15 January 2010

Bass Licks

I'm a bass player. I love playing bass and don't get to do it nearly enough.  In moving to camp, living in an amazing place, and being blessed with all that life is now.....the thing I miss is playing with a band.   Bass, unlike other instruments is as much about mixing melody with rhythm as it is about playing notes. Without at least a drummer, playing by myself is not always very fun.  So I'm always on the lookout for ideas that will inspire me to try and new things on bass in the absence of other musicians.
So when I saw this...


I thought it was some inspiration (not that I can play it...yet)
J.S. Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" - Norm Stockton (Lincoln Brewsters Bassist)
By the way HT to mike for the video

Now Here's the thing.... (and follow me this is a bit of a tangent)  If Norm Stockton can play like this, why does Lincoln Brewster not showcase him a little more in songs?   Actually....maybe he does, I don't actually own a Lincoln Brewster album, I rely on the hits as supplied by LIFE 100.3 so the one song that I have heard quite a bit lately is Lincoln's version of "Salvation is Here" (here's a YouTube link) which is a cover of Hillsong United.   In the Hillsong version there is one of the most amazing bridge/bass solos I have heard in a long time (in Christian Worship songs at least) but Lincoln passes it up for a pretty simple guitar noodle.  (both can be heard at around the 2:20 mark).  I know very few bass players that can nail that line.  In fact most worship bands skip it, change it, etc.   But Lincoln you've got a great bass player there.  If you're going to cover the song.....cover the best part.  And hey LIFE, why play a cover when he has his own great songs - and the original version is so good.
 
Maybe this should be a post about how I hate when the original song gets lost behind a cover by a more popular band.... but hey what do I know, I don't work in radio any more ;)

PS.... no offence to Life 100.3  They are a top shelf radio station......trust me I've lived other place that don't have good Christian radio.  (just in case anyone from there stops by) 

11 January 2010

Richard Dawkin's voice on the radio

Was Browsing Microclesia today and saw this post with imediatly jumped out to me
Camille Puglia writing in Salon
… I was recently flicking my car radio dial and heard an affected British voice tinkling out on NPR. I assumed it was some fussy, gossipy opera expert fresh from London. To my astonishment, it was Richard Dawkins, the thrice-married emperor of contemporary atheists. I had never heard him speak, so it was a revelation. On science, Dawkins was spot on—lively and nimble. But on religion, his voice went “Psycho” weird (yes, Alfred Hitchcock)—as if he was channeling some old woman with whom he was in love-hate combat. I have no idea what ancient private dramas bubble beneath the surface there. As an atheist who respects and studies religion, I believe it is fair to ask what drives obsessive denigrators of religion. Neither extreme rationalism nor elite cynicism are adequate substitutes for faith, which fulfills a basic human need—which is why religion will continue to thrive in our war-torn world.
It was interesting to me, because I've always wondered about why Dawkins was so focused on religion and his hatred towards something he doesn't even believe in.   I think I've read the tone of the "some old woman with who he was in a love-hate combat" when reading his books.

8 January 2010

2010 Begins

I'm one of those people that spends a lot of time thinking about different ideas.  My wife recently told me I should tell her more of what is in my head, "it's kind of interesting".   I guess this blog is afflicted by the same problem.   In both cases I don't like to verbalize (or type) my thoughts until I really have them all thought out.  When pressed, I can give you my thoughts on Airline Security, Twitter, Technology, Theology, New Haircuts, The Death of the Emergent Church, and lots of other things.  But often I never get around to writing those things down.

I've been thinking about raising kids and teaching them.... how we've deprived them of creativity because of technology and our terrible school system.

What a church should look like in my life. 

What it's like getting ready to become a dad for the first time.

Hopefully, I'll spend some time in this year actually getting some of these things down