Music:
Pearl Jam – Ten (rerelease)
Yeah, it’s a reissue but longtime producer Brendan O’Brien creates a new mix of their debut album. It sounds new and fresh. It reminded me of hearing it for the first time all over again.
House of Heroes – The Acoustic End EP
A couple new acoustic tracks that continue to show the breadth and maturity of HoH, as well as an acoustic version of “If”. Great band.
Jeremy Riddle – The now and not yet
Riddle’s second release is more mature and complete than his first. Good variety of songs.
Tinted Windows
Take the singer from Hanson, the ex-guitarist from Smashing Pumpkins, the drummer of Cheap Trick and the bassist of Fountains of Wayne, and what do you get? Great pop songs. Terrific effort.
Coldplay – leftrightleftrightleft
Coldplay’s free live release. Terrific tracks.
Ben Harper and Relentless 7 – White lies for dark times.
Ben Harper gets better every album. This album he’s working with a brand new band and the results are fresh and spectacular. Harper has rocked hard before but this album feels more of a natural fit to him.
Books:
“The Dangerous Act of Worship” by Mark Labberton
Great book about the relationship between worship and justice.
“Ancient Future Worship” by Robert Webber
Terrific book about the history of worship in the church. Really gave me a great perspective to look at the big picture and not just the latest hip song.
Film:
Star Trek
Amazing. I loved everything about this film. Breathes new life into the franchise. JJ Abrams & co are terrific. Looking forward to what’s next.
Seven Pounds
Another great film. I knew nothing about this film other than it seemed like a
“pay it forward” type of movie. There is so much more depth to it. Don’t believe the critics. See it for yourself!
Sunshine Cleaning
Terrific character study about broken people. Dark comedy too.
Bedtime stories
I was pleasantly surprised by this film. A toned down Adam Sandler suits him well. I haven’t been as crazy about his more recent films, but Sandler works well in a kids movie.
