Featured Article
Flamethrower Holiness: Bono, Brueggemann, & the Psalms (Headphone Devotionals, part two)
May 18, 2013 · Leave a Comment
Psalms present us with cultural linguistic poem-experiences of passion and pleading, praise and pain, love and loss, anticipation and anger, worship and wonder. Rock music also offers religiously relevant encounters in an electronic correlation of guitars and lyrics—a new kind of text for a different context—yet songs similarly saturate us in sonic blasts of poetic pop culture and spirited counterculture to water our souls with a wager that there’s a way out of teenage boredom and middle-aged malaise. We can scream,... [Read the full story]
U2 News
Registration Open for April U2 Conference
March 4, 2013 · Leave a Comment
We recently purchased our registration for the second-ever U2 Conference, to be held in Cleveland, Ohio this coming April 26-28. While there have been U2 fan gatherings of all shapes and sizes, this confab, which debuted in 2009 and coincided with a U2 show, is one-of-a-kind event in North America. Organized by the visionary Scott Calhoun, the website @U2, and a cast of many others, this U2 Conference further establishes “U2 Studies” as a legitimate interdisciplinary field of academic study, uniting those who work in... [Read the full story]
U2 Shows
Registration Open for April U2 Conference
March 4, 2013 · Leave a Comment
We recently purchased our registration for the second-ever U2 Conference, to be held in Cleveland, Ohio this coming April 26-28. While there have been U2 fan gatherings of all shapes and sizes, this confab, which debuted in 2009 and coincided with a U2 show, is one-of-a-kind event in North America. Organized by the visionary Scott Calhoun, the website @U2, and a cast of many others, this U2 Conference further establishes “U2 Studies” as a legitimate interdisciplinary field of academic study, uniting those who work in... [Read the full story]
Concerts/Festivals
The Vibrating Emotions of Dinner and a Suit, live in Nashville
March 14, 2013 · Leave a Comment
Nashville continues to remake its music reputation for the better. Nashville’s talent pool remains enormous, and we witnessed this again as local four-piece rock/pop outfit Dinner and a Suit recently performed at the Cannery Ballroom in Nashville. The simple-looking band launched immediately into a high flying, high energy performance that literally shook the floor beneath our feet. The upbeat set made us want to move, dance, and sway with the crowd. Powerful emotions pack the songs: the longing, the hope, the confusion.... [Read the full story]
Intermedia: Reviews/Views
Changing Times for Iron & Wine
May 18, 2013 · Leave a Comment
It’s often hard for well-established musicians to find balance later in their careers. Sam Beam has left his minimalist roots far behind with Ghost on Ghost, his fifth full-length album as Iron & Wine, pulling from many often unexpected influences. Songs like “The Desert Babbler” exhibit a melodic quality reminiscent of many long-gone musical styles, creating a pseudo 70’s funk-inspired sound that’s almost a little difficult to identify. It’s Iron & Wine, there’s no doubt about that, but the variety... [Read the full story]
Featured Photos
U2 Commentary, Essays, & Analysis
Flamethrower Holiness: Bono, Brueggemann, & the Psalms (Headphone Devotionals, part two)
Psalms present us with cultural linguistic poem-experiences of passion and pleading, praise and pain, love and loss, anticipation and anger, worship and wonder. Rock music also... [Read more]
Hugging Bono, Engaging Marsh, and Wishing The Frontman a Happy Birthday
Back in December 1984, I went to my first U2 show at Detroit’s Fox Theater. The first leg of the Unforgettable Fire tour, it was the band’s last set of “intimate” shows... [Read more]
Headphone Devotionals: Praying the U2 Catalog
Back in 2003, Beth Maynard and Raewynne Whitely released a book of sermons about U2, subtitled as a text on “preaching the U2 catalog.” Around that time I did not consider... [Read more]
More U2 Commentary, Essays, & Analysis
U2 News, Reviews, & Shows
Registration Open for April U2 Conference
We recently purchased our registration for the second-ever U2 Conference, to be held in Cleveland, Ohio this coming April 26-28. While there have been U2 fan gatherings of all... [Read more]
Tiesto Toasts U2 With Pride Remix
Once upon a time, we went clubbing. Before raves, before house music, we went clubbing and danced to new wave “club mixes,” released as 12-inch singles. We would spend more... [Read more]
Bono Preaches the Gospel of Social Justice at Georgetown
Reposted with permission from http://sojo.net/blogs/2012/11/13/bono-preaches-gospel-social-justice-georgetown “Do you think he’ll sing?” the girl in the row... [Read more]
More U2 News, Reviews, & Shows
Featured Video
Intermedia: Reviews, Views, Etc.
It’s often hard for well-established musicians to find balance later in their careers. Sam Beam has left his minimalist roots far behind with Ghost on... [Read more]
Possibly one of the most easily identifiable voices in the music world, Bob Dylan has created a legacy that will endure beyond his time on this earth,... [Read more]
Late September 2012, the headphones blew up with bliss for a new ear-candy kiss. Listening to the new release since before dawn, I prayed over the computer... [Read more]
Two Gallants released their 4th studio album The Bloom and the Blight on September 4th of this year. This is the first we’ve heard from them after... [Read more]
Featured Shows and Festivals
Nashville continues to remake its music reputation for the better. Nashville’s talent pool remains enormous, and we witnessed this again as local four-piece... [Read more]
Bleeding-heart sincerity is uncomfortable for many people. Makes a weaker person turn away, ashamed for the feeler. Second-hand embarrassment and all that.... [Read more]
Judging by the size of the crowd in the back room performance area of Nashville’s World Music store, it’s hard to believe that the man taking the stage... [Read more]
In the same space where one week earlier the Miami Heat were crowned basketball champions, the jubilant city of Miami welcomed Grammy-winning superstars... [Read more]