Only music picks this month…

Pearl Jam – Backspacer

Probably the ‘happiest’ Pearl Jam album ever.  The band finally embraces the poppiness it has been keeping at arms length for their entire career.  Great tunes.  Love it!

Swell Season – Strict Joy

The Oscar winning duo return with all new songs.  Truly mesmerizing like their debut performances in the movie Once and their self-titled debut.  Terrific!

MUSE – the resistance

This band is unbelievable!  They continue to evolve with each record and get better and better.  Amazing.  They blow me away every time.

Chris Tomlin – Glory in the highest:  Christmas songs of worship

Christmas in October?!  Yes, it’s true.  This album is unlike any other Christmas album in that it consists of worship songs.  I love the hope expressed in these classics and several new originals.  Great, great stuff!

In a strange series of events that I can only think of as being supernatural, a new project is in the works starting tonight.  The short version of the story is this.  I did not intend to do another solo project for quite some time, especially after the culmination of the “Taking Flight” EP which took quite a long time to complete.  I had toyed with the idea of recording a Christmas EP for X-mas 2010, but that was it.

That’s not to say I wasn’t going to be doing anything.  Almost a year ago, I put music to Dave Nixon’s prayer causing the song “Lose my life” to be born.  I had initially planned for that song to be included on “taking flight” but then I kept writing, and shortly thereafter followed “Mercy”, and then “Unleash Hope”.  Fast forward to May 2009 and my pastor and buddy Jeff Cannell is talking about doing an EP of the new material as a Central Vineyard recording.  I knew that in order to make room for the new tunes, “Taking Flight” would need to be finished so I completed that over the summer.

I start asking studios around town if they are available and nothing really seems to be clicking.  In the meantime, “Weakness” is written and introduced at church.  And then in a weird chain of events in September, Jeff mentions, “Hey, how about using John Reuben to produce the project?”  John, who has his own studio and has self-recorded some of his own projects, was a perfect choice and one I hadn’t even thought of.  I meet with John and he’s game.  But then Jeff calls again and says he feels like it should no longer is to be an EP, but a full length, and it is no longer to be a Central Vineyard recording but a new solo project containing the new songs and some good recordings of older material.

Immediately following that, I’m in a flurry state where the floodgates of writing are wide-open and I’ve been writing about a song a week, and not just writing songs but really good songs.  Add to that new songs that will be revealed at CV soon:
“Truth”, “Love & Justice”, “Hallelujah”, and “Trust You”.  Nine total new songs, and possibly another one in the works (“Father me”), combined with 3 older tunes: “Magnificent Master”, “Sweet Jesus”, and “Lay it down”.  Eleven/Twelve tunes.  Should make for an exciting project.  I feel ecstatic, and like I’m doing what I was created to do.  I feel like this is something that only God could pull together.  I’m excited to get these songs recorded which reflect my expanded paradigm and understanding of worship is and should be.

Recording begins tonight.  Can’t wait!!

Music:

David Crowder*Band – Church Music

Stunning release by a band who continues to improve with each release.  The album flows seamlessly from track to track.  Great stuff!

Matt Redman – We shall not be shaken

Redman is no stranger to writing great songs, unfortunately he usually doesn’t make great entire albums.  This one is an exception, and his best piece of work yet.  Every song is terrific.

Over the Rhine – Live from nowhere volume 4

I fell in love with OtR’s music back in the early ’90’s.  In those days they were a four-piece act with amazing guitarist Ric Hordinski in their ranks, and EVERY show was a spectacular experience.  Unfortunately they never released any live material until after Ric left OtR to form Monk.  Thankfully they reunited to celebrate OtR’s 20th anniversary and this is the live recording that never was.

Doves – Kingdom of Rust

Really great stuff.  Terrific musicianship.

Mika – The boy who knew too much

We fell in love with Mika around the time our son Patrick was born.  I don’t know if there is anything as good as “Grace Kelly” on this album but so far Mika continues to do what he does best with fun pop music.  Looking forward to dissecting this a little more.

Wilco (the album)

Pure tastiness!

Stryper – Murder by pride

What is this doing here?!
A much better release than their comeback album “Reborn”.  This album gets back to their roots of letting it rock hard, yet still not dating themselves.  This what their comeback album should have been.  They’ve still got it!

Books:

Batman – Dark Victory by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale

I read this out of curiosity.  As its predecessor “The Long Halloween” was a huge influence on “The Dark Knight”, it has been speculated that this book would make a great inspiration for the 3rd Batman film.  I think this is even better than “The long halloween” and would be super excited if this was the basis for a new film!

Grant Morrison’s Batman
- Batman & son
- the resurrection of Ra’s Al Ghul
- the black glove
- Batman R.I.P.
- Final crisis

My buddy Jeff recommended this story arc to me and he was right.  Morrison takes on the daunting task of tying together the entire Batman storyline from 1939 to present and showing how Batman came to be who he is, and that Hh truly is the same person from start to finish.  Really good.

Film:

Inglourious Basterds
I admit that I love Quentin Tarantino, but this film is a masterpiece.  Tarantino unfolds a captivating story that pulls you in, and also make something truly visually stunning.  Loved it!

District 9

A highly original piece of sci-fi action.  Great storyline and characters.

Clint Eastwood’s “Gran Torino” & “Changeling”

Eastwood is an amazing director and has an eye for beauty even amongst difficulty.  Both films are terrific.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Fun film.  Had a blast watching it with my kids.

Harry Potter and the Half-blood prince

Terrific film setting the stage for the finale.  Can’t wait for “deathly hallows”!

Taking Flight is special to me for a variety of reasons.  One being it is the first collection of all new material since The Cross was released in 2002.  It’s true that Sing Your Praise had one new song previously unreleased, and the Central Vineyard cd had 4 original new songs but this one is all ‘new’.  It’s also an EP which is think is easier to digest.  I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have the songwriting chops to compete with some of my favorite bands like U2 or Coldplay who can truly present a musical journey in an album and make it an experience worth listening to.  But I think this collection is fairly strong and consistent and at only 6 songs makes it easy to listen to, and hopefully worship along with without a huge time commitment.  It was a lot of fun to make a recording with great friends, my longtime drummer Zach Pappas and buddy Grant Wentzel who had moved to Sioux Falls, SD but thanks to the internet was able to contibute guitar parts from afar with ease.  Also special thanks is due to Chris Kay and Ian Martin for help with recording drums, and Sarah Fahringer for the cover design.

The goal was ‘all killer, no filler’ and I think I accomplished that.  I think also the songs range from a variety of styles yet still maintain pop sensibilities with easy memorable melodies and present within themselves their own musical journey.  This collection of songs is also significant because it symbolizes a real breakthrough in songwriting.  I had severe writer’s block for several years and last year was able to get the river flowing again.  During the recording more songs like: “lose my life” (co-written with Dave Nixon), “mercy” (co-written with Eben Brusco), and “unleash hope” (co-written with Noelle Shearer) were written in addition to what was originally planned, and it looked like those songs would be included.  But in the end for the most part the original plan is what happened.  The newer songs will become something else which I’m excited to see what happens with them.

The Songs

YOU ARE GLORIOUS
I love big anthemic singalongs, and this song is exactly that.  The melodies and some of the lyrics were in my head for months before I wrote them down.  I think actually this song first started to be created while I was out running which may be why them beat is at a driving pace, and it was during a run that I sorted through the myriad of lyrics in my mind and put them in order.  I think in our culture we severely overuse the word “awesome”.  God truly is the only one or thing that really is awesome which is why the chorus states “the only one awesome”.

GOD WHO SAVES
This song was a breakthrough for me in songwriting.  After several years of doing a backlog of material this song was the first brand new one in a long time, and was followed by several others.  Written in January 2008 in just a few minutes, it marked a return for me to songwriting.  I’ve noticed that I tend to like to write and lead songs in a punky pop style, and this one initially was no different.  Thanks to some great guitar work by Grant, helped this song become something different yet still maintain its upbeatness.

INSPIRATION SUFFOCATION
This song is the granddaddy of the bunch from way back in 1997 when I first started leading worship corporately.  Although I never intended this song to be corporately sung, I think this song has stuck with me throughout the years and needed to see the light of day.  It’s gone through several lyrical rewrites over the years but the heart of the song remains the same.  It had been dropped from the project, until I listened to it again and thought all that needs is some Grant Wentzel guitar on it.  When Grant gave it back to me with his parts added, I really enjoyed the song and thought it had earned a place on the EP.

WASH ME CLEAN
This one has also been around for 5+ years or so, but was one that I started doing in worship when I was going through major songwriting block.  I love the simplicity of this one.  It’s definitely older because the subject matter is one of continual struggle with sin.  I feel like I’m learning to stop focusing on sin as much and instead focus more on the things God has called us to.

THE HEAVENS PROCLAIM
Another collaboration with my old friend Jim Zartman that we’ve been doing at Central Vineyard since we started the church.  The lyrics are very simple but I love the feel to this song.  It reminds me a little of Pink Floyd

SO MUCH LOVE (IN THE WORLD TONIGHT)
This one has been around 5+ years or so.  It was written in a creative period one weekend alongside another song “My Love” which was on the Sing Your Praise live album.  The punky pop song style is very much ‘me’, and I let my freak flag fly here and just go for it.  For a brief period of time, I turned it into a corporate worship song with Jim’s help on the lyrics.  But I think it’s a little too crazy for that, so it didn’t last long.  So, it’s reverted back to its former self and original lyrics and is happier for doing so.  This song is where the line “taking flight” comes from which encompasses the theme of the album.  I’m really glad to finally have this one recorded.  I particularly love Grant’s rocking guitar on this.

Download now for free at Robberfly Music, and please Donate to Asia’s Hope.

All songs by Michael Gallaugher, except:
“The heavens proclaim” by Michael Gallaugher and Jim Zartman
All songs © 2009 robberfly music

Michael Gallaugher – Vocals, Acoustic guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Piano, Programming, Loops
Grant Wentzel – Electric Guitar
Zach Pappas – Drums

Recorded by Michael Gallaugher, Grant Wentzel, Chris Kay, and Ian Martin
Mixed, Edited, Mastered by Michael Gallaugher
Cover design by Sarah Fahringer

Music:

The Essential Michael Jackson

Sadly, an enormous talent was snuffed out early.  This album was a great look back at his career.  Michael Jackson was the first musician I was ever aware of, and I loved him back in 3rd grade.  It’s been great to relisten to some terrific tunes.

“21st Century Breakdown” – Green Day

Green Day take what they learned from making “American Idiot” and go one step further.  A terrific display of musicianship and arrangement.  I never would’ve thought the guys who sang “longview” in 1994 would be capable of making music like this.

House of Heroes “Meets the Beatles” EP

Another 3 song EP by a group quickly becoming one of my favorite bands.  This time they tackle the Beatles with 3 covers:  “Can’t buy me love”, “It won’t be long”, and “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”.  Surprisingly faithful to the original versions, yet made with a blueprint all their own.  As always, great stuff!

Book:

“Jesus Brand Spirituality” – Ken Wilson

Great book and definitely worth checking out.  Ken Wilson describes what it means to be a Christian from Jesus’ perspective.

Film:

UP

Wonderful film about achieving your dreams.  This film had everything from laughter to tears, from adventure to redemption.

The Soloist

Terrific performances by Downey and Foxx.  Based on a true story.

Terminator Salvation

I was pleasantly surprised by this one.  They did a remarkable job tying it together with the storyline of the first 3 films.  Christian Bale is terrific.

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.

As always, SPOILER ALERT!

WOW!  What a thrill ride this season has been and especially this ending!  So great.  And the ultimate cliffhanger leaving the future of LOST completely open.  So much has been revealed this season and even still more mysteries to resolve.  One more season remains, but before that happens we have a long 8 month wait for season 6 to start in January 2010.  One more final ride.  Should be a good one!

In the meantime some final observations, thoughts, and questions…

• Jacob.  Jacob is not the person I thought he would be.  If anything Jacob is a good guy.  He interacts with the characters in their past and brings people to the island for a purpose, always with free will.  I think the opener of the finale between Jacob and an unamed person is really the entire big story to the whole show.  In alot of ways I see the similarities between God and Satan battling it out for the future of the island.  I know we imagined Locke as being a Christ like character, but I now wonder if Jacob is truly that person.
• Locke .  So dead really is dead in LOST.  And the person who looks like Locke is somebody else.  I’m certain it is the person that Jacob was talking to at the beginning.  And it would seem Jacob bringing people to the island (Black Rock ship, Danielle and her crew, the drug plane from Africa, Oceanic 815, & Ajira 316) is something he has done time and time again.  I don’t know the reason but the island really is a kind of heaven in a way.  And Jacob’s enemy doesn’t want Jacob to do this, hopefully we’ll find out more about these characters and backstories next season.
• Some dialogue from the beginning.  I’m going to call the person talking to Jacob “Esau” since we don’t know his real name.  But Jacob was wearing white (good) and Esau was wearing black (evil)
  (as the black rock ship approaches)
  Esau:  They come, fight, they destroy, corrupt.  It always ends the same
  Jacob: Only ends once.  Anything that happens before that is progress.
  E: You have any idea how badly I want to kill you?
  J:  Yes
  E: One of these days, sooner or later I’ll find the final loophole my friend.
  J:  When you do, I’ll be right here.(and later on, when Jacob and “Locke” encounter each other)
  J: Found your loophole.
  (the loophole being someone to kill Jacob because “esau” couldn’t do it himself.  whereas Ben has been a pawn this entire time leading up to this event.  I wonder if Locke’s first encounter will Jacob when Jacob said “help me” was him speaking to him because he was dead or at least enslaved somehow)
• Something I found online:
  Jacob is an omnipresent being who can perform miracles, grant superpowers, and seems to look upon and speak with everyone with a deep sense of love. And he is killed by one of his trusted servants, a man he declared leader.It seems that since John’s resurrection, we’ve all had it wrong. Locke was not the Christ-like figure; his body was possessed by something far more sinister.

  Jacob was the god figure. “Locke” is the anti-christ in this story, and Ben is Judas.

• I think season 6 is going to be about this big picture of the island as a whole and the battle between good and evil.  I think if they follow the biblical storyline that Jacob is not dead – at least not permanently.  I do wonder if Ben will indeed become the hero of the entire story if his will be a story of redemption once he realizes what he has done.
• I have a theory also that “Esau” is the smoke monster.  As the smoke monster can take the form of other people, he’s been acting like Locke this entire time.  Who else would *know* Locke well enough to impersonate him.  Note that they never showed us the Locke’s resurrection – he just appeared.  Also note that when the Smoke Monster ‘judged’ Ben he told him to do whatever John Locke said (and “Locke” wasn’t present at the time).  It does make me sad that the real John Locke is dead, but even that may not be permanent…
• The future.  The season ends with the H-bomb detonating.  Talk about a cliffhanger!  Ultimately though, even if this prevents the hatch ever being built and destroys the electromagnetism problem, we have seen the future.  I don’t believe that Oceanic 815 will land in LAX because we’ve seen 30 years after this detonation.  So even if it takes care of the electromagnetism issue, I believe Oceanic 815 will still crash on the island.  I think Miles nailed it when he said “maybe that IS the incident”.  Ultimately, whatever happened happened.
• Also H-bomb related…Smoky didn’t exist in the past (1950’s and 1970’s).  Perhaps the H-bomb released it in some way.  I think chronologically the first time we see Smoky is when Danielle and crew arrive.  And perhaps the H-bomb being under Dharmaville leaking radiation was the reason why women couldn’t have children?
• Final H-bomb thought.  I wonder if the explosion will send the 815ers stuck in 1977 into the future to 2007 and that was why Jacob told “Locke” and Ben:  “they’re coming”.
• Jacob’s cabin.  Another theory:  I’m wondering if all the ash outside has been a sign of the smoke monster, and what the significance was the the ash was ‘broken’.  It makes me wonder if Smoky/Esau was impersonating Jacob and that’s what John Locke saw when he first encountered what he thought was Jacob.
• Finally a Jack/Sawyer fistfight!  How long have they wanted to do that?!  I wish Heroes would take a lesson from this and actually show us the battles like LOST did.
• R.I.P. Juliet.  Even though I think everyone who was on the island is now dead, she won’t be part of the crew any longer I would imagine.
• Remember Adam and Eve (the skeletons in the cave in season 1)?  Could that be Rose and Bernard after the H-bomb detonates?  I think Rose & Bernard and Vincent represent the reality that Jacob was trying to attain:  Humanity living in peace.  Whereas Rose’s statement “trying to find ways to shoot each other” is the stuff Jacob’s rival represents.

Great, great stuff.  Lots to think about over the next 8 months.  I LOVE THIS SHOW!!!

As always, SPOILER ALERT!

Great episode!  Faraday is a great character, so it was great to have him back.  Not a whole lot of revelations, but here are some thoughts…

• Interesting that the opening scene to season 5 was brought back this episode.  We know now where this all fits in.
• Charles Widmore his father — not a surprise.  I’ve been expecting this.
• What lies in the shadow of the statue?  Is it the hydrogen bomb?
• Is Faraday dead?  I hope not.  I think he alone can get the 815ers back to the future.  He is in the company of the Others and they were able to save young Ben.  I hope it is something like that.  Is Daniel Jacob?
• Eloise is one crazy b!+@#!  So, she shoots her own son in 1977.  When he graduates from University she gives him the blank book which he puts his thoughts into.  After she shoots him in the past, she has access to all his knowledge (as well as anything island related 30 years in the future).  Interesting to see how this plays out.
• Was Eloise pregnant when she shot Daniel.  Did she just erase him from existence?

Can’t believe this season is almost over.  It’s going to be another (final) long wait until January 2010.

As always, SPOILER ALERT!

Not a whole lot happened this week, but it feels like it’s gearing up towards the end with only 4 hours left this season.  Things should start picking up soon.  Will we see Jacob before this end of this season?

No Lost next week…Suck!  Although looks like the next episode in 2 weeks should be good because:

1. Daniel Faraday is back!!  And hopefully we’ll find out where he’s been as well as more about his knowledge of the island.
2. Miles is an interesting character.  I’m curious to see what the future holds for him.
3. So, it would seem Ben staffed the plane with his own people, probably in anticipation of the upcoming war.  Ilana must be working for him.
4. Gotta love Hurley!  Re-writing “the empire strikes back” in order to avoid the Ewoks.  Hilarious.  Although if he were successful would Lucas had stopped with Empire?  Would there be no trilogy? (not that any of this really relates with Lost to begin with)
5. What IS in the shadow of the statue?
6. So, Widmore did fake the 815 crash in the ocean.
7. And Miles asked Ben for $3.2m last season which is double the amount he was offered by Widmore to come to the island with Naomi.
8. “that douche is my dad” — hmmm…seems to be the theme of the entire show.

As always, SPOILER ALERT!

Nothing like a Locke and Ben episode to spice things up!  The last several episodes have been more building ones for the overall story, and not that I mind Jack, Kate or Sawyer, but there’s nothing like the dynamic between Locke and Ben…

The good stuff:

• SMOKEY!  Love me some smoke monster!  It would appear that anyone who has died that appears on the island as being the smoke monter taking their form.  I think Christian *might* be a different case, but that generally seems to be the idea between Alex, Eko’s brother, etc.  Also great to see how smokey’s judgment happens.  Sorta reminded me of Superman’s fortress of solitude in the Chrisopher Reeve films.
• Locke!  Locke after his resurrection has changed.  He’s calmer, and yet obviously in control of the situation.  It’s nice to see this change in him.  Makes me wonder if Ben tried to kill him (again), if it really would take.
• I’m so glad Penny survived (at least as far as we know).  It also looks like Desmond is fine.  I would be seriously upset if anything happened to either of them.
• Widmore’s story in relation to the island…very interesting.  So who is Penny’s mom?
• Ben has a heart.  Kinda.  It appears he hates to think of a child being separated from its parents, even though he was guilty of taking Alex from Danielle.
• And finally what’s up with Llana and her posse?  They’ve organized extremely quickly.  And that metal box was very ‘arc of the covenent’-ish.