andrew dodson

Some of you may not believe this, but – I was up by at least 6 a.m. every day this past week. A couple of mornings, I was able to crawl out of bed around 5 or 5:30. Have I gone crazy? Not really. I just decided to move my daily reading time to the morning, instead of the last thing before bed. In this time, I’ll do my “quiet time” (Bible-reading, devotional stuff, prayer, etc.). It’s been a great feeling starting the day this way. I think I’ll keep it up. In fact, tomorrow’s Saturday, and I’m actually looking forward to NOT sleeping in. Go figure.

From the “I’ve Discovered a New Band” category: I’d like to introduce Blue Merle. Particularly, I’m enjoying “Lucky to Know You.” Take bluegrass instruments, make them write songs sounding like Coldplay, and you have Blue Merle. I can’t get over how much their lead singer sounds like Chris Martin (Coldplay’s lead singer). I’m sure that one of my errands tomorrow will involve picking up their album at Wal-Mart.

Georgetown’s basketball team has advanced to the Elite Eight of the NAIA National Championship in Kansas City. There’s been several big upsets so far, which plays very well for Georgetown’s chances. #3 Lindsey Wilson (whom GC beat twice during the season) fell today. Go Tigers!

As the first round of the NCAA Tournament winds up tonight, I’m amazed at all of the close scores. Because of this, I don’t feel so bad about UK’s poor showing against EKU yesterday. Nearly every game has been decided by twelve points or less. Syracuse? Gone. Alabama? Gone. LSU? Gone. Teams like UK, Florida, Louisville, and Connecticut have had to claw and scrape their way past their first round opponents. North Carolina (my pick to win) and Boston College have had the only convincing wins after the first round (several games still in progress).

I know, I know. “There’s big upsets every year,” you say. I’m not talking about that. I’m just talking about the fact that nearly every game has been close so far. This should make for a very interesting remainder to the tournament. I have a feeling that at this point, whoever wins this will be a big surprise.

Sorry for the absence of blogging lately. I know the three or four of you who read this regularly (hi Mom) have been disappointed in my lack of occasionally useful and semi-humorous posts this week. I’ve got some time this weekend, so I’ll drop back in and catch up.

Until then…

Current listening: Dave Matthews Band – LiveTRAX Volume 3 – 8/27/2000 Hartford, CT. I’m one song in (“Dancing Nancies”). So far, so good.

I just heard the first single off the Dave Matthews Band’s newest album, Stand Up. The single is titled “American Baby.” It’s built around a plucked violin riff, and for the most part, is pretty straight-ahead. Nothing fancy from Carter on the drums. LeRoi (saxophone) doesn’t appear until just before the end of the song, but the song does lend itself to solos and improvisation at the end. We’ll see what they end up doing with it live. The album will be released on May 10th. If you can’t wait that long, the third installment of their DMBLIVE series will be released on Thursday (available only through DMB’s website).

Ok… I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. If I had to pick a Top 10 Albums in my CD collection, what would they be? Wow. Picking a top 10 out of 500+ isn’t an easy task. Well…here goes….(in no particular order)

Counting Crows – August and Everything After: this is one the first albums that comes to mind when I think about the best in my collection. What’s even more mind-blowing is that it was their debut! Every song on the CD is great…hands down.

MercyMe – Almost There: it was tough to decide between this album and Undone. However, this one wins out due to songs like “Here Am I” and “House of God.”

Radiohead – The Bends: a tough call, but it edges out OK Computer for my favorite album by this bunch of British rockers.

Duke Ellington – The Intimacy of the Blues: simply a great jazz album. I love it.

Dream Theater – Scenes from a Memory: a progressive rock opera with some incredible drum work by Mike Portnoy. I was lucky enough to see this live – amazing.

Phish – Round Room: I’m not a gung-ho Phish “phan,” so I’m in a semi-minority that really likes this album. I can remember playing it over and over again when it came out.

Paul Van Dyk – Out There and Back: my favorite techno/trance album in my collection. I only have disc one, but it’s very, very good stuff. I studied for a lot of tests in college with this as background music. I put it on now whenever I need to be productive around the apartment (cleaning, working on websites, etc.).

Sleeping at Last – Ghosts: a great album by a very obscure band. You’ve probably never heard them on the radio, but they were disovered by Billy Corgan. They’re another “positive message” band – lots of Christian-based lyrics, very little mention of God, Jesus, etc. Front to back, this is a great album.

Dave Matthews Band – Golden Gate Park: picking a favorite album by my favorite band is every bit as tough as coming up with this list. Currently, the GGP is my favorite. It’s a great show that includes the four new songs they debuted on this past summer’s tour. Just as well, the revamped version of “Too Much” is rockin’. This barely edges out The Central Park Concert as my favorite from DMB.

I can’t pick a tenth. There’s another ten or twelve albums that could battle it out for the tenth spot on the list, but I can’t make up my mind right now.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, selfcontrol; and to selfcontrol, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. –

2 Peter 1:5-8 Listen

5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(NIV)

This week, I’ll review a couple of similar bands who bring a positive message to the masses – Lifehouse and The Calling. I recently picked up both of their sophomore albums, and after giving them several listens, I’m ready to present my thoughts.

First up is Lifehouse’s Stanley Climbfall. After a successful debut effort – No Name Face – which included the hit “Hanging By a Moment,” the group’s second set is far less appealing. I was pretty disappointed with the entire album. The set starts with “Spin” – the best song on the album, by far. After that, it’s all downhill. There’s a few brief moments of good music, but for the most part, the songs sound uninspired and rushed. It’s almost as if it’s a collection of B-sides.

The group is preparing their third album, due to be released this spring.

On the other hand, The Calling’s Two is a step above their debut effort Camino Palmero. Two is solid from the front to back with “Our Lives,” “Things Will Go My Way,” and “Chasing the Sun” leading the effort. The set was produced by Clive Davis, which could be the biggest reason why it’s a solid album. If you’re looking for a good, young band – a mix of pop rock with an edge and a positive message – I highly recommend this album.

Recent purchases:

: Jack Johnson’s In Between Dreams, David Crowder’s Sunsets & Sushi (Experiments In Spectral Deconstruction), and DJ Tiesto’s Parade of Athletes (Unmixed)

Friday night: the first “official” Vertex. Rick gave a great message, the acoustic set from a couple of members of 52seven was great, we had a good crowd (small, but good), a couple of new visitors, and the coffeehouse (my favorite part) was awesome.

Saturday: hung around the apartment and tried to catch up on some things. I had praise band rehearsal from 1-5 in the afternoon.

Saturday evening: went to Carino’s and Starbucks with a new friend that visited Vertex on Friday night.

Sunday: went to church, went home to do laundry, went to FAITH, went back home to finish laundry, and now I’m back at the apartment.

It was a long, busy weekend, and I’ve got a busy week ahead of me (third straight week with something to do every night after work). Off to bed!