10. Emery – “In Shallow Seas We Sail”
Although this record doesn’t really jump forward on Emery’s generally uncomplicated lyrical themes, it is a wonderful example of a band returning to their roots while incorporating everything they’ve learned in the meantime. Even though this won’t win awards, it’s a gutsy rocker with just the right amount of tenderness to make it all come together. Definitely a great record to throw on.

9. Fee – “Hope Rising”
I first heard of Fee this past spring after we began singing one of their (then unreleased) songs “Glory to God Forever” at Harvest York Region. By the time “Hope Rising” came out in the fall, I was stoked to hear it. The more I listened to it, the more stoked I became. My only critique is that it comes off a little overdone (particularly the production), but otherwise this is an anthemic, thoughtful, and lyrically excellent collection of original worship songs. As a plus, they work great when sung by a big crowd of people.

8. Maylene & the Sons of Disaster – “III”
Maylene is just all kinds of fun. Take former Underoath vocalist Dallas Taylor, mix his insane gutteral vocals with a whole truckload of southern twang and smash-you-in-the-eye guitars, and you have Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. This year’s “III” continues their pattern of putting out stuff that just ’southern rocks your world’.

7. Tedashii – “Identity Crisis”
With the Cross Movement focusing on solo projects primarily now, it’s been interesting to see successors to the Holy Hip Hop legacy rise up in their wake. Other than those on their own Cross Movement Records, cats like Lecrae, Shai Lynne, and Tedashii have really impressed me with deep, theologically informed yet immediately accessible lyrics. “Identity Crisis” isn’t the best example of this new wave of HHH (that goes to Lecrae’s 2008 disc “Rebel”), but it’s this year’s finest.

6. Project 86 – “Picket Fence Cartel”
Hard to believe this year brought Project 86 all the way to album number seven. “Picket Fence Cartel” wins points for bringing back a lot of the heavy that was missing on 2007’s “Rival Factions”. It also wins points for some great apocalyptic and devotional lyrics. Songs like “The Black Brigade” mean that this one will see repeated plays for quite some time.

5. Oh, Sleeper – “Son of the Morning”
Metal record predominantly ‘voiced’ by Satan but made by Christians. Nine tracks on this record are written from the perspective of the Devil himself, with the final track being from that of the risen and living one – Jesus Christ. Conceptually this pushes the envelope (if that idiom even means anything anymore), but trust me when I say that it’s full of Bible and theology, full of great moments, and full of excellence. Closing track “The Finisher” is a blistering, potent reminder of the all-consuming power of the Almighty One.

4. Matthew Good – “Vancouver”
Ah, Matty Good. He’s kinda the odd one out on this list, and not just because he’s Canadian. “Vancouver” does a lot of what 2007’s “Hospital Music” did, only better. The only thing it’s really missing is a blow-your-face-off rocker like “I’m A Window” was for that record.

3. Deepspace5 – “5print Mixtape”
What happens when an unknown but skilled producer has a whole whack of beats NOT used for Jay Z’s “The Blueprint 3″? He, Alex Goose, puts it out for free online as “The Blueprint Outtakes”. What happens when rap supercrew Deepspace5 gets ahold of those beats? Magic. This mixtape is freely available at Deepspace5 dot Com.

2. David Crowder Band – “Church Music”
After the letdown that was 2007’s “Remedy”, it was great to hear the return of the sprawling, almost experimental David Crowder Band ala 2005’s “A Collision”. Unlike that watershed record, though, there’s no bluegrass or Americana to be found on “Church Music”, just delicious electronics, top-of-your-lungs stuck-in-your-head choruses and a whole lot of heart and soul.

1. Thrice – “Beggars”
It’s no secret that I’m an avid, blathering, emphatic fan of Dustin Kensrue and his band Thrice. Between Dustin’s biblically-conscious, thoughtful, high-grade, genuinely epic lyrics and the band’s brand of toe-tapping groove-infested rock… it’s all win. “Beggars” is my Album of the Year with a vengeance. It’s also, in this fan’s opinion, Thrice’s best offering yet.

“From The Outside” from Deepspace5.

Yeah, that’s right. New DS5 sounds. Be sure to check “The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be” when it drops (whenever that is!).

Got a half-finished post on Hebrews 2&3 due soon. Keep ‘em peeled.

Have you ever wanted to time travel? Do you love relevant, conscious, thinking-man’s hip-hop? If you answered “YES!” to both of those questions, Beat Rabbi and Deepspace5 have concocted the perfect cure for your ailments in the form of their late-2007 Illect Recordings release cleverly entitled Deepspace5oul.

Made up of 22 tracks, about 10 of which are interludes (some are short songs, some are instrumental) – the record is jam-packed with more Deepspace5 than you can handle. Recorded during the summer of 2003 prior to their sophomore release Unique, Just Like Everyone Else, Deepspace5oul is a blast from the past equivalent to the manic time-travel episodes of Bill Watterson’s classic serialized comic strip Calvin & Hobbes. The album gives us an unique presentation of the DS5 crew since it is the only release to feature singular production. Where all other DS5 releases have featured production from DJ Dust and Manwell, as well as rappers Fred Bruno, Playdough, and others (highlighting the multi-disciplinary talent of the crew), Beat Rabbi handles all of the beats on this project with only supplementary scratching and the like from others.

Thus, Deepspace5oul is an interesting side-release of the crew that highlights the excellent sounds coming out of Rabbi’s lab as well as sharing some circa-2004 raps from the crew. This is a remarkable listening experience for any fan of the group; the lyrics are excellent as always, and you can really hear by contrast just how much some of the guys’ vocals have improved since then. It’s a study in improvement and change, in that sense.

Musically, Rabbi sends up some of his best work ever on Deepspace5oul, sampling and fusing extensively from sounds such as soul, jazz, funk, and breaks – harking back to that classic (and rightly so) 1990’s rap sound. Sonically, the album traverses a wide landscape of areas – from full horn sections tickling your subconscious (”Deepspace 5oul”) to brilliant vocal tracks forming the backbone of a beat (”Beautiful”) to amazing bassline-driven rhythms (”On A Side Note”), Deepspace5oul is an exercise in production excellence. It’s plain that much time and thought and perfectionism was focused on this project, and the results are quite frankly thrilling.

Lyrically, the DS5 crew brings it as tight as they always have. Hearing new-to-us verses from almost 5 years ago is a very interesting experience, as it not only highlights the great strides of improvement made since (which has already been mentioned), but also just how amazing DS5 was even prior to that forward progress. Most notable is when the difference isn’t really even in the realm of “improvement” but of just plain difference – see The Listener’s verses, which definitely sound much more akin to his more traditional Whispermoon and The Night We Called It A Day style than to his present manifestation as heard and enjoyed on Ozark Empire or Return to Struggleville. Overall, between the shiny verses and the smart choruses, there’s food-for-thought and phonetic wonder here for weeks of repeated listens.

With the recent release of Bake Sale (an EP by DS5 standards at 10 tracks) and Greatest Beats & Unreleased (a b-sides and beat record), both in 2008, as well as 2009’s soon-coming and much-anticipated third album The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be, it’s becoming clearer than ever that Deepspace5 is one of rap’s undisputed supernovas of talent and an incredible machine that churns out hip-hop happiness in a way few other crews could ever hope to come near.

Deepspace5oul is a blast from the past that seems carefully designed from the top down to remind us that Deepspace5 pumps out quality, mind-and-heart-blowing hip-hop not only in the present and future, but the past as well. If you love rap and time-travel, you owe it to yourself to pick this puppy up and let it explore your soul with sound.

5 Souls out of 5.

Standout Tracks: Deepspace 5oul, Beautiful, On A Side Note, Double Dog Dare You, Downtown Connects, Say Yeah.

Jerry Bolton – for The Phantom Tollbooth.
January 10, 2009

Format:
## – Artist – “Album Name”

01 – Thrice – “The Alchemy Index Vol. 3 & 4: Air & Earth”
If their 2007 EP “The Alchemy Index Vol. 1 & 2: Fire & Water” hinted at anything, it was that the experimental direction begun on their previous record “Vheissu” was but a portent of things to come. “Vol. 1: Fire” revealed that Thrice can still melt faces with blistering post-punk rock even when they play with bizarre timings and unique structures, and “Vol 2: Water” revealed an entrancing, largely synthesized, beautiful ambient Thrice we had never heard before. In a
similar fashion, “Air & Earth” pushes that envelope further, with “Air” glistening and crackling with quiet energy and what can only be described as a whirlwind of light and atmospheric crescendos. Conversely, “Earth” shares much more in common with frontman Dustin Kensrue’s solo work and is full of acoustic sounds akin to Johnny Cash and old-school folk and country records than anything else in Thrice’s catalog. In a word, breathtaking.

02 – Brave Saint Saturn – “Anti-Meridian”
Not only the best BS2 record, but the best thing Reese Roper has ever written and performed vocals for – and that includes Five Iron Frenzy. A brilliant ending to the loose story arc begun back on “So Far From Home” and continued on “The Light of Things Hoped For”. Lyrically strong, musically strong, and very highly rated independent release out of the remains of what will always be one of Third Wave Ska’s greatest memories.

03 – Underoath – “Lost In The Sound Of Separation”
Blistering, anthemic, organic, pulsating with purpose, raw, passionate, and ultimately the best Underoath record to date. Structurally remarkable as it almost unilaterally avoids the trappings of traditional verse-chorus, and sonically/lyrically impressive as it comes across with a remarkable juxtaposition of distortion and clarity.

04 – Emery – “Where Broken Hearts Prevail EP”
Quite simply, this is a wonderful hybrid of the sounds explored on “The Question” and “I’m Only A Man”. In short, they’ve taken the best parts of both, made a hybrid, tightened up the screws, and unleashed their best album ever – the only downside is that it only lasts 7 tracks.

05 – The Classic Crime – “The Silver Cord”
Not exactly known for pushing envelopes musically, The Classic Crime do manage to outdo their previous work both in terms of scope and in terms of sound – with the tasteful appearance of quite a few new instruments (the least of which is not frontman Matt MacDonald’s visceral yells, a welcome addition). Overall, there’s a whole lot more depth and maturity here, resulting in one of the best rock albums in recent memory.

06 – Becoming The Archetype – “Dichotomy”
Quite simply, Becoming the Archetype finally realized their remarkable potential on this album. Moving out of riff-city and into epic-metropolis, and from “we can write sweet bits for songs” to “we do write great complete songs”. Consequently, this is the year’s must-have metal record. A completely mind-blowing re-imagining of the classic hymn “How Great Thou Art” stands as an example.

07 – Dustin Kensrue – “This Good Night Is Still Everywhere”
Thrice frontman Dustin Kensrue releases his second solo effort, this time a Christmas record. Questionable choice? Sure. Fantastic results? Absolutely. Eight covers (only one or two that are unremarkable) and two amazing originals. This one will see regular rotation for many years to come.

08 – Mars Ill – “Black Listed Sessions”
Mars Ill’s producer and deejay extraordinaire DJ Dust has been remixing their records since 2003, and the results are consistently as good or better than the original mixes. In this double-take on their previous “Blue Collar Sessions” EP, Dust provides us with some amazing reimaginings of classic tracks. They are so good that they might as well Blacklist them, for their release upon unsuspecting eardrums might cause the musical equivalent of a hydrogen bomb attack.

09 – Deepspace5 – “Bake Sale”
Upon finding themselves label-less after a brief stint on Gotee Records, rap supercrew Deepspace5 set out to record and release their third album independently. To fund the effort, they recorded and released this incredible 10-track equivalent of a grade school bake sale (hence the name) to raise funds for putting out album #3 (which will be called “The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be”). The results, as always, are spectacular. Challenging beats coupled with humorous/convicting/clever raps, and brief enough to leave you hungering for DS5#3 in 2009.

10 – Copeland – “You Are My Sunshine”
Copeland finds itself on Tooth & Nail Records, being produced by Aaron Sprinkle. Awesome, overwhelming serenity results. Hands down the smooth, sleepy, ambient, vocal-driven hit of the year.

Honourable Mentions:
GZA/Genius – “Pro Tools”
Coldplay – “Viva La Vida”
City & Colour – “Bring Me Your Love”
Brandon Heath – “What If We”
Sev Statik – “Shotgun”
Death Cab For Cutie – “Narrow Stairs”
Braille – “The IV Edition”

We left home a week ago and haven’t been back since. Peterborough, New Liskeard, South Porcupine (in Timmins), and later we’ll be in Englehart – all before returning to precious Pickering. It’s been quite a whirlwind tour.

That being said, it’s been full of adventure, conversation, and warm memories which will be treasured all year long.

I have made a few “new year’s revolutions” this morning and although it’s ne’er been my custom to do so (I prefer “new day’s resolutions” on the regular to an annual event), these are more of a compilation of those ‘new day’ items:

I’ve kept it short, I’m just as apt to do nothing if an action list seems impossibly large as anyone else would be.

1. Set up a dual-boot of Windows XP and Ubuntu Linux (Intrepid Ibex version).
2. Complete my professional portfolio and accompanying website prior to graduation.
3. Devote time to daily writing, whether it be a blog, a review, or just adding to current progress on my ‘book’.
4. Read at least a book a month.

There are more, however these “more” delve into the realms of intricate complexity too deep and profound to explicate upon in this hallowed place. In other words, I’m keeping them to myself.

Here’s some things I’m thankful for from 2008 gone by:
1. Marriage, to Steph. It’s pretty much the best thing on God’s green earth.
2. Wonderful in-laws, which I’ve been enjoying throughout the year.
3. A hacked Nintendo Wii full of Homebrew applications and joy.
4. The chance to try out and enjoy the recent WoW beta (for WotLK) and spend some time with old friends from the guild.
5. For such great friends to have stand with me on my wedding day (Noah, Todd, Mark, Al, Ian, Shane) – much love, guys.
6. Terabyte hard drives, even though I don’t yet own one.
7. Getting paid to sleep for the entire fall.
8. A renewed enjoyment of composition as well as quality reading (I believe I read around 20 books this year, give or take).
9. Only 12 weeks of classes and about 3 exams left until being DONE with full-time school.
10. An amazing almost-full-time contract in Peterborough during the months leading up to the wedding.
11. A lot of really great music that came out this year.
12. A lot of really great sermons that I had the privilege of enjoying over the course of the year, both via the internet (ie. Driscoll, Piper, Harris, Mahaney, etc) or via Sunday Mornings (at Harvest York Region, c/o Whittingstall).
13. Good, quality cordless phones. I don’t think I’ll ever look back to corded again… particularly when I throw on that speakerphone and it feels like I’m sitting across from whoever it is I’ve called.
14. The fall LAN party thrown by my little brothers at my parents place – such a fun time.
15. The ESV Study Bible, even though I haven’t gotten mine yet.
16. Great Boxing Day sales – once again, it was worth hardly buying anything all year in order to frugally save a load of cash on some necessities (loot: new keys and mouse, colour laser printer, office07).
17. Living closer to sweet concerts.
18. Coffee mornings with my dad in the fall on my way to classes in Peterpatch.
19. Free Toronto Stars at DC/UOIT Student Commons.
20. The soon-coming TF2 Scout Pack.
21. Harvest Bible Chapel, York Region – I can’t even begin to numerate the blessing that it’s been to fellowship in a place with timeless truth and timely methods.
22. Our Tuesday night small group study in “Lord, Change my Attitude” – profitable not only due to the content but also the community/fellowship, accountability, and growth that we’ve been privileged to be a part of. Particularly, I’m thankful for the wisdom and insight provided us by virtue of the amazing friends who participate with us in it – it has truly been one of the highlight blessings of the year.
23. Paper extensions.
24. Snowstorms.
25. Ice Hockey for the NES.

And now, some far less meaningful lists:

Currently reading:
“Christianity’s Dangerous Idea” by Alister McGrath
“The Master’s Plan for the Church” by John MacArthur
“The Murder of Jesus” by John MacArthur
“Wordliness” by CJ Mahaney
“Through Painted Deserts” by Donald Miller

Hoping to read this year:
ESV Study Bible
“Vintage Church” by Mark Driscoll
“Death By Love” by Mark Driscoll
“This Momentary Marriage” by John Piper
“The Cross-Centered Life” by CJ Mahaney
“Humility: True Greatness” by CJ Mahaney
“The End Of Reason” by Ravi Zacharias

Currently listening to:
“Black-Listed Sessions” by Mars Ill
“Slow Flame” by Mars Ill
“Deepspace5oul” by Deepspace 5
“Bake Sale” by Deepspace 5

Looking forward to hearing this year:
“The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be” by Deepspace 5
new mewithoutYou
new Project 86
new As Cities burn
new Mars Ill

Currently playing:
DotA AllStars
Team Fortress 2
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Looking forward to playing this year:
World of Goo
Sins of a Solar Empire
Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People (Season 1)
Braid
No More Heroes

Hoping to see released this year:
Starcraft 2

Anyways, having now ranted endlessly in list form, I wish you all the best in 2009 and look forward to saturating your blog-reader-eyes with a glut of posts ne’er before seen. Or not. Either way, it’s going to be a crazy ride – even if I am pants-on-head-insane.

I was thinking this morning that there’s a short-list of musical artists that I love and/or respect so greatly that I must own whatever they release as soon as they release it. Case in point, this morning Dust of Mars ILL announced via their mailing list that he (and Beat Rabbi) had just done an 18-track double-disc remix of Mars ILL’s 2003 EP “Blue Collar Sessions” entitled “Black Listed Sessions”. I ordered it immediately. You see, Dust is in the habit of remixing his own work, and the results have been consistently amazing – sometimes the remixes are even better than the originals. No small feat, when you consider Mars ILL is behind such underground classics as “Raw Material”, “Backbreakanomics” and “Pro Pain”.

Anyways, I thought about it a bit, and here’s my short-list of “musical artists/groups so awesome I buy whatever they release as soon as they release it”:
x. Mars ILL
x. Project 86
x. mewithoutYou
x. Thrice
x. Deepspace5
x. Underoath
x. Sintax the Terrific
x. DJ Dust
x. As Cities Burn

So. There’s about a month and a half left in the Oh Eight, which may be a bit early to do this, but I feel like doing it now.

TOP TEN RECORDS RELEASED or discovered by me IN 2008 (mostly no particular order):
x LOST IN THE SOUND OF SEPARATION – underoath
x II – maylene and the sons of disaster
x BAKESALE – deepspace5
x CURB APPEAL – sintax the terrific
x SLOW FLAME – mars ill
x THE ALCHEMY INDEX VOLS. 3&4, AIR & EARTH – thrice
x THE SILVER CORD – the classic crime
x THE IV EDITION – braille

You choose to use the broken and abused soft-spoken misfit to open your good news.
(from “Broke Toys (An Anti-Intro)”)

Curb Appeal is the sophomore outing by founding Deepspace5 member Sintax the Terrific, who when not rapping is known as Ryan Seacrest. Prior to this recording he could be found spittin’ rhymes on Deepspace5’s The Night We Called It A Day (2001, Uprok Records) and Unique, Just Like Everyone Else (2005, Gotee Records) as well as his debut record Simple Moves (2004, Illect Recordings) and a bevy of guest spots on conscious hip-hop records. Before all of that, he got his start in the late 90’s with underground crew The Pride. My first encounter with Sintax was on Mars Ill’s 2001 epic Raw Material where he had a couple guest spots.

With few if any exceptions, his stuff is always well-received for its honesty, wit, and unashamed proclamation of spiritual truth – be it troubling and convicting or just lighthearted and touching. Sintax has a way with words, and a noticeable love for life, hip-hop culture, and most of all Christ. All of these things come through loud and clear on Curb Appeal – there’s just so many incredible and well-worded thoughts permeating this disc that it’s all but impossible to do it justice unless I quote from it pretty extensively:

I’m the Ryan Seacrest of this rap game, no shame
In my dep gel, making pop idols look lame
Bring revival, not fame – I’m Billy Graham plus Busta
Rhymes, spit theology in double time structure
Sike! I hate double time, I only spit traditional
Boom bap, KRS-One type material
(from “Moonlighting)

Sintax has a way of weaving insight and challenge throughout his lyrics that I find particularly impactful. One of the closing tracks on Curb Appeal is called “Make Believe” and the first time I listened through it closely, I was in tears. Here’s the chorus as a sample:

You make me believe it’s not make believe
Fill in all the gaps that I can’t conceive
Break a skeptic down to his basic need
To put a finger in the wrist where salvation bleeds
You make me believe it’s not make believe
I’m breath taken by your sacred mysteries
Take me to the root of that ancient tree
Where knowledge is the fruit that only faith can see
(from “Make Believe”)

All throughout the song, the interplay between the idiom “make believe” and the injunctive idea of being made to believe goes back and forth, to the point where Sintax has encapsulated an often complicated spiritual concept – the idea of faith – in an easy to remember and repeat statement. Namely, the re-casting of the idiom “make believe”. It’s brilliant, and I hope it serves as a clue as to what kind of calibre of rapper we’re dealing with on Curb Appeal.

Sintax is a father, a husband, and an all-around normal guy who loves Jesus Christ. He’s also a bona-fide premium rap-artist wordsmith who can tangle flows with the best of them. He keeps the heavy and yet very accessable content of the album from becoming dark or overbearing by putting his eldest son Jackson (who’s about 2.5 years old) to extremely touching use. Jackson appears a few times on the album, in one place he’s recording himself trying to sound cool like his dad (”Yo”) and thus delightfully trying to rap and beatbox. In another spot, he introduces the Christmas-tinged song “Immanuel” by attempting to sing the old classic carol “Hark The Harold Angels Sing”. It’s a poignant moment designed to ease the listener into the right frame of mind before the song beats them over the head with the wonder and glory of the thought that the Creator God would humble Himself to come as an infant and ultimately as the Savior. Here’s one particularly brilliant moment in the song:

Oh! Bethlehem, your sky was so thin
Didn’t even try to hide the Hope within
Heavens open wide to let the oceans swim
“Peace on Earth” spoke the Golden Rim
of angels found a few of life’s broken men
To show the rest of us how to behold a gem
Go and tell the Word that’s now life and limb
That Immanuel will grow to throw the yoke of sin
Hope can’t choke the well of grace we’re soaking in
Nor provoke the Son of Man to turn stone bread-thin
(from “Immanuel”)

Musically, the album is what I like to call a “slow burner”. It grows on you. Some beats will grab you right away, while others will take repeated listens and maybe even a month or two. Trust me though, they’re all keepers. The sound runs a gamut from laid-back (”Hurricane Crush”, “Soul Weep”) to the very intentionally boom-bap (”Falcon Plume”, “Showstopper”) and most places in-between. There’s a lot of horns, guitars, and minimalist synths. It’s not a very complex sound, but the choice to take that direction seems intentional, and it serves to accentuate the lyrical content quite well. A couple of the beats made me drop my jaw a bit (”Soul Weep”, and “Moonlighting”), but for the most part they take a pleasant backseat and avoid getting in the way (something that both incredible and awful beats can do). All in all, the record has a cohesive sound despite a handful of producers, likely due to the pedigree involved; Production was handled primarily by DJ Ryval and Sivion, with Fred B, Playdough, JustMe, Beat Rabbi, and Kurfu contributing as well.

I write the raps that make kids dream in colors
Where whites and blacks are brothers from different baby mothers
I write the raps that make people better lovers
Not between the sheets, but with the God that they discover
I write raps cuz a Terminator X scratch
Made my heart skip a beat my breath couldn’t catch
I write raps cuz I love to hear the snare snap
To let the bass drum know exactly where the fun’s at
Plus writing raps is safer than gun clap
I’d rather talk smack than trade shots you can’t retract
And that’s a fact, rap is better than flowers
To shower you with sun spun from the night the light devours
I write for hours so that you can really know me
Every word I write is like a long lost friend who left me lonely
Christ the only path to righteousness before me
I write raps to tell His story
(from “Showstopper)

If I had to level criticisms against Curb Appeal, the first and most natural thing to say is that it’s way too short. Unfortunately for me, it’s 18 tracks long, only two of which are “filler”. In other words, it’s already plenty long, and clocks in over an hour. I just want more Sintax – so I ordered his first record. It hasn’t arrived yet.

If it wasn’t clear by now, I love Curb Appeal. It’s full of groove and poignance, full of heart and meditation, and best of all… full of challenges. It’s full of Sintax taking every ounce of himself and recording it in the hope that those who listen would come to know Christ or to follow Him more closely.

Curb Appeal is something I worship to, something I think to, something I live to.

Curb Appeal deserves your attention. A very worthwhile (terrific?) sophomore effort from Deepspace5’s Sintax The Terrific.

As a way of closing, I’ll share the album’s inscription, taken from the Biblical book of Amos:

Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
But let justice run down like water,
and righteousness like a mighty stream.
(Amos 5:23-24)

Curb Appeal reveals that Sintax has his priorities straight, and the music to back it up.

Five Deep-spaces out of Five. (YES!)

Standout Tracks: Hurricane Crush, Immanuel, Moonlighting, Soul Weep, Make Believe.

Jerry Bolton – for The Phantom Tollbooth.
October 22, 2008

I’m Schwenty-Fore. Grin.

However, I’ve been up since Stupid O’Clock again.

I’m listening to Beat Rabbi & Deepspace5’s “Deepspace5oul”. It’s making me shuck & jive.

Steph got me some great birthday presents. She is awesome.

Also, I am now a card-carrying adult. (inside joke?)

Below this post you will find my first music review since JANUARY. Yes, I have been swamped. Can ya blame me? Can ya?

In the meantime, Psalm 51 has been rending my heart lately, thanks in large part to Jon Foreman’s treatment of it on his Winter EP. Gah, so gorgeous.

Furthermore, here’s my quote of the day, from Francis Collins’ The Language of God:

The existence of the Big Bang begs the question of what came before that, and who or what was responsible. It certainly demonstrates the limits of science as no other phenomenon has done. The consequences of Big Bang theory for theology are profound. For faith traditions that describe the universe as having been created by God from nothingness (ex nihilo), this is an electrifying outcome. Does such an astonishing event as the Big Bang fit the definition of a miracle?

The sense of awe created by these realizations has caused more than a few agnostic scientists to sound downright theological. In God and the Astronomers, the astrophysicist Robert Jastrow wrote this final paragraph: “At this moment it seems as though science will never be able to raise the curtain on the mystery of creation. For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.”

What a beautiful picture. I can just see them sitting there, with lengthy beards twirled in thoughtful, callused fingers (callused from studying sacred pages), and eyeing this strange geekish fellow up-and-down. In fact, I think I lol’d at this mental image.

More importantly, it reminds me of why I love philosophy & theology – ultimately everything else in life boils down to them: What we think about God, and what we think about the foundations of our existence (what are thoughts? what is reality? etc). Not to say science isn’t worth diligent study by any means, but rather to say that all disciplines are vitally necessary. Some must necessarily study medicine or science or language or what-have-you, and some others will study what undergirds all of the above: philosophy & theology.

On that note, it’s my birthday. Party time, baby. ^_^
(I am now in my “deep late early twenties”.)

Month and a half left. Sanity compromised.

Tomorrow I enter my “deep late early twenties”. I hardly noticed it coming… too preoccupied.

I’m just chillin’. Rockin’ some DS5 (its beautiful).

I recently finished up Mark Driscoll’s “Vintage Jesus” and was very happy with it. It was refreshing, and full of reminders I needed to hear.

Next up: Francis Collins’ “The Language of God”, which three chapters in is quite promising. After that, Timothy Keller’s “The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism” – a “done third year” gift from Steph. Very much looking forward to it.

Otherwise, it’s been work, Starcraft (lol), and fighting. Fighting for survival, for us, for life, for redemption… fighting against as much as fighting for? It’s all I can do not to lose my mind right now.