Flight of the Conchords

In case you haven't heard, Flight of the Conchords is the funniest show on TV other than the Office. It's on HBO, and features two guys from New Zealand in a digi-folk band struggling to make it in NYC. They break into song frequently. The first season is on sale on Amazon right now for $20. I highly recommend it. Sorry if the adult situations offended anyones sensibilities, I figured we're all adults here. It's Business Time.

just war post clarification

Thanks to Mary for clarifying the lack of Blackwater connection to Calvin in terms of direct giving.

I've taken off the second paragraph of the original post given this new information.

Blackwater and Calvin

Daniel, my old ministry colleague over at the Old First blog has posted some good insights about Blackwater and its connection to Calvin College.

Worth reading and reflecting upon.

Check it out.

Back during my days as a Calvin student I wrestled with the questions of Just War and the right to protest as Student Senate tried to send a letter of protest to President Bush. The student body voted to rescind the protest, but that experience taught me a lot about the community and our struggle to live our theology and convictions.

Perhaps the post will spark some interesting dialogue on this fair blog.

Indie Rock Showdown

Who needs Kanye vs. 50?

October 9th may mark the biggest indie rock release date showdown of the year.

Band of Horses' Cease to Begin vs. Beirut's The Flying Cup Club vs. Sunset Rubdown's Random Spirit Lover

No one has made any claims of retirement based on sales numbers, but go ahead and state your picks. All three had stellar debut's last year, but who will fall victim to the sophomore slump? I'm not sure about sales figures, but I'm putting my money on Sunset Rubdown for the best of the three. What I've heard of the new Band of Horses has not impressed me. Beirut's first album blew me away and it's hard to imagine that happening more than once. Sunset Rubdown has increasingly found itself on my ipod playlist (overtaking fellow bands, Wolf Parade, Swan Lake, and Frog Eyes) and the two new tracks I've heard were nothing short of exciting. I will probably only allow myself to buy or maybe two of these albums so if you give them a listen, let me know.

But what's this...A latecomer just entered the competition.

I'm sure others of you may have seen this, but Radiohead's new album, In Rainbows, will be officially "leaked" for free on Oct 10. Pitchfork has a summary of all the news (including where it will be available for download) that was was kept under wraps so well. Those crafty boys...shaking up the record industry once again.
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/page/news/46028-radiohead-album-coming-out-as-regular-cd-too

Also in life changing music news, a few short weeks ago I had the opportunity to witness what I've almost conclusively ranked as the second best concert experience of my life (behind seeing Radiohead at Red Rocks)...Arcade Fire at Red Rocks!
Sitting just five measly rows from Win and Co., it was an incredible display of musicianship, energy, and presentation set in the picturesque Red Rocks. LCD Soundsystem blew me away live after enjoying, but not being too impressed by their recordings. For the sake of time and quality, I'll let this article from the local free paper speak to the experience, instead of trying to write it myself.
http://blogs.westword.com/backbeat/2007/09/last_night_arcade_fire_red_roc.php
Also, if you want to get a glimpse of what it was like, check out this youtube video that I found. It took a minute or two to figure out the two bouncing heads at the bottom of the frame were friends who I attended the concert with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho8xAM1o1LE

Finally, Missi and I saw Over the Rhine last Saturday. Again an amazing show (no it's not in my top 5). They played for almost two hours. A lot of tracks came from their new album but they played a mix of other songs. If you haven't heard me repent before, I am ashamed of my lambasting of Over the Rhine in the past. In my immature elitism I overlooked the fact that I should listen to a band before I mock it with such clever names as "Over their Prime". The only other band for which my stubbornness has cost me was Modest Mouse whom I based my early hatred on the song "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" instead of listening to a better representative of their catalog. Fortunately, I've grown wiser and more thoughtful so I'm sure such a arrogant mistake will never happen again.