Back to Business

After a week out of town and a busy schedule I'm back with lots of albums to reviews. I have the new Devil Wears Prada, Oh Sleeper, Thrice, Creations, The Hawk in Paris, and Switchfoot all in my playlist for review. Let's do this!

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New music from Thrice, The Hawk In Paris, and The Violet Burning

Free Music Friday: The Hawk In Paris - His + Hers

Sometimes you just download an album not knowing at all what you're getting into. I picked up The Hawk In Paris' debut ep with mostly because it was free and the cover art intrigued me enough to pick this album up. My first listen through I was blown away. A couple hours later when I found out that Dan Haseltine from Jars of Clay was the singer, I was even more shocked.

His + Hers is an ep full of great electronic loves songs with a slight dark undertone in the music. It's a great album and shouldn't be missed.

You can download The Hawk In Paris' His + Hers for free here: http://noisetrade.com/thehawkinparis

The Ember Days - Emergency

The Ember Days have been a band that have fallen on my deaf ears. There previous efforts just didn't make any impact on me. So downloading Emergency, I really didn't have any expectations. But right from the start, this record was different, more intriguing. It's not a break away from what is almost standard for the worship genre but the album hits on a deeper level for me.

Unite Your Bride hit me instantly. Not a traditional worship song in a lyrical sense, a calling for God to help put away with the bickering in the church. Make Us One hints at a subtle Slowdive influence. The instrumental section on All Honor is beautiful and pretty incredible. The tracks that feature Jason Belcher's vocals are some of my favorite. I love the bands re-envisioning of How Great Thou Art. The title track is a great instrumental piece. High Above has musical elements on par with Sigur Ros with a melody that is real sweet and beautiful.

Emergency is a great record. And that fact that you can get music this good for free is awesome. The Ember Days have put out one heck of record. And I recommend people head on over to Come and Live and check this out.

Braille - Native Lungs

It's no secret that since I've discovered Humble Beast Records I've been in love with the label. Christian hip-hop has always been hit or miss, so to find a label, where every release was great and free... It was love at first listen. Braille's new full-length, Native Lung, is no exception.

The album kicks off with the title track, kicking in with a sick West Coast beat that reminds me of some of Dre's best beats. The album's lead single Feel It is a strong driving song. Native Lung is rhyme and beat driven, not hook driven. The songs are all solid head banging tracks. There's nothing cheesy, no gimmicks, no autotune. Rhymes on Everything, The New Raw, Too Many Tomorrows are my favorites on the album.

The album is a solid progression from Weapon Aid. Braille takes all the good from previous efforts and builds and improves on them. If you like quality hip hop this isn't an album to miss.

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Hip-Hop vs Hardcore:

Braille - Native Lung
7 Angels 7 Plagues - Away with Words
Mars Ill - Sound Off
Dive the Sea - Betrayal
Alert - All I See is Red
Point of Recognition - Refuge and Strength
Propaganda and Odd Thomas - Change This World
Seventh Star - World War Three
Cook and Uno - Always Shine
Born Blind - One for All
Gift of Gab - The Ride of Your Life
Ceasefire - Berlin
Grits - Ima Showem
Falling Cycle - For Nothing
Odd Thomas - Fundamentalist 1
Figure Four - When It's All Said and Done
Brainwash Projects - Want for Nada
No Innocent Victim - Stand

Free Music Friday: Praiser - Blessed Be the Punk

13 songs clocking in at 20 minutes. Yes, punk rock does still exist, even if it's only in Germany. Praiser is an old school hardcore punk band (think Minor Threat) from Germany and they're offering their new record Blessed Be The Punk for free. From their website:

PRAISER is the latest band started by André and Marcus from Hamburg, Germany, who played together in several hardcore groups like “Unreal” and “Preacher” since 1999. Their lyrics focus on Christ but they are also aware of topics like social injustice or political stuff which belongs to punk since its beginnings. As Christians they also find it important to question things, traditions, behavior within church or among Christians in general. Their sound is fierce old school Hardcore Punk with some more influences like metal, crustpunk and rock. Recommended for fans of: Bad Religion, Chain of Strength, Minor Threat, the Crucified, the Blamed, Crashdog

I'm a big fan of this album and you should be too. It even includes a cover of mewithoutYou's Allah Allah Allah.

You can download Blessed Be the Punk for free here: http://www.indievisionmusic.com/2011/08/22/praiser-blessed-be-the-punk/