Welcome! You have accidentally reached the blog of a heteroclite follower of Jesus: dave wainscott. I'm
"pushing toward the unobvious" as I post thinkings/linkings
re: Scripture, church and culture. Hot topics include: temple tantrums, time travel, sexuality/spirituality, U2kklesia, role of the pastor, God-haunted music/art..and subversive videos like these.
AMAZING! After all these years, The Prayer Chain has released "Humb" in its entirety...this is the album that the record label rejected, and became the weird watermark and...well, mercurial... album, "Mercury,"
One famous observer notes about "Mercury", "you can hear the band break up on the record, you can see them extend a warm and heartfelt middle finger to the industry." That quote is perhaps even more relevant to "Humb." (maybe even a double bird).
Thanks to Fr. Ryan the PunkMonk for the hot tip (his comments here).
Many ancient bets have now been settled, and arguments about what this was like...if it even existed...
The Prayer Chain was a 1990s Christianalternative rock band. The band has been called "the epitome of the Christian underground".[1] The Prayer Chain was known for producing moody, angst-ridden music which was, in turn, the result of creative differences within the band and with their record label.[2]Their first album was recorded with Steve Hindalong at Neverland Studios and was entitled The Neverland Sessions. This was their first release, independent. After signing to Reunion Records they put out The Whirlpool EP and started touring, while focusing on their first LP Shawl released in 1993. After extensive national and international shows they started working on Mercury, which was released in 1995. This album, which engineer Chris Colbert has described by saying, "you can hear the band break up on the record, you can see them extend a warm and heartfelt middle finger to the industry"[3] was their last CD, not to mention some rarities following. The band did a reunion show in Chicago in 1998, then the Gene Eugene tribute show in 2000, but other than some local California shows and their 2003 reunion shows at Cornerstone Festival and the Flevo Festival in The Netherlands, they are finished.[4]The band has released some of their work & rarities on the Bandcamp website. Most notably, they released the original version of their album Mercurytitled Humb, ending years of speculation between fans as to what the original album exactly was. The original version was sent to their record labelReunion Records in 1994 and the band were subsequently told to go back into the studio to write more songs, "something they could sell". The most evident differences between Mercury and Humb are the absence of popular track Sky High (which along with Friend or Foe was written after the record label rejecting the original version of the album) and the inclusion of Chalk, Antarctica and Loverboy (all which eventually appeared on the albumAntarctica), as well as an altered track order. The mix is somewhat different as well, considered to be a darker mix of the album. [5]
Steve Hindalong has always been a writer and a wordsmith...not just in his lyrics for The Choir, et al, in his chapter in the book he edited....but in formats like liner notes (I'll bet his shopping lists are articulate)..
..especially when the words of the liner notes are about a band who were masters are meanings without and beyond words (The Prayer Chain):
"Wayne Everett...his violin solo in "Grylliade" certainly warranted respect...a monkey might have played more adeptly, but what of the human angst so brilliantly conveyed"
"Andy Prickett...in "Sunstoned"...could have dazzled with his prowess on the guitar; but he ached instead to paint a more honest picture. It seems to me that Andy's expression was akin to wringing vinegar from his soul."
"Eric Campuzano...Not the most proficient musician in the room.. but I loved HOW he played the bass. Everybody dis. Authoritative and melodic. He got it from a deep place. For him, it was clearly all about content: meaning beyond words
It's hard to imagine living without the Prayer Chain.
I mean both the "call the next person in the directory" chain that gets activated when there is a need in the Body..
and the music group by that name...who, well, get activated when there is a need in the Body; in my body, or in me...
If only this honest angst-prayerpsalm could be prayed in any church:
He learned to run when I learned to walk left me with an empty hole with no one to fill it I stand in the doorway waiting for arms to run into
the sky seems so far away and the sun seems so dark today...
Take my fist and hold it in Your hand Take my rage and bury my pain why won't You love me? why won't You hold me?
Walk away, Walk away the tears begin to say But a kiss on my forehead is all that I need and one small caress to know that You still love me
the sky seems so far away and the sun seems so dark today...
Maybe even more than the words, the music moves me ...the amazing Andy Prickett who prays through his guitar, etc..
But the memories of their journey are painful...not accepted in the Christian market (even though on a Christian label); strained relationships among the members...and probably a microcosm of the lyrics..
..And this too must be moving; and ultimately encouraging/redemptive...as all honesty eventually is..
Len (www.nextreformation.com) honored me by sending me an email interview re: spiritual formation. Here's my stab: ----------------------
LEN: what is spiritual formation to you?
DAVE: I might craft a working definition of spiritual formation as :
A Spiritaneous, yet intentional,detoxing and deconstructing of the ways I have been falsely formed....through sin, deceit (I have a tremendous capacity for self-deception), ethnocentrism, culture and (perhaps the most insidious culprit) church culture.....................and a rebuilding and remixing of my inner being through deep and often corporate listening to God through prayer, Scripture, community, and quite often through what are usually anathematized as "secular" sources, all towards the end that life of Jesus and the fruit of the Spirit is imparted to me so my gifts can flow as God intended; enabling me to simultaneously live within the community of the Trinity (seeVolf on "Trinitarian church") and the "real world" streets of my city. My sense is that spiritual formation that doesn't lead me to to act like Jesus and go places Jesus would go, is just smoke and mirrors. I am probably sinning by not going to bars more often; by not meeting, let alone learning from prostitutes, outcasts and (gasp!) maybe even Pharisees. That mix is a key crucible for my formation."
The Scriptures that keynote this all too often quixotic quest are those that focus on the kenosis and self-emptying of Jesus; and are often used to suggest "Jesus did nothing on earth as God (though he was and is God)." Whether or not I buy a full-blown "Spirit Christology" or not, these Scriptures form, reform, chill, kill me:
-John 5: 19, 30: Jesus does/says nothing except what he sees/hears.
-Phil 2:5-11: Jesus complelely emptied himself of the rights of Godhood.
Did he volunatrily choose to not access the rights of his divinity and power?
-Acts 10:38: "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and
power, and he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of
the devil, because God was with him. "
If Jesus did nothing out of his (albeit) divine identity and nature, how much more do I need to radically, prayerfully and carefully ensure that I am not living and (God forbid) ministering out of myself...
..even when I think "myself" is okay!
Watchman Nee's opening line in "The Release of the Spirit" is a line which needs to form me more: "We don't go far in the Christian life before we realize the biggest hindrance is not the world, the devil, but ourselves."
Yikes! Maybe I haven't yet "gone very far in the Christian life"!
And I need to be far enough along to be in the bars more consistently. Maybe the last five words of my seminary professor Robert Mulholland's conscise summary definition is "Being conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others" are all I need to underline.
Assuming I am walking out of the first seven words.
Hope they are not my "seven last words."
Father, forgive me. I know not what I do.
LEN:how have your views evolved in the last ten years or so?
DAVE:Wow.. I love Bono's line, speaking to Christian journalists after preaching at the prayer breakfast: "If me 10 years ago had heard me saying this, I wouldn't have believed it." Ten years has changed everything and nothing at the same time. Maybe it's just the borders..or my vision that has expanded.
Maybe it's me needing to hear and heed the frightening and freeing words of Eugene Peterson:
It is common among people like us to look for ways to free ourselves from the
humdrum, escape as often as possible into ecstasy, devise ways to live separated
from the clamor of traffic and family, associate as far as possible only with
people of like mind, and engage in disciplines and ways of dress and speech that
set us apart from 'the others.'
Scripture says:
Forget it."
I love and long for the "ecstatic experience"..and have had them...but am guessing those experiences in my next ten years will be few and far between unless I find them in the unexpected places...among "traffic and family,"..and especially among those whose "ways of dress" are not my own.
I think I have always been aware that God loves to embedded himself in culture..in sources we unfortunately desacralize (and limit liminality) by coining "secular." But in the last ten years, the Lord would seem to be upping the ante and stacking the deck..in a way that's not just about the "Passion" movie, and definitely not about the "Left Behind" phenomenon...maybe Len Sweet has not overspoken: "It could be for the first time in history, God is more active in the world than the church."
So in a way penultimate to the obvious (Scripture, prayer, community), I am formed and informed by such "secular" sources as the band Sigur Ros, philosophers like Derrida, magazines like WIRED. And the "purity" of the source is still a relevant question in some regards here, but not always. Bono says, "God is interested in truth, and only in truth. And that's why God is more interested in Rock & Roll music than Gospel... Many gospel musicians can't write about what's going on in their life, beacuse it's not allowed ..If you can't write about what's really going on in the world and your life, because it's all happy-clappy... Is God interested in that? I mean, 'Please, don't patronize Me! I want to go the Nine Inch Nails gig, they're talking the truth!"
LEN:what do you personally practice to be formed.. personally .. communally?
DAVE:
PERSONALLY:
My response to the "personal" component wants to be "My personal spiritual formation life sucks." Partly because it's partly true; and I'm guessing partly because I have been hoodwinked by (and not yet fully de-programmed from) the evangelical pressure to "have a quiet time" and "do my devotions" in a culturally-prescribed way. Again, Robert Mulholland was helpful in confirming that my personality/temperment, since it's the way God wired me, is the best place to start in formation..I am basically an INFP, so I need renewal time in the cave. Silent two day retreats, time alone on the beach or even driving, even if..maybe especially if.. I am not technically "praying". These are deeply formational times.
I love listening prayer...either as
>>a)a long period being literally still. I have no way to explain the paradoxical mystery of "knowing" that I have heard from God, but not knowing what it is. For Graham Cooke, a teacher noted for the prophetic, to say; (partly ins response to those too quick to claim they have heard..and speak for God) "God is always still and rarely speaks"...!! (That's not a kosher thing for a charismatic to say!..but ironically the quote itself may be an example of God actually speaking)
>>b)what David Hansen calls "Long wandering prayer": the more mobile, Spiritaneous long walk or drive (I love driving from Fresno to Los Angeles, on the way to speak at
a retreat...through the prayer, music to soundtrack the prayer...God refreshes me.
Hansen helpfully appropriates Tolkien's maxim,"Not all who wander (wonder) are lost."
When I wander and wonder in the wilderness (literally and constructively), I realize I have made an idolatry of planning, at the expense of praying, preparing and pruning (Then I wind up steering cats and driving sheep). Ironically, when I do get "the plan", it only emerges through "aimless" wandering and "wasting time for Christ's sake." Go figure.
I definitely need to detox..literally and spiritually...at regular inytervals. So I attempt to build in seasons of fasting. I find the unplugging from the matrix of fast food nation is revelatory enough the first few days; and as I move beyond the entry level days, I find each time (just as Richard Foster promises) the course of my life is significantly altered...whether it's new insight, freedom from a habit, direction, whatever.
I am thankful fo seminary professors who were not afraid of lectio divina, as it sounded "too Cathlolic." . I do practice, imperfectly and an eclectic hybrid with Celtic-Anabaptrist influence, lectio..
I want to "take my prayer closet with me, " though. One of the value statements of our congregation is "Being Engaged to Jesus, and Engaging Culture" I am fascinated by Matthew Fox's phrase "extroverted monasticism." I want a kind of a Brother Lawrence gift to be eternally present with God, but I want it to show up a the mall or St. Arbuck's...and not (just?)
in the monastery kitchen as I am washing dishes.
I guess I prefer washing feet to washing dishes.
As he washed my feet, my professor spoke/prophesied: "God has given you great compassion. Let it grow."
I have not always done that. But the professor who believed in me (Bob Lyon at Asbury Seminary) was washing not just my feel, but the feel of all in the "Loyal Oppostion Society" at the seminary: a group devoted to a Weslyan-Anabaptist pursuit of abandoning worldly power and methods. We were introduced to the writings of Brugegman, Ellul, Nouwen and others who affored windows into the self-emptied life that was not just empty of self but poured out for others. My spiritual formation is now only catching up to this call. I must become sensitive to says in which empire and power have seduced and co-opted my call to manifest compassion and wash feet.
All that to say, every time I hav recently washed someone's feet (or conscience or clothes), I have found myself being spirituall formed.
Without trying.
Without being engaged is some "obvious" spiritual formation discipline.
Or was I?
Also...The good and bad news: I love reading. Very often this is how God reaches and teaches me. More often than I care to admit it can be idolatry, escape, transfer to a "safe" addiction...or a way of keeping my life/faith intellectualized, compartmentalized, and in the ivory tower (thus not in the streets).
I remember you posting once something about this "too many books" dilemma.
People say I am a speed-reader. I don't know; I just know I do what I do. I can read whole books in the car, can, or waiting room.
But it is hard to imagine living without the insights of Eugene Peterson and others ( etc. etc. ...well, many of the books that you have noted in your blog)...and many others (see my eclectic list on MySpace here ).
As you might expect, I draw heavily from the masters and mystics (early church fathers/mothers, desert saints, classic commentators) as well as...uh, string theory.
COMMUNALLY:
Okay, I have already dealt with much of the "communal" answer under the "personal" heading. That in itself is a hugely tellling lesson in spiritual formation!
Butr here are three more tidily-outlined answers.
The first begins with a story I must tell. My favorite part is the first line.
I am the only white guy in the group. I love it..and need it. A group of local pastors: a Mexican-American, an African-American, a Guatemalan...and this gringo..were accepted by a Boston University School of Theology program for a spiritual formation/community transformation project. The Serendipity is that the main course has been our "get acquainted" meetings..
meetings where we didn't get any "goals"accomplished, and didn't even leave the brother's house we were meeting at (Of course, just visiting the other's "side of the tracks" is big enough!). We are learning to se ourselves, God, and culture from another person's point of view and culture. That's spiritual formation at it's core. The communal imago dei has
emerged befor our eyes and outed our worst ethnocentrisms and exceeeded our wildest expctations. Here's more on this holy experiment.
In the early days of my pastoral ministry, we had support groups for us younger pastors. They were good and God used them. One potential downfall was the focus on a Promise- Keepersmodel of what Dallas Willard has called the gospel of "sin management." If the only reason we were "not sinning" was knowing we would face the brothers at the meeting; that worked. But it was a bit gnostic of a starting point.
I find my growing edge for communal spiritual growth these days this intentionally cross-denominational, trans-generational and cross-racial group.
And, to my surprise, also:
The church I pastor.
Huh?
That ain't supposed to happen.
In this new...whatever one calls it..emerging, new wineskin, yada yad...kind of "church" we are doing in Fresno, I find it is ironic and wonderful that some of the most profound and confounding times of spiritual formation for me are when I let go of the "pastor" role...and attend a cell group not as the leader, or even as "the pastor" (whatver that means) of most of the folk there. But as an equal..or even lesser...member of the group, subitting to what God has to say through others.
Granted, we still must watch the roles and expectations deconstruct and disappear before our eyes.
But it works.
I'll simply point to this post to elaborate a bit on what this may look like, and to this to note that it sometimes looks like a collage!
Thirdly: talking to kids!.
I love "interviewing" and honoring kids. Really listening. And believing.
I have been astounded at the response to one of my favorite questions: "Did Jesus make the stars?" One kid felt called to fine-tune my theology: "Well, it wsa kind of Jesus. But it was really God." But the question has a follow-up; "How did he do it?"
More than a few times...without the children overhearing or even knowing each other, they have anwered) matter-of factly (as in "Didn't you know?"): "He just snapped his fingers!"
We have also invited children to fully participate in worship gatherings, even lead in the time where desigated people will be up front to pray for people.
LEN:what further practices attract you, might you eventually add?
DAVE:I need more imagination here.
Maybe collaborative models. My wife, for example participates in a conference call prayer meeting which, far transcends the prayer chain/gossip chain. Several women are simply on the line at the same time from various homes throughout the city.
Also, I need to seek out more liturgical aids to spiritual formation. I am sure with my mainline background and having witnessed liturgy done poorly and lifelessly, I have thrown a few babies out with liturgy waters.
What can we learn about life and church from Brand X?
The band Brand X, that is. One of the best bands you never heard of. (Tons of churches are like that...as it should be?)
No one is completely sure how to classify them: progressive fusion and free jazz come close.
But all agree on one classification: They are anything but 1970s Genesis. Which was precisely the point.
Smack in the middle of their run of classic, intricate, theatrical, progressive...quite often prophetic rock, Phil Collins (long before he became........... whatever he is now) of Genesis felt the need to use the other side of his brain, and swim in completely different waters as a side project, so he created Brand X by inviting some other brilliant musicians into a fusion/jazz-ish collaborative. What then can church/ecclesiology glean from Brand X? I will draw examples largely from their classic album, "Moroccan Roll"( amazon reviews):
1) To use the mixed metaphor inspired by my preaching professor (the one who had us create fairy tales and collages),"Your gold is in your shadow side."
This is not a Genesis album.. So I guess it makes no sense (or compete sense) that in the 70s i loved both the intricate, classically-inspired progresoive rock of that era's Genesis, and also the loosse fusion of Brand X (which I never would've been introduced to if not for the Genesis connection, fusion didn't sound like my genre). I came to love the shadow side of my taste and preferences, but I had to be indirectly hijacked (how's that for an oxymoronic metaphor?)
Right around this time, Bill Bruford of Yes tried to tour as the second drummer for Genesis...but he found that he inevitably wanted to play free, spontaneously, and play something a little different every night...which didn't work with Genesis' tight, meticulous, intentional and by they note-ness. Genesis' 1970s opuses were unpredictable (for a pop listener) in their twists and turns and time signature morphings, but in a completely predictable, note-by-note way, at least for the players and fans. Not a lot of room for wildly freeform detours and contours.
So Bruford left, and ironically (or inevitably)his highly successful replacement (to this day) was Chester Thompson (a Christian, btw) of jazz fusion band Weather Report.
Brand X may not have been the opposite of Genesis, but it's shadow...even a close cousin. Both band did long and extended well...but one was tight and loose...or better yet, loose in its tightness and the other tight in its looseness.
An obvious leap for Phil if he wanted obvious opposite would have been from long and complex to short and simple. But Brand X was often just as long and complex as Genesis, but just from another style. Collins later definitely lept from long to short in his solo career).
Sometimes we are closer to our shadow and our salvation than we realize. Yet we often don't go there as it doesn't feel like us.
I am so low church that I am high church without wanting to be or trying to be. Or is it the other way around?
Brand X may not have been completely different waters than Genesis at all, but simply a previously unexplored tributary of the same body of work/water.
Richard Foster was inspired (read all about it here, but soundtrack it to Brand X) in calling the Body to draw from all streams of living water. I wonder what he has in his CD player right now?
2)Collaboratives/wikis are required but risky...and rarely last in pure form
Brand X was designed to be, and largely was, a democratic experiment of equals...the independent, creative genius of each player was honored and followed...even with an obvious 'star' member. Of course, that this was largely an instrumental band helped...Though Phil was the drummer, he did occasionally "sing,' but never in a traditional way(more on that in the next point) but he was never (literally)the frontman. He hid behind the pulpit/drumkit. That is the point of paradox.
Many will remember the amazing Cush, The catch it was to be a collaborative with no stars or frontmen...but it was fronted by star Michael Knott..
All churches should read the "Cush Manifesto"..and would do well to adopt it, but it is the harder, if holier way. Especially hard if your vocalist/preacher is charismatic, (in either sense of the term):
Cush is not a band. Not in the conventional way anyhow. Cush is far to hard to define. Certainly, the mystery can breed the legend...but the facts are, Cush isn't a mythical super band...but a gathering of friends. This is not to say Cush doesnÍt have some lofty goals. In the Cush manifesto that circulated shortly before the band debuted, it was proclaimed that Cush was "the new sound for the new decade". But even more so, the hope is for Cush to be unlike any other production the public has seen. "We wanted Cush to be more liquid," explains Eric Campuzano. "Anybody could be the singer, anybody could play the guitar, you know, like there never is really a central figure in the group. Like if we thought Andy could sing a song better than Mike Knott, then Andy should sing it...or vice versa."
Of course, Eric admits such a thing is easier said than done. "Reality is that, if you want to write a record, you have to write the record and you need facilitators to do that." Comprised mainly of members of popular early to mid-nineties modern rock band the Prayer Chain and the prolific alt-rocker Michael Knott, Cush runs the risk of being recognized more for itÍs members than the product itself. "Some people think of it as Mike's new project or our new project...and itÍs nothing like that at all, " Campuzano clarifies. "We had no desire...I really dont want to be a part of something like that. That's why we just listed the performers. No band shots, no lyrics...no credits. At times those...I guess it just takes away from the whole vibe behind it. "
The Cush Manifesto:
In a declaration of Truth and its winding road, members of the Prayer Chain, LSU, Honey, Fold Zandura, Duraluxe, Bloomsday, the Lassie Foundation, and Adam Again, have agreed to document below (the CUSH Manifesto) in which all members will seek the Truth and its Consequences. The result, A New Sound: CUSH.
The CUSH Manifesto
The Foundation of CUSH is: God. Jesus. The Holy Spirit. King David and The Psalms. Love. Celebration. Longing. Giving. Purity. Innocence. Faith. Pain. Gospel. The earliest Rock and Roll. Willing to change and grow with others. Willing to have anybody play any role, whoever is most suited for it at the time. Willing to be anonymous. Willing to be produced. Sharing, being selfless, letting go. Being Honest. The song winning. Soul. Letting your ego get you there, and then sacrificing it when the time comes. Music being able to be performed in any way, by any combination of people, in any setting. Being Free, Creative, Spontaneous. One instrument per part, one player per part. Minimal overlapping of tones. A Groove. A Drone. A Basic Progression. An acoustic guitar. An electric guitar. A bass guitar. A six-string bass guitar. A piano. An organ. A horn section. A cello. A violin. A viola. A voice. A hand-drum. A tambourine. All things that make a sound when you shake them. Washing everything in the dreamiest of reverb-effects until you can't tell what it is, but rather what it feels like.
Doing the thing you always wanted to do but were afraid to. Jumping off the deep end of the peer. Staring Fear in the face and walking right into it with a faithful heart. Turning your life upside-down.
CUSH is from the core of your relationship with God -- Good, Bad, and Ugly -- and reaching out in Moans and Groans to Him. CUSH praises like Gospel, and wails like Rock and Roll. CUSH feels the best, and hurts the most at the same time. CUSH sounds familiar, like the best songs you've ever heard, but feels new. CUSH is an Action. A CUSH song does not have to be 3:30 long. A CUSH song can be 68 minutes long. A CUSH song is already a greatest hit. From the slowest, most isolated place, just before God, bowing down, quiet, heavenly noise, swelling, droning, heaving, glowing, flickering, underwater, the true reality, connecting spiritually with God and seeing all of humanity through His eyes. The true nature of Love and everything. Placid but full of colour, vivid life, musical movements, sounds, dreams, asleep but still awake, alive yet dead, dead yet alive. Alone, but not lonely. Haunting sad, painfully beautiful, moving, majestic, heart-wrenching, yet humble meek, and poor in spirit. Drone, Middle Eastern, heavy, rock, epic, magnificent, cross poly-rhythmic, whatever-wherever music, where all heaven and earth are in His command. CUSH is not about self-loathing. CUSH is not about editing yourself before giving. CUSH is not a solo project. CUSH is not a band. In CUSH, you win by letting yourself lose. CUSH is a concept, an ideal, a greater goal, a principle. CUSH is a beautiful spirit shared by all. CUSH is like 'the Force', ...But better.
But the magnificent manifesto was hard to live up (or dial down) to. You know, contrary to what you would have guessed by the quotes above, at least on its main album, all songs were sung by the senior pastor (Knott). They imploded. Brilliantly, I might add.
A church I know launched out with a model of three pastors, team leadership of equals. That model lasted a little while and imploded... brilliantly, I must add. Now they have two pastors: One is technically the lead pastor, but it is still a collaborative, Cush-y fluid church.
Brand X in its original incarnation lasted a few years..though they have reunited without Phil. (Sometimes the guitar replaces Phil's vocal, hear it later ).
In a church gatherings, I often comment that I am the man up front claiming it's not about the man up front.
There is no front, even when I am up there.
I may implode....brilliantly would be nice.
3)Wordless vocals can speak louder than words. On those rare occasions when Brand X songs include vocals, they were never classically vocalized...or hardly ever in English ("Sun in the Night" was subversively in Sanskrit, sample snippet here). By the time they recorded "Streets of Soho" with Phil singing an almost pop lyric in English, I wandered of their days were numbered.
Here some posts on wordless vocals often taking us into realm of glossolalia, or instrumental "playing in tongues":
I love one movement (video, 3:37ff here) of the Brand X Song, "And So To F"....Phil's vocals might be transcribed as a mindless "la-la,"....but are moving beyond words to me..
Martins Smith (of Delirious)'s prayer language (I am in awe that some of his glossolalia moments are not excised from some concert CDs by Christian companies that may even be cessationist!) seems to be loaded with "La la"s that counterintuitively speak volumes. (But as he once told Ken and I, "only in America," does the church seem not to get it).
Here's two Delirious examples (they must be online somewhere!) of what i mean:
From the "Access: D" album, play 4:01-4:17 of "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever." Here, many hear Smith singing ecstatically in tongues. He is actually(also) singing in Spanish (I remember the first time I visited a Spanish-speaking Pentecostal church...i was never sure if they were singing in tongues or in Spanish..or both (:...)
From the same album, play 2:07ff of "Access D Part 6: Lord You Have My Heart." Dare you to transcribe it. Better yet, interpret it. Best yet, soak in it.
The Bono "OOOHH" death wail (and nigun rap) are also always chilling beyond words. Words should chill out and disappear, so they can chill and appear.
How about Phil Collins' "throwaway" or "scat" (or not) vocals on "Disco Suicide's third (or so) movement:
It may be that the band's only choice when they reunited without Phil, and performed this song was to "replace"...better yet, "translate" or "interpret" (as in interpretation of tongues) his vocals via guitar (video here).
For those called and tempted to preach, I hope I am preaching to the choir in saying: a) that there should be more preaching BY the choir....and that b) sometimes one word/no words are enough.
See these wordy links about being less wordy (I may have almost made the Guinness Book of World Records for shortest sermon ever (story in 2nd link), but I do not perfectly practice what I preach):
As St. Bruce once preached,"Those who know don't have the words to tell" ----------- Well, that was 3 points and a poem...how preacher-like was that!? Summary: What can church/preacher-types learn from Brand X?:
Shadow Gold, Risky Wiki, and Wordless Vocals!
--------------------------------------------- Bonus track, "Macrocosm," which one Amazon reviewer calls "apocalyptic" and not (just) because it ends in an explosion:
"'smoke that little assassin boy'...(gee, i wonder how many of my friends will get that reference)"
If you google that phrase right now, you get ZERO results. Unthinkable! I thought the Google was omniscient...or at least knew good music!
A classic song, "Assassin Boy" (lyrics byEric Campuzano of The Prayer Chain / Charity Empressa, and music by The Violet Burning's Michael Pritzl), and it's apparently that obscure... Time to change the google returns at least and at last...as soon as I publish this post, there will be one return for that google search.
For some reason, the one place the lyrics are posted (by the writer himself) don't show up on Google..Here's the link with the lyrics and a bit of the story behind the song (. A great honest psalm...and thus some good spiritual warfare against the scratchy old assassin boy himself.
I think there were at least two versions recorded...one is here.. and a short sample can be played/prayed in full here.
"Assassin Boy" Lyrics Eric Campuzano:
I I kissed them well I tried so hard He aimed so well I was cursed and felled By the assassin
God, I meant so well I tried so hard And failed so well I was born to die broken hearted Broken hearted
Before prayer turn to curse Come down when the coast is clear And bring us a bit of joy And smoke that little assassin boy
He breaks our hearts Cursed and listless He breaks our hearts Soiled and torn When are you gonna smoke that little assassin boy?
Was I born to die broken hearted?
Take us back From where it started From your womb Sing to us The broken hearted
Related: the classic Violet B experiment in vibe is on sale here
I love lots of things about this church below...like their sense of humor!
Though they may not be kidding about some things...like the...uh, virgin sacrifices!
JK!
The below pasted from their wonderful website ( here):
--- University Christian Fellowship order of worship:
Most churches have an order of worship where they tell you in advance everything you are to expect from the service. We're too cheap to print out a bunch of flimsy handouts to get trampled on the floor of our church and turned into paper airplanes, so this is what you get instead.
The disclaimer:
Order of worship is subject to change without notice. All rights reserved. Your mileage may vary. Subject to availability. Void where prohibited. Subject to restrictions. Contents under pressure. Some settling may occur in transport. We incur no responsibility for any spontaneous combustions that may occur during our worship time. No guarantees or warranties express or otherwise are made.
Coffee and bagel time
Coffee and bagels are available for the early birds who show up before the service starts. That would be most of us. We ask for a donation in the paper cup centrally located on the table. No pushing or shoving. No running. Fisticuffs are to take place outside on the sidewalk or out back in the parking lot, with sleeves rolled. No flailing and hair-pulling or knock-down drag-out fights in the art/trophy area, where the bagels and coffee are located. Please try to avoid bringing coffee into the sanctuary no matter how desperately you may need it. Despite how smart and conscientious you may be, there will always be at least two people less caring and civilized than you, usually with one chasing the other, who will more likely than not knock it over and leave a big nasty stain which won't get cleaned up until Saturday. We hate cleaning the carpet. Please don't make us do it more than we absolutely have to.
The call to worship.
Once your coffee is almost cool enough to drink, and you're about halfway done with your bagel, someone will get on the microphone and begin yelling for people to please come sit down so we can get started. Usually this will be Andy or Mary, but other people have been known to take part on occasion as well. Once the shrieking and hollering starts and your friends begin disappearing, it's usually a good time to follow them into the sanctuary. Don't make us turn the lights on and off.
Worship
Once all of us have drifted in like sheep, and chair disputes have ended, worship begins. Usually there are about five or six songs. Please, no stage diving. One of the people authorized to sign our checks is likely to get crushed and then nobody will pay your bail. You'll notice that our drummer is in a Plexiglas cage. Most sound guys will tell you that that is to balance out the sound so he can play loudly without our getting sued for eardrum damage. Don't listen to them. The real reason, as all of us who have seen Spinal Tap know, is because drummers are prone to spontaneously combust. (Dozens of people spontaneously combust each year. It's just not really widely reported.) So to protect our hefty equipment investment, and our fellow worshipers, we have installed a durable Plexiglas blast shield for your protection.
During our worship time, near the end, you'll notice pairs of people coming up and standing in front. These are the virgin sacrifices. Actually that is a blatant flat-out lie. We apologize. They are actually our prayer teams. If you want prayer for something, go up to them and they'll agree with you in prayer. All prayer requests shared are kept strictly confidential, so feel free to cut loose.
* Greeting time when we pass the stripey hat.
Once we're all tuckered out from worship, someone, usually Andy, will come up and put a swift end to it. The star indicates that most of us feel compelled to stand and wander about once we've been told to greet each other. You'll notice that most of our chain-smokers will make a mad dash for the front door at this time. As we do not allow smoking inside of the church, they have found that this is the only time in our liturgy when grabbing a mid-service nicotine fix is convenient, and it's also the easiest time to bum a match off of someone.
Often we'll have some pressing question we're to ask each other to break the ice. Otherwise it turns out kind of like a junior high dance, with people standing in neat rows daring each other to take the stripey hat, but not talking or looking at anyone they don't already know. By now you're probably dying to know what the stripey hat is. Excellent. The stripey hat is actually how we receive our offering. It looks like a dr seuss cat-in-the-hat hat, so it's hard to miss. YOU CAN NOT TAKE IT HOME WITH YOU. The idea of the hat is that you take it and then pass it to someone else. You do not have to have money in order to hold the hat, but if you don't pass it to someone else, you're hoarding our offering and we won't be able to pay rent. There is no shame in taking or passing the hat. Drop your checks, cash, jewelry, watches, or money orders into it joyfully, as unto the Lord.
Some of us take communion during this time as well. There is a chair with some shiny gold saucers on it. On those saucers are the extra revelations of our angel Leroy. No. Again we are lying to you. How do you stand it? They actually contain the elements of communion. The idea, which the bible gives instructions on, is you grab a piece of unleavened bread, which looks suspiciously like a piece of a cracker, and a little plastic cup of watered down wine, and eat the bread and drink the wine, the body and blood of Christ, in rememberence of Him
Once we've all run around and let out our extra energy, and the hat has circulated at least once around the congregation, and the chairs are mostly pushed out of place, someone, usually Andy but not always, will come up to the microphone and begin the impassioned plea for people to return to their seats. Oftentimes the lights will flicker on and off for dramatic effect. Please return to your seats when asked. There will be plenty of time for milling around and lolly-gagging after the church service. Now is the time to get down to the business of preaching. The time for tom-foolery and officially-sanctioned small talk has come to an end. Don't delay the inevitable or rock the boat.
The five minute teaching from amongst the masses.
We like to share the wealth. Seeing as most of our ministers with bible school training got it via mail order, we don't feel that hearing from God is something only one of them can do. Everyone in our church could potentially be sitting on a great sermon, so we like to let everyone get a chance to speak. So we have a five minute slot. Occasionally we get some weird discourse on helicopters and UFO's, but 99.9% of the time or more it is a good message. Sometimes this happens before greeting time, so if it does, don't freak out like you're losing your memory or something.
The message.
This is our full feature-length sermon, usually 30-60 minutes in length, complete with altar call at the end. Very chic. Usually Andy gets stuck doing it, but sometimes other people do it. Nobody does a good preacher voice, so we just talk like normal people when we do it. We'd do a responsive reading as part of it too, except that a lot of people don't read English good like we do. If you happen to fall asleep, like an idiot, or if you like the sermon, but don't have the photographic memory you once had as a young lad/lass, and would like a copy of the sermon for home listening, you can get one for an unprecedented low price of $3.50. See Lou for details. You will not find anyone in our church who will offer you a CD for less than that, which is the cost of production. We'll even write your name on it in black felt-tip marker for that personal touch that'll impress your family and wow your friends. Very rarely are the sermons boring. And if they are, the seats are padded, unlike traditional church pews, so you won't be sore for having waited it out.
* Grub.
In order to eat, you must leave your seat. About half of the time, we all pack up and head out to a local restaurant together for some fine dining. No pushing and shoving. Please keep your heads and limbs inside of your vehicles. Because we're nice, we announce where it will be and give directions if it's someplace complicated. If you're not sure, ask someone with a big gut hanging over their belt. They'll know. This is called fellowship. Fellowship is actually scriptural, and comes from the Greek word meaning 'to fatten up the turkey'. That's probably a lie too, since none of us are cultured enough to know Greek and those Strong's concordances are very expensive. Anyway, this is our semi-monthly road trip and feeding frenzy. It's like being on a dinner date with Jesus and 70 or so of his unkempt embarrassing pals. Fellowship is a hoot and a good feed.
During the weeks when we're not out on the town, we order in and get pizza in the church, or have a potluck dinner. The same rules go here. No pushing and shoving. If we're ordering out, throw in some money. If it's a pot-luck, only one sweaty fistful of ham or whatever per person until everybody's gotten a chance to eat. We don't offer take-out, so you can only eat-in, so leave your extra napkins and coats with many pockets at home. If you take the last of something, don't taunt the people in line behind you with it. Would Jesus do that? That also goes for drinking out of the 2-liter bottles of soda, and eating out of the dishes people brought the food in. Come on. The ladle is for serving only. Just because you can fit it in your mouth doesn't mean you should have it. Others must eat too. And so on.
If it's a week we're going out for food, and it's your first time out to church, we pay for your meal. If that's not a good enough incentive to be seen in public with us, we don't know what is. If you're lucky, it'll be hot dog week, but sometimes it's Chinese or food court. It's always good. We go other places too, but those are our most common places.
We hope you enjoy our service.
and it's your first time out to church, we pay for your meal. If that's not a good enough incentive to be seen in public with us, we don't know what is. If you're lucky, it'll be hot dog week, but sometimes it's Chinese or food court. It's always good. We go other places too, but those are our most common places. We hope you enjoy our service. -LINK, University Christian Fellowship, Syracuse..here
As a twelve-year old reading that closing and clinching line of a Ray Bradbury (long before I met and prayed for him) short story, I was impressed that it was a far more creative, effective, visual (and less violent) way to end the scene than spelling out what the reader "saw" between the lines:
the man had been shot to death.
I can still remember where I was, and what I was doing.
I still can see the spot on the page where that sentence was typefaced ; the emotions that suddenly swirled as the import and imagination of the ending landed on me...thirty some years ago.
The memory is clearer and more detailed than JFK's assassination before it,
Such is the power; drama and trauma of a good art; of story well-told, of a well-ended narrative...
...especially when it doesn't end well.
The memory of myself catching that realization/revelation as a preteen is perhaps just as formative in me as 9/11.
Is there room for good art; place for restrained violence; for true "fairy tale endings" (just read some of those fairy tales and nursery rhymes..."when the bough breaks/the cradle will fall/down will come baby/cradle and all....whoa!) ; for actual intelligence, imagination and creativity; for thoroughgoing honesty and lament in music that Christians listen to (as opposed to that ridiculous pseudogenre "Christian music)?)
Have I gone too far?
can You reach me?
I've gone too far...
Uh, excuse me, Michael Pritzl and the Violet Burning. You missed that page in the rule book; you can perhaps begin, but you musn't end a song/prayer like that! It's unresolved; worse, it is resolved, in the "wrong" way.
Loose ends. So loose that the singer/character in the song may well hang himself when the last note fades.
You gave him enough rope, Michael.
Or to match the metaphor of the song at hand ("Underwater"),
you are going to
let God
let that poor soul drown.
Shame on you, a fully professing Christian.
Or:
Bless you for the fully Christian profession that
sometimes it just feels/is like that.
Even though it didn't end well.
Or mention Jesus.
Maybe He'll show up in the sequel.
Or something sometimes more biblical:
Maybe not.
When is the last anthemditty you heard on "Christian radio" that mentioned a pastor? So far, so good...it's good to mention and honor our clergy. But how about a pastor who ends the song with a divorce and devastated divided flock? (We have all read about such cases in the newspaper, but how about in a "Christian" song) Or even worse in evangelicaldom; ending the song/psalm/prayer with a (gasp) question and question mark:
and your wife says hurry, we're late for church
and you can barely see
and your head still hurts
and the preacher starts preaching
and you feel remorse
he's got five little kids and a big divorce
and your wife looks down and says she don't know how
he's been her guiding light for ten years now
and his marriage is over, it's barely alive
and how in the world will ours ever survive? (Michael Knott/LSU, "Double")
And I didn't even dwell on the narrator's hangover... in church.
Because things like that don't happen in the real world.
Just in the Bible.
And in newspaper stories that, very Christianly, don't end well.
Of course, the classic is the retelling of The Prodigal Son in which the unthinkable is thought.. out loud. And captured for eternity (or the rest of earthly life) on CD before it could be tidied up, and brought (hijacked) to happy ending. In this scenario, the prodigal son (brace yourself) not only doesn't come home; but celebrates that choice as such a spiritually appropriate and liberating moment that "for the first time, I feel love."
Some people, including me on some days, find that song unlistenable.
But what I find more often unlistenable is the revision of the song (U2's "The First Time") that Bono occasionally sang in concert years later. He actually dared to/yielded to the temptation to...brace yourself... tie and tidy up the loose ends; and gave the poor prodigal guy the keys back.
The guy repents, and comes back to the Father.
It's all good.
And it rhymes.
It might even play on Christian radio.
Forgive him, Jesus!(:
The actual lyric varied according to night and venue, but it usually went something like:
"I left by the back door, and I threw away the key...
Drawing on the parable of the Prodigal Son, it depicts "my Father" as a "rich man" with "a rich man's cloak" who offers "keys to his kingdom" and a home among "many mansions" with "many rooms" -- but just as we're marveling at this tender generosity, the narrator abruptly declares, "But I left by the back door, and I threw away the key."
People who enjoy attacking the band on religious grounds (and who take any artistic creation as baldfaced autobiography) have had a field day condemning this sentence. I've never really understood the objection: the son does after all leave in the parable, U2's musical setting at that moment is ineffably sad, and a faith-filled lovefest resolution would have been way out of place on Zooropa. Besides, the liturgical form for sacramental confession with which I'm most familiar puts words in your mouth that directly echo these lyrics: "Father, you clothed me with the shining garment of Christ's righteousness, and established me among your children in your kingdom. But I have squandered the inheritance of your saints, and have wandered far in a land that is waste." Some of us tell God regularly that we left by the back door and telling him is considered a prescription for spiritual health.
However, all these years later in a live context, this poignant ending just isn't playing out the same way. Bono is experimenting with the verse to see what can be delivered authentically in the more religiously-assured context of the Vertigo tour.
Elsewhere (9:22 in this audio), Beth defends songs like the original version of "First Time" with a delightful debunking of the fallacious and pharisaical conclusion that "just because someone writes about sin, they're in favor of it." . Amen and touche.
(For more discussion of this seminal song, and video examples of it in both incarnations, see "Preaching Ecclesiastes and Throwing Away the Key".
For a full-blown (and overblown, as I wrote it) essay on the theological significance of how U2 ends/doesn't end their lyrics, visit this page.)
U2 fan's will be familiar with "40", basically a reading of Psalm 40:1-3's declaration of trust and waiting on the Lord, but tweaked with a shocking counterpoint; "How long to sing this song."
Of course, followed with a question mark.
That's the point.
And how can we complain when that lyrical complaint itself is simply imported not from the singer's "ungodly" doubt, but from another equally inspired scripture: Psalms,
Is there place in the canon and church/radio playlist for honesty/lament/well-ended stories that apparently don't end well? There is place in the psalter for all the above and more: imprecation ,virtual deus abscondit and veritable cursings of/by God.
"Jesus...I am waiting here Boss..
I know You're looking out for us..
but Maybe Your hands aren't free."
Oops,I better stop, the F-word even makes a cursory (bad pun intended appearance in that psalm/song...
"We are Christian by faith, not by genre," Jon Foreman of Switchfoot explains. Which may explain how this band of deep Christians apparently see no contradiction to appearing at Christian festivals and Victoria's Secret commercials.
Sometimes these songs are honest reflections of where we are in life and pilgrimage ,
or even imaginations/artistic and sympathetic portrayals of those who are in such spots. They may well be representations of artistic seasons we are in. ("Oh, that was U2's postmodern irony era.")
But we ban that stuff.
I'll never forget the shock and fear that registered upon hearing Amy Grant (then reigning queen of Christian pop) title a song "Faithless Heart," and even admit temptations toward an extramarital affair. I actually thought "Oh my goodness, if she keeps producing songs like that, she'll actually/inevitable have an affair.
I don't know that she did, but her marriage did soon not end well.
And maybe it was my fault for judging her for being honest.
Of course, for many of us in this sector of cyberspace, The Prayer Chain's "Mercury" is the definitive delightful/painful "band breaking-up" record. Everything about this disc screams the script of the "Six Million Dollar Man" intro: "She's breaking up, she's breaking up..." (you can actually watch that scene from your..uh, my...childhood on my "St.Guinness Defies Death to Preach in SexShop in Peru" post).
Even Wikipedia (not quite omniscient) knows this:
This album, which engineer Chris Colbert has described by saying, "you can hear the band break up on the record, you can see them extend a warm and heartfelt middle finger to the industry"[3] was their last CD...link
One remembers actually watching The Beatles break up on film-- "Let it Be---and therefore inevitably on the record of the same name.
What others stand out? Pink Floyd's "The Wall" is at heart two sides of the band building a wall and breaking up . On a lesser note, CCR's "Mardi Gras",was memorable not for the music, but for Fogerty's last ditch at saving the dictatorship he had created by sharing lead vocals among the band. Nice idea; didn't work too well (though the other two members each had a fairly strong song apiece, here and here).............except for the two songs Fogerty sang, including this ultimately prophetic one!
"Kingdom of Comfort" is perhaps the sound of Delirious breaking up, though no one in the band knew it. Or did they? Anyone who caught the interview with drummer Stew Smith might have prophesied as imminent a breakup as the Beatles (but amicable) when they tried to "let it be." Yoko might as well have screeched....and the fat lady sung ...a swan, too...then and there.
What albums stand out to you (besides every 2nd U2 album...and don't worry, their new one is due soon) as having a veritable " breaking-up" warning sticker on the disc (or cassette or record) cover...
I knew someone online had made their list, so of course i googled it....and found a related (?) topic: Ten Classic Breakup Albums What would also be a good but bittersweet list: Albums by artists breaking up with Christianity...or at least the Christian music scene (Sarcastic Lutheran calls it "the Christian industrial complex"). Thank God Steve Taylor came back with "Squint" after his swansong "I Predict 1990." Otherwise we'd have no "Cash Cow"!!
In 2000, The Violet Burning released the stunning "I am a stranger in this place: an experiment in vibe." There is no adequate way to unpack all that that subtitle (or even its loaded last word) means.
Frontman Michael J. Pritzl, from the liner notes:
"..Many bands at this point in their careers release a 'best of' recording. And in some ways this may be considered that. This, though, is different altogether, it is in many ways a recording that sheds new light on songs that have already been recorded. This is a collection of songs that have appeared on previous releases..But they are joined together by a common thread. All of the songs are songs of faith, surrender and worship. We tried to take it one step further for you by
recording these songs with brand new arrangements. Stripped down versions with dreamy guitars, piano, djimbe, shakers, tambourines, drones, delays, tremolos, all recorded live... ...And so I hope that you will enjoy this experiment in vibe. May it calm your heart and cover your soul, may it bring peace to your spirit"
Cross Rhythms:
Reviewed by Mike Rimmer Stranger offers classic Violet Burning songs and gives leader Michael Pritzl the opportunity to re-live his best musical moments, re-record them with the current line up of the band and breathe even more vibe into what is already a pretty atmospheric back catalogue. Reminiscent of a cross section of 80s bands, most notably with a touch of The Fall and a smattering of U2 here and there, the subtitle of the album, 'An Experiment In Vibe', seems an accurate summation of the contents. There are so many highlights to take you to ever wonderful moments but let me pick a couple. "Song Of The Harlot/My God, My Strength" was originally recorded on the 'Strength' album and here it seems to vibrate with even stronger passion, portraying a moving picture of grace. Thematically it seems fitting that "As I Am" follows on as it only emphasises just how unconditionally God loves us. The pounding rhythms of "There Is Nowhere Else" gives a powerful re-interpretation of one of the band's earliest songs and a decade after its writing, it still powerfully connects. Ultimately, these are worship songs cleverly disguised as something else and Pritzl was making intimate, vibey worship in the days before there was a movement to take it to the broader Church. So perhaps now is a good time to discover what makes The Violet Burning such cult heroes. Slap the CD in the stereo, turn the volume up loud and let the music and the intertwining vocals of Pritzl and Melissa Barnett wash over you. link
From Phantom Tollbooth:
After the high, dizzying plastics and low, heart-rending elastics of their last record, The Violet Burning has decided to settle down in "an experiment in vibe" for I Am a Stranger in This Place, a combination greatest hits, live, and praise and worship. The album’s cover makes obvious reference to Spacemen 3, and that, along with Spiritualized and Mercury-era Prayer Chain, is a good place to start in describing the sound of Stranger.
Most of these interpretations are not radically different than the originals, except in one respect: whereas songs such as "Low" and "She Says Electric" exploded into waves of distortion at times, their "vibe" counterparts never do, relying instead on chorus and echo pedals, as well as the soft urgency in lead singer Michael J. Pritzl’s voice to get their power across. Pritzl is helped, as always, by a member of his usual throng of female back-up singers—this time around, it’s Melissa Barnett.
Violet Burning fans will know most of these songs, although quite a few of them come from the long out-of-print albums Strength and Chosen, and thus Stranger is the only place to get them. They’re all in the worship vein that the band is beginning to become known for, although they’re quite a bit rawer and edgier than, say, "Shout to the Lord." Instead, Pritzl tends to rip his heart open in the manner of King David, showing not only his desperation ("Low"), but also his joy ("There is Nowhere Else").
What I find really interesting and worth noting is the fine line between the spiritual and the sensual in these songs. Pritzl apparently does not draw a line (and nor should he), and even builds more haze around the issue by following "Baby, don’t let go" with "Spirit, don’t let go" in "Arabic Tremelo Radio." All the great rock stars, of course, from Little Richard to Marvin Gaye to Bono, have mixed the religious and the sexual in this manner, and essays could be (and have been) written on the implications of this. I’ll spare you another one.
All in all, this is a wonderful album for those seeking something more honest than typical praise and worship music, for fans of The Violets, or for those who can’t abide the current lack of drone music in the "Christian" scene.Michial Farmer, link
From "Stranger Things":
With their fifth full length release, the appropriately titled i am a stranger in this place: an experiment in vibe, The Violet Burning have finally released the album that all their fans knew they could make.Drawing from bandleader Michael Pritzl's impressive back catalog of songs, the band has re-thought, re-interpreted, and re-designed both their sound and the songs themselves, making i am a stranger in this place at once immediate, fascinating, and powerful. Stripping back the distortion and heavily produced sound of their acclaimed 1998 effort Demonstrates Plastic and Elastic, the focus on the new album is again placed on Prtizl's impressive songwriting. Mixing personal expression and social observation, songs like "There is Nowhere Else," taken from the bands' 1990 debut Chosen, and "Arabic Tremelo Radio" from their self-titled 1996 album, gain a contemplative and meditative edge missing from their earlier recordings.Similar in style to Disintegration-era The Cure, some of the more mellow elements of U2, and the acoustic songs of The Smashing Pumpkins, The Violet Burning have created an album that is more than the sum of its influences. Using unique instrumentation (some songs feature congas, others piano, some just acoustic guitars with chorus effects), the album somehow manages to feel earthy yet otherworldly at the same time. Pritzl also shares the vocal spotlight with newcomer Melissa Barnett, who has Pritzl also shares the vocal spotlight with newcomer Melissa Barnett, whose angelic harmonies and counter-melodies act in perfect compliment to Pritzl's emotional songs.I am a stranger in this place: an experiment in vibe is the rarest of rock experiments: an album that both pushes the envelope and invites repeated listenings. Simply put, this is the sort of album that deserves a listener's full attention. Dim the lights, light a candle, and get lost in The Violet Burning's poetry, mood, and vibe. You'll be glad that you did.(To Order: 1-888-999-0838 or The Violet Burning website)Read our interview with Michael Pritzl of The Violet Burning.--Derek AndersonLINK
Album embedded below..read more reviews on Amazon and buy it there (some misguided souls are selling used copies). Let it wash over you..Tell Michael I sent you.
You should know...that the band has more recently revisited recording acoustic or"vibe" versions of their songs..
whether older classics:
or recent material reimagined:
