Breathe Carolina: "Savages"

The new Breathe Carolina cd “Savages” just came out. A warning: this is not a clean cd.

If you’ve never listened to Breathe Carolina they are like Deadmou5 meets Dance Gavin Dance. Post-hardcore electronic (though this cd employs less screaming vocals and leans closer to the techno side than their former songs). They aren’t in my top 25 bands, but they are fun to listen to and their sound is perfect for driving/exercising. I really liked their sophomore album so I was excited for this release.

I give the vocals on this cd 8/11. Lead singer David Schmitt brings a weird mash-up of intensity, aggression, sensuality, and rowdiness that just works with Breathe Carolina’s wild sound. BC also brings in the amazing Tyler Carter for the song “Chasing Hearts,” which is one of my favorites.  On the musical side I give this one a 5/11—it’s a lot of electronic effects and that’s not really my thing, but it works for Breathe Carolina.  But the songs are super catchy, and I’ve had “Savages” stuck in my head all day.

I wasn’t a fan of every song on this cd, but the tracks that caught my attention were “Bury Me,” “Savages,” “Chasing Hearts,” and “Mistakes.” I was a little disappointed that with this cd BC has gotten more punk and less hardcore—a trend that a lot of bands I like are following (Broadway and Sleeping with Sirens being the most obvious).

In the end I think I have to give “Savages” a 6/11. There weren’t enough distinct tracks, and there wasn’t really any redeeming value in the music. It’s still fun, and I will definitely be listening to the four tracks I mentioned above for a while now, but it didn’t change the way I think about Breathe Carolina.

The Reign of Kindo (Band)

The Reign of Kindo 11/11

TROK (which formed out of another awesome band: This Day and Age) is hands down my favorite band of all time. They are labeled as alternative, but their style is more unique than any other band I’ve ever listened to. It’s got a jazzy vibe and many of the songs are driven by keys.

Normally I would use words like “catchy,” “soothing,” or “intense” to describe music, but with Kindo the words that come to mind are beautiful, masterful, and numinous. Every track is flawless and fresh. Some of my favorites are “The Hero, the Saint, the Tyrant, and the Terrorist,” where the trained nerd’s ear will hear the Legend of Zelda influence, or the ironically named “I Hate Music” which is one of their more fast paced tracks and has a lot of great energy. The jazz influence really comes out in the song “Just Wait,” and the song “Battling the Years” has a haunting piano lead that always submerges me in an introspective mood.

But TROK is the whole package. Not only is the music fantastic—the lyrics are deeply inspiring and meaningful, and they’re delivered with incredible and passionate vocals. For example:

“I remember when the wind brought heaven’s scent and the stars that filled the sky drew a line between you and I. Oh my God, what have I become? I feel this fire burn; burn ‘til I’m undone—never to return.” –“The Moments In Between”

“There’s a bridge just up ahead now, we can’t see where it will end. Oh it shakes in the wind and it’s narrow and thin—hold on for dear life!” –“Thrill of the Fall”

“We once were children building castles in the sand, smashed them back to the land, called it all for fun. Well now we build them big and tall, we weep and cry each time they fall, and then we hurry on to build again.” –“Dust “

Yes, at least some of the members of TROK are Christians. I’ve never seen anything about their music being Christian music, but their I think their music is relatable to my walk with God than any hymn or worship song I’ve ever heard. The songs “Til We Make Our Ascent” and “The Hero, the Saint, the Tyrant, and the Terrorist,” are brutally honest about the shortcomings of the Church and demonstrate an awareness of the existential questions that haunt believers, yet still positive about the love of God. “Psalm” describes the struggle with apathy better than anything I could ever put into words. And I’m not exaggerating at all when I say that “Let It Go,” a song about experience the presence and grace of God, changed my life.

And if that wasn’t enough, TROK’s music contains little Easter Eggs for nerds like me to find. I already mentioned that “The Hero, the Saint, the Tyrant, and the Terrorist” was influenced by The Legend of Zelda music, but Kindo actually put out a whole album of tracks done in 8-bit style because their band was so influenced by those video games. The song “Sunshine” begins and ends with a quote from the theologian Anthony De Mello, and the song “The Man, the Wood, and the Stone” is based on one of his stories. But my favorite is “Now We’ve Made Our Ascent,” which is based on the story The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis (my all-time favorite book by my all-time favorite author). One of the band members (Steven Padin) is a huge Lewis fan. He actually has a song about Perelandra (the book I reviewed last week) and the name of TROK’s former band’s first album is “The Bell and The Hammer,” which is the name of the chapter in The Magician’s Nephew (first story in the Narnia series) in which Queen Jadis is awoken. It’s like someone took everything I love and put it into music.

Please go listen to everything this band has ever done. This music isn’t just good—it will make you a happier, wiser, and better person.

If you find any Easter Eggs in the music I’ve missed let me know, and if you know of a band that you think I would like let me know.

Perelandra

C.S. Lewis has been my favorite author ever since I read a short section of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in my literature book in the fifth grade (it was the episode where Eustace becomes a dragon, if the reader is wondering, and I still get chills when I read Eustace describe how Aslan removed his scales). I gained a lot of spiritual wisdom from him during High School and College and have read almost all of his books.

Perhaps one of my favorite stories written by C.S. Lewis is Perelandra; an incredible, though unconventional, re-telling of Milton’s Paradise Lost with a sci-fi twist. It is the second book in his Space Trilogy, but you don’t need to read the first book to enjoy it (you should though, Out of the Silent Planet is almost as good). Lewis imagines that Ransom, a philologist and fellow at Cambridge college, has been sent to the planet Venus where intelligent life is just beginning and remains in a prelapsarian state. His mission is to stop the fall of its inhabitants. The body of physicist Weston, the villain of the first story in the trilogy, has been animated by Satan and brought to this planet to tempt the mother of the new race.

The Setting 11/11

Perelandra, the name by which the inhabitants of Venus refer to their planet, is beautifully described in this story. If I could enter any imaginary world it would probably be this one. It is majestic and paradisiacal, and you can taste and smell and hear everything because it is described so richly.

The Characters 11/11

There are essentially only three characters in the story: Ransom (the narrator), the queen (Eve), and Weston (Satan). Throughout the story the three figures argue and their conversations are thought provoking, inspirational, and even exciting since the reader knows that the fate of this world depends on Ransom winning each debate. Weston is a terrifying villain and Ransom is a relatable hero. The queen is an understandably naïve but still humorous and appealing adaption of Milton’s Eve.

The Plot 11/11

Part of what makes me enjoy this story is how unexpected every twist and turn is. You can’t ever predict what’s going to happen next, and there is a real sense of adventure despite the heavenly setting of the tale. It’s fantastic but also real.

But Lewis did not simply intend for his story to be a science fiction thriller. This story is a retelling of Paradise Lost, and in it Lewis intends to convince the reader that an innocent character could be persuaded to sin without being sinful in nature (something that he thinks Milton failed to do). Lewis’s parody is brilliant in that it mirrors Paradise Lost in many ways while maintaining its own identity. If you haven’t read Paradise Lost you probably won’t notice at all, but if you have studied Milton’s epic then you will be amazed at how seamlessly Lewis translates the poem into a satisfying work of science fiction.

This book is an 11/11 in my opinion, and if you have the time you need to read it. You won’t regret it.

The Fault in Our Stars

As far as I am concerned, John Green can do no wrong. You should read all of his books and watch all of his CrashCourse, Mental Floss, and vlogbrothers videos on youtube (that should keep you busy for the next year or so). His book The Fault in Our Stars was no exception, even though it wasn’t something I would have expected from him.

Language/Characters: 10/11

The defining feature of this book is the language. Despite the tragic subject matter I laughed aloud at least once per page at the characters witty remarks and humorous observations. It really didn’t matter what the book was about—I just wanted to keep reading because the language was so engrossing. The dialogue is excellent as well, and the characters voices are written so well that you feel like you can hear them talking. The characters are interesting and memorable, and since there are only a few you really get into them-even the characters you barely see.

Narrator: 9/11

Hazel is a fantastic narrator for this story. Not only is her narration funny and intelligent, her internal monologue is also very real and honest. You empathize with Hazel and you understand her. And, even though Hazel has a legitimate reason to be negative or depressed, she doesn’t become obnoxious by whining about her misery or reminding you how pathetic she is (as certain female protagonist from certain popular book series do).

Plot: 8/11

I usually prefer books which are driven by action, and there is essentially no action in TFiOS. But I still couldn’t put the story down. It wasn’t that I wanted to get to the end of the book and know what happened—I just wanted to keep watching the characters’ lives because they were interesting. The plot is a little predictable, but it still catches you off guard sometimes.

Overall I give TFiOS a 9/11, and that is really impressive considering it isn’t my kind of book at all. Not only is this a good story, but it is written by a good author and it has a lot of deep thoughts. It will help you understand illness and life in a way you never did before. You should definitely read this book, and John Green says that he likes the movie adaptation so you should go see it as well.

Divergent Review

I just finished reading Veronica Roth’s Divergent so I thought I’d post my review. Here are some things that I consider important to a story and how Divergent stacked up. If you haven’t read it yet and don’t want anything spoiled then you should stop reading this blog entry now. If you just want to know if you should read it or not...well I'll just say it: it wasn't as good as The Hunger Games.

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!

                Imagery: 7/11

                The setting for this story was probably one of the coolest aspects for me. I really liked the empty, dilapidated city, and there were some great visual moments in the text. Nothing was over described—you were given just enough information for your mind to form a striking image.

                Plot: 6/11

                I wasn’t shocked or surprised by the plot at any point during Divergent, nor did I feel a compulsion to continue reading despite my best interests. I often put the book down and it took me several days to work through it. Everyone always compares Divergent to The Hunger Games and I don’t know if that’s fair, but it’s easy to do so I’ll do it too: I read the entire Hunger Games trilogy in two days. It took me almost a week to read just the first Divergent. But I won’t say that I was turned off by the plot either. It wasn’t gripping, but it wasn’t slow either. I was never bored.

                Characters: 6/11

                Divergent introduces us to a fairly broad cast of characters for such a short book, but I had no trouble keeping track of them because they stood out well. The characters weren’t always predictable, and they had some depth to them as well. But none of them were really that interesting to me. The story didn’t compel me to join a characters team, and I didn’t get attached to anyone. I can respect an author who allows so many characters die, but the only death I felt at all was Will, and even then it was only a small pang.

                Narrator: 2/11

                Oh. My. Gosh. Tris drove me crazy. She was devoid of confidence; completely oblivious to the way that others perceived her, and ignorant of any of her positive attributes. Why do all female protagonists have to think that they are hideous and useless failures? Is it really that depressing inside of every girl's mind? I just kept wishing the book was in written in third person. Tris would have been an awesome protagonist if I didn’t have to know what was going on in her head. Well maybe not awesome, but at least not so terrible.

                Romance: 1/11

                Maybe I’m just jaded. It’s no secret that I’m not the most romantic guy in the world. But the romance in this novel was really boring and pointless to me. I just wasn’t feeling it. Even Twilight was better in this aspect. I think it was partially due to her insecurity, but also because I never really felt like they had much chemistry. Their relationship was too easy and natural, and also too physical. Plus it seemed to get in the way of the story: the romantic scenes seemed to happen at all the wrong moments. When things were supposed to be intense the romance aspect kept obstructing the action. It was obnoxious.

                Overall I think I’d give this book a 4/11. It wasn’t terrible, and I’ll probably read the sequels if the movie does well just so I can keep up with pop culture, but it definitely wasn’t great. I wasn’t the biggest fan of The Hunger Games, but it trumps Divergent in pretty much every aspect except for the climax (which it wins simply by having a climax instead of letting the reader down every time). I didn’t get sucked into the characters or the universe, and it did little to spark my imagination.            

                Because of the books mediocrity, however, this may be one of those rare occasions where the movie is actually better. I think that if the acting and effects are good I will really enjoy the film version. I plan on finding out this weekend!