Artist: Something Like Silas (currently Future of Forestry)
Album: Divine Invitation
Release Date: June 29th, 2004
Style: Alternative Rock / Praise & Worship
Label: Sparrow Records
Location: San Diego, California

About:

Something Like Silas hail from San Diego’s Flood fellowship, and their Divine Invitation long-player heralds a new chapter in the “worship music” subgenre of CCM. Creating a sound that borrows from their favorite secular bands Coldplay, Sigur Rós, Radiohead, U2. Something Like Silas nonetheless infuse these appropriations with a solid passion and energy that carry within them the spark of originality, particularly in the dynamic manner in which they arrange their material and in songwriter Eric Owyoung’s unpretentious, direct, yet non-generic lyrics.

Usually, worship music presents a series of small verses bounded and rounded by big crunching refrains. These young people are more interested in crafting great songs in which the body of a lyric is sophisticated enough to be unafraid of the edges and actually spills over into the hooky refrain, giving the entire enterprise a poetic weight and depth. Owyoung is the perfect frontman for this quintet, as evidenced by the album’s opener, “Creation’s Call,” interjecting pathos into the band’s tilt-a-whirl rock and making it soar, as guitars crackle over the popping thud of toms-toms and the ringing of cymbals. The title track, with its beautiful electric piano intro, offers a pastoral intro to a slowly building tension that finds its release in the song’s prayerful refrain.

Owyoung’s lyric offers his hymn as a realization that he belongs in the depth of his God’s being; inseparable from it, he is held fast and nurtured in that knowledge. He moves into the music’s power and releases everything in its rippling heart. CCM veteran Steve Hindalong of the Choir produced this set with help from his bandmate Derri Daugherty; they weave elegant textures and spacious sonic ambiences around the band’s songs, as evidenced by the sheer riff-heavy rock & roll crunch of “When I Search” and the wide-open pillowy drift of “Better Is One Day.” The closer, “I Fall,” is a moody, sparse piece of pop mysticism. It seeks the heart of divine silence with elegiac tempos and a softly meandering approach to the tension that lies in attempting to express need and gratitude, eclipsing that tension with a single surge of power before winding its way back into the quiet. Divine Invitation is a fine debut and bears repeated listening. Something Like Silas are a band whose development will be a pleasure to witness.

Track Listing:
1. Creation’s Call
2. Words That You Say
3. Infinite
4. Divine Invitation
5. Spirit Waltz
6. When I Search
7. Rains Pour Down
8. In The Burning
9. Weight Of The World
10. Please
11. Better Is One Day
12. I Fall

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Artist: V.A.
Album: A milli Freestyle (Christian Rap ) Pt.2
Release Date: 2010
Style: Rap & Hip hop

Track Listing:

01 lil’ Cray-Z
02 Lord Have Mercy
03 KamBINO
04 Priest
05 Ton3x
06 Damon J
07 Du2ce
08 JB Real
09 DC, ETB
10 M.A.J.O.R.S.
11 Apostle J
12 Eshon Burgundy

Artist: After Edmund
Album: Hello
Release Date: June 5th, 2007
Style: Alternative / Rock
Label: Spring Hill Records
Location: LaGrange, Georgia

Short about:

Sophisticated and complex musically yet lyrically direct and accessible, After Edmund is poised to take the Christian music scene by storm. Kicking off their debut album with the swirling chords of “Clouds” and the frenetic, driving “Thank God”, After Edmund tackles themes of a desperate desire to feel God’s presence, being honest in the midst of pain and losing everything to truly find Christ. Hello adeptly captures the crackling energy of the band’s powerful, kick-out-the-slats live shows.

After Edmund Biography:

Since the release of its 2008 national debut disc Hello, After Edmund has scored mounds of critical kudos, toured from coast to coast multiple times over and amassed a continuously swelling fan base from the ground up. Amidst those adventures, the group scored a highly coveted Grammy nomination (subsequently strutting down the red carpet in style while hanging with members of Death Cab For Cutie, Metallica and the Blind Boys of Alabama to name a few), opening up for Linkin Park’s famed Projekt Revolution (alongside the likes of Chris Cornell, The Bravery and Hawthorne Heights), while also scoring a trio of radio singles “Like a Dream,” “Fighting for Your Heart (Let It Go)” and “Clouds.”

“When we get done playing a show, we’ve given all we have to the point that we’re barely able to catch our breath,” explains Mitch, describing a potential catalyst for the group’s groundswell. “After two years of touring, we’re mobbed by people telling us they loved the show or that we’re their favorite band, which is very encouraging. But no matter how big or small the audience, we’ve always given everything we have and it feels great to see it grow to the point where fans sing the words louder than we do these days.”

Anyone who has caught After Edmund in concert can attest to the band’s visual and sonic precision – one that’s matched with unparalleled infectiousness and brilliant songcraft that comes from members’ musical education. In fact, band members are known to switch instruments throughout each set, proving to be equally proficient at anything attempted. And for the first time in After Edmund’s celebrated career thus far, faithful can score an up close and remarkably intimate view of the foursome in action thanks to the DVD/EP set Spaceships and Submarines: The Lively Sessions. No matter the visual or audio format, the live studio performance is loaded with five brand new and engagingly explosive new cuts, along with electrifying re-arrangements of past favorites.

“Being on the road is a totally different creative atmosphere than being on studio and most bands don’t have the same kind of energy in the studio,” Ben observes. “After putting the tunes to the test live, you can watch people’s reaction, which is why our material is always evolving. That’s basically what inspired the DVD. We wanted to give fans something different than just a straight up concert recording. It still shows us performing live, but we thought it would give fans a more personal look to see us in the studio, especially because many of them have already seen our show.”

Besides the nine songs performed, Spaceships and Submarines: The Lively Sessions also includes mounds of behind the scenes footage, interviews with band members and even an audio commentary from the band. As for the new tunes packed therein, longtime listeners will notice the band incorporating a dance-inspired alternative pop sound into the project, perhaps akin to Mute Math, Shiny Toy Guns or Carpark North. In that regard, Spaceships and Submarines: The Lively Sessions could be considered an accurate bridge builder between Hello and the group’s forthcoming sophomore CD (hitting streets sometime in 2010).

“Subtitles are revealing, and the word ‘Lively’ has to do with the band’s stage presence, but it’s also meant to imply a live studio recording,” Yates says of the title’s impetus, before commenting on the band’s current direction. “’In the last year we’ve downsized to a four piece, moving Matt from bass to drums and Mitch from guitar to bass, which really changed the way we write since we now have only Ben on guitar player. It has pushed us musically and creatively while moving us in a new direction. And as for the feel good nature of the new tunes, well, life’s just too short to be Emo”

As is After Edmund’s tradition, the ongoing road trip will continue mixing up tunes from Hello, Spaceships and Submarines: The Lively Sessions and the upcoming album, all primed with plenty of towering guitar riffs, synthesized dance grooves, relentless percussion and monstrous melodies. And if the group’s history thus far is any indication, the gang’s stage antics, production and overall excitement is sure to mount with each future mile logged in its tour bus.

“We’re going for world domination,” Matt asserts with a laugh (though it’s quite possible given the band’s brilliant build-up thus far). “We’re looking to really pick up the momentum on all accounts. We’re actually starting to like pop music more than ever before, and while Hello is a record we’re all really proud of, it took listeners a little while to get to know. Our next chapter is going to be filled with more instantaneous familiarity, and while there will still be many of the musical elements we’re known for, our goal is to hook you in from the very first second you press ‘play.’”

Reviews & Opinions:

As a teenage Christians in the late 70′s and early 80′s, my friends and I were starved for music that reflected our beliefs but also moved us musically. Then we had a few quality examples in an early time of developing Christian rock music that was mostly ernest but BORING. As a father of teenagers now I have never been more excited by some of the music I am hearing as of late, music that recalls that feeling I WANTED to have as that young teenage Christian. After Edmund creates a sense of excitement and musical joy in me that few bands of any genre have done in since i was that teenager. After Edmund is quality music and that their worldview reflects a Christian perspective just adds to that. Hello stands up to anything out there today on any place on the radio dial. I cannot add to anything the other positive reviewers have said other than this is a band and music I have waited for for almost 30 years! Also check out Anberlin and Ivoryline.

Track Listing:
1. Thank God
2. Fighting For Your Heart
3. Everyone    
4. Like A Dream
5. Darkest Room
6. Come And Rain Down
7. Tears    
8. Stealing Away
9. Go Oboe    
10. Clouds    
11. It’s Alright
12. To See You Leave

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Letters To God (from one of the producers of Fireproof & Facing the Giants)

A heartfelt tale of inspiration, hope and redemption, Letters to God is the story of what happens when one boy’s walk of faith crosses paths with one man’s search for meaning the resulting transformational journey touches the lives of everyone around them. Tyler Doherty (TANNER MAGUIRE) is an extraordinary eight-year-old boy. Surrounded by a loving family and community, and armed with the courage of his faith, he faces his daily battle against cancer with bravery and grace. To Tyler, God is a friend, a teacher and the ultimate pen pal Tyler’s prayers take the form of letters, which he composes and mails on a daily basis. The letters find their way into the hands of Brady McDaniels (JEFFREY S.S. JOHNSON), a beleaguered postman standing at a crossroads in his life. At first, he is confused and conflicted over what to do with the letters. Overtime he begins to form a friendship with the Doherty family getting to know not just Tyler but his tough, tender yet overwhelmed mom (ROBYN LIVELY), stalwart grandmother (MAREE CHEATHAM) and teen brother Ben (MICHAEL CHRISTOPHER BOLTEN) who are each trying to stand strong against the doubts that come with the chaotic turn their lives have taken. Moved by Tyler’s courage, Brady realizes what he must do with the letters, a surprise decision that will transform his heart and uplift his newfound friends and community in an exhilarating act of testament to the contagious effect of one boy’s unwavering faith against the odds. Inspired by a true story, Letters to God is an intimate, moving and often funny story about the galvanizing effect one child’s belief can have on his family, friends and community.

letterstogodthemovie.com