New Music Tuesday: Pick of the Week

Perhaps I have been a little over-zealous in my endeavor to review a bunch of albums each week, released every Tuesday. We'll see how this goes in the future, but for this week, I just have a single album recommendation: Ivan & Alyosha's All the Time We Had.

Buy it on iTunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/all-the-times-we-had/id580389245

I first heard about Ivan & Alyosha through Noisetrade, back in May of 2011. I downloaded their EP Father's Be Kind and have really liked it. eI&A's sound is folk/alt-country, and their newest album reminds me of an interesting combination of Simon and Garfunkel, Elvis, The Beach Boys, Chicago, and some other classic country-twanger, whose name eludes me at the moment.

I haven't had a chance to really dig into the lyrics. I've focused more on the music and melodies. The album features several gems, in my opinion: "Running for Cover" and "Easy to Love". Even better, these two songs are featured on iTunes and at Starbucks. "RFC" is iTunes' Single of the Week *now* and "ETL" was Starbucks' most recent Pick of the Week. Whoever is doing marketing for these fellows seems to know what he's doing.

So go check it out.

Top 25 Albums of All Time - #8

Relient K - Five Score and Seven Years Ago

I just can't get enough of it. Packaged pop-punk? Yes. But is it well done? Absolutely. Maybe the best. Certainly in the best-in-class category. Lyrically, this stuff packs a serious punch, too. Don't believe me on the lyrics? Listen to the *epic* "Deathbed" and decide for yourself. It's awesome. It's a songwriter's song - a story-song. Love it.

Spotify link here: open.spotify.com/album/2i7lUD7JpgyVd2KhuzMp6O

Buy it on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/five-score-and-seven-years-ago/id215485112

FYI: The album cover image I've used is from the original album release cardboard sleeve. It's fairly rare and unknown, but I prefer it to the "updated" cover.

Tubes, Family, and Christmas

[Source Link]

Merry Christmas everyone!

I do hope you've been having a wonderful time in between two of my favorite holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas, obviously). It's been a busy time for me and my family, and I see no signs of a slow-down any time soon - even over school break.

Tonight, my family is going to see the tree lighting in downtown Geneva. It's the kick-off of the annual Santa Lucia Festival. Apparently, she's a Swedish saint who gives out cookies. Awesome. We're gonna try to score a few sweets and watch Santa (not a saint) light this big tree outside the Courthouse on Third Street. (If I ever have another daughter, I might pull for the name Lucy.)

Next up...

What happened last week:

Eleanor, my 15-month-old, got tubes put in her ears. If you're not familiar with the procedure, it's fairly simple, but for a *musician* dad, it's intense. Read about it HERE. It's called a "myringotomy". I'm emotionally drained right now and kinda depressed. Hoping tonight will help.

And what's coming this week:

Two huge recording projects from some friends - one new, one old. Gonna be a lot of work - probably 4-5 full, 8-hour days in the studio before Christmas, but well worth it. I'll be doing tracking and mixing for both recordings.

And last of all:

I've had the weight of the next Restoration Project album on my shoulders for a few months now, with little forward progress. I've started tracking, but haven't really felt "right" about any of what I've done so far. I plan to bring in a couple of friends from Redeemer Fellowship to kind of get some fresh energy and perspective on things.

Gonna be interesting. Gonna be hard work. But I was just reminded again of a belief that I have long held to:

I want to be known as an individual who, by God's grace, has pushed the limits of human capacity - to live, to love, to create.

I look forward to the release of the next Restoration Project album in Spring 2013 and hope it breathes new life into our world.

I'm Not a Web Designer

I have a love-hate relationship with web design.

I'm not a web designer. I can do professional work, and I can get hired to do web design, but I'm not *in it* every day, if you know what I mean. I've taught myself everything I know about it by reading books and scouring websites for critical "code". (My brother frequently reminds me that HTML isn't "code" in the developer's sense. Or is it?)

WARNING: This post is technical in nature and you might just be bored out of your mind to read on. For those of you not interested in computer graphics, image rendering, or web design, I'd kindly suggest that you stop reading here.

So here's the point of this post today (yes, this is a rant):

iPhones and iPads and MBP's have been out long enough now, but for some reason, NOBODY has written an article that simply explains how to implement "retina graphics" on a website. Seriously. All I want to do is "serve" three different image header files to users that match three, different device specs: user 1: iPhone/iPad, user 2: Retina MacBook, user 3: lo-fi computer screens. Why can't this be easy? It beats me.

Next problem: WordPress (and Blogger) both need to update their platforms to support this function *automatically*. Seriously, Wordpress? You're huge. You don't even have a third-party plug-in that will do this well.

Is it too much to ask that my website looks great on an iPad? I think not.

Thoughts on Kickstarter, My New Campaign, Etc.

I love the idea of Kickstarter. I also hate being a late adopter. Which is part of the reason why you haven't seen a "campaign" from me yet...

But the biggest reason, actually, why I haven't done a campaign is that I am afraid of not getting my project fully funded. And that would mean not getting any money at all to use for the next record - even if the project made it to 95%.

The thing is, I have been motivated out of a fear of a lack of support from my closest friends and family and those of you who love the music I write. And for that I am sorry. Please forgive me.

Beginning September 15th, you all will have an opportunity to support me in a new and unique way. By supporting me and the next record financially, you'll be essentially acting as an old-school benefactor or patron. This sort of an idea to support the arts is not new. It's been around for centuries. Mozart, Wagner, Liszt, Beethoven. Everybody has had them. The patron system is how music got made.

And, in some circles, this sort of financial giving to support the work of others is not just common, but almost expected. Think: christian missionaries. Do I consider myself to be a missionary of sorts? Absolutely. A missionary of music with a message that can hopefully, in some way, make some sense out of this world that we live in.

Today, we're seeing a *huge* arts resurgence - especially with music - where artists are reaching out to their fans to support them. It's huge right now, and it should be. AND, it should continue to be.

I want you to support my music financially. Yes, with money.

And what can I give you in return? Music. And myself. And my deepest thanks. For helping me do what I believe I am meant to do: make music for you.

In just a few, short weeks, I'll be posting all of the details for how you can support me in the coming year. Thank you, thank you for your support.

Searching for a New Apartment - Again

There's something that I have learned very recently (about 11 months ago): Looking for a new place to live is a blessing.

It reminds us of the impermanence of life. 

It reminds me that, in the most real sense possible, I don't really have a home here (not yet, at least). No place will ever give me rest - true rest - rest for my soul.

Transience is life.

Today I spent over an hour driving the streets of Saint Charles, looking for apartments for rent. The booty: three places. That's it. I drove every street in the area where we want to move to, I called all three places, and left three voice messages.

Today I find myself in an interesting situation: Time is short to find a new place. Prospects in our desired location are slim. So now what? Ah! The answer is so simple...

Don't worry. 


I'll let you know how I do, continuing to relish existence in the void of not knowing where I'll be living in six weeks. Update coming soon...

Top 25 Albums of All Time - #7

John Mayer: Continuum. Any questions? Really? Let's put aside what we think about Mr. Mayer's latest record for a minute and try to think about things objectively. This is a great album.

View my whole list here: http://jaymathes.blogspot.com/search/label/top%2025