Life
Artist: various
www.compassrecords.com
Label: Compass Records
First things first:  Please visit http://www.wellsforzoe.org/ to learn more about the great organization that this project benefits.  Now, what do we have here?  Wells For Zoe: Water For Life is a various artists CD that provides some new and unreleased tracks from a broad group of artists to draw attention to the need for clean drinking water and sustainable agricultural technologies in many developing parts of the world.  The artists are from the Celtic, World, Americana, Bluegrass, and Country realms.  The music is all good quality stuff, the cause is even better. 
 (Jonathan Nelson)