UNreview: “Sunny Days”

Tammy Trent hasn’t been heard from for several years now. This week though, she unexpectedly…and gloriously returned to the scene. With an album title like “Sunny Days” you should expect a lot of upbeat songs but this album has something I’ve NEVER seen before!!! They’re all upbeat songs…faster tempos, even the “slow” songs on this album are faster than a lot of songs you hear on albums. It’s a pretty stellar album but if you know anything about Ms. Trent it becomes even more outstanding. In 2001 her husband when scuba diving and didn’t return to the cruise ship. The next morning, rescue diverse found his body. On September 11th, 2001. Returning to us with such a hope filled album and especially tracks like “Don’t Let Him Be the Last to Know” are a testament to God’s healing power. This album is excellent and I’d suggest it to anybody but if you know someone who is going through a time of grief…it would definitely be something to get them.

RATING: * * * *
BEST TRACK: “Don’t Let Him Be the Last to Know”

Music Sharing!

Hello friends and family!

So I wanted to make sure you could access music we’re talking about.  Especially since I’m going to try to stay more on top of the charts for the week!  And I want to have an easy way to direct you to the music that is top 10 in the Christian music market!

So, for the charts for today (12/16/12) I linked to videos on YouTube but there is also a published Spotify playlist at the bottom of the page with the songs in order.

If you haven’t joined Spotify yet…you really should!  Basically, as long as you’re connected to the internet you can access ALL music for free!  It’s like Pandora, only you get more control over what you’re playing and therefore what you’re listening to!  Anyway, I’m going to start publishing some playlists there for us so you definitely need to check out Spotify and consider downloading it!  And then once you download it, find me by searching for “magnamite”!  (Or by clicking here.)

The Little Drummer Boy: A History Lessons

We all have our favorite Christmas songs.  Mine is “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” and I love Cee Lo Greene’s version with Christina Aguilera.  However, as far as my favorite pumped up Christmas song…it would definitely be “The Little Drummer Boy”.  And if you haven’t heard Lincoln Brewster’s version of it featuring KJ-52 you need to check it out!  But I digress.  I was given a homework assignment a couple of weeks ago on Friday night for Crossroad Radio: find the history of “The Little Drummer Boy”.

Are you ready for this?

Katherine Davis was born in 1892 in St. Joesph Mo.  She composed her first piece of music at the age of 15.  But in 1941 she would write the piece that everyone would know.  She was inspired by French and English folktales that she read during World War II.  Especially ones with morals.  Especially when the moral was that there was always someone poorer than poor little you.  That’s when she pictured a poor boy coming to visit a baby in a manger.  She sat down and penned a poem that she called “The Carol of the Drum”.  There is a span of time between “The Carol of the Drum”, “The Little Drummer Boy”, and “The Little Drummer Boy” becoming popular.

But a recording pushed it over the top.

Because this poem caught the eye of a family band.  An Austrian family band.  They would later become the focus of one of the greatest musicals of all times.

The family band?
The Von Trapp Family Singers.

Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

It’s been a long day.  And it started funny.

Last night, I was laying in “my bed” (the futon in the living room of my parent’s house) watching “Phineas & Ferb on my iPad.  I’m sharing the floor with my puppy Rigsby, my hamster Reggie, and last night only (I pray)…someone else.  Buster.

I had been hearing a noise for quite some time and assuming it was my hamster but I finally decided that it wasn’t.  So I sat up and watched the room closely.  That’s when I saw him.  Buster.  Buster is a flying squirrel.  Buster was in my house ALL night.  At one point…Buster was even in my bed.  I hate Buster.  I slept in the bathroom floor last night to avoid Buster.

But then…the day quit being funny.

My mom and I had to go to the doctor (everyone’s fine!) and we stopped for lunch on our way home.  We stopped at McDonald’s and I went back to the restroom and passed a television.  The shooting had just happened.  “Shooting” and “Elementary” are two words I never dreamed I would see together.  But now I have.  And it wasn’t in my dreams…it was in a nightmare.

I was devastated.  I’m trying to deal/cope/live with several things right now and this made all of them intensely more difficult.  I was talking with my mom and crying and she said something to me.  She said to me, “Maggie, you don’t have a cure for everyone who has ever suffered…”.  She said more…but I didn’t hear it.

The music faded.  My mother’s voice faded.  My pain faded.  And somewhere in the back of my mind I heard a still small voice reply:

“Yes you do.  Jesus.”

I don’t know your specific question.  I don’t know your answer.  But I know what you can use to help pain relief.

Jesus.
Come and heal our hearts.
Come and heal our children.
Come and give Connecticut,
a Silent Night.

Crossroad Radio

As you may or may not know…I work Friday nights at Crossroad Radio on WBFJ broadcasting live out of Winston-Salem!  You should definitely tune in on Friday nights from 10 p.m. to midnight!  Anyway, Dave and I recently posted on our blog our top 20 Christian market albums of 2012 and you need to go check them out NOW!  Dave has been in the Christian music scene for a long time and has a high standard for Christian music!  You can find mine HERE and Dave’s HERE!  GO CHECK IT OUT!!!

yEP! That’s a good EP.

So here’s the deal.  On XR Radio, we’ve been doing Christmas and one of our most awesomest songs we’re playing right now is Capital Kings‘ version of the EVER classic “Carol of the Bells“.  I’ve been listening to it and thinking to myself, “Now THIS is what Christian music has been missing.”  But you always have to be on your guard when getting excited about new artists.  There is always the chance that the first song you heard was awesome and the rest is just kind of.  You know… 😛

But last night at XR I received a copy of Capital Kings’ EP “I Feel So Alive“.  And as soon as I got in the car I put it in.

Speechless.

This EP has me even more excited for this band’s first full length album I can’t hardly wait!  I’m also reconsidering fighting Winter Jam crowds just for a chance to see this duo live and in action!  The first track, “I Feel So Alive” has an intense beat, outstanding melody, and the music these boys produce is unbelievable.  The quality is absolutely pristine.  I love these lyrics, “You’ve got me livin’ how I wanted all along.  I feel so alive!”  “Be There” is very different from the first track but with this still outstanding production quality, vocals, melody, and instrumentation.  “Tell Me” is the ‘lighter’ song on the EP (as far as beat goes) but it is still awesome!  And the Telemitry remix of “I Feel So Alive” is indescribable.

 The group is doing dubstep…and then they dubstep the dubstep.

Capital Kings is most definitely a band to keep your eye on!  Love the music, love the vocals, love the production, love the EP!  Can’t wait for January!

COUNTRY?!?!

So Mac Powell’s long awaited debut has dropped.  His country debut.  COUNTRY?!?!  Country.  And does he kill it with his gritty vocal?  You bet he does!  From his “party” songs like “Georgia Girls” and “Saturday Night” to his deeper, Third Day reminiscent songs like “Carry You” and “My Love for You Remains”…if you’re a Third Day fan you’ll love the album.  And if you love country music…you’ll be surprised.  Pleasantly surprised.  It had plenty of room to go horribly wrong…but it didn’t!

ALBUM EXCITEMENT!!!

TobyMac “Eye on It”
Featuring “Me Without You”
Released: 8/28

Owl City “Midsummer Station”
Featuring “Good Time”
Released: 8/21

Project 86 “Wait for the Siren”
Featuring “Fall Goliath, Fall”
Released: 8/21

Derek Minor (Formerly PRo) “PSA Vol. 3”
Featuring “I’m Focused”
Released: ?

Boys and Squirrels

Okay…so I’ve fallen really bad behind with writing posts and ESPECIALLY where album reviews are concerned.  However, on the 12th day of this month I graduate from Appalachian State University!  CAN I GET A WOOT WOOT?!?!?!  ANYWAY…after the 12th I’ll have more time to do things that I want to do!  I’ll be posting up reviews for Manafest’s “Fighter”, Demon Hunter’s “True Defiance”, and…is there anything else I’ve missed?  Ooh!  Benjah’s “The Breakup”.  I think that’s as far behind as I’ve gotten.  But we’ll see.  So be looking forward to increased activity here on our site!  Lemme know if there’s anything you want to hear from me!  Comment and tell me what you like and want more of!  Talk to ya more soon!

Still That Girl

Britt Nicole is a definite favorite of mine.

I’ve loved her since the first album and I anxiously await every new one since then.  (The latest came out last week and the album review is currently under construction!

My favorite track from this most recent album, “Gold”, is number 10 “Still That Girl”.  I’ve gone through a lot in my 23 years on this earth (biography to come soon) and this song was a refreshing reminder that I’m still “that” girl that I used to be and the girl I thought had been lost through a series of unfortunate events.  But last night, on my way home from an event with WBFJ, I came to a realization.

The girl this song refers to was a girl who can still be the one who wants to change the world.  But I realized there is another “that” girl out there.  I’m the other kind.  The other kind is the one who puts on a facade.  She paints herself happy when she goes out on the town and she laughs and jokes and cuts up with the people she finds herself with.  But when she gets home…when she gets alone…she’s still that girl.  That girl that’s broken.  That girl that’s empty.  That girl that’s wounded.  And there is nothing wrong with that.

Embrace your broken-ness.  Let it be a part of you.  You can’t keep from it.  But don’t let it define you.