the Gently Mad

I’m ordering mine right now…..

I’ve been a long time fan of Don Miller, ever since I read Blue Like Jazz in college. While, not without his problems, I have always enjoyed his writing and been encouraged.

Just saw this new book on Amazon and got all excited until I realized that it won’t be out until the middle of next year. It looks interesting though…

I’m sorry I haven’t been present on the blog for a while. I haven’t been present on any blog for a while, it seems. My feed inbox is begining to overflow. I’ve just been extremely busy with a number of projects.

But I thought I would post a Music Monday and it’s all covers this week. Some pretty cool stuff.

Aaron Lewis covering Black by Pearl Jam
Lewis has such a great rock voice. Think what you will about Staind, but he’s got a lot of talent.

The Flaming Lips covering Crazy by Gnarls Barkley
Who else in the world sounds like The Flaming Lips? I’ll tell you. No one. The lips are an all-time top 5 band for me. And they make this their own.

The Flaming Lips covering War Pigs by Black Sabbath
Another great Lips cover.

Someone covering Toxic by Britney Spears
Don’t know who this girl is, but she’s got an amazing voice.

By now, most people (who would be interested) know that Louie Giglio is planting a church in Atlanta along with Christ Tomlin and Matt Redman. Whatever you’re reaction to this may be, I was encouraged after watching an interview Louie did with the campus pastor of Buckhead Church.

I guess one of the questions, or common reactions, Louie gets to this news is “Why?” With all he’s involved in with Passion and SixStep Records and Northpoint etc., why plant a church?

His response:

The local church is thing Christ died for. I finally woke up to the fact that I had a huge passion in my heart for the local expression of the face of Jesus in a city of people who really need to know where life and light are found.

What a great statement. It is so amazingly refreshing to hear of people who are willing to sacrifice and dedicate themselves to the church. And it’s a sacrifice of great joy, because there is nothing more worthy for which we can die and and on which we can be wasted.

Watch the video here.

This has been an interesting month so far. Actually, it’s been an interesting summer. Well, OK, it’s been an interesting couple of years…

There are those periods of life where everything seems in constant flux, always changing, and while that keeps things exciting, I’m not a guy who looks forward to lots of adventure and surprises. That may sound boring to you, but I enjoy consistency.

I like spending time with my family. I like sitting out on the patio sharing a Guinness with friends. I like reading, listening to music, studying, watching Family Guy with my wife. You could say these are simple pleasures but they are the things I enjoy and look forward to.

But providence has a way of forcing change on us and for me, it’s a very uncomfortable experience.

Jessica and I are expecting the birth of our second (and possible third) child in about seven months and while of course I’m excited, I’m much more terrified this time around than the last.

With Izzie, I had first-time dad jitters, for sure, but I had no idea what being a father would be like, how it would change my life and how it would force me to change.

And don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade Izzie for anything, but little things like getting married and having babies tends to bring to the surface all the impurities and inconsistencies in one’s life.

So it’s not because I don’t know what to do that I’m experiencing some trepidation about the future, it’s because I know this process will start all over again. What new sins are going to be revealed? In what new ways will I have to die to myself? How will loving my family become more sacrificial?

I feel a bit like C.S. Lewis’ Eustace Scrubb in Voyage of The Dawn Tredder. At one point Eustace had turned into a dragon and in order for him to change back Aslan had to strip away the layers of scales.

Every time a layer of scales is stripped away from heart I find there are more layers still to go. And that is a painful and process.

I know the future will bring more layers of scales to be stripped away and it’s easy for me to fear the pain of that process.

Being a husband has changed my life. Being a dad has changed my life. And both for the better. My hope is that this process, though painful, will teach me to hope in Christ and bring me closer to him.

You’ve all seem them, and if you’re under 30, then you may be one of them. Whether is the carefully half-untucked polo shirt with the collar popped up, or the huge white belt that matches nothing else the person is wearing, or the $50 T-shirt designed to look like it was found in a dumpster, or the lawnmower haircut, these people can be spotted a mile away.

I’m speaking of those individuals of my generation and younger that are supremely concerned with being “indie.”

Maybe I’m just getting old, but this phenomenon has always struck me as incredibly ridiculous and phony. That is, people so driven by the desire to different from everyone else that they become just like everyone else.

The Art of Manliness posted a great article that pretty much sums of my entire problem with this phenomenon. He says:

The indie identity is based on the idea of being independent from the mainstream. To this end, indie people buy clothes, CD’s, furniture, books, food, and concert and movie tickets that are not popular with the masses. Instead of going to Chili’s, they frequent their local Thai restaurant; instead of going to Wal-Mart, they go to Whole Foods; instead of picking up the new Coldplay CD, they buy an album from Blood Red Shoes; instead of shopping at the Gap, they buy from American Apparel; instead of buying a Dell they buy an Apple (sure they’re a big corporation, but they’re so cool). But what is the common denominator in all of those things? Spending money. Consumption. Indie people express their independence from the mainstream by doing the single most mainstream thing possible: basing their identity on what they consume.

A decade ago it was cool to wear clothing with a company’s logo splashed all over it. Nike and Gap labels were proudly displayed as badges of honor. These days such clothing is considered laughable; now shoppers want clothes that look unique or vintage (although frequently that “vintage” tee costs $40). But the underlying motivation remains the same; people are still expressing themselves by the clothes they buy. It doesn’t matter that instead of buying things from big corporations you buy free trade coffee, organic apples, and handmade Guatemalan rugs, you’re still basing your personal identity on your identity as a consumer. You are driven by the desire to consume something first before it is consumed by the masses. It’s the new millennium’s take on “keeping up with the Jonses.” And it’s just as conformist as it was in the 50’s.

Read the rest here. Everyone else is.

Once again, I didn’t get around to this until Tuesday. Oh well.

Earlier this year I discovered a band called The Airborne Toxic Event. They didn’t yet have an album, but after hearing Sometime Around Midnight I immediately downloaded their EP Does This Mean You’re Moving On?, searched everything I could find about them on YouTube and started frequenting their Myspace for new songs.

I can’t overstate how great I think this band is. I can count on one hand (Ok, maybe two) the number of times I have discovered an artist or band about which I wouldn’t change a thing.

Sometime Around Midnight really is a perfect song. It’s about a guy descending into a drunken despair as he watches the woman he loves leave a club with another man. Even if you have never experienced this, the song hits on so many feelings and emotions that you can’t help but see yourself in the lyrics.

Musically, the song is also perfect. Staring softly and gradually building to a string-swept wall of crunching sound, Midnight leaves you feeling completely satisfied.

Finding such a great song is even rarer than finding great bands, for me at least. I remember a similar feeling when I first heard the Goo Goo Doll’s Black Balloon more than a decade ago.

But Midnight is a perfect example of what this band does best — somehow taking the little, day-to-day circles of modern life and romance and turning them into art.

The other thing I love about this band is their incredible literariness. The fact that their name comes from a Don DeLillo novel is telling, in my opinion. I walk away from this album with same feeling with which I walk away from great novels and films. Front man Mikel Jollett talks/sings about the same things that so many other bands do, but in a way that is transcendent and profoundly affecting.

Based out of Los Feliz, Calif. Airborne’s sound is frantic, nerve-stripped and raw. I don’t know exactly how to categorize them except to say they affect a kind of post-punk/new-wave-ish intensity, but don’t succumb to banality of similar-sounding acts.

I hope you catch just how much I love this band. They are worth a listen, even if not what you would normally go for.

With the release of their self-titled album they have broadened their tour and would be worth seeing live if in your area. They’re going to be in Atlanta in September and I can’t wait for that.

The Toxic Airborne Event has been a truly amazing discovery for me and with only one album and and EP has become one of my favorite bands. I hope they continue their current trajectory on future projects.

Check them out. (If you’re an eMusic subscriber, you can get the album there.)

Wow, four days without an internet connection and I thought I was going to die. I seriously did not know what to do with myself. Which is definitely a bad thing, in case you were wondering.

Jessica, Izzie and I just got back from a mini vacation to her aunt’s house in Durham, NC. It was good to get away and see family. Also, I’d never visited that part of NC so I was excited about that. I got to hang out with Jess’ grandfather a good bit, which was fun. We spent one afternoon wandering around Barnes and Noble, just chilling with some coffee, which is probably in my top five favorite things to do.

Me and the fam also spent one afternoon walking around the Duke campus, which, to say the least, was amazing. I was reminded again how much I miss college and the campus atmosphere. I would love to spend time at a school like that, one with such a huge sense of history.

At one point, I saw a professor walking through the gardens reading a thick book and smoking a pipe, which was cliche, but made me believe this place must be some form of heaven.

And the chapel was increadible. It made me think a lot about how different we modern evangelicals view art and architecture than christians in years past.

All in all it was a great trip, though I don’t think Izzie liked spending six and a half hours in a car seat.

But I’m glad to be home, glad to be reconnected.

OK, so EVERYBODY has some sort of music post where they share their musical meanderings of the past week or so.

But that’s because they’re cool. I love these kinds of posts because I like to find out what people are listening to and I like to discover new music.

So, here it is at the Gently Mad. The first Music Monday, er Tuesday post.

I’ve discovered a couple bands lately that have been great. Every now and then I’ll stuble across a band or musician that that is so awesome, it makes all the time spent wading through all the crap worth it.

Here are a couple that have proved to be great.

Frightened Rabbit

Hailing from Glasgow, these guys are a little bit Snow Patrol, a little bit Counting Crows and all around great. Great songwriting, great sound.

Album: The Midnight Organ Fight

Song: Backwards Walk

Why are the best songs always about breaking up?

Blind Pilot

Straight up folk. And I love it. They sound like I would image This Shins would sound on VH1 Storytellers.

Album: 3 Rounds and a Sound

Song: Paint or Pollen

Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken

Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken’s new EP has been out for a while now, but I’ve found myself listening to it quite a bit. I’ve always thought Derek Webb was a great writer of love songs and this EP showcases his skills in this area.

EP: Ampersand

Song: Watch Your Mouth