Michael Koby

If you have not been introduced to the brilliance that is Jenny Owen Youngs, then allow me to help you with that problem. I found out about Jenny through her track “F**k Was I” that was featured in an episode of the Showtime series Weeds. Since then she has released an EP that is available through iTunes that contains of the song “Hot in Herre” that is definitely a twist on the original. Well, now there is a video (below). Enjoy.

One of my favorite DJs, SistaStroke is coming back to Houston for a one night only thing. I used to work with SistaStroke at Mars Music back in day (well like 2000-ish), awesome person as well as an excellent DJ. Click the thumbnail for a larger view of the flyer.

If you can check it out, it is definitely worth a listen. Her MySpace is at http://www.myspace.com/sistastroke so you can check out some tunage.

Christian music is becoming more popular by the day. As each year goes by more and more Christian artists are getting national spotlight time and winning people over to their cause. However, as with anything, the ones getting the spotlight are not always the best of the bunch. In the music industry especially it’s proven fact that it is the bands/singers that are the most marketable that get the attention while those that are good but not so marketable are left behind. There are a lot of good Christian artists out there and while you can go into your local Christian bookstore and pick up several of them, I would like to dedicate this list to the less heard artists. Most of these can be special ordered and found on eBay while some can still be found via Amazon and other online retailers.

5) Room Full of Walters - When it comes to the simplicity of melody and just good songs that you can sing along to, Room Full of Walters take the cake. Their songs are simple enough that you don’t have to think to hard but they’re fun enough to not bore you. Their (unfortunate) last release, El Grande, was a great follow-up to their first major label release Sleepy-Head and I was hoping there was more to follow. The cool thing I always liked about this band was it’s story. The band was originally a bar band in their Kansas town and the lead singer went through a rough patch and found Jesus. Once he found Jesus he got the rest of the guys to follow Jesus and they started singing about God in bars all over Kansas, even having things thrown at them for doing it. Recommended listening: Sleepy-Head

4) Michael Knott (LSU, Lifesavers Underground) - Michael Knott is often referred to the father of “Alternative Christian Rock” one of the first to sing about life being not so pretty even if you are a Christian but at the same time offering glimmers of hope in that same darkness. Michael Knott’s prolific output can be compared to the likes of Dylan or Springsteen, not because it is “as good” as those comparisons but rather in sheer output. This man has been around the Christian Music scene since the late eighties and has yet to stop releasing songs and pack shows. Recommended listening:Definitive Collection & Fluid

3) Mortal (Fold Zandura, Juggarnautz, Immersion - Imagine a band that does industrial, techno, and alternative rock over the course of six albums, this is what you get when you listen to Mortal. Mortal was doing the Christian Industrial thing around the same time Mr. Reznor was working on his Nine Inch Nails stuff and became a comparison point for Christian music snobs as the beginning of the Christian industrial movement (along with Deitiphobia and Circle of Dust). Mortal’s musical progression can be heard over the course of their albums. Starting out as staight early nineties industrial to trance/techno finally ending up with a mix of techno and alternative rock so no matter what you like to hear Mortal’s probably done it and has done it well. Members of Mortal went on to form a new band called Fold Zandura where the mixture between techno sounds and alternative rock continued with tremendous success. After Fold Zandura members went on to form Immersion and also join Christian band Switchfoot. Recommended listing: Fathom by Mortal & Ultraforever by Fold Zandura

2) Stavesacre - Stavesacre is another band that was around during the mid-nineties alternative Christian rock revolution, that time when alternative Christian rock was starting to find a more mainstream audience. Early Stavesacre is highly recommended to Tool lovers since Mark Salomon (lead singer) is definitely letting some of that influence come through. Newer Stavesacre has become what is best described as “emo” but it is not what one would call “bad” emo either. While in my opinion older Stavesacre is better than newer Stavesacre, the band has never stopped being good at what they do and what they do is rock. Recommended listening: Absolutes & Stavesacre

1) Poor Old Lu (Aaron Sprinkle, World Inside, Jesse Sprinkle, Fair) - Poor Old Lu was my first introduction to good alternative Christian music. These guys, who reign from Seattle, definitely managed to capture the sound that was coming out of their area at the time. Good riffs and excellent lyrics make this band a winner on all fronts. Plus the goods are still coming today. Aaron Sprinkle, the guitarist, is a prominent producer for many of Christian rock’s biggest bands. Not to mention his current project Fair. This is one of those bands I think everyone should hear. Recommended listening: Sin by Poor Old Lu, Picture of the Eighth Wonder by Poor Old Lu, Lackluster by Aaron Sprinkle

Honorable Mentions Include: Dryve, Aleixa, Rocketboy, Plankeye, and Way Sect Bloom.

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[Technorati Tag: Music]
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Myspace, it seems everyone has one, including your favorite bands/musicians. A great marketing concept. Get your band on MySpace, get a ton of friends and maybe a major label will sign you. It’s a dream, but it could happen. While this is defiantly the exception and not the rule, MySpace has change the way local/unsigned bands use the internet.

Before MySpace, for band to have a website they either had to know a web designer, hire one, or do it themselves. All three options can end up disastrous. Since everyone thinks they can be a web designer, there were a lot of poor websites out there for bands. Hiring a web designer either got you a similarly poor website or the person the band hired was too expensive to keep on the payroll and so the website went out of date and just kind of sat there, lingering in the cloud of the internet forever ignored. The third option, doing it themselves, usually yielded as good of results as the “hire a friend” route. Resulting in a not so great looking website that was quickly left outdated and ignored.

So what does a band usually need in a website. First and foremost, they need a way for people to hear their music. Secondly they need to be able to keep their fan base updated with news, recent events, and concert dates. Also, and this is probably paramount in a band getting big or not, is they need a way for the fans to interact with band and vice versa. Taking feedback, holding contests, and connecting their fans to each other. These are pretty much the essentials. Some bonus options would be a place to upload photos and videos from recent concerts. MySpace offers every band in the world these basic needs and their doing it for little to zero monetary cost. However, the terms of service for musicians has changed recently and MySpace can use and sell a musician’s music without having to pay them, so that could be viewed as a very high cost.

But the basic point is still the same. A new band can set up a MySpace page and quickly begin communicating with their fans as well as other bands. And they can do it with almost zero up front cash.� This is a new/unsigned band’s dream, because keeping their costs low means more money in their pocket and/or more money towards the cost of merchandise which is going to make the band more money in the long run.
What is this going to do to the business of web pages for bands� Well while some bands have made their MySpace page their “official” website, I do not think it is going to hurt the web design business with regards to band websites.� While new/unsigned bands can benefit heavily from the free MySpace page, larger bands can benefit from their own website with their own tools and methods for communicating with their fanbase by utilizing the separation of data (example: different pages for photos, tour dates, message boards, etc) and easy navigation.

[Technorati Tag: Music]
[Technorati Tag: MySpace]