songs

there are six songs up now.

contentment divine: 2003. a song of surrender to God. He is all that can truely satisfy. not blogging. not music. not even courtney. true satisfaction starts with Him and enables the love for courtney or music or blogging. its got a jacked up chord structure.

revelation 7: the best song to come out of the revelation project. a gospel song. the choir probably comes in too loud, but o well. i rushed the production. but is still like the song.

revelation 11: my homage to sufjan stevens. backporchy type of feel. featuring the little red piano and my foot stomping on my guitar case with a tambourine duct taped to it.

rain: this is my favourite song i have ever written. i was in a band called "the fellows" when i wrote and recorded this song.
the lyrics are:

i was alone on the concrete breathing in shoe
and through my pants my skin was red bleeding and wet
i fell down in the rain yeah

and the people have cried out
for a king with flesh and style
but a kingdom filled with dirt
has more style than its worth

and the people shouted loud
for the goddesses to be brought out
and the rain began to fall
O yeah come one

and the people will cry out
for longer than their gold is around
to a king in beggar's clothes

where the children laugh and clap their hands
and the fatherless rise from drifting lands
and the kingdom come with lifted eyes
its got more style than this earth

its a two part song. the first is about me falling down in the rain. and the second is about alot of things: fleshly desires. the media. our future hope. a contrast of kingdoms. etc.

you are what i care about: inspired by psalm 119:37. acoustic version. full version coming in a bit.

this my heart's cry: the song i wrote when i was 17 after reading the intro to Desiring God by john piper. for a long time, it was the only song i wrote that i would play in front of people.

hillsong united

check out this worship band.
passion. loud. soft. loud again. and soft again. great songs. great playing. great artistry. unique sound. anthemic choruses. warm sounds. good drumming. australian.

i'm very into them right now.
"look to you" is a good place to start or "united we stand"
they have a new cd coming out this month "all of the above"

www.hillsong.com/united

the el ninos

so, im in this children's worship band called the el ninos. we think that elementary school kids like music. so we have written and recorded three albums with a goal of create high energy, fun. and good music. there are alot of cihldren worship songs out there that are hokey and lame. our goal has been to put real theology and lyrics that aim to maginify our supremely fun and powerful and just and funny and loving and awesome God. the music has an edge. alot of distortion and alot of guitar solos.
we've been doing winter camps for 8 years and every year we see a hunderd kids karate kicking, jumping, hand-motioning, singing, shouting, shouting even louder, and dancing to the glory of God. its pretty awesome.
our latest album, "the el ninos underwater adventure" is starting its circulation in a few churches and every time we play we get to see 2nd-6th graders worshipping God with songs we've created. its a blessing.
CLICK HERE TO GO THE WEBSITE: web.mac.com/theelninos

the revelation project

click below to see some pictures and a video about the revelation project
CLICK HERE!!!!: web.mac.com/greenvalleychurch

the sound

for a long time, i have been searching for a sound in my listening. not necessarily in my playing, but in my listening. usually on colder days, days that cry out for a few cups of tea and deeper thought, i would scroll up and down my ipod looking for “the sound”. i’d pass up great music that i enjoyed in my quest for something that fell into the category of this thing i couldn’t quite put my finger on. i new what album had started my love for “the sound”: kid a by radiohead. But it had to be more than just one album. after a year of listening i came up with a rough description and a list of songs. this is an email to a friend last year:
“it's
warm in temperature
cool in feel
but warm in feel also
sometimes red, brown, or deep dark blue
a bit etheareal but can still rock
sometimes dreamy but not spacy
takes you somewhere else when listened with headphones
well-produced, but not over produced.
everything in its right place nails it, but it has more depth and
range than one song
i mean if kid a, hoppipola, medication, and satellites all blend for
it, then it has range
but do you see the thread through it all?
that is what i have been reaching for in my listening
like sucking on a brownish blue warm candy while listening to miles
davis (although miles isnt part of he blend)”

i know that doesn’t really make sense, and now you think i’m weird. but o well.

the rhodes keyboard has a lot to with it. and a warm guitar tone. and simple powerful harmonies. and sometimes electronic sounding drums. and present bass. and listening with good headphones makes all the difference.

so, now you get a little bit closer to knowing my musical taste.

hooray for music

alright!