Tag: California

April 6, 2023

April 4, 2023

March 27, 2023

March 18, 2023

Song of the Day: Pete Stewart - Spinning

Pete has been in the CCM music industry for years. Most know him from grunge band Grammatrain whose Lonely House LP is one of my fave. He also sang for The Accident Experiment which was a side project of Payable on Death’s Marcos when he temporarily left the band. Pete also worked with Mike Tait’s solo work. This SOTD comes from Pete’s first solo album which garnered several CCM radio airplay. He also served as the engineer/mixer for Mackelmore’s The Heist LP which had the annoying Thrift Store rap song.… Continued →

March 17, 2023

Song of the Day: The Discarded - Religious Lie

I first heard of this LA punk band when I was running distro in the early 2000s. They had an EP out on The Legion (short-lived label that only released 3 titles), which I began stocking, and then they put out another release on the upcoming Clumsy Records (also home to Combat Junkies, The Stivs and a few others). I had the chance to catch them live at Cornerstone 2002, which was a fantastic show! In fact, that year was a great year for punk at the festival, as I also saw Huntingtons, The Remnants, One Bad Pig, World Against World, and Headnoise that year among others.… Continued →

March 10, 2023

Song of the Day: Azitis - Time Has Passed

We’re digging deep into the archives for this one. Azitis was a psychedelic rock band from Sacramento, originally formed as “Help” in 1966, but they had to change the name for legal reasons because of a British band by the same name. The band’s name was taken from the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy will be done on earth ‘azitis’ in heaven.” Having come up through the late 60s garage rock scene, by the time they recorded their debut, there was a plethora of original material to choose from.… Continued →

February 22, 2023

February 15, 2023

January 23, 2023

Song of the Day: Christafari - Listening

Welcome to the song that brought me a lifetime love for Christian Reggae. The band has been around since the mid 90s & still releases music almost every year. They have done a few worship albums & even some kid stuff! This is an example of a band that I label in the ministering category of “Christian” music as they are unabashed about the Gospel. From their LastFM site The name is pronounced CHRIST-AH-FAR-EYE, in Greek, the original language of the New Testament, Christafari is the name given to “a group of people who collectively represent Christ.”… Continued →

December 23, 2022

Song of the Day: Half-Handed Cloud - Christmas Baby's Last Straw

Honestly I think this is a song that only Half-Handed Cloud could write. Aside from the ever-present pop bliss is a song about a baby trying to reach shiny Christmas ornaments that are out of reach, and yet so desirable. But Ringhofer makes a point that only he could make, about humanity’s incessant need to grasp for shining things that are always slightly out of reach and that we really don’t need after all. Merry Christmas IVM friends–may you find the true joy of Christmas this year–the baby in the manger!… Continued →

December 17, 2022

December 15, 2022

Project 86 releases Metatropolis

So this has gotta be the heaviest song Andrew & co. has ever released. It is the first single for their last project (no pun intended!) entitled Omni that will be released in early 2023. I’ve seen them almost as many times as Norma Jean live & they are great in ever way with their musical finesse. I helped crowdfund their live album & have a unreleased pressing from it. Their eponymous album was the first cd I purchased when I joined the military at an army PX!… Continued →

November 12, 2022

November 11, 2022

Song of the Day: Body and Soul - The Graylands

I first discovered this band from Tim Henderson (Warlord/Mr Bishops Fist) one night as we were talking about obscure Christian bands from the past. Body and Soul was a one-off solo project from Daniel Amos keyboardist Rob Watson. Body and Soul released only one 7″ in 1983, and never did anything else. Side A featured “Something’s Going On Here,” which is a good song, but is more typical of 80s new wave/pop. It sounds like a track you’d hear in an 80s action comedy film, something akin to Adventures in Babysitting.… Continued →

October 31, 2022

October 19, 2022

October 14, 2022

Song of the Day: Ganglia - i SEEK THE END

If you’re of the opinion that only melodic music can be godly, then you might want to navigate your browser elsewhere. If, on the other hand, you see the possibility of the Spirit working and moving in the new, the avant garde, the experimental, and the downright weird, then Ganglia just might interest you. Sometimes stylized as GÃ…NGLÃŽÃ…, this one-man project was started by David Smittcamp in Los Angeles in the late 1990s. He took the already experimental genre of grindcore (lightning-fast tempos and ultra-short songs fused into an extreme form of hardcore and metal), and flipped it on its head by utilizing only electronic instruments.… Continued →

October 12, 2022

Song of the Day: The Stand - Can You See It?

The Stand was a 90s power pop band that played on the CCM radio scene when Petra, Wayne Watson, Hoi Polloi, Out of the Grey, Point of Grace, The Winans, Whitecoss were all on the same playlist. It was a way cool time in the scene as you could the radio friendly songs from hard rockers right along next to CCM mainstays. I found out when I got older the formats varied across the USA & I was pretty blessed to have a modern CCM station near me.… Continued →

October 3, 2022

September 30, 2022

Song of the Day: Horsemen of the Apocalypse - Body of Christ

This 5-piece band from Norwalk, CA started as a metalcore band but morphed into something heavier and more technical with an interesting mix of death metal, grindcore, and the odd jazz passage. The band only released two demos. The first was a 5-song tape called “Soldiers of the Cross.” In 2006 they released their more known, somewhat ironically titled “Death Gospel” (Gospel set to death metal, get it?) cassette, featuring 4 songs. Then the band was never to be heard of again. However, just this year an independent secular metal label from Riverside has re-released the demo as a cassette-only release, with three bonus tracks.… Continued →

September 19, 2022

September 14, 2022

September 10, 2022

September 9, 2022

Song of the Day: Torn in Two - Plastic Dreams for Shining Rings

There was a lot of hype surrounding this band when they were first signed by Facedown Records, in large part based on the fact they had three vocalists. While the hype, and sadly also the band, were short-lived (they only released one full-length and one 3-way split album), they definitely generated a healthy buzz in their short existence. And for good reason too. Soli Deo Gloria (roughly translated as “to the glory of God alone”) dropped in 2001, and stylistically the album shows its age. Torn in Two were building off of the heavy, metallic, chugga-chugga or “new school” style hardcore of the 1990s, and adding more metallic leads and riffs without ever fully crossing over into metalcore.… Continued →

September 7, 2022

Song of the Day: The Supertones - Little Man

So what is the actual name of this band? The Supertones, Supertones, OC Supertones! Anyways, they got the whole Christian industry into 3rd wave ska music. The other 2 Five Iron Frenzy & The Insyderz caught on right afterwards if I remember correctly. My acquaintance from high school was actually trying to bring them to Bloomington/Normal Illinois, but from what I gather they got stuck in a snow storm. Pretty sure this was circa 1995. Anyways, the bass lead is fun to play & not that difficult if you want to learn it.… Continued →

September 5, 2022

Song of the Day: Fold Zandura - King Planet vs WenCarla

So I saw this band when they first changed their name to FZ from Mortal. I talked to I think Jerome before the show with Bloomsday & asked for what I think was Kingflux & they ended up playing it for me. Yah! Anyways fast forward all these years later & Jerome has been working with Switchfoot & then AI find out they might come out with more music? Sounds good to me. Oh yeah, & remember YHWH is still in control of king planet! https://www.morzanmuzik.com/… Continued →

August 26, 2022

Song of the Day: Tourniquet - Tears of Korah

Many fitting tributes have been written about the one and only, the mighty drummer/musician/song-writer/animal rights activist Ted Kirkpatrick. So much has been said about his life, his music, and his impact that I can’t really add much here. Ted’s incredible musicianship is impossible to overstate. He was revered even by the most ardent anti-religion folks, for his musicality alone, including folks like King Diamond and Marty Friedman. While I never got to meet Ted, I did have the chance to see Tourniquet live once. It was their first tour with Luke Easter as the new lead vocalist.… Continued →

August 6, 2022

Song of the Day: Idle Cure - Holy Mountain

So I heard this song back in the day & fell in love with it. Now this is in those days that internet wasn’t around yet & I had no clue how to find it. Years went past & while digging thru Idle Cure’s stuff, whoa I just found my jam!  This is AOR & I get this is a punk site but these lyrics (partially pulling from Psalm 99:9) still ring all these years later. Hope y’all understand what I mean. Have you ever been up to the mountain Have you ever walked on holy ground We can all go without condition The veil’s been torn, there’s love all around The light shines from all directions You’ll cast way your cares Have you ever taken water from the river If you drink you’ll never thirst again It’s all been given to us freely No more servants, we’re called friends The path is narrow, the days are few Let’s walk up to the mountain and turn the old to new Shadows falling, harvest from the light I can feel the power of love Voices singing, praising the Most High Now I know, I’m standing on holy ground Have we lost the heart to worship Have we lost the song of praise Is our walk another chapter Reading words but we never bless His name The path is narrow, the days are few Let’s walk up to the mountain and turn the old to new Come enter in and you will see The temple door is broken free Lift your voice now don’t be shy Lift Him up to be glorified  … Continued →

August 1, 2022

July 22, 2022

Song of the Day: Joy Electric - The Cobbler

I’ve been listening to Ronnie Martin’s music since the late 80s, when he and brother Jason (of Starflyer 59 and many others) were known as the duo Dance House Children. That group reveled in synth-pop, but with a super quirky edge. There was nothing in the Christian nor secular markets quite like it. After two underrated albums, the pair split. Jason started the legendary indie rock monster Starflyer 59, while Ronnie carried on with synthesizer-created music in the form of Joy Electric. Picking up where Dance House Children left off, Joy Electric took the quirkiness to extreme new levels.… Continued →