Thank you, though!

I think you should cover this song: http://youtu.be/sP4NMoJcFd4

That would be awesome.

My first submission will fall under the “oldie, but goodie” as well as “who could possibly not love this song” and “man, I wonder what Clayton could to with this little nugget of brilliance” categories.

“Sailing” by Christopher Cross

Another few in the above mentioned categories that I would be curious about:

“Time in a Bottle” by Jim Croce.
“I’ll Have to Say I Love you in a Song” by Jim Croce
“Love The One You’re With” Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

OH so many more thoughts that are formulating!

In my home we’ve enjoyed Chicago for many of the same reasons you described in the podcast, particularly the use of horns, in their music. How many pop bands can get away with that? You hit a great PP&M as well.

BTW, you’re right, this is not my real name, but we met at the KC Temple Dedication, if you remember, I was helping with the Internet broadcast.

I’ve got 4 little girls, oldest is 11, and we listen to a large variety of music at this point. I’m going to have to say that my absolute favorite kids song right now is PB&J by InsideOut – since you already featured this and the original on a podcast episode, I’m going to choose 18 Wheels on a Big Rig – by Trout Fishing in America. If you haven’t heard of these guys, they are great, a bit of a Smother’s Brothers Folk only for kids. They are very fun to listen too and even better live.

Dad

Keep the music coming… Couple of fun new hymns albums, music, Nearer collection, and the Lower Lights.. might be fun to hear from those involved.

Jake
http://www.thesweaterfriends.com (my music)

I love Prayer is the Soul’s Sincere Desire. Can’t wait to hear the final version.

I have discovered (sadly) that sometimes a song that I have grown to love is actually based on some lyrical content that doesn’t reflect, or outright offends, my values. I’ve made conscious decisions to eschew such music. Conversely, if I discover that a song has lyrical content is in agreement with my values, I may embrace that song even more.

The general problem I find with “LDS” music is much of the music just doesn’t stand well on its own as a musical work. Much of it sounds exactly the same (compositionally and by arrangement). While visiting the Wasatch front, I was scanning the radio for music and within a second or less identify that a station was playing “LDS” music without even hearing a single lyric.

That’s what I find sad. There don’t seem to be a lot of people who will take the time to venture out from steady diet of peanut-butter-on-white-bread music. I think the question was raised on the podcast, but I think isolationism has a lot to do with it. Living in New York City (as Clayton will confirm), you can find some great cuisines. (How many have tried Ethiopian? Vietnamese? Indian?) Likewise you can find music of every type, shape, and form, and you don’t have to go far to find it.

I know that there are exceptional LDS musicians who do produce wonderful music. I suspect that these are the ones who probably have experienced the bun xaos and baingan barthas of the music world.

As a musician who is also LDS I exhort other LDS musicians to open their ears and break free of the mold of traditional “green jello” LDS music! And then maybe it will be more palatable and satisfying as a genre.

Anyway, I hope you do the random stuff again.

Chas

I would argue also that the early Beatles productions were somewhat low production, yet still maintain a remarkable freshness that is popular with today’s youth. So the difference, to me, is the variety in exploration of their music, something LDS music does not have much in abundance. I was really surprised and delighted at the differences in music explored on the (fairly) recent Mormon Times contest.

Understanding that the essence of historical “Rock and Roll” is not always in harmony with LDS teachings, where ‘pervasive’ ideas can be introduced through the medium of charming music. Still, I wonder why there is not a mainstream music with ‘pervasive’ LDS ideas in the rock and roll genre. Especially since many LDS members are converts. I have friends who were part of hair metal bands, tour musicians for Paul and Linda McCartney, and even a member of what became Korn, all members of the LDS faith. Yet the avenue for their creative efforts seem stifled by the fact that their tastes are not for the sweet, but sometimes for the tart or bitter as well. None of which would be welcome at your local Deseret Books.

I wholeheartedly agree with Syphax and Britt and would sum up that music is an emotional experience sharable with the world, that finds a common thread through all of God’s children.

Still waiting for that … hmmm

But you’re exactly right. I just prefer the non-blunt route, because alienating people isn’t the way to attract people to my blog.

Most Mormon music is shallow, insincere, substandard and just plain boring. It’s really too bad since there are so many talented LDS musicians who know how to make great music and perform in a genuine manner. But Syphax makes the excellent point that the market for this music is generated by members who are not educated or cultured to know that what they are listening to just aint that great.

My least favorite part about LDS music is that it’s often the complete opposite of a testimony meeting. Let me explain: In a good testimony meeting (sorry, this is Mormon lingo), people speak from the heart with genuine sincerity. The result is sometimes messy but always touching and very powerful. Mormon music, on the other hand, is over-rehearsed, careful and shallow, therefore lacking any truthful performance and, as we Mormons well know, it is only a truthful performance that will touch/reach the listener. How can we get it so right with our testimonies and so wrong with our music?

I can’t wait for the ‘impending rennaissance’ to occur but I don’t think anything will happen until Deseret Book makes some changes to their buyer staff.

First of all, I mean absolutely no disrespect to Sister Call or anyone who writes or performs “LDS music.” I think they are sincere musicians and are trying their best. It’s very difficult for me to word my concerns about this without coming across as brash or arrogant or mean-spirited, and I definitely don’t mean to be so. Unfortunately I don’t know how else to put it.

Sister Call mentioned that “there are Latter-day Saints who write music, but there are so many who don’t get heard because it’s so difficult to market.”

WHY is it so difficult to market? Because of a vicious cycle that is occurring in our community:

1) Latter-day Saint musicians feel culturally or morally obligated to favor LDS-themed music. They buy from Deseret Book, they buy EFY CDs, etc.
2) Therefore LDS music has cornered a market demographic that doesn’t hold them up to a very high standard. Just listen to a single Jars of Clay song: “Redemption.” That one song convinced me that “LDS music” has light years to go. And no… they don’t use the name of Deity at all in that song, and no drums. It’s about quality.
3) It’s disappointing that Latter-day Saints listen to substandard songs, but the larger tragedy is that they don’t even know WHY those songs are substandard. They don’t even know what to listen for. Nobody’s educating them. So they don’t expect anything more.
4) You say we shouldn’t worry about creating a better “production value.” It’s not about production value… it’s about art and quality. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist in LDS music, it’s just so narrow, so superficial, and so limited. It’s just not there yet.
5) Latter-day Saint musicians who DO appreciate deeper art feel out of place, and realize there ISN’T a market for their music.
6) Those musicians try to succeed in other venues… bars, the sleaze of pleasing record labels, tours with non-members… they have to move to Los Angeles or Seattle or Nashville or Portland… and many of them lose their way and never return to Church activity.
7) Because those artists either leave the Church or leave the “LDS market” altogether, the result is the continuation of the very substandard quality of the LDS music market!

But you know what? There ARE plenty of Mormons who make marketable music. Is Brandon Flowers “unmarketable?” The Killers were voted as one of the greatest bands of the century by Q magazine. What about Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker? What about Cove Reber of Saosin? Their last album hit #4 on the Billboard Alternative charts. What about Cary Judd? What about Roxy Rawson? What about Young Sim? What about Canoe, the band from Portland? The answer is, these musicians just aren’t considered part of LDS music, because “LDS music” is narrowly defined as what you’ve played here.

And it’s not even that they’re not writing songs with LDS themes. Any Low fan has surely heard “The Lamb.” The song brings me to tears, and represents everything that LDS music COULD be. Has anyone thought about what Brandon Flowers meant when he said “I’ve got soul but I’m not a soldier?” It was about losing his way when he became a rock star. Has anyone heard “See Through Rocks” by Cary Judd? Pure art and pure beauty, and it all has to meet a higher standard because the US market requires a higher standard.

When Linescratchers was created, it was to provide support for those musicians who were completely marginalized by the LDS music community, but still wanted to be affiliated with Latter-day Saints. I’m still surprised at how these musicians feel. Often they think they have to choose between the Church and their music, because the Church “doesn’t support or understand” their music. It’s just sad.

Maybe “LDS music” should focus less on their music being “marketable” and focus more on making art. The market will educate itself to whatever level the musicians create. We still haven’t seen The Beatles of LDS music. We haven’t even seen the Radiohead of LDS music. We haven’t even seen the Jars of Clay of LDS music. Why? Because Brandon Flowers, Alan Sparhawk, and Cary Judd aren’t “LDS music.”

Sorry sorry sorry, I really hate saying all that because I’m a Mormon, and Mormons don’t like to say negative things about others and feel bad if they hurt somebody’s feelings. But I’m not saying our “LDS musicians” CAN’T make better music! It’s in their hearts! Deep down in there… we just need to encourage it out. I think we’ve gotten a little closer with Gladys Knight. And we need to stop defining LDS music by pushing out those on the margins. There is an impending Rennaissance out there… when one day non-Mormons will be coming to MORMONS for our art. There will one day be a Mormon Milton, a Mormon Shakespeare, a Mormon Lennon and McCartney. But we have to completely raise the bar to get there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1Zjex8VaeU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNmF8nzzPYo

I really love listening to most of these things backward. It changes the melody to something that reminds me of something celtic or from middle-earth (yes, I just made a reference to Lord of the Rings. Forgive me.) (Or maybe the celtic thing is because I just listened to the Fiddlesticks ‘cast). In any case, I do love the freshness of it, and it makes me want to use backward melodies to write songs, for a different, more haunting feel.

I don’t, personally, love the sped-up-ness of them. I don’t mind it on some, like the Walkenhorst stuff sounded good sped-up to me. But I think a) I have a really hard time listening to sped-up vocals without all the negative chipmunk associations tainting it, and b) for some songs it’s moving too fast to really catch the changes and grab onto a melody. The backward thing is so beautiful because it does things with melodies that are unusual, and thus take a few more seconds for my brain to process.

just me…

Walkenhorst and the Rainmakers (Steve Phillips, Pat Tomek, Rich Ruth) were a rare jewel. My family and I journey up to KC every summer to see Bob, we’re so glad he’s still writing new stuff and performing. Keep it up, Bob!

I only wish he were more famous so more folks could share the music and enjoy it as much as we do.

We as a people often fear what is foreign, so I can understand Amy’s point of view on this also. It is disturbing to see (or hear) something in a different form other than the one we are familiar with. Some people are appalled at seeing themselves in a funhouse mirror where they appear fat. Others think it’s very entertaining. The “grotesque”movement in the art world caused quite a stir when things were given unnatural portrayals. Even the pope dismissed Michelangelo’s art of this form. What some may find beautiful, others find hideous. (Musically I find most things written in the Afterglow/Janice Kapp Perry-style hideous.)

I

Ron told me of this website last night. Great stuff! Thanks for your work on sharing unknown talent.

Though I love it, I played one of the backwards song for one of my coworkers and they had no clue what was so great about it and just thought it was bizarre. To each his own and thank goodness we’re all a little different.

When do we get a cd of all your songs going backwards?:)

1) Plug-in I used for fattening vocals was ‘mda detune’ (you have to feed it a stereo source–route vocals to a stereo group track if necessary). Alternatively you can copy the tracks, select the audio in the “arrangement” window, and in the info bar at the top set fine tune as I described, mix those tracks in with the originals…

2) The free piano plug-in is ‘mda piano’. Not the richest instrument you’ve ever heard but man, it’s free, and it does sound kind of like a piano.

I’ve written a few songs lately, and I’ve been trying to put them together in Cubase SX3. You mentioned a couple of things I’m highly interested in: 1) free plug-ins to fatten and expand vocals, and 2) a good, cheap piano plug-in. I’d appreciate any more info you can throw my way. I hate to post my email address, so shoot me a message of Facebook, if you don’t mind.

BTW, I especially liked the part about overdriving the piano. In one of my songs, I’m actually using an overdriven Rhodes suitcase EP, and it adds a very cool sound.

Thanks in advance, and I look forward to hearing back from you!

~Tim

Regards, Timur Alhimenkov

Thanks!

-I liked the interplay but I thought it was a little too much talk.
-Also, Skye and Clay’s speaking became a little too casual after 17 minutes, meaning your diction was lost and words were jumbled so it was hard to understand you.
-Your answer on “being famous” went more than just answering the question and I think delved a little too deep into the cynical or complaining aspect. The complaining works if there’s humour.
-The skit was cute and funny. Skye got the best line: making pin cushions out of old socks. Gross.

I think you’re a a great track. Next comes the video and 1st Mormom “SITCOM.” You CAN do it!