Articles

Where are my hip-hop heads at? Lightheaded is/was a collaborative project between Ozay Moore (FKA Othello), Braille, and Ohmega Watts. Each of these MCs have had significant solo careers on their own. This track brings the three of them back together after a long hiatus. Super-cool stuff! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wk8aWiY0PQ… Continued →

Lo-fi indie rock never made a huge impact in the Christian scene. To be fair, it was a niche market even in mainstream circles. Beck and R.E.M. were the only 2 artists to break out of the underground, and both of those bands more or less ditched their lo-fi roots to do so (Beck only temporarily). I can only think of a handful of Christian-themed lo-fi bands: Jetenderpaul, Danielson Famile, Pedro the Lion (early stuff), Sappo, Joe Christmas, and some early Damien Jurado projects. Enter Jupiter James.… Continued →

In the late 90s, I lived in Atlanta, GA, doing inner-city ministry and discipleship training. An old college friend of mine from the area, Darrel, invited me to a show south of the city. Blindside were doing a U.S. tour and this new band was opening, featuring ex-members of Spudgun and Joe Christmas. I’d been hearing from others about the intensity of their live shows so I was eager to attend. Pop-punkers Jesse and the Rockers also played, as well as a new band made up of high school kids, called Luti-Kriss that never went anywhere (I kid!)… Continued →

Huntingtons were a prolific punk and/or pop-punk band, as most of you will know. For me, you just can’t beat their sophomore album, “Fun and Games.” The title says it all. This song has that punk rock meets 50s style doo-wop that many bands tried but not many could pull off. It works incredibly well here! Listen here: Huntingtons – The Only One… Continued →

I don’t suspect many of our readers will be familiar with What of the Night, which is a shame. This Irish & English punk band released only one album in 1979 (yes, you read that right!) making them the earliest Christian punk band (if we don’t include Death, which is a discussion for another time). The LP features post-punk, mod, and garage rock sounds and would be at home next to the likes of The Undertones, The Jam, Buzzcocks and so many others. It’s super rare and hard to come by, but I managed to track down a copy for myself a couple of years ago.… Continued →

Come to Pass is a one-piece lo-fi death metal band from Virginia. The band has recently released an EP through Bearded Dragon Productions, but instead I’ve chosen a track from the “Words of Endurance” compilation on the same label. Raw and heavy stuff. Stream or download the track here: Come to Pass – Confessions of the Cursed… Continued →

I’ve had a rough past few weeks. My moods have gone from the most elated to utter dumps. It has been an exciting time in our family and an incredibly stressful time. We have had our fair share of trials and tribulations the past 5+ years (if you know us or have heard my stories, you’ll understand why). A few days ago a rising young Pastor and mental health advocate named Jarrid Wilson tragically took his own life at the age of 30. He has left behind not only a community of believers but his loving wife and children.… Continued →

The year was 1997. The heyday of Christian alternative rock was starting to wane, as mainstream sounds were drifting into new territory. Dance pop (in the form of boy bands and girl bands) was starting to make another attempt at dominating the airwaves. Electronica and house were exploding in creativity and splintering into new subgenres every day. Outside of punk and hardcore, the most exciting thing happening in rock was a revival of traditional British sounds in a new format cleverly dubbed “Britpop.” While not a new genre per se, its popularity had boomed with no small thanks to bands like Oasis, Blur, James and literally dozens of others across the pond.… Continued →

Black metal stalwarts Ascending King are back! They’ve just dropped a new single “Lignum Vitae,” which is a collaborative effort with Sebat Frost from Frost Like Ashes. Whether it’s due to that influence or not is hard to say, but the doomy elements first heard on the Ascending King EP released last year are gone this time in favor of a faster-paced black metal sound. The single can be downloaded for free here: Ascending King – Lignum Vitae… Continued →

Preface: I just want to put it out there that this is a personal opinion and my opinion alone. I am in no way advocating for a particular position and political party. / I am no expert on American Politics nor do I pretend to have all the answers. Things irritate me, positions annoy me, politics is a game. I am just so sick of it all. It’s sad when all sides of the spectrum play us as pawns in this carefully constructed game of chess, creating this madness and big budget Hollywood style extravaganza we call modern media.… Continued →

Today’s song of the day comes in the form of some punk-ska from our friends in Michigan based band – The Insyderz. I was a fan of this band dating back to 1997 when I heard their debut full length, “Motor City Ska”. The band released 3 full lengths, 2 worship/praise albums, and this final (?) full length in 2012. The song that meant the most to me and had me spinning it again was “Sinner’s Songbook”. The track features Joe’s (Yerke) gritty yet melodic, vocal delivery alongside the vocals of Reese Roper (Five Iron Frenzy), and Matt Morginsky (OC Supertones).… Continued →

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this is one of the greatest songs our scene has ever produced! It gets straight to the heart of what it’s all about: “Hey I’m talkin’ to you/Yeah, I’m trying to get through/God cares about you more than think . . . You are loved! You are loved!” It was the first song I ever heard from the Altar Boys, in the late 80s. Ironically, it was on a metal compilation where I first heard them. Though the song is nowhere near metal, it has that late 80s post-punk/power pop sound from SoCal that has loads of energy.… Continued →

No one really knows what happened to We Are Voices apart from their 2017 take on “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”. Prior to that, the band was set to release a series of smaller releases over the course of the year. Sadly, this plan didn’t make it past the first iteration, titled Year I. The band’s site is still active which seems promising, but maybe if we make enough noise they’ll put out some new songs? … Continued →

Greetings friends and fellow customers. Just wanted to provide you all with an update on some items in our webstore and about future releases ($10 off your purchase of $30 or more up now). First off, the two Light The Way releases “Dad Gang” and “Dude Lame: Deluxe Edition” will both be available for shipping in about 7 business days. I know we are cutting it extremely close to Joshua Fest and there is possibility these two releases wont be available in time for the festival.… Continued →

We all find that special album, the initial attraction which binds the listener to a band from the get go. For me, that first album “Homecoming” by Craig’s Brother was just that, an alluring piece of work that had me fascinated from day one. Tooth & Nail released this album in 1998, nearly 21 years ago. It wasn’t exactly a “huge” hit but sure did knock us all in the chest with powerful guitar heavy punk rock and harmonies you can’t get out of your head.… Continued →

Today’s featured song comes from Nashville’s own Lacquer, a gritty band that could best be described as what Johnny Cash may have sounded like if he had grown up listening to punk. “Abaddon’s Mouth” is fresh off their 2018 debut LP Good Gracious Alive. Check it out if you’re a fan of gritty southern rock with a modern twist. … Continued →

If you’ve been following hardcore at all in the last 5 years, you probably already know about this Chicago “positive hardcore” band. Reflecting a PMA approach to lyrics, which includes things like unity in diversity, straight edge, veganism, and faith, the band churn out revivalist true school hardcore punk classics with great fecundity. This short track’s opening riff reminds me of the glory days of Descendents, and yet vocalist Wiley Willis seems to be drawing inspiration from H.R. of Bad Brains. Check it out and let me know what you think.… Continued →

I woke up this morning with this song in my head, so it clearly has the be the Song of the Day. Classic metal. You either love it, or just don’t really get the appeal. It’s 1986, and the only Christian metal that most people are aware of is Stryper. But hairspray and over-the-top production was not all that Christian metal had to offer in ’86. The same year the glam kings released To Hell with the Devil, Saint was dishing out their best album, Time’s End (in fact, it’s in the top 5 Christian metal albums of all time, IMO).… Continued →

Our new “The Great Indie Vision Music Sampler of 2019” is now available and we ask that you stream it via your favorite streaming sites or download from Bandcamp for free right here. The CD version of this sampler will be given out free all summer/fall so look for it once it is available (in production now). Check out this sampler on Spotify at the link below. Please “follow” each of the bands on this sampler and get merch from each of them when available.… Continued →

Who remembers Sal Paradise? Obscure 90s indie rock band from Sydney, Australia (formerly known as The Crux–unrelated to the punk band). Those who do remember them are probably most familiar with their one and only album on Tooth and Nail Records, entitled “Further.” However, they had also released a few independent releases in their native country. This song, “Travels” made it to a Velvet Blue Music compilation in the form of an acoustic version. The electric version was darker, but just as moody. It was originally released on the Scatter release pictured here, but has popped in various other releases, including “For You and Before You” still available from the Velvet Blue Music shop here: https://velvetbluemusic.com/shop/sal-paradise-for-you-and-before-you/… Continued →

Indie Vision Music have reached another milestone in our illustrious and long running history as a webstore, website, and more recently – Record label. In celebration, IVM (as we’ve affectionately become known as) has released a FREE 22 track sampler called “The Great Indie Vision Music Sampler of 2019” which you can grab on our bandcamp page (or on CD with orders and shipping late July). Check out these bands and make sure to support them all by visiting each of their pages/sites through social media.… Continued →

Adjy return from three years of silence to debut a stunning set of tracks.

Cincinnati indie rock band Okay Lindon have released another single in advance of their next album.  The album will be a departure from their quirky brand of alternative rock, this time heading into reggae territory.  While an unconventional move, for sure, the seasoned band have the ability to pull it off.  Plus, the reggae sounds fit the new material well.  Founder Dustin Smith claims, “In this song I’m calling out aspects of my evangelical upbringing as ‘escapist theology’ which focused so heavily on an afterlife, that the joys of experiencing union with Christ in the physical world, ourselves, and others is lost.… Continued →

  Amazingly, this song is now 23 years old, and I still feel the same way about it as I did back then.  It’s a fantastic song, and one of the highlights of the Christian alternative rock scene!  Plankeye’s first album (“Spill”) was raw and unrefined, showing hints of Orange County punk.  While their second album “The Spark” had that same raw energy, the songwriting and musical chops had improved, along with just the right amount of production–not too raw, not too slick.  “Open House” is the standout track and has a great message of God’s love and grace even in times of difficulty. … Continued →

Some new IVM Shirts, IVM Band Shirts, and some “Throwbacks” have all been posted up in the StoreFrontier site. This is the official site of Indie Vision Music clothing and merch. I handle all physical music shipments with Storenvy and StoreFrontier fulfills the clothing side of things. There are new shirts for The Prettybads, Must Build Jacuzzi, Craig’s Brother, Small Wars, Slow Coming Day, and IVM. In addition to the shirts which are printed on Next Level Brand (the ones where just the shirt is shown), there are Women’s Ts, Kids Ts, Hoodies (perfect for summer lol), and Tank Tops.… Continued →

I’ve enjoyed listening to music much longer than I’ve enjoyed reading books. Reading has only been an interest of mine for the past five years, especially subjects like philosophy, religion, and sociology. What I’ve found through reading books, though, is that it complements listening to music. The relation between books and music in terms of their content, especially lyrically, is undeniable. Even musically, there seems to be room for reading to influence listening, with pictures derived from words being transformed into pictures derived from sound. We end up with snapshots of the sublime and we meditate on them time and time again.… Continued →

For those of you that actually use Facebook still, you’ll be happy to learn we have created a new GROUP to discuss your love of music and more. Sometimes Facebook page posts don’t always reach everyone and conversations can be tough if you don’t see what we are posting about. In a group setting, you usually see most posts on your feed unless you mute it. Click here to check out the group or search “IVM – Indie Vision Music” on Facebook to discover it.… Continued →

So, 2018 is behind us, another year on the books. After having put together a list of my favorite releases for the year, I decided to try going in the opposite direction and form a list of the albums I’m anticipating most in the coming year. Now, a bit of a heads up before we dig in; I am almost certainly missing some albums here. Some may have escaped my attention, and I’m sure there are more to be announced yet as well. All mentioned below I’m sure are coming this year, but a specific date has yet to be given.… Continued →